anyone have experience with focalin xr?

[HIU8]

This is one of two drugs the DP has suggested for DS. She forwarded me a link to read about it and call her with any questions. I have not sat down to read it yet.

[pinkmomagain]

DD2 was on it for the first couple of years she started ADHD meds. It helped her a ton. There were no really negative side effects. She was at a low weight while on it....she looked really skinny. The prescribing dr and the ped kept a regular eye on it...she was never below average but at the the very, very low percentile. I believe also, before she went on it, they had her get a baseline EKG just to make sure there were no undetected heart problems, given that it is a stimulant.

We did switch to Intuiv a year or two back. She has trichotillomania (hair pulling) and one of our strategies in dealing with it was to take her off the stimulant which can sometimes contribute to it.

But we were very happy with Focalin XR...it helped her with her ADHD-Inattentive immensely. It (or any of the meds) didn't help each and every aspect, but it was life changing.

Good luck researching and trying to figure what's the best route for your DS.

[MamaKath]

We did Focalin xr for quite awhile. Overall it was good. Messed with appetite and we had to be very proactive with meals and snacks at very specific times. Definitely helped during school day hours, but had some pretty bad rebound effects around 5-7. We switched last years and ended up in a nightmare on a different med (not eating, no positive result, etc). So compared to that Focalin xr was a dream!

Hope things go well as you try meds! Thinking of you!

[HIU8]

Do you happen to know if focalin xr comes in a generic form? I can see on my providers site that focalin (non xr) does, but it doesn't say anything about the extended release version.

[cuca_]

We use Focalin XR. It work really well for the first year or so, and now it is not working as well. Appetite suppression is the biggest side effect. We try to give big meals when off the meds and try to avoid the meds on weekends and vacation.

I don't think there is a generic for XR, but our Dr gave us a discount card that made it either free or really cheap -- I can't remember b/c we've been doing mail order lately. Ask your your doctor about it.

[MamaKath]

No generic for the XR.