My 11yo started Focalin a few weeks ago. He had tried it once before in early Elementary. It did slow his appetite the first few days, but that leveled out pretty quickly. Now he does eat a small lunch, but the rest of his food intake is the same as before. He was irritable the first few nights when t wore off too. When he took it when he was younger, the side effects were much more severe and we stopped it after about 6 Weeks.

On the positive side, he is feeling much more focused in school and says it’s a big help. He’s primary inattentive, so most of it is inside his head zoning out type behavior. Before, he said he would zone out and miss chunks of information, which was also stressing him out. It’s been a positive change for him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask dr to do GeneSight saliva test because it gives suggestions on what genetically would probably work better and will tell you which ones to avoid.

OP here. I asked the psychiatrist about this and he said the results are more useful with anti-depressants but not enough evidence yet to say if helpful in determining best response to which stimulant class of drugs.

Our psychiatrist said GeneSight wasn't worthwhile either.

But it's really variable. Currently Metadate 20mg + Guanfacine.

Anonymous wrote:Ask dr to do GeneSight saliva test because it gives suggestions on what genetically would probably work better and will tell you which ones to avoid.

OP here. I asked the psychiatrist about this and he said the results are more useful with anti-depressants but not enough evidence yet to say if helpful in determining best response to which stimulant class of drugs.

Ask dr to do GeneSight saliva test because it gives suggestions on what genetically would probably work better and will tell you which ones to avoid.

Intuniv made my child much more sensitive and prone to bursting into tears.
With the right dose of focalin, we have not had too many side effects, although too high does cause anxiety and loss of appetite. So start low and go slow.

DS age 12 was recently diagnosed (full neuropsych at Stixrud) with add, primarily inattentive but with impulsivity. Also poor executive function and slow processing speed. We met with a psychiatrist who suggested starting DS on focalin or intuiv. Dr said that focalin is “gold standard” as a starting med, but that intuiv may be a better place to start since I expressed concerns about potential side effects from a stimulant, namely loss of appetite, trouble sleeping and tics. DS already is an extremely thin kid with anxious tendencies and life long trouble sleeping.) So dr basically is leaving it uo to us to decide which to start DS on ... He of course will answer any of our questions, but said he can’t say that if DS were to develop a tic on a stimulant that it definitely would resolve off the stimulant (and I think bc I expressed concerns about tics he now is responding thusly).

I would appreciate any thoughts on which medication to try/experiences. Thank you!