Ditto - everyone is different. Me and my difficult child are both ADD, and Adderal made both of us very jittery, anxious, and violent. difficult child can't take ANY ADD medication but Focalin. I'm fine on either Focalin or Ritalin LA.
We "found" Focalin recently (funny/sad story posted elsewhere). Per my doctor, it is a derivative of Ritalin. IANAD, but he explained that Ritalin has two components: one that does 20% of the work and has 80% of the side effects, and the other part that does 80% of the work, but almost no side effects. Focalin is a dosage of Ritalin without the first part.
Again according to my doctor, while it's "less effective" than straight Ritalin, this is usually counterbalanced by the much lower side effects.
Don't know about why Ritalin would cause less insomnia, other than if it's straight methylphenidate (not extended release), it's usually metabolized out of your system in a matter of hours. Generic Ritalin lasts about 2-3 hours for me, I had to take nearly 4 doses a day before I moved to LA, and I still get fuzzy in the late afternoon.
Focalin works for me, and worked for my son when I could get him to take it. But YMMV.
Mikey
