Special Needs Education

» ShansMom - Month on Daytrana

In response to Month on Daytrana posted by cpmom:

Because we were experiencing a long delay before seeing the benefits of the patch, our Dr. prescribed 10mg of focalin to be taken in the a.m. after applying the patch. This has worked very well and we are seeing the results in about 1/2 hour. My daughter does not metabolize the patch nearly as fast as she did the oral meds. She is thrilled that she will no longer need to take meds at school!!!
She has not experienced stomach pains or sweating.

-- posted by ShansMom

» cpmom - Month on Daytrana

I am curious where your son's stomach pains are located. I have taken my son off the patch for the past two days after taking him to his pediatrician to make sure the pains were not sickness related and his stomach pains have drastically decreased. It will interesting to see what happens when I put the patch back on. My son's appetite has decreased as well but he gained such a significant amount of weight after he started Focalin XR it is not a huge concern right now but prior to this he has always been very, very thin. While being off medication for most of this summer he has also grown significantly over the past two months which makes me believe his lack of growth is related to all the medication he has been on for 6 years. Some days it feels like it is a no win situation.

-- posted by cpmom

» msdossett - Patch does not stick

Today was our first day with the patch for our 8 year-old. After we went thru three patches due to the adhesive backing, we went thru three more because they would not stay attached to his skin. I did not touch the sticky side and applied it to clean, dry skin (even used alcohol). After a couple of hours the edges would start peeling up. I even applied a piece of surgical tape over one but in about an hour the patch buckled up under the tape. I spent the rest of the afternoon crying. The pharmacy said the patches were OK and the Dr.s office said put it on his back in case he was scratching it. I did and it peeled again off his back.. Anyone have any ideas? We are coming up on a weekend and cannot get another prescription and we only had about 10 originally. HELP!! msdossett@aol.com

-- posted by msdossett

» cpmom - Patch does not stick

I know that if we do not apply consistent pressure (30-40 seconds) and simultaneoulsy massage the patch on my son's hip until it sticks on all four corners and in the center of the patch it has come off shortly after applying it.

-- posted by cpmom

» ShansMom - Patch does not stick

In response to Patch does not stick posted by msdossett:
I agree with the above... make sure you are applying pressure to the patch for at least 40 seconds. I also press all the edges down firmly to make sure the seal is complete. My daughter has spent a lot of time in the water during the past several days and we haven't lost the patch (although she may get a small bubble or two in it, that hasn't changed the effectiveness).

-- posted by ShansMom

» msdossett - Patch does not stick

In response to Patch does not stick posted by ShansMom:

Thank you!!!! I will sure try that. We'll let everyone know how it works for us. We were beginning to think our son had some skin condition which prevented the patch from sticking. We also contacted the Pharmacy to see if maybe our batch was bad. We did the Focolin thing today. I'll try the patch again tomorrow.

-- posted by msdossett

» mmmom - new to patch

8 year old son was taking ritalin 10mg, 3 times, I asked dr. about patch and we started on 10mg. on 8th. not seeing results, have been supplementing with 5mg half tabs to function. dr. switching to 15, I'm trying to figure out whats going on. havn't had any problems with sticking. his low weight has bothered me, been giving him store brand supplement shakes, he likes vanilla, the one I found has 350 calories, and extra fiber, which I think is helpful. I believe the stomach pain is lack of bm, due to meds and lacking diet.

-- posted by mmmom

» msdossett - Patch still Comes Off

We tried the sugggested techniques again today. We found yesterday that the techniques worked but also that the 10 mg is not nearly enough-An absolute wild man but his appetire was voracious. Ate everything in sight that normally he would not even look at. This Am we applied the patch and it looked good for two hours. We decided to try the "waterproof" aspect of the adhesion and it peeled off after a few minutes in the pool. We go to the Dr. tomorrow AM and they are going to apply it themselves and watch it. I still suspect this is a bad batch because the box had been opened by the Pharmacy because of a dispense to someone else for part of the total quantity.

-- posted by msdossett

» skippypac - 2nd Day on the Patch

We started our son on the patch yesterday - 10mg. He will be turning 6 in November. This is the first medication he has been on for ADHD and he is starting kindergarten next week.

Any advise on the patch or ADHD in general that anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

-- posted by skippypac

» gailgarbonzobean - patch update

In response to 2nd Day on the Patch posted by skippypac:

My son has been on the patch for about two weeks now. What I am seeing is that it is taking a long time to enter his system, once it is there I see a noticable difference. We also do not see any rebound which is really nice. It does seem to be lasting after the patch is off for a couple hours. But, he still has no appetite and is still complaing of stomach pains. I am going to talk to the Dr. and see what he thinks.

-- posted by gailgarbonzobean