Focalin and Increased Heart Rate: What Users Say

• col...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 22, 2018

For ADHD "I am 20 and have been on Focalin since I was about 16. I feel like a robot who cannot socially interact with anyone. Eating food feels unnatural to me. While it is great for focusing on school work, I am anxious about whether I am doing the right thing or not. Talking is a chore. My hands shake when I do homework. It feels like a state of panic with a rapid heartbeat and yet I feel no emotion at all, if that makes sense. I just get from point A to point B. Please make sure this medicine is right for you."

• Sno...
• November 15, 2016

For ADHD "I am 20 years old and I've been taking Focalin for a year now. I have been on every ADHD medication under the sun since I was in second grade, and this is the only medication that helped me get on track right away. The only adverse side effects I experience are a faster heart rate (most ADHD meds do that) and trouble sleeping. If you are having trouble sleeping on this drug, here's what you do and here's what I did: prior to now, I was taking my medication at 11 am or 10 am. Often I would spend nights awake and panicky, just begging for sleep to come. This is a simple fix. Just wake yourself up at like 6 am every day to take it, and you shouldn't have any problem sleeping. That's what I did, and I sleep very soundly."

• Gan...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 16, 2020

For ADHD "Focalin does what it is supposed to, but this medication makes my heart beat fast and also makes me super nervous and agitated all the time. I hate this medication. It makes me feel like a zombie, and it makes me feel cold all over. The worst part is that I can barely eat without feeling sick and that it makes me constantly shake. This medication also makes my mood stoop to a terrible and very low level. After it wears off, I feel weak, tired, cold, and nauseous."

• kat...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 27, 2020

For ADHD "Focalin 40 mg XR. I found that this medication was mostly ineffective. If anything, it has an initial kick and wears off extremely fast. I thought it would be like Adderall XR, which I could feel the effects come and go throughout the day at 30 mg. With Focalin, it's just one burst of euphoria/adrenaline, and then you crash and feel nothing except for the physical side effects like chest pain, rapid heartbeat, muscle tenseness. I took a nap 2.5 hours after taking it, which is ridiculous. It is frustrating because you don't feel the sense of focus that Adderall gives. I only took it for two days before I called it quits because I did not see a benefit and decided to go back to Adderall 20 mg IR. This medication did not suit me as a 27-year-old grad student. I felt anxiety and panic attack symptoms with the second dose I took, and I did not want to continue. It actually had a negative impact on my work input for those two days."

• jes...
• December 28, 2012

For ADHD "My 6.5-year-old son takes 5mg XR on school days only. He has been on it for 30 school days. He does great in school, and it appears to be a miracle help to him. It does seem to wear off too early, so I will talk to the doctor about that next week. When he comes home from school, and we try to do his homework, it is a nightmare. He has a very mild case of ADHD. He eats well so far. He sleeps better and longer now than he did before starting the medicine. But a few weeks ago, he told me he feels his heart beating fast and pains in his left side in physical education. I took him for a complete cardio check with EKG, ultrasound, and all kinds of other tests. He checked out in perfect condition. So we will keep an eye out and see."

• jan...
• August 27, 2019

For ADHD "For me, Focalin has had way more negative effects than positive. My doc started me off with 10 mg in the morning and then another 10 mg in the afternoon. Now I’m on 20 mg in the morning, 20 mg in the afternoon. It helps my concentration and ADHD issues for maybe the first 2 hours or less after each dose, but then from there, it causes terrible anxiety, depression. It makes things worse than actually helping when it starts wearing off (which is very quickly). Overall, I don't like Focalin at all. It not only comes with mental side effects like I mentioned but also physical side effects as well, such as: shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, constant feeling like I have to urinate but can’t, fatigue, etc. It’s been over 3 months, and it hasn’t helped my ADHD consistently or effectively anywhere close to stabilizing and treating it. Please consider other ADHD meds before going with Focalin for you/your child’s ADHD problems. It certainly hasn’t been the answer for me."

• gij...
• October 7, 2015

For ADHD "My 4 yo started taking Focalin today. 5 mg. She is higher than a kite. She talks incessantly. She is licking her chin. She is having mouth tics. She is sweating and scratching her face and arms. Her heart is beating so fast and is crying too. She will NEVER take this med again. ADHD is easier than this. It has been nearly 6 hrs, and it is still going strong. I can't get anything done for fear of taking my eyes off her. I would give it a 0, but wasn't an option."

• pre...
• January 19, 2018

For ADHD "The doctor started me off with 10 mg. It seemed to never 'fully' kick in, I would feel some effects, mostly just staring out into space and daydreaming. I told my doctor this, and he just said I needed to refocus my focus. (He's a hippie, y'all.) Then when I finally convinced him to up it to see if I would actually feel anything more, it just amps my anxiety and makes me extremely tired. You can forget about taking a second extended-release capsule after that one wears off, it just makes you more tired and amps your anxiety more, makes you jittery and really on edge, and also makes your heart beat incredibly fast. Would not recommend."

• Mon...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 13, 2021

For ADHD "I am a college student who has ADHD (inattentive) and have been taking Focalin XR 20 mg, sometimes 30 mg, for about a year now. I'm not going to lie, it 100% has helped me in school. I can finally complete assignments on time and be super focused while doing them. My professors teach super fast, and I am finally able to keep up mentally and take notes quickly due to my increased heart rate. It keeps me physically awake all day, but mentally tired because I can't sleep at night, so I have to take prescribed Clonidine to sleep. My stomach is constantly hurting and has led me to have horrible eating habits, and I'm skinny. I have to force myself to eat and drink water - if I don't, I will shake uncontrollably and have headaches. My heart will race so much, it causes my anxiety to increase, and it makes it difficult to socialize. I can never predict my mood for the day because it is incredibly unstable. This medicine is worth it school-wise, but the side effects are definitely factors to consider."

• ama...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 10, 2020

For ADHD "Pros: Helps my focus and relieves other ADHD symptoms. Did not decrease my appetite, create hyperfocus, or put me to sleep like Adderall did. Cons: Nausea, jaw tension, can't eat much at once. Feels pretty bad when it wears off (shaky, cold, weak, heart pounding, shortness of breath). Probably going to discontinue this med. The cons aren't worth it, unfortunately."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 16, 2017

For ADHD "I'm 22 in college. I've been taking Prozac for anxiety and depression, and it's worked great! I decided to take on my ADHD that I've had my whole life. Since having taken Focalin 20 mg, I have been a mess. Both medicines contradict each other. I have been very anxious taking this. I'm also very jittery, nonstop moving and sweaty. I'm hungry to the point of feeling faint, but can't eat because even the thought of eating makes me want to throw up. Some days my heart feels like it's beating out of my chest. I always wake up at 6 am feeling great and fall back asleep, waking up later feeling like rubbish. I haven't really been able to tell if it has helped me focus on school, but I'll begin focusing on other things like my phone or daydreaming."

• To1...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 5, 2023

For ADHD "Had to use Focalin temporarily when dextroamphetamine salts were backordered. I felt terrible - I had GI upset and difficulty sleeping. Wasn’t as effective for focus and had a longer onset, and felt pounding in the evening 14 hours after taking it. Initially started on 5 mg IR bid, and half the time couldn’t remember the second dose. Eventually was put on 5 mg ER. It unfortunately didn’t work for me."

• Gre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 16, 2020

For ADHD "I’ve taken Focalin once a few years ago and again just recently. Both times it made me very tired, to the point where I often have to take a nap 45 minutes after taking it because I’m so tired! I’ve never had this happen with any other ADHD medication except Focalin. It only helped my ADHD symptoms a tiny bit, but the side effects weren’t worth it, and both times I switched meds. Besides feeling truly tired (not “crash” tired, actually like I have to sleep), the other side effects I got from this medication: ear pressure, fast heartbeat, and ringing in ears."

• Kay...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 5, 2021

For ADHD "I do not recommend this medication at all. It made me irritable and unhappy all day, and didn’t help me focus my mind. I was on 10 mg. Unless you want to turn into a horrible person, it made my heart race so bad, and I was constantly nauseous. Don’t take Focalin."

• mar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 23, 2022

For ADHD "Makes my heart beat too fast, and I get shaky and extremely anxious. Someone else said talking feels like a chore on these meds, and I agree. I feel so strange on Focalin, I don’t think I’m going to continue."

• Tin...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• October 24, 2021

For ADHD "I take a 30 mg in the morning and a 30 mg in the afternoon. I have been on this medication for 14 years, and it has had its ups and downs. I find that it has recently turned me into a zombie, but every day for 14 years, every morning, I have diarrhea and extreme stomach cramps. This medication makes my heart beat fast. It definitely helps with my impulses. For me, the withdrawal symptoms of this medication make me exhausted. It is so hard to get this prescription refilled, several times, I have had to go through withdrawal. It’s a pretty complicated situation."