FOCALIN Reviews (DEXMETHYLPHENIDATE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 2.9 (33 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare FOCALIN with similar:
 CNS, MISCELLANEOUS    DEA Schedule II   

 Type: Rx Drug

  

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)

  

Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken from shortest to longest duration (reviews with no time reported listed first).

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

Page: 1 2


RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR FOCALINCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 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
 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
Email
 3  ADD/ADHD Finger tingling/numbness (circulation problems) This medication worked well for my ADHD but I was taken off of it within a few days due to the potentially harmful side effects. F 29 3 days
5mg 1X day
5/23/2014
 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
 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
Email
 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  It was dispensed in error!! loss of hair, manic episodes, up three days at time, extreme depression, agitation, blurred vision, fast weight loss, fear, paranoia My pharmacy was supposed to refill my adderall xr 30 but instead gave me' focalin xr 30 (but bottle said adderall xr 30) .. This was the most horrifying drug I have ever been on. I felt like I had lost my mind and was depressed to a dangerous point. The error was found and I was finally notified but the damage was done. F 32 8 days
30 mg xr 1X day
5/5/2011
Email
 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
 3  Adult ADHD Constant ringing in my ears & blurred vision. I was on Focalin xr prior to being on the immediate release that I'm on now. The xr worked better for me, but it barely lasted a few hours. So my doctor switched me to the immediate version hoping this one would work better. Maybe I just have severe ADHD because I still have a really bad memory & still can't concentrate on things. I'm starting a new job soon & am very concerned about being able to focus, concentrate & remember things! I was on Vyvanse before this which worked VERY well for me, but my insurance now refuses to cover it even after my doctor going through months of prior authorizations with them :( F 42 14 days
10 MG 2X
9/14/2019
Email
 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
 5  Adult ADHD, some depression issues Sleepy! Have to take a nap after dose. When I wake up, I'm fine. When it wears off, some depression/anger issues. Nothing nearly as bad as Wellbutrin. Works so much better than the SNRIs. I'm just a little too becalmed - sleepy. I'm at 20 mg XR have only been at this dose couple of weeks. If the sleepiness/mood extremes smooth out, I'll take it till the day I die. I have refractory depression and this cures without loss of libido or flat affect. Otherwise, thumb's up! F 48 70 days
7/5/2009
 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
Email
 5  ADHD Initially made me sleepy, then slightly upbeat. This drug is a miracle! I waited many many years to finally try medication because of all the negative things I heard about stimulants. I regret it now because once I tried this I was able to concentrate, focus on one thing at a time, actually start and finish a book, clean off my cluttered desk, and complete projects at work. My boss thinks I'm a new person and so does my husband. Take my advice and tell those who tell you this is poison to keep their mistaken opinions to themselves because focalin has changed my life for the better. It works well with little or no side effects. I did lose 15 pounds but that was because I had more energy and joined a gym. F 48 365 days
2.5mg 2X day
5/18/2011
 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
Email
 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
Email
 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
Email
 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
Email
 1  ADD Very, very anxious! Jittery, short of breath, very rapid heartbeat, fatigued when wears off and headache/stiff neck. Bad idea! F 35 1 months
30
6/16/2016
Email
 3  Adhd F 65 2 months
10 mg 3X day
10/29/2021
Email
 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
  

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)

      Next Page

BACK TO TOP