Special Needs Education

» mom45 - daytrana

Overall going very well...increased alertness....having problems with occasionally forgetting to get patch off by 3 or 4...when this happens HORRIBLE headache. Anyone?

-- posted by mom45

» jannew - Applying Patch

In response to Applying Patch posted by jad0327:

I've also had big problems with this patch. I didn't even know until just now that there are three layers there. *Duh* I have noticed that most of the middle layer *where the meds are* is being put into my trash can. Great, huh?

I'm not at all happy with having to pay so much for a patch that is not even made so that it's easily applied to my child's skin where it can work. Whether exposure to heat or any other elements is an issue, it needs to be resolved, and remaining boxes of patches that are not useable should be replaced free of charge. ADHD is frustrating enough without this added problem.

-- posted by jannew

» jannew - Applying Patch

In response to Applying Patch posted by momof4boyz:

Wow, what great ideas here. Thanks. My daughter has been from Concerta on down the chain, and this patch is her last ditch effort to get some relief from her ADHD. I've got some 5 mg. methanfendate (sp) and may have her take that this morning to try it out. Her patches aren't sticking right either and have noticed a huge improvement when they do, but it's hit and miss. My best to you. I have five daughters... and my high school age daughter is just now showing signs of ADD. This one (using patch) is confirmed ADHD, and has been for years. I'm questioning whether the high school one is going to benefit from treatment. Her grades are good... sometimes ok. She complains of problems concentrating. Anyway thanks for your suggestions. My daughter didn't do well on Focalin. I wish she had. I've heard from so many that it's great. For some reason it made her very nauseous, and depressed.

-- posted by jannew

» momof4boyz - Applying Patch

In response to Applying Patch posted by jannew:

Best of luck to you too! We could probably have some good laughs-you with 5 girls and me with 4 boys. Mine are 10,9,6,and3. My hat's off to you. I think we are stopping at 4... My ADHD child has been this way since preschool and he's 9 now. We started back on the Focalin XR and he's doing much better. He takes 20mg in the morning and (2) 2.5mg crushed tabs right after school. We have tried Concerta b/c our dr. said it would stay in his system longer than Focalin but it almost evolved into WWIII trying to get him to swallow it so we gave up. Maybe we'll try the patches next year if they've worked some of the kinks out. But after 2+ months on the patch it just wasn't consistent for him. I was watching the academics slide and I knew that next all the social stuff would be in jeopardy and I can't let that happen...again. BTW, the Focalin never made my son nauseous but he was a little depressed at first but once we found the right dosage it got better after about 6 months. It was almost like his body just needed time to adjust. He used to kind of lay around if he was at home and had the meds in him but now he plays normally when it's in his system when he's at home. Also, he took/takes it with food in the morning. Hang in there!

-- posted by momof4boyz

» jannew - Applying Patch

In response to Applying Patch posted by momof4boyz:

Thanks so much for the encouragement.

My daughters are 28, 22, 19, 14 (15 next month) and 12. Currently the youngest is the only one officially diagnosed with ADHD but I am certain my 22 year old has it too, and the 14 year old as I said, probably has ADD. In addition, my husband has adult ADD. I'm beginning to wonder about myself. LOL.

Still hoping the patch has some improvements. So far it's the best resulting answer, when it works = and when it's not working it's only because it was defective and not applied correctly. She's only been on it for a week so far. Keeping fingers crossed.

My best to you!

-- posted by jannew

» jannew - Daytrana skin irritation and slow start

In response to Daytrana skin irritation and slow start posted by Burb15:

I also think it's the same thing as Ritalin. My only problem with the Ritalin was that my daughter was stuffing it in her pocket instead of taking it. She is nearly 13. I thought she was responsible enough to trust to take it like she did for years... but she dislikes the side effects and opted for being sneaky. Her school work told the tale, however, and we found pills around the house (which did NOT make Mom too happy). The patch is not working most of the time because of the middle layer sticking to the backing, and me being too ignorant yet to know this... so we're still fumbling our way towards success... some days are GREAT when the patch stays put and the insides are actually mostly on her skin! It shouldn't be this difficult, I'm thinking, to put a patch on your child, so hopefully they will correct this faulty manufacturing or whatever the cause of the defective patches arriving in drug stores.

-- posted by jannew

» CEEEJAE41 - FIRST DAY APPLY PATCH 10-12-06

In response to Applying Patch posted by momof4boyz:

HI MY SO IS 6. DEEP INSIDE I KNEW HE MAY HAVE HAD ADHD FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS BUT I HAD OTHER REASONS THAT MADE ME THINK THAT MAYBE HE WASN'T. MY CHILD'S NEW PEDIATRICIAN WHO SPECIALIZES IN ADHD CONFIRMED IT 3 DAYS AGO AND IMMEDIATELY PRESCRIBED THE 15MG DAYTRANA PATCH. I AGREE THAT IT WAS VERY HARD REMOVING THE PATCH FROM THE TOP LAYER AND APPLYING ON THE SKIN WAS EVEN HARD. HOWEVER, AFTER THAT STRUGGLE IT HELPED! MY SON HAD SUCH A BEHAVIOR PROBLEM AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE HE WAS 3 YEARS OLD. SO I HEARD IT FROM HIS DAYCARE FOR 3 YEARS AND WHEN HE WENT TO KINDERGARTEN LAST YEAR IT WAS SUCH A HARD YEAR. HIS GRADES WERE PERFECT. HE WAS WELL DEVELOPED IN ALL SUBJECTS. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE HONOR ROLL IF WOULD NOT HAD RECEIVED RED F'S IN CONDUCT. I THOUGHT MAYBE HE WAS BORED BECAUSE HE KNEW THE KINDERGARTEN WORK BUT THAT WAS NOT THE CASE BECAUSE HE WAS ACTUALLY MOVED TO A FIRST GRADE CLASSROOM DOING FIRST GRADE WORK INSTEAD OF KINDERGARTEN WORK. SO IN THE END I BLAMED THE SCHOOL JUST AS I DID THE DAY CARE BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT STRUCTERED AND DID NOTHING TO TRY TO HELP WITH HIS BEHAVIOR EXCEPT TO SAY THAT HE IS BAD AND OUT OF CONTROL AND THEY COULD NOT HANDLE THIS LITTLE SIX YEAR OLD BOY WHO WEIGHED ABOUT 35 POUND. I ACTUALLY HAD TO RELOCATE TO A DIFFERENT STATE AND ENROLL HIM IN A SCHOOL THAT I HOPED WAS WELL STRUCTURED AND THE TEACHERS CARED! THE TEACHER HE HAS NOW IS AWESOME. HIS FIRST DAY WAS FINE. THE SECOND DAY WAS HORRIBLE AND SO WAS THE THIRD AND FOURTH. HIS TEACHER THEN PUT HIM ON A WONDERFUL BEHAVIORAL PLAN THAT WAS ACUTUALLY WORKING WITH SOME SET BACKS. THIS I APPREICIATED. ANYWAY, TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, MY CHILD'S FIRST DAY ON DAYTRANA WAS EXCELLENT. HE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL. HE HAD THE PATCH ON AND THE TEACHER DID NOT KNOW IT. ABOUT THE 7TH HOUR OF WEARNING THE PATCH MY SON'S TEACHER TOLD ME THAT HE SAID HE WAS NOT FEELING WELL AND THAT HE FELT TIRED. THIS WAS AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY. AFTER SCHOOL, MY CHILD GOES TO AN AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM THEREFORE I WAS NOT ABLE TO TAKE THE PATCH OFF OF HIM ON THE NINTH HOUR. ABOUT AN HOUR INTO THAT PROGRAM HE WENT TO THE BATHROOM AND TOOK THE PATCH OFF HIMSELF. HE SAID IT WAS REALLY ITCHING HIM. THE DIRECTOR OF THE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM HAS WORKED WITH CHILDREN WITH ADHD IN THE PAST AND KNEW THAT MY SON WAS TAKING SOMETHING BECAUSE HIS BEHAVIOR WAS GREAT. WHEN HE TOLD HER THAT HE WENT TO THE BATHROOM TO TAKE OFF THE PATCH SHE KNEW THERE WAS A REASON HE COULD NOT STOP TALKING. HE TALKED TO ME UNTIL TEN THIRTY THAT NIGHT. I LOVE THE FACT THAT DAYRANA IS HELPING SO FAR. MY SON'S ONLY SIDE AFFECT IS ACCESSIVE TALKING AND LACK OF APPETITE.

-- posted by CEEEJAE41

» maria32955 - Daytrana

My daughter is 10 and was just diagnosed with ADD. We went on the patch 20mg to start. It has been 2 weeks, what a strange transition we have went through. Her grades have went from 30's and 40%'s to A's and B's. I am having a very hard time with the backing of the patch but I see that I am not alone. However, we are having the eating problems, so I have noticed she will drink all the time so I bought the Ensure drinks which are working. My other concern is she has always been a talker but since we started the patch it is NONSTOP. Just rambling on and on... Anyone else experience this? I notice it more about a hour to 2 hours after she takes it off! Thanks!

-- posted by maria32955

» jad0327 - Daytrana

In response to Daytrana posted by maria32955:

Maria,

My 13 year old son has been on the patch for over a month now. We have him take the patch off early (right after school) so the med's are out of his system (takes about two hours) and he eats a good dinner. He's also a talker by nature and once the meds are gone (about 2 hours after the patch is removed) the verbal onslaught begins. You may want to try taking the patch off a few hours before dinner to see if that helps with the eating. The talking may just be her "getting back to normal" after the meds wear off.

-- posted by jad0327

» mmmom - NONSTOP

LOL, i thought the nonstop talking was just a given with these guys, it seems the only quiet i get is at work! anyway glad to see the patch working for some, feels like a roller coaster at my house. i don't know what to do, it didn't seem to be doing the job well, called the doc for a ritalin l.a., just going to do that, but while waiting for that, we continued with patch and he seems to be doing ok, minus the normal behaviour issues at school. he's in third grade and every year has been a STRUGGLE. some teachers and/or schools just don't seem to understand, and i have looked around for special schools, just don't seem to be any in my area. i did find a summer camp in my hometown in colorado, maybe next year. he was in a charter school last year with an awesome principal who wanted to help and did all he could. but he moved on, so i decided to put him in a public school where i can hopefully get more help. unfortunately i get the impression his teacher doesn't like him, from her negative comments on his daily sheet. "he won't do his work in class", what am i supposed to do, i'm not there, i do my best to encourage him as much as possible. anyway just venting a little:), just trying to get through each new day, don't know if we should stay with patch now or go back to ritalin????????

-- posted by mmmom