My 7yo son was diagnosed ADHD.The doctor put him on FOCALIN. Same as Ritalin? anyone use this?

Question

He started acting differently immediately. He listens better and stays on task more than he ever has. He even stopped arguing with his Mom and me about doing his homework and cleaning his room, but it seems to wear off about dinner time,and his bad behavior returns.Seems to catch his second wind before bedtime and will not go to sleep,(or let anyone else.) If the doctor wants to up the dosage wouldnt that make it even harder for him to go to sleep? Weve always been opposed to drugging kids for behavior problems. I believe doctors do it way too often as a quickfix to make em behave in school so the incompetant teachers dont have to spend as much time on them.(IKNOW MOST TEACHERS ARE VERY COMPETANT)We denied he had a problem,and defended his behavior and learning problems to all his teachers as he is just "being a boy". After we had him tested though we couldnt deny the problem anymore.The results were SO CLEAR.Iworry about the long term effects of basically putting my child on speed.

Answer 1

Hi

My 16 yr old son was diagnosed with ADHA when he was 5 yrs old. It was very hard to accept that he indeed had "something" that was so overwhelming that it affected him not only at school, but in everything in his daily life. We reluctantly put him with pharmacological treatments and nervously awaited the results. I had a journal where i wrote everything I noticed about him while using medication: At what time it would wear off, secondary effects like stomachache, headaches, temper tantrums, etc. That way when we went to his doctor he knew the medications dosage to help my child. We had to change several medications until the Dr decided to try Ritalin. We noticed the changes almost immediately. He also had psychological counseling, a nutritionist that changed many things in his diet. It has been a roller coaster for us. Now he is going to graduate from High school with good grades and he plans to go to college. Right now he is not taking any medication because his doctor wants to see how he can manage without drugs. So far he has done well. But maybe, in college he will have to use them again. He is taking yoga classes and it has been very good for him. It is not easy, but I want you to know that you are not alone and I wish you the best.

Answer 2

Focalin is similar to Ritalin in the way that it treats the same symptoms. (Other medications are Concerta, and Metadate, and some others.)

If you've noticed a marked difference in his behavior - and it sounds like you have - you're on the right track. He just may need something a little longer acting. Keep track of the time of day he loses his way as well as the time of day he gets his second wind. Do this for a week or two. Then speak to the doctor who prescribed the Focalin and ask if he should take his dose later in the morning or does he need something else to supplement it or just something longer-acting?

As for long-term effects - if he's reacted postively to the medicaton, chances are he has the chemical imbalance that causes ADD or ADHD, and this is correcting it. He may outgrow it, he may need to take the medication forever. This is why it's important that he see the prescribing doctor at least every six months for follow-ups. Some kids need a lower dose as they get older, some kids need more.

Answer 3

Our son was on Focalin and had tics, eating problems,and when it would wear off, he was too hyped to go to sleep. Like your son it worked well for concentration and we loved that, but when the tics started then he started having rages.

He was over medicated, and it happened because we were wanting to help him better in the evenings, but when the medication was upped it caused the tics and the rages. We ended up taking him off of them. He is seven years also. Focalin was suppose to be safe but it did not work for my son, and it sounds like you are having the same problem.

My suggestion would be to inform your doctor of the behaviors that you are seeing and see what you can do to improve the problem.

I am sorry this is happening, and I do not down you for using medication. We never wanted to do it either but the fact is our son does better with it. We are not here to judge each other but to help and I hoped that I have helped you.

Answer 4

The sad fact is eventually if he is kept on this drug long enough he will NEED it to function. Just like any other drug, it may not be physically addictive...but it is very addictive mentally. I really don't know how else you can deal with this problem though...the Dr's told my parents that i had ADHD when i was young but my parents refused to put me on any behavior altering medications. I had problems when i first started high school but by the time i was 15 my attitude really changed. Now im almost done with law school...and have NO problems with this so called "ADHD".

Also i tend to believe that Doctors quickly and incorrectly diagnose children with this condition because they see it as an easy way to make money with little effort on their part.

Answer 5

My two cousins were on Ritalin growing up. It seemed to make them act like zombies because the dosage was too high I think. But now my nephew is on it and it has worked miracles on that kid. I think they just need to get the dosage right and everything will be okay. I'm also opposed to drugging kids for behavorial problems but sometimes there is just no way around it. Good Luck!

Answer 6

He in all probability is that way because of the fact of trauma simply by vaccines. they have many times been generally happening to reason techniques harm that ends up in behavioral matters. the terrific element to do is wait it out and don't pour extra risky chemical ingredients into his techniques. a variety of of the Autistic/ADHD indications disappear with age and adulthood so its purely a count number of time. I had a chum who used to take ritalin and that i actually think of it truly tangled up his techniques. With short term use the destructive impacts are not obtrusive. yet you could desire to understand that short term undesirable consequences of many techniques changing ingredients are not obtrusive which contain alcohol, pot, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and crack. i'm not attempting to be stupid right here, i'm creating an fairly severe element. My pal is now in reformatory by ways and he alongside with different human beings all of us know agree that his violent inclinations that brought about this are many times based on the disconnected emotional states that have been bred into him by Ritalin.

Answer 7

I was on it till i coun,t stand it any more since it kept me up all night and made me ten pounds under weight so i think your son should try a beeter medicion with less side a ffects like strattera it help me way more the focain ecept it forever to work hope this helps

Answer 8

My best friend takes focalin, and there is a big difference between her when she's on it and when she forgot to take it. Watch out for when he's eating though. People on focalin (or maybe ADHD medicine in general) lose their appetites and don't eat.

Answer 9

yes that med is what they call cocaine for kids works well for a little while then there BACK!!!! what i and a friend did for our children with adhd was no sugar at all for 1 we also put them in tae kwon do sounds funny but they learn alot of dicipline that us parents cant get through to there needs when they have add or adhd, it teaches them self control, discipline, and trust me IT WAS 100% effective w/out drugging them.. its a suggestion i STRONGLY recommebnd with parents who have the same children..