Focalin Follow Up - Part II :Success !!!

After trying the 5mg of Focalin to address difficult child's bedwetting, his shifts in mood stabilized and the Focalin proved to be a great asset to his medication mix. He started school with no problems and has continued to do well in his classes. His mom was concerned initially about difficult child starting school because he was going to be out side the self contained classroom he had been in the previous year. Any rages or tantrums would surely mean a return to the unit. So far, all is well.
But despite all the positive improvement in behavior and mood, difficult child continued to have wet nights - on average having one dry night a week.
We decided to add the DDAVP back into the mix (.2mg), It took awhile for things to sync up, but I am proud to say that difficult child has been dry every night so far this month! Very, very cool :) I was especially pleased that difficult child took a vacation with his family over the Labor Day weekend and was dry the entire time. I was glad he was able to enjoy that experience without the issues related to bedwetting.
difficult child's psychiatrist raised his Focalin to 10mg briefly. This lasted only a few days and difficult child reported feeling manic and having trouble concentrating. I was pleased that difficult child was able to recognize this. His Focalin was moved back to 5mg. So for the moment, it's all good in the neighborhood! :)

Christy: Yes a bedwetting alarm had been proposed. His last urologist pushed it very strongly. difficult child, his mom and I were opposed to it. difficult child's mom felt that difficult child would just sleep through it and it would wake up everyone else in the house. difficult child disliked the idea of anything being clipped to his underwear (or the fact that his underwear was being discussed). I wanted something more immediate and the long (and previously tried) idea of bladder training just seemed to guarantee difficult child a future of many wet nights for the foreseeable future.
 

nvts

Active Member
Hi PW! So glad to hear about the continued success with difficult child! It really seems that he's "hitting his groove". Mom seems to have legitimate worries (she's probably still in shell shock - so many years of hassle - you wait for the other shoe to drop!), but it seems that difficult child is determined to be a functional part of the team.

Hope your summer was great - I've gotten all 3 difficult child's into our general ed district rather than the "Special Education" district. The anxiety around here is so thick that you could cut it with a knife - but tomorrow is our first day at school(s), so it should relax a little (my lips to God's ear!).

Congrats!

Beth
 

crazymama30

Active Member
I am glad the focalin and DDAVP is working. It would be hard to be a teenager and wet the bed.

Stims seemed to help my difficult child with his bed wetting. He has not been off stims for years, so I do not know if he would go back to wetting the bed if we stopped. He is just way too out of control without the stims!

I really like how he is developing self awareness. I have had glimpses of that in my own difficult child and it is really nice.
 
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