Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Diving in with Focalin

It took me a while to agree to try Focalin. We tried Intunive (Tenex) in the Spring, and did not see any progress, even after increasing to 2 dosages per day (1 full pill). The developmental ped prescribed Focalin in May and after reading the side effects (on my handy Psych Drugs app), I was afraid. The main cause for concern was seizures. This came at a time when he had his 3rd normal EEG (3 years in a row!) and the neuro (my developmental ped's husband) wanted to start decreasing his Keppra. Once I told him about his wife's script for Focalin, he said to not decrease the Keppra.

I went back for a med check with the developmental ped and told her I did not start the med and had some concerns. She assured me it would work and that we would monitor the side effects. Her husband said he only had 1 patient with side effects from Focalin. Then, I found out after school started that the CEO of the company I work for had success with her son. That's actually what helped give me the confidence to try it. Plus, I spoke to Joey's reading teacher who said it was hard to keep his attention.

We started it on Labor Day (9/3) and it's been more than 3 weeks. He seems more attentive at home. I will see how his teachers rate him on their data collection sheets.

Ugh! Meds scare me but I'm happy to report he seems to be doing ok so far. This is the type of med that he doesn't have to be on for long. He can take it the day he needs to be more attentive. So he only gets it on days he is in school.

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