Focalin affecting 6yo sleep
Hi everyone. My 6 yo was diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive type) this past summer. About a month ago we started her on 5mg IR generic focalin. Her teachers noticed an immediate improvement and she now loves school.
The one issue we’re having is sleep. Prior to focalin, she was exhausted by 8:45pm and then I would have to drag her out of bed at 7am. With focalin, she’s not tired at bedtime and is usually falling asleep between 9:30-10pm, and either waking up on her own before 7 or isn’t tired when I wake her up at 7. This morning, however, she was up for the day at 4:30am.
I’m wondering:
Anyone else have an experience like this? When we started, the pediatrician said the IR should be out of her system in about 4 hours, so I was surprised to see these effects so many hours later (she usually takes her med around 7:15-7:30am). We do not do a second dose at school because all of her intense academic classes are in the morning. The fun stuff like art and dance are in the afternoon and she doesn’t need meds for that.
If we switch to a different stimulant (like Ritalin) would the same thing likely happen? We’re really pleased with the intended effects so my instinct is to switch her to a different but similar drug in the hopes of getting the desired effect without the sleep issues.