My daughter has been on Focalin Xr since 2008 and has been on various levels starting at 5 and going all the way up to 20. it seems that 10mg worked great for her. About Nov of 2009 she started breaking out in hives every night after 8, no set time, just happened at night. Noticed that once I gave her benadryl the hives would go away. This went on for months, took her to allergy Drs. and everything. Finally in June 2010 when she stopped taking the meds for the summer she stopped breaking out so we made a connection between the Focalin XR and her hives. Now this was confusing to me because she had already been on Focalin XR for about a year before she started breaking out with the hives, also she would take her meds about 8:30 AM, but not break out until about 9 PM. Even the Dr. that prescribed it was shocked because she had never had anyone develop hives from it

I switch the med to Concerta for this new school year, but it is already a month and the teacher said that it doesn't seem to be helping her. I was was thinking about switching back to the Focalin XR which I know works but was scared of the hives issue, but I was speaking a friend who recommended Zrytec. She suggested giving my daughter a Zrytec pill every day she takes the Focalin tab to stop the allergic reaction. I want to help her but was scared of long term effects. HELP!!!

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