Dosage Question | ADHD Information

My 6 yo son has been diagnosed with ADHD. We met with the pediatric
psychiatrist on Friday and he prescribed medication. He gave us a scrip
for 5 mg and 10 mg of focalin. He said to start with half of the 5 mg (.5)
and see the results for 1 week. If it is not enough, increase to 5 mg and
observe for one week, etc. I gave him his first dose yesterday. I noticed an
immediate difference-he was not wiggly, he was more focused, etc. It was
pretty hard to gage 1/2 dose bc it is a capsule form and hard to tell how
much i sprinkled, and i think it was more than 1/2. He acted a little weird
when it began to wear off (1 incident of aggression), but fell asleep at his
normal bedtime and slept through the night.

Today I again tried to give him a 1/2 a dose (again, too hard to tell if
more or less than 1/2). i noticed a bit of improvement today, but not as
good as yesterday. he was rocking in chair, swirling, etc. this morning
even after the meds should have kicked in.

I am debating whether to just give the full 5 mg tomorrow for his first day
on the meds at school. would you do that or just try to gauge the 1/2 of 5
for a week even knowing that it did not have that great of an affect on
him today.

is it typical for the first day on the meds to notice a drastic difference and
subsequent days there is less of a difference?

i am just confused as to how these meds are suppose to work.

thanks!I would stick with your doctor's recommendation as to the amount of medicine to give.  It does take a while for the medicine to really start working (took a couple of weeks for my son to see full benefits).  It may be that he needs the higher dosage, but you also need to take it one step at a time so his body can get used to it.   If you give them too much before their body is adjusted, the side effects can be worse. Welcome Lucy If your child has started on a stimulant med for ADHD, once the right dose and med is found you will see immediate results. The goal is maximum benefit with minimal side effects (in and out of school because ADHD effects every area of life).  Unlike the non stimulant (Straterra), stimulant meds are not blood level medications so you dont have to wait until the medication builds up in the system. The key with stimulant meds is not the time frame but rather achieving the right medication and dose for the individual at which point maximum benefit is seen.. With Straterra which non stimulant, it can take 4 to 6 weeks before maximum benefit is seen. With stimulant meds the child is put on a trial of medication until the right med and dose are found and sometimes it could take a while. Response to the medication is very individual. If your child is exhibiting aggression when the meds wear off he could be experiencing rebound which could mean the dose is too high,too low or not the right med for your child. By all means follow the doctor's protocol and report any and all side effects to your child's doctor so that he can gauge the effectiveness as well as eliminate side effects by adjusting the dose or changing the med. Good luck and please keep us posted

It may have changed since a few years ago, buy my doctor told me I could not sprinkle half of the contents of a Focalin XR capsule.  He said the beads inside it vary, and some contain short-acting medicine while others contain capsules of medicine that would release in several hours.  There's no way to tell the beads apart, and that's why you can't open a capsule and divide the contents in half.

If this hasn't changed, maybe that's why you saw such a drastic difference in your child? 

Focalin XR is the extended release version of the medicine.  Is your child taking that type?

Yes, that is exactly what he told me to do. The problem is it is very difficult
to gage how much "half" is. Do they do a 2.5 mg capsule? I asked my
pharmacist and he said "no", but it is a small pharmacy and I am wondering
if I can call the doc and ask him for a scrip for 2.5 and get it filled
elsewhere. "He said to start with half of the 5 mg (.5)
and see the results for 1 week. If it is not enough, increase to 5 mg and
observe for one week, etc."

I think you may have misunderstood or he mis-spoke? I am assuming that you are to give him the 5 mg pill, and then observe for one week. If he needs more, then you switch to the 10 mg pill. Maybe call the receptionist and ask her to pull the file and read the instructions to you.

You cannot take those Focalin apart b/c half of those beads are immediate release and half are extended release. You'd get unreliable results if you did it. As far as a 2.5 mg goes, you get the generic focalin that is not XR, and you do need another script.jessica-that is what i read about the time release, but his instructions where
clear-he told me to open up the capsule of the 5 mg and sprinkle 1/2 for a
week and then, if it is not enough, bump up to the 5. I ended up doing the
whole 5 today because of what i read about the time release and also
because there was no way for me to tell if i was giving him half or not since
it is impossible to measure.

do you know much about focalin? i read it should last 8 hours-is that
correct?Yes, it should last about 8 hours.  It'll vary per person, though. 

Lucy5981 wrote:
do you know much about focalin? i read it should last 8 hours-is that
correct?

 

It can last up to 8 hours but it all depends on the individual metobolic rate of absoprtion. If the child has a fast metbolism the effectiveness of the medication may be less than 8 hours. Response to medication is very individual so some may see full benefit for 8 hours, some less.