Focalin xr

[Ericamo1]

My son has been taking focalin xr for about a year now. He is 13 years old. Im concerned with his weight and him losing his appetite while on the medication. He doesnt take it on weekends as has a normal appetite but when hes on it hes never hungry. Has anyone else run into this problem on this drug?

[Cjkchamp]

Mine initially had loss of appetite on both 5 mg and 10 mg, but it got better after a few weeks.

[Ldydy24]

Hi my son also lost weight on Focalin XR when he took a higher dose. It suppresses his appetite around lunch and he doesn’t eat as much but breakfast and dinner he eats really well. My son takes a combo of short acting Focalin with the XR because he has a high metabolism and this helps. He only tAkes 10mg of the XR with 10mg of the short acting Focalin. Like you I do not give my son the XR meds on the weekend and only give him 2 small short acting doses of I would recommend taking to your dr regarding your concerns.

[Eataash]

Absolutely. My 12 year old daughter lost 20 lbs. no appetite. We are on a drug holiday for the summer to see how she does. Also she’s less irritable but I think School was also a contributing factor to her mood swings as well. A lot of girl and middle school drama.

Next we’ll try to wean her off Guanfesin to see how she does off medications. She’s been on meds since 4th grade.

[anirush]

My grandson was on it all through grade school but it stopped working in middle school. Always made sure that he had a big breakfast before the meds kicked in. I don't think he ate much at school for lunch but by evening he always ate a big dinner. His pediatrician said he was healthy and that he would rather see him slender than overweight like most kids he saw.

[Pennywink]

My son doesn't eat much lunch since starting a stimulant. So, I make sure he has a good breakfast (usually oatmeal), give him something he will eat for lunch (even if it's chicken nuggets or pizza rolls), then give him a hearty snack after school when his appetite returns and a healthy dinner. So far he has maintained his weight.

[Luluhuludulu]

When my son was on Focalin XR elementary thru middle school (got him off of it before high school started) he wouldn’t eat after it kicked in. It is a stimulant so that is expected. Like others, I made him eat a good breakfast. He didn’t want to eat lunch so I started sending him with a bottle of carnation instant breakfast and he liked that and drank it every day for years at lunch time. He would eat a decent meal at dinner. Summers we took him totally off and he ate so much it was concerning! He gained so much weight one summer so fast he actually got cellulite on his belly! Of course he lost it fast once school started back. He also didn’t talk at all once the Focalin kicked in..weird side effect but his friends that were on it I noticed the same thing..they got real quiet. Anyway..it’s a common side effect that never wore off. By end of middle school he was on the highest dose.