Focalin XR User Reviews & Ratings (Page 4)

• College...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 1, 2023

For ADHD "I've been taking generic Concerta for a couple of years now, but I found out that the manufacturer stopped making it, so I have to try something else. I got prescribed Focalin ER 10 mg, and I was taking Concerta 27 mg. I'd say Focalin makes my brain go faster and gives me racing thoughts but doesn't necessarily make me more effective. It feels as if I drank coffee throughout the day. I definitely don't enjoy life as much on this medication, and I'm thinking of switching to something else. I'm tired of the anxiety and fast heart rate as well. Concerta made me feel more capable and effective as a person, and this medication does not."

• Maen
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 17, 2022

For ADHD "HORRIBLE! This was the first ADHD medication I was prescribed and it not only was I a minor at the time but it literally caused me such paranoia that it drove me to attempt to take my life and I was involuntarily hospitalized. I was switched to different meds and it was a totally different experience and not only helped my ADHD but calmed me down! I brushed it off thinking that it’s just the risk you take with stimulants and that I needed to find the right one for me until I met someone else who experienced the same, googled the medication and one of the first things that comes up is a warning about how it commonly causes paranoia but also PSYCHOSIS!! And that 35% of people that take focalin report having a negative experience over a positive and only 45% having a positive experience! I’d ask my doctor about other options if your doctor is pushing this drug in particular, personally!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 16, 2022

For ADHD "This is probably the best medication I have been on for ADHD. My first day taking I feel calm, focused, and able to deal with frustrations at work in a very peaceful mindset. Would highly recommend this medication."

• A...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 25, 2022

For ADHD "I take 15mg of focalin (Extended release) In the morning before I go to college and it helps me focus and stuff but once lunch time comes it's starting to wear off. So I think I'm going to get a immediate release afternoon dose of focalin that's short acting to take in the afternoon and that short acting so I can still sleep at night"

• Anonymous
• January 27, 2010

For ADHD "My child has been taking this for a few months now. We tried Concerta and after only the second dose he was having severe tics. Focalin has less side effects but his behavior is WORSE when he misses a dose than it ever was before he started taking this medicine. "

• hmawhor
• November 18, 2011

For ADHD "We started our 10 year old daughter on this medication last year and had terrific results. She doesn't have any behavioral issues at school and never had but did by the time she got home, was so worn out from trying to focus and be good that she was having emotional break downs. We started last year on 5 and after 8 months 10. She is saying she doesn't notice a difference between taking in and not recently so increase to 15. She has been emotional again somedays, but not sure whether that is because she is an 11 year old girl, medication related, or not enough medicine. She has had a problem falling asleep since she was born and last year seemed better after being on medicines, but has come back this year. We give her melatonin occasionally."

• Nunya...
• January 29, 2018

For ADHD "I was placed on this medication after taking a 5 question survey on a piece of paper. That DOES NOT determine whether or not you have ADHD. I was on this medication and lost 40 lbs. I also lost several jobs, became very emotionally erratic, and nearly died after arriving to a hospital with a 260 BPM heartbeat. After finding out that I have Mitral Valve Prolapse with regurgitation, I obviously was weened off this medication. I ended up following up with a neurosurgeon completing a CAT scan from a previous Traumatic Brain Injury as a teen and then also completed neuro-psychological testing which proved that I, in fact, do NOT have ADHD even though I was diagnosed with it twice in my life. "

• Anonymous
• November 5, 2011

For ADHD "My daughter started taking Focalin XR 15mg in the morning and 10mg in the afternoon. This medicine does not seem to be helping at all and her behavior is worse than ever to the point that we cannot handle her and she almost had to be hospitalized for the second time within a 2 week span."

• Mom
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 7, 2019

For ADHD "My daughter with ADHD been taking Focalin XR 30mg and she has less attitude. Her teachers say it helps her control her self. Without it she has an attitude to her sister she is good when she is on it but when it but when it wears off her attitude is back and she’s hyper. Her grades are better though."

• Teach...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 30, 2024

For ADHD "My 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter are both on this medication. They are both on 15mg XR, and it has completely changed their lives! Both of them are extremely smart. However, in school, they were consistently struggling with short-term memory, recall, and paying attention. They tried to test my son for Gifted and Talented, but because of his ADHD, he couldn't sit for the test. My daughter too had a difficult time learning to read because of her lack of honors classes and being one of the smartest kids in her class. My daughter is reading middle school-level chapter books as a 3rd grader, and they both love school. The only side effect we have experienced is a slight lack of appetite that is made up for at the end of the day when it wears off. My son has experienced slight mood swings when it wears off, but it mostly looks like him just getting frustrated and then crying a little. Other than that, nothing! This has worked so well for us!"

• User
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 4, 2021

For ADHD "I can't find the words to express how terrible I feel on this medicine. I feel like an emotionless zombie. During the first hours on it, you'll feel great. Like a burst of adrenaline, but then it wears off and it leaves you feeling paranoid, tired and depressed. You'll start shaking, and twitching somedays. It just feels awful. Please check if this medicine is right for you."

• Tallmom
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 6, 2022

For ADHD "My son’s pediatrician prescribed a starting dose of 5 mg. My son is 8 and was diagnosed with ADHD. He was having a great deal of difficulty focusing in school and would not follow directions. I gave him the medicine one time and it did not seem to affect him at all. However after he went to bed he woke up a few minutes later screaming that someone was in his room and coming to get him. He was crying hysterically and shaking with terror. This is not typical behavior for him. The website warns that “new psychotic symptoms (such as hearing voices, believing things that are not true, are suspicious)” have been reported. Please be sure this medication is right for your child. I however do not recommend it."

• Hiano
• May 19, 2019

For ADHD "My son with ADHD used to run around and be so loud and excited but now on the Fovalin XR he is calm quite and it feels like he is not here. He is in his room looking at the wall at the store he just sits in his seat silent and on the week end he lets me watch news and sleeps almost all the time and he is a total different person without it when I watch my TV he stares and don't care and he is horror without it"

• Drake
• June 22, 2016

For ADHD "It's amazing but don't take 5 or 6 or 7 you will feel sick and stay up and not eat for a day or 2 but if you want a fun focus high go small like 2 or 3 then work your way up if you want to buy its not fun with a lot you start hearing thing and seeing things and you get scared easy but fun at the end did my college homework project and easays and other things I had to do for college got all done in that 24 hour period still up and feel hyper and awake but I know I'm going to crash very soon but the drug does it job 100% for me when I do 1 10mg or 2 10mg I do 2 for test the next day soo I know I'm up and ready for it"

• IamBa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 15, 2022

For ADHD "I took first dose of 5mg this morning then went back into the bed. thought I was awake but I was having dreams, so I must have fallen asleep. woke up two hours later and felt calmer but it wore off about 4 hours later. I had some anxiety return with sadness for the next two hours. To early to tell but I take an antidepressant but never experienced sadness when the Adderall XR wore off. Will work with doctor and see what she has to say. On Wellbutrin Sr which I started a few days ago so I can't really be sure if the side effects are from the Focalin XR or Wellbutrin SR. Wish I started the Focalin XR without the antidepressant even though I wasn't that depressed but doctor suggested I should take it. Will make another post later after some time passes by. Good luck to everyone."

• jay
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 26, 2023

For ADHD "Horrible! The first few days of taking it, I noticed a stark contrast in my behavior. I started feeling more irritable, anxious, nervous, and aggressive. It didn't treat any of the symptoms of my disorder and only exacerbated the symptoms associated with my anxiety and bipolar I diagnosis. If you have one or more mood disorders, I wouldn't recommend trying Focalin."

• Rather...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 16, 2019

For ADHD "I took this medicine it made me have suicidal thoughts. It is awful. It made me irritable and I could not get sleep. This medicine tore up my stomach every time I eat I would throw-up. I just got tired of this medication. I wouldn't take this medication."

• Kahleia
• September 16, 2010

For ADHD "My daughter has been on this drug for a month and she has been focusing a lot better on homework and her behavior has improved. I am currently trying to figure out what to do because it helps her a lot but also causes diarrhea sometimes."

• Wouldnt...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 23, 2019

For ADHD "The first day I took Focalin XR, it worked fantastic and I had so much energy and confidence was really feeling like myself again. 2nd day of taking it, it was ok wasn’t as good as the first day. Then the third day I felt no difference at all. Made me feel probably worse than when I was off of it. Was extremely exhausted had no effects at all. So I called my doc and he told me to start taking 2 (20mg each) and it did ok I felt the energy but literally no focus at all. Wouldn’t recommend this to anyone may work ok for some but it’s a good chance it won’t."

• exotec
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 18, 2021

For ADHD "I took Focalin XR for 6 months and the first couple of months were amazing. Focalin helped me to get really important tasks done at school and work, but at some point the drug did not let me sleep. I would get very shaky, I could only think about smoking cigarettes and if there was alcohol near me, I would be down it. At this point I was addicted to Focalin, even though I never took more than 20mg a day. I would need it to survive the day and here I am going through withdrawal right now. Be careful with this drug, I personally would never give focalin to a kid or even young adult."

• Travis
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 24, 2022

For ADHD "OK so maybe you will have someone trying to discredit this but anyway my son been taking this stuff and for 4 years his mood is crazy at first little anger at 5 years old, now 4 years later he is much worse. He lost his want and need to eat and doesn't care about anything. He can't stay still makes crazy faces. Don't give your child any of these drugs from them doctors, its all a lies. Just look at the reviews and look at the side effects. Watch you kids please. With all my heart I say parents yall know best, not a person with a title. I'm sending love and strength to all. Question everything please watch your kids"

• George...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 25, 2022

"My issues are TBI, ADHD, ASD, GDD and GAD. This drug is amazing for me! When co-administered with my SSRIs (sertraline and trazodone HCl) and my dissociative neuroanaleptic (memantine HCl), I noticed a vast decrease in depressive, ADHD, brain fog and even some anxiety symptoms (especially social anxiety) when it was bumped up to 50mg/day by my psychiatrist. However, this stuff isn't a toy. Avoid alcohol, foods high in vitamin C, and probably others that I forgot when taking this drug. My focus, mood and energy feels like I'd never suffered right prefrontal trauma, but if you are well aware of your challenges you can out think the godlike feeling it may sometimes give you. Do not take this if you're also on Abilify. Do not take this if you're on venlafaxine, mirtazipine or bupropion."

• Drew
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 22, 2018

For ADHD "18 y/o daughter, 100 pds, prescribed starting dose of 20 mg daily by primary care dr. She went nearly out of her mind and out of control immediately. Anger, crying uncontrollably, inability to process, absolutely like she was on crack. Previously on another ADHD med without these effects. 4 days in we took her off and she returned to sanity. This scared both her and us. It appears she was prescribed 4x the starting dose considering her size...and it is capsules that cannot be split. I Epic fail."

• A Mom
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 30, 2022

For ADHD "Became addictive and caused multiple side effects including anger. My 9 year old was on it over a year. I finally took him off it without telling anyone. A little bit of withdrawal for 2 weeks, nothing too bad. He has been off it all summer, doing FANTASTIC!"

• Cait
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 25, 2021

For ADHD "I tried this medicine after being on Adderall XR and dealing with that medicine not lasting the amount of time it should have, so my doctor tried Focalin XR. I was hopeful at first, the first 2-3 days were totally fine but by the 4th day I was super anxious, jittery and felt like my ADHD was worse. I gave it a couple more tries before I had a mental breakdown one day from the anxiety this medicine gave me. I always felt that anxious feeling in my stomach, that never went away. Nothing could calm me down. On top of all that, it made me sweat profusely. More than I ever have in my entire life. I finally was able to switch to Vyvanse and have never looked back."