How can you tell if it is time to up the dosage on focalin?

Michelle - posted on 02/03/2010

My daughter was also on Focalin. She also needed something to carry her through the evening. Sounds like she is on and XR or extended release dosage. We ended up adding a regular Focalin to carry her into evening a little further for home work. She is currently 8. It worked well until the tics started last winter. Then we had to switch up her meds again to Straterra and Tenex. Before the Focalin, she was on Adderall XR. That was a nightmare. She looked like an emotional wreck.

I guess I could tell by monitoring what was going on in school with a notebook that the teacher agreed to shuttle back and forth. It was a great help. We still deal with issues when the meds wear off. She can be hyper and moody at night and hates to do homework. I keep working with her and try to make her laugh to defuse the anxiety that comes with the homework stress. 2-3 months is a good amount of time to see how she is doing. If she is doing well in school I would leave it and talk to your Dr about the evening issues. He may suggest that other things are going on, especially if there is family issues or change in her normal schedule. Keeping ADHD kids scheduled is very important. If Bri has something that messes with her schedule, good luck to me. We are in for a fun night. Good luck.

Tricia - posted on 02/03/2010

My 7 year old son has been on Focalin (in many different dosage amounts ) for the past year now. We have been on this medication roller coaster for what seems like forever now. Focalin was the very first medication we tried...and after trying Adderall for only a few days (which was a total nightmare) we have returned to Focalin. We started with 2.5, then went to 5mg. and so on. Our Dr. says that Focalin has the least side effects ...and after the Adderall experience, I am afraid to try anything else, so needless to sy, we have stayed with Focalin.



What doasge is your daughter taking? Is it the XR or the regualar kind? We have tried both, and at one point our son was taking 5mg of the reg one at home, and then the school nurse would give him 5mg at school. This worked for a while, then we discovered that he was having too many ups and downs at school. He has now been on 10mg XR for 2 months now and it seems to be working (he could not handle this last year). He is now able to get through his school day with a much higher level of concentration and he has made a ton of progress!



You said that your daughter is doing well with focusing at school...which is great! Later on in the day can be a challenge.....I am very familiar with this. We still struggle with it every day. Our son gets extremely hyper when it wears off, and yes he can be moody or emotional at times too. What's crazy is that he was not very hyper before he started taking medication, he was just completely unable to focus at school. It is so hard to watch him go through all of this. I also know that all of this is very hard on a family, which doesn't help things either. We have been through exactly what you are going through with the mood changes, etc...When I asked our dr. about it, I was told that I could give him an additional low dose amount when he gets home so that we could get through homework (which is a battle), but not too close to bedtime. I decided not to do this for many reasons. First, my main goal with the medication was to help him with school (which is working!). We really did not want to put him on medication at all, but he just could not focus at all and school was impossible for him. It was a difficult decision for us, but we felt like we had no choice. So I am willing to deal with some side effects once it wears off beacuase I do not want to give him any more medication. 10 mg is the highest I will go....we will deal with all the rest. Secondly, I do not want to even take the chance of having this medication interfere with his sleep.



I think that 2-3 months is a pretty good amount of time to know how this drug works with your daughter. Every child is different and even then, it can change as their body grows. I think that what you are seeing with her moodiness is just what happens with these drugs when they wear off. I bet that you Dr. will recommend giving her a small amount later in the day, or try a different medication. So you have to decide if you are willing to do that. What is great for you is that her focus has improved at school. Unfortunately this whole thing is a process of tweaking and tailoring it to fit your child. For us, this seems to be working the best for now. It is so hard to know what to do and how far to go. I am not sure if there is ever a perfect medication or perfect amount, but you just try to get it as close to the best as you can. Best of luck to you and your daughter.