my son is on 20mg focalin xr and 2mg guanfacine daily. He has been on stimulants for over a year but the focalin is new within the past couple months. He was previously on short acting methylphenidate but we switched due to having to take it 3x per day and having issues with the unevenness of his behavior when it starting wearing off after each dose. He now has a new extreme fear of bugs and crabs. We are in Florida on spring break and he will barely leave the house. He used to love swimming in the ocean and building sand castles. We were just here in Feb and no issues of this nature. He has always had a little bit of irrational fears but nothing like this. I’m wondering if anyone has had this issue on focalin or it’s just coincidental that these phobias are coming out now (he is 7.5 years old)
anyone experience new phobias on foca... - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
anyone experience new phobias on focalin?
Stop the medication and see if the fears disappear. This type of behavior can occur if the dose is not tolerated or if the medication aggravates underlying anxiety. Then discuss your observations with the prescribing provider.
Are you able to send his prescribing physician a message to ask their opinion? My child is on focalin but we haven't seen this personally. I would check in with the prescriber before making any major adjustments to the dosing schedule.
Good idea. You are right I shouldn’t do these trials without consulting his psychiatrist. We have our regularly scheduled appt next week so I was going to talk about it then. Since we are only here another day I was hoping to narrow down the root cause while here. Back home we don’t have bugs yet since it’s still cold so will be tougher to put this to the test.
That's great that you have an appt within a week. If it's intolerable for him or you, I wouldn't hesitate to call the psych for a phone consult. No need to suffer if it can be avoided.
Just spoke w the dr and we are going to go back to short acting methylphenidate 2x per day to see if that helps. She said don’t stop the stimulant because it would not be good for all which I agree with given his extreme adhd symptoms. Though I know I could handle it for 1 day since I did for so long before he was diagnosed and medicated (though it was not pretty
I also think it can be super stressful for neurodivergent kids to be out of their environment and on a different schedule. It might be that his cup is already full and the bugs and crabs made it spill over.
I was thinking that could be it too. We stayed at a different house from where we usually stay therefore a different beach. Yesterday I paid money to rent a cabana at the beach where we usually go which is part of a hotel. So comfortable setup, large clean beach without overgrown landscape. And a place I know he loves. We were just there before he started the focalin in Feb. (though not as many bugs out since Feb). Anyways he sat on the chair on high alert and wouldn’t do anything. Around 5pm I made him go to the park with us and he actually played and wasn’t as tense. So yeah I do wonder if it’s the new meds. I both hope it is and isn’t at the same time. The focalin has been amazing for his adhd symptoms. I guess I don’t want to just tell myself it’s the focalin if it’s really more than that. He def has some anxiety in general.
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