Just an update

[sarahchiov]

So, we thought we had it all figured out with the Focalin XR, but after about 4 months, it began to loose its effectiveness and my son began experiencing more unpleasant side effects. We discovered that the Cyprohetadine or the combination of it and the Focalin was really making him miserable. An hour after taking it, he would loose all color in his face and become extremely irritable and withdrawn. He didn't want to be touched or spoken too and he looked like a zombie. That would last all eight hours and then turn into weepy sadness and listlessness as it wore off. First we eliminated the Cypro and that helped a little, but he still complained of feeling tired, irritable and not wanting to play with friends at school. So we decided to try Adderall. We gave it the old two week try, first week at 5mg min dose and second week at 10mg. It did absolutely nothing for him at school, and in fact it seemed to make his hyperactivity and ODD worse. He also was experiencing dizziness and blurred vision. Needless to say, as of our med check last night, he is off the Adderall. We are getting a EKG this week to make sure there isn't a heart issue we've been unaware of, and in the event that his heart is fine, our ped recommends steering away from the stimulants and trying Strattera. I'm cautiously optimistic. I think having the medicine in his system at a consistent level all day every day may be a good thing. The ups and downs were taking an emotional toll on our little guy (and us). But I've heard that Strattera isn't as good for the hyperactivity as it is for the inattention, and for us the hyperactivity and ODD seem to be the larger issues these days. I've been reading up on all the supplements too (thanks to my fellow chat room friends here!) Our ped advised us to find a medicine that works well before starting in with supplements, which makes complete sense to me, but I'm being proactive and learning what I can in advance. Thanks for all the great information and support you guys have been giving me. I just wanted to get our experience with the meds out there for anyone experimenting along with us. Heads and hearts stay positive. This is a roller coaster!!

[Gabbysmom1973]

I'm going through the same with my ten year old daughter. Was on Focalin xr and Focalin tablet bump in afternoon over span of two years the dosage would change she was on the max dosage and than 3 months ago just stopped working. Her ODD hit an all time high. Started now on Adderall 15 xr but her ODD iwas still bad until we did one special thing to the dose and now she is getting better than before. What age is your son and what dosages of Focalin was he on before it stopped working and did you try the Adderall xr ?

[sarahchiov in reply to Gabbysmom1973]

My son is 9 years old. He started out on 5mg of Focalin XR, then added an afternoon bump of the regular Focalin at 2.5mg. By the end he was on 10mg of Focalin XR with a bump of 5mg of regular Focalin after school. The 5mg was not enough and the 10mg was too much. Adderall XR was 5mg the first week and 10mg the second week. I think that's another thing I like about the idea of Stratera. It's a liquid and I can fine tune the dosing a lot better for him.

[Mmagusin in reply to Gabbysmom1973]

Our son has been gradually increasing doses of Focalin as his body grows but also builds tolerance. His ODD and aggression spikes after it wears off and we're sure it's due to a crash in brain chemistry, thus a withdrawal. Our concern is that the medication actually makes him worse or at least more extreme then off it. We've tried him off it for a day and quickly realize he's worse in the short term, but am considering trying longer off it to see if his behaviors settle. Have we inadvertently created an addiction? The doctor insists not, but my gut tells me different. Anyone else have this concern? I'm going to test this in the summer where we can keep him from ruining relationships just to see if a week or so off it tells us more.

[Elijah1]

Strattera is a capsule.

[anirush]

My grandson was on Focalin XR all through grade school and did really well. But in middle school we had to switch to switch to a non-stimulant because of anger issues. It's been trial and error for a while but we have him on Wellbutrin and intuniv now. Is doing much better in school and it's actually nice to be around most of the time.

Medication trial and error is really hard. No one medication is a fix all