FOCALIN Reviews (DEXMETHYLPHENIDATE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.9 (33 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare FOCALIN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
Results are sorted by Age from youngest to oldest (reviews with no age reported listed first). Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 |
More on FOCALIN: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR FOCALIN | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | ADHD | Son was very emotional on this. Started showing OCD behaviors, such as fingernail picking and toenail picking and picking between toes, everyday it got progressively worse. Extreme fear of insects started with this too. Stopped it 3 days ago and so far the OCD symptoms have stopped as well. | Focalin was the 2nd med we tried for my 5 year old son after Adderall, which made him very irritable. Less irritability on Focalin and much more affection from him, but there were very clear side effects from this. The OCD behavior such as picking his fingernails and his toes were quite concerning. This progressively got worse every day. Even his teacher mentioned it to me. The last day he was on it, he was freaking out about a fly in our van. He was compltely panicked over it, screaming, just like if I were to have 10 big spiders crawling on me, that's how he was acting over this fly that was flying around in our van. He has NEVER behaved that way about a bug before. We stopped the Focalin that day and are starting the Daytrana patch today. It's been 3 days and I haven't seen him picking his fingernails or toenails since stopping the Focalin. I believe this drug brings out OCD tendencies in people. I've never seen anything like this in my son before and I haven't seen it in the 3 days since he stopped taking it. | M | 5 | 1 months 10 mg 1X day | 3/30/2010 | 2 | adhd | Will the tics go aways after a few weeks while still taking med. He wil turn his head side to side and up and down | M | 5 | 4 days 5 | 11/21/2011 | 2 | ADHD | Makes my daughter very irritable, crabby and emotional. Mood swings and many meltdowns. It also makes her very anxious. Spitting because she thinks bugs are in her mouth, worried about germs etc. It also killed her appetite and she won't drink much either. | It seemed to help the first week or so (minus the spitting) but not longer has much effect. I don't want to increase the dose for rear that it will make her mood and OCD behaviors worse. | F | 5 | 3 weeks 5 mg 1X day | 5/13/2012 | 2 | AD/HD | My son exhibits OCD-like behavior, nail biting, hyper-focused on finger or toes... sometimes to the point of distracting him worse than if he's not medicated. Loss of appetite is minimal. REBOUND as med wears off can be severe: hyperactivity worse than normal, aggressive, defiant. My son metabolizes this medication in 2-4 hours tops. By the way the rebound is much worse if your dose is too low, but I'm afraid to bump him up because he's already OCD over his fingers enough as it is. | I had him on Focalin XR prior to trying the immediate release. I'm happier with the way the XR worked. It had less of a rebound, less OCD/Hyper-focus response and lasted up to 6 hours. He seemed less zombie-like and more outgoing as well. It did interfere with his sleep more and definitely impacted his appetite and cause him to not gain weight. | M | 6 | 6 months 10mg 1X day | 3/1/2011 | 2 | Adhd | Periods of Priapism.. recent trip.to beach on 85°day, he was cold, shivering ,teeth chattering, skin color grey, no appetite...lasted 20-30 min. His appetite is much decreased, eats in evening after effects wear off. Sometimes zombie like., an hour or less after taking. I am the grandmother, and opposed him taking meds. The Dr.prescibed after ONE appt with him. The psych dr that prescribed does not monitor him ..im afraid his blood pressure or heart rate is being affected..or perhaps his thyroid output..hence temperature regulation is affected?? My daughter doesnt think its an issue.. but not sure how I can address it since I only have visits or overnights about 1-2 times per week...HELP? ADVICE? | M | 6 | 90 days 10mg 1X day | 4/25/2021 | 5 | Severe adhd | A little less hungry | This drug has seriously saved my sons life. He is very impulsive and was failing school. He has a high iq and just couldn’t get through the day. This has helped his learning, friendships and he is overall much happier. He is able to go to school and activities full day when he could not before. We are blessed to have found focalin. | M | 7 | 6 months 10 | 7/16/2019 | 5 | ADHD | Mild headache | This drug has been very effective for my son. He was having severe attention problems at school which showed on his report card in his grades and his conduct scores. Since taking this drug, he has brought N's up to S's and some N's up to E's. His teacher sees a remarkable improvement. He still eats very well - almost better than before. He complains of a headache occasionally but that could also be from his allergies. | M | 7 | 3 months | 5/6/2009 | 1 | Adhd | I gave my son this medication on Saturday for the first time ever. After an hour of taking it, he began to become very hyper and then start screaming of a headache. After about 10 minutes of that my son became unresponsive. I took him to the ER and he was still unresponsive and began having seizures. I will NEVER give this to him again. | M | 7 | 1 days 5mg | 5/13/2019 | 1 | ADHD | The medicine worked to keep my son calm and he did focus better and finished schoolwork. However, he started recently about a week ago to have abnormal side effects. First, he had trouble sleeping. Then, he became deathly afraid of his grandmas kitten, would scream about how scared he was and needed to lock self in closet/another room. Then he became deathly afraid again later this week and had like a panic attack/paranoia about a fly that was in our kitchen. Never was afraid of flies in the past but now he couldn't handle it all of a sudden. Needed to take him outside for a walk and to calm down. Saw a neighbors dog and wanted to pet it and he did a good job. So not sure why he could pet dog and be friendly with that vs panic attacks about fly | We are going to stop medication immediately and try another medication. He seems like himself so far after one day of not taking it | M | 8 | 1 months 15mg XR 1X day | 7/5/2020 | 1 | ADHD | First headaches, tic (humming non stop), he is an emotional roller coaster ride and is exhibiting bipolar and depression behaviors. The outburst are so intense. | Tics, he is humming non stop, I am tapering him off now. He has been on Stratara for well over a year but he still has no motivation nor could he consintrate so we switched it up. Since starting this medication he is not acting like the son I have always known. He will cry for hours, say he is worthless basically and that his life is horrible and no one understands. Many of the concerns before my comment this hit home. WORST Meds EVER! My poor son is being pulled in so many emotional directions I'm so mad that this crud was approved by the FDA. | M | 8 | 10 days 10mg | 10/10/2015 | 5 | ADD | Without Focalin, I probably wouldn't be passing any of my classes. I'be been taking the medication for about 6 years now. I've tested days without it and it absolutely screws up my day. I don't do any work in school and then come home and have issues focusing on homework. My doctor has prescribed me many different medications between Kindergarten and 3rd grade. Focal in was the only thing that worked. | M | 15 | 6 years 10 | 2/29/2016 | 3 | ADD | headaches, migranes, anxiety, pounding heart, decreased appetite, weight loss, no libido | This medication helped me somewhat but by the time I stopped taking it I had become very anxious and was getting extremely severe headaches. | M | 15 | 7 years 10 MG 1X day | 1/17/2018 | 5 | ADHD | slight loss of appetite | My son has tried every ADHD medicine available and this is by far the best. Focalin seems to control his impulses and increases his ability to stay focused and do well in school while still allowing his personality to come through. It has had the least affect on his appetite and sleep patterns. All other medicines we tried since he was 5 include Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, Vyvanse and Stratterra. They all showed signs of extreme irratability and agitation, and affected his sleep and appettite. Adderal and Ritalin both caused nervous ticks and Strattera caused him to feel like he did not belong. Vyvanse caused him to act irrational emotionally. Extreme mood swings. From a mom who continues to research and stay on top of what is available and how it effects my child this is definitely what I recommend to any parent. | M | 16 | 4 years | 1/9/2010 | 3 | Adhd | It worked very well throughout the day but once I got home I experienced a headache felt like I was having a panic attack wouldn't recommend to anybody. | M | 16 | 1 days | 1/15/2018 | 3 | ADD | Very effective as far as attentivness and alertness and lasts pretty much the whole day. It has also helped with my memory and processing information more in depth with less impulsive decision making on tests homework etc. Side effects- makes me shaky and weak. Doesn't really address restlessness in class but it is still manageable most of the time. A noticeable increase in anxiety and elevated heart rate especially with small amounts of activity even just walking to class. | Still have issues putting thoughts into words. Loss of appetite but not particularly concerning having started the medication so recently. I also feel much more social and engaged in conversation. I haven't experienced any mood swings and actually keeps me pretty positive/motivated. Being the first medication I've tried it is definitely an improvement apposed to nothing but it comes with the trade offs. My doctor is concerned about the anxiety and increased heart rate so i am going to explore some other options within the coming weeks. | M | 19 | 7 days 40mg | 10/21/2015 | 1 | ADD | This is by far the WORST drug I have ever taken in my life. Everytime I took Focalin I had these HORRIBLE jitters and I couldn't stop yawning uncontrollably. I was also very thirsty and had to drink several glasses of water all day long. I had episodes where I would get very VERY angry and aggressive and felt like I could go on a shooting spree or kill myself. I could feel blood rushing through my body and and I would get so hot to the point where you could see my hands would be very red in color. I would also get very moody (as if I were bipolar) and anxious and have awful panic attacks. I was on a normal dose for my weight. This is a dangerous drug. Don't take it -- AVOID FOCALIN. It's HORRIBLE! | I will never take it again. It is a dangerous drug and should be banned. | M | 22 | 1 months | 3/13/2009 | 1 | ADHD | Instability. Unpredictable mood swings and occasionally even panic attacks. | Initially, Focalin, broken into 5mg doses worked okay when I couldn't get an Adderall prescription filled, but after about a month- Every time I took it I would get hyperanxiety. Once to the point of auditory hallucinations. I tried one last time earlier today and had a panic attack. Would not recommend this drug to anyone as it has way too unstable a range of effects, both psychologically and physically. I'll be looking into a different medication option, and for reference, I did not experience theses negative effects from adderall. | M | 24 | 2 months 10mg 2X day | 7/14/2012 | 5 | ADULT ADD | Since I began taking this drug, as an adult , I always noticed some sort of anxiety, which is what I described it as... I have always constantly kept a blank writing pad next ti me, because as the effect of the medication began, my mind would began to think about all these other things (in my 'to do list') that I had forgotten..., so I would start a to do list as I am trying to study. I never thought this was a negative effect until now, where I believe I am becoming dependent on the focalin. I read how children pick their nails... I do that,,, I cant sit still, yet again, I can focus. Its a very scary feeling, and I find myself 'self prescribing' higher and higher doses, solely to be able to focus, yet again, i think I am becoming even more an anxiety driven.... Im not sure what to do at this point. My education (higher education) depends on me being able to concentrate on classes and this is truly becoming a problem.... | F | 27 | 18 months 20 3X day | 10/31/2011 | 1 | Adult AD/HD | Depression and Anxiety. Shaking, insomnia, headaches. Drained by the end of the day. Mind racing. | This drug helped initialy, although I didn't like the way it made me feel physically. I kept taking it because it did help me focus and pay attention. Then I fell into an almost crippling depression and couldn't understand why. I have never been depressed, but now I've had such a lovely life experience. Then I began feeling panicky and out of control. I've never had anxiety before either. Thanks Focalin! I talked to my doctor about it, who prescribed Lexapro. Thanks pharmaceutical companies! I think I'll just detox from the Focalin and look for other ways to increase focus… | F | 28 | 60 days 20 MG 1X day | 5/24/2010 | 1 | Adult ADD | Psychosis; Severe Depression; Uncontrollable crying spells; Feelings of being unworthy | Although many people have reacted very positively to this drug, I ended up at a mental hospital 3 days after I started taking it. I've never had any serious problems and I mentioned to my doctor that I was forgetting everything lately so he prescribed this to me. Seriously, it was a complete nightmare! It took about 2 days to recover, but I am fine now. Be careful with anything you take/ | F | 28 | 3 days | 6/11/2008 |
FOCALIN (DEXMETHYLPHENIDATE HYDROCHLORIDE): This medication is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - ADHD. It works by changing the amounts of certain natural substances in the brain. Dexmethylphenidate belongs to a class of drugs known as stimulants. It can help increase your ability to pay attention, stay focused on an activity, and control behavior problems. It may also help you to organize your tasks and improve listening skills. FDA Approval Date: 2001-11-13 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)