Focalin XR vs. Vyvanse

[DeterminedMama]

Hi all, I joined last year and got some excellent advice with my 6 year old regarding sensory issues. Occupational Therapist (OT) has not significantly helped in school, although we are loving progress we see with Occupational Therapist (OT). Our Occupational Therapist (OT) went out of network so we have to wait til we're in a better financial spot to afford it and can go back. Now husband has finally decided to try ADHD medications as school is getting worse and worse. Our neurologist recommends starting off with either or Focalin XR. I have read things about aggression/ mean-ness with Focalin XR. Does anyone have any experiences they can share with either of these? We are choosing one tomorrow to start Wednesday morning! Any help would be, well, helpful!!

 

[Lothlorien]

When Missy was 6 or 7, she was placed on Concerta with disastrous effects. I refused to put her on any stims until her aggression was a little more under control. Once she was fairly stabilized and on the right medications for seizures and the mood disorder (same medications for both diagnosis), we were able to put her on Adderall, which was very effective, but this was not until she was about 11. psychiatrist decided to put her on Vyvanse this summer, because Missy said the Adderall seemed to wear off early. We have had very good results with it, but the medication is super expensive and ins only covered a small portion, so the out of pocket is $75 a month. Check with ins company to see how much they will cover. The maker does provide a 6 month coupon, but I'm getting to that 6 month mark in a couple months.

The one thing about the adhd medications is that you will usually know fairly quickly if they are working or not and do not take several weeks to build up in the system. If they aren't working, you can take them off and you have the option of trying something else or nothing at all.

 

[BusynMember]

Has he been evaluated beyond a neurologist?

Stimulants can make any child mean and aggressive. You will know pretty fast if it works or not. Stims work or don't work right away. They do not have to accumulate like other psychiatric medications. Doesn't your school offer Occupational Therapist (OT) for free? Does your child have an IEP? I am assuming you live in the US.

Glad there was progress. A pity to have to discontinue the Occupational Therapist (OT) now.

 

[DeterminedMama]

Lothlorien- The Dr gave me the coupon, and our insurance is excellent so I hope it won't be that much. If it is and it works great, we'll have to make it work. But it is reassuring knowing that we'll see very quickly if it works.

MidwestMom- Yes he has an IEP, school has Occupational Therapist (OT) so he does has it once a week. We tried to get another thorough evaluation going, but never got thru the application process, ESP since there is a very long waiting list thru the hospital that is covered in our insurance. We are hoping that with a mix of a behavior plan, Occupational Therapist (OT), medications, and possibly a psychologist we can get things in order.

 

[DeterminedMama]

So our Vyvanse is a 10$ copay. Pfewwwf! I will post an update on here about our experience. Hopefully it will be a positive one!!

 

[justour2boys]

Since you asked, I'll give my 2 cents about ADHD medications (stimulants). Personally, what worked best for my boys was to start out with the short acting and generic Methylphenidate. With short acting you can better manage the dosing, pill size and shape, and being generic it can be cheaper to find the right medication and dose. But remember there is a large variety of stimulant medications available, and finding the right medication and right dose can be a challenge, so be patient.

 

[DeterminedMama]

We just started today. 20mg. He had a better shower this morning, seemed more on task than normal. But was still a very hyper morning. My hope is that it was because he was excited about him new vitamin.. We'll see what his teacher says and how after school goes. The other one we were going to go with was dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride. If this one doesn't work out for us, We will be trying that next. (I don't know what the + dex/hydrochloride does, makes it last longer possibly?) Anywhoo, fingers crossed for the day! I hope it doesn't take too much trial and error, husband is very wary about medications, so I can see him getting very discouraged with too many changes needing to be made. But I will certainly be encouraging him to be patient. Thank you justour2boys

 

[DeterminedMama]

We had an amazing day today. He was focused, had great manners. ALL day. Around 9 he went to the nurse for a belly ache. Saltiness and water made that better. Normally he gets a note home with anywhere from 2 to 13 sad faces for not following directions, calling out, or putting his hands on others. Today there were zero. We are amazed and hope things continue to go this well. Not to mention, Mikey is HAPPY and PROUD and wants to tell us about all of the things he did today. We couldn't be happier thus far.

 

[Californiablonde]

Glad to hear it went well. I know that with my easy child the change was immediate and we saw a huge improvement in his behavior the first day. His grades changed from D's and F's to straight A's within a few weeks. It's amazing what the right medications can do.

 

[Lothlorien]

Great news!

 

[DeterminedMama]

Thank you!! One thing.... After I wrote on here and jinxed myself of course... Mikey told me he bit 4 fingernails really short today, and said that they were hurting him. I put triple antibiotic and bandaids on tonight. I asked if he could try really hard not to bite them. He said he can't stop.. I'll talk to his teacher tmrw and have his 1 on 1 try and remind him fingers out... Any helpful thoughts, experiences?

Ps.. I was worried about night time after medications had worn off due to things I've read about anger/aggression. He just went back to his rambly, jitterbuggy, clumsy, hyper self.

However, he was happier than normal. (The frustration was non existent all day.) It feels SO GOOD