I used Focalin XR 10 mg for a month, and I learned more in that one month than the rest of my life combined. For the first time in my life, I pickes up a book and read it FOR FUN!! I started with Healing ADD, which I had for 3 years now.. outside of that one month, I read 10 pages.

However, it gave me mind-splitting migraine headaches worthy of serious prescription pain killers. Now, I'm on the Daytrana patch (as far as I can tell, the only adult who is!) and as this is doing ZIP for me, I would rather have the migraines and know what was going on.

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My son also takes 15mg every am, the only side effect he has had has been no appetite for lunch. He is 9yo and only weighs 51 lbs, he is soo very skinny, rarely eats lunch at school. We were prescribed the Daytrana Patch 15mg and it is not enough we are working on what he should be taking but he did eat while he was on that. Hopefully we figure it out soon. Other then the appetitie I/he really liked FocalinXR.

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Courey,

You might also try Adderall XR or the new Vyvanse. My husband takes the Adderall and my adult daughter and teenage son take the Vyvanse. Perhaps one of those would work for you.

My son took the short acting Focalin for afternoons or evenings when he played baseball and his Concerta (he was on that before the switch to Vyvanse) had worn off. He did like the Focalin a lot.

Elaine

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Focalin XR worked good for us but didn't last long enough. 40 mg at 6 am and again at 10 am.... by 2 pm it was completely worn off. Plus my son didn't eat all day. He's 10 and weighs 65 lbs. We are on Vyvanse once a day and it really helped with the hyperactivity but his attention is at about 30% for the whole day. On Focalin is was higher but when the meds wore off so went the attention.

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My son also weighes in at about 66 pounds. The 15mg XR is the adjustments we needed. At our parent-teacher conference, we were told that he was sort of "fading" in the afternoons. That's why his doctor recommended a small, fast-acting dose. The problem we recently faced was our son forgetting to go to the clinic at the appropriate time to get his med. Go figure...and ADHDer forgetting! So now he wears a simple digital watch with an alrm set for 2:30pm. His teacher is cool with it and when it goes off, he shuts it off immediately and heads to the clinic. That extra dose helps through the afternoon at school and through homework. We have him do his homework right away because the later it gets, the more tired and frustrated he can become with it.

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my dd was on ritalin since grade school. she seemed to be doing well on it. teachers reported that she was more focused and not as hyper (always out of her seat, talking etc.) we noiticed that she was completing homework and it didn't take her hours to do it. As time went on thought we did not like what we saw. This once outgoing fun loving girl seemed to be more and more withdrawn. she was moody and sad preferring to be alone. After an arguement with her bestfriend at school the guidance counselor suggested that we take her to the pychiatrist and have her meds upped. dh and I didn't aree we were starting to think maybe it was the meds. The doctor then switched her to focalin. We didn't see a huge change but after 2 months teachers started complaining that dd had an "attitude" then I got a call from school that dd "told off" one of the teachers and made her cry. the school counselor asked us if there was any problems at home with the family or between dh and i then she attributed the behaviour to hormones. dd's behaviour got worse. she seemed angry all the time, she didn't seem interested in friends, she wasn't eating, waking up at night, moody and she started having nervous twitches. Then one night she started having hallucinations. I immediately took her to the doctor and he lowered her dosages. So far things are going much better but I am keeping a watchful eye for any unusual behaviour. she is much more sociable, her grades are good. Now when I get a call from a teacher its about how wonderful dd is. I've since started researching on my own and found out that one of the side effects of focalin XR is nervous twitches and hallucinations along with a long range of other side effects including depression. When the doctor switched dd to focalin we were told that focalin had fewer side effects Now I know I should have paid more attention to my instincts in the beginning. Adhd medication should not make your child a zombie or make them not enjoy being a child. If the child starts to not want to take it find out why. maybe they hate the side effects. don't make assumptions.

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My son is on Focalin XR however, he complained of nausea and "not being able to laugh or be himself" so we are going down in dose to see if this works. He is on a super low dose compared to what I read in the other threads (10mg). Obviously this proves that every one is different in how medication affects them.

He was diagnosed in 2nd grade and he now is in 8th grade. This year has been the worst for sure as far as getting assignments, homework completed, testing, etc. I am pretty exhausted but trying to gear up for high school this next year!

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My 9 yr old son has been taking Focalin XR 15mg for two years now and we love it. I am also ADD and take Adderall XR 25mg and have been taking it for 6 years and prior to that was on Ritalin 25mg for 9 yrs and both of those have lots of side effects. With Ritalin the main one was lack of appetite but because I was in 3rd grade - 12 grade when I was taking it I ate at lunch time no matter what just because there was nothing else to do and everyone else was and I knew I needed to eat but I was not hungry( My grandparents worried about my weight during this time because I was always under weight for my age bracket) and the other thing is that it eventually lost its effectiveness and thats why I had to switch to Adderall. With Adderall I have LOTS of side effects: big time loss of appetite(which at 26yrs old and still weighing 118lbs. I don't really complain about this one. I know its sad to say it but its like a super diet pill because it truly surpresses your appetite.), dry mouth, jittery, tense muscles and the worst is now I am getting irregular heart rate and my heart beats prematurely plus shortness of breath and chest pain and INSOMNIA...so needless to say I am getting off of it(I know have to take beta blockers to control my heart rate) and am looking at switching to Focalin myself.

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