Discontinuing Focalin Xr

MandM Says:
Mon, Apr 04 '16, 4:56 AM

my 13 year old son was on 25 mg of Focalin XR and we recently started him on 20 mg in order to take him off of it this summer. Is it OK to stop 20 mg once school is out or do we need to go down to 15 mg before stopping all together? I told his doctor about taking him off for the summer and she didn't really indicate doing anything different.

Donna santucci Says:
Thu, Apr 07 '16, 8:52 PM via mobile
Are you sure taking him off the focalin for summer is a good idea. Yea school will be out so taking it to assist academic functions is not needed. However isnt this med needed to assist social development. Mason believe most people do not realize that all finctions, including academic and social are equally important which is why continuing medication during summer break is beneficial for treatment of adhd. Hope this helps. If you would like to duscuss this more I am willing.

David Says:
Wed, Apr 20 '16, 7:32 PM
@MandM,

I think if you can weight out the benefits vs risks of taking Focalin it would be just a matter of listening to and understanding how your son feels while under its influence. In my opinion, drugs like this are only intended to be a crutch for so long until the patient can learn to take back more control/responsibility over their own actions/behaviors. So if the "training wheels" (so to speak) are ready to come off, I think based on his doctor's response it should be ok - At least from how I'm interpreting your post. But most importantly, communicate with your son often and get to know how he feels both on and off medication, so you can more easily gauge the effects it may have from discontinuing treatment if that's what you decide to do. Does he have any friends he can hang out with or talk to regularly as well? I believe the best way to assist with social development is to communicate often.