anyone experience new phobias on focalin?

[Alt49]

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)

UPDATE: we switched back to short acting methylphenidate and it was a huge improvement the first day. Yes, he is still scared of bugs but it did not impact his ability to enjoy himself like usual. He went to the beach without a fight and most importantly swam in the ocean, built sandcastles and played paddle ball.

[Elijah1]

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.

[Alt49 in reply to Elijah1]

Should it stop immediately? Ie if i don’t give him the stimulant one day tomorrow would you expect improvement or does it take a little time of being out of his system?

[SurvivorFan in reply to Alt49]

My son had exact same fear on long acting methylphenidate. He could handle the short acting but not long. Extreme fear of all bugs..even the possibility of an ant or fly being in the house. He previously would be outside all the time. Once we stopped the med, with a day or two it got much better. We let it go for 4 months because we are in MN and didn't get the full scope until the warmer weather came and he refused to go outside because of bugs.

[Alt49 in reply to SurvivorFan]

Thanks so much for sharing. Hopefully that’s it. I just picked up the short acting from the pharmacy.

[SurvivorFan in reply to Alt49]

Good luck!

[Alt49 in reply to SurvivorFan]

Just fyi I posted an update. UPDATE: we switched back to short acting methylphenidate and it was a huge improvement the first day. Yes, he is still scared of bugs but it did not impact his ability to enjoy himself like usual. He went to the beach without a fight and most importantly swam in the ocean, built sandcastles and played paddle ball.

[SurvivorFan in reply to Alt49]

I am so happy to hear this and so glad you got it figured out sooner than we did! This is why I always keep a journal any time we start or change any med

[Alt49 in reply to SurvivorFan]

Unfortunately now his adhd symptoms are terrible when the medicine is wearing down. Will have to speak with the Dr about some other options.

[SurvivorFan in reply to Alt49]

It's all so frustrating. Have you tried other stimulant class/Adderall side? Adderall XR worked so good for my oldest symptom wise and lasted way longer than his Focalin, but he had horrible insomnia that never went away.

[Alt49 in reply to SurvivorFan]

I don’t think we’ve tried an adderall. We tried concerta which gave him horrible headaches and Ritalin LA (this was at the beginning of the medicine journey and it wasn’t effective but just looked back and the dosage was too small). I’m wondering if we could go down on the focalin dosage to 15 from 20. We never tried 15. We started w 10 and it was as if he was unmedicated

[SurvivorFan in reply to Alt49]

It's worth a try to see if he responds better to Adderall. That's the nice thing about stimulants, you find out quickly if it's working or not! My husband and both boys have all tried adderall and had same side effect unfortunately.

[poppysage]

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.

[Alt49]

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.

[poppysage]

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.

[Alt49 in reply to poppysage]

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

[poppysage]

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.

[Alt49 in reply to poppysage]

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.

[poppysage]

It's so hard to make changes when you see improvement in some areas but problems popping up in others. This is so hard! Sending support, you're doing a great job.

[Alt49 in reply to poppysage]

Thanks so much. I appreciate your input and support

[poppysage]

Of course!

[Alt49 in reply to poppysage]

Sharing my update from today. Definitely promising. UPDATE: we switched back to short acting methylphenidate and it was a huge improvement the first day. Yes, he is still scared of bugs but it did not impact his ability to enjoy himself like usual. He went to the beach without a fight and most importantly swam in the ocean, built sandcastles and played paddle ball.

[poppysage]

That's wonderful news! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your vacation.