“More Resources on Problems With the Daytrana ADHD Patch” Comments, Page 16
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243 Responses (26 Discussion Threads) to “More Resources on Problems With the Daytrana ADHD Patch”
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Beverly
151My son has been on the Daytrana patch for about three months. The effectiveness was like night and day. He was still himself, just more controlled and less “all over the place”. His grades improved tremendously. It was wonderful and everyone could notice a difference. Today, however, I got a call from the school to pick him up from the principal’s office. (He’s 6 years old). Apparently, he had taken the patch off because it was itching. Thus, disrupting class, etc. The itching seems to have started getting worse. Other than the itching, the medication works wonderfully. Is there any way to help with this? We have tried several oral medications and they did not work for him. I’ve FINALLY found a medication that actually works…. but if he can’t leave it on because of the itching, the fact that it works for him is irrelevant. I’m so frustrated and worried that we won’t be able to use the patch anymore. I don’t know what to do. I was just hoping for some suggestions. Thanks!
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Adrienne
152My son started Daytrana yesterday and I’m not sure what to think about it. He’s been medicated for severe ADHD/Impulsivity since he was 4, and he’s been on several meds. The most effective is short-acting Ritalin, but since he started kindergarten in Sept. we wanted him on a longer-acting med. We switched to Focalin XR, which seemed to work at first (although it wore off by 2) but then it seemed to stop working to the point where one day last week he got in TONs of trouble in class. I work at the school and I made sure he had the best teacher for his ADHD issues so I know if she couldn’t handle him things were pretty serious.
Anyway, on Friday I got an emergency appt. with his psychiatrist and we’re trying the Daytrana patch. She actually doesn’t know that much about it, but since I was interested and she knows I educate myself she said we could try it.
We gave him 10 mg. yesterday a.m. at about 7 and he was WILD, so at 10 a.m. I put another patch on. This is not what she said to do, but when he’s on the regular Ritalin and when he was on Focalin (and when he tried Concerta and Strattera) he was on the max dosage for his size so it’s not like he was starting from nothing. This is a kid who really is completely out of control without his meds (screaming, hitting, throwing himself around, hurting his brother and our dogs, can’t be trusted alone, etc.), so I felt justified in changing it up a little.
Anyway, at around 2 p.m. it seemed like he became calmer. By then he’d spend half his day on the naughty step, though, so it was hard to tell since we were all feeling stressed out – especially him. By evening he was doing great. We took the patch off at 5 and by 8:30 he was asleep (he already gets low dose Melatonin for sleep issues and we kept that the same).
So – today we wake up and put on 20 mg. of the Daytrana and by 10 a.m. he is still wild. That’s when I started reading message boards and saw that it can take a while to enter their systems, especially at first. So I gave him 10 mg. Ritalin and within 1/2 hour he was doing pretty well. It’s now 2:00 and he still seems like he’s doing well, so I’m hoping the Daytrana has taken over. It’s my hope that over time it will get into his system easier and eventually he won’t need the Ritalin or maybe he’ll just need it first thing in the a.m.
So – here’s my question: do any of you give your kids a Ritalin boost first thing? We cannot apply it 2 hours before school starts, even if it means my husband and I get up early, because for us that would mean applying it at 5 and based on past experience I know he’d wake up and stay up if we did that – which would mean 2 hours of screaming and hitting and rudeness 1st thing in the a.m.
Or is what I’m thinking of doing completely contraindicated? Obviously, I’ll talk to my doctor about this but she has never put any of her patients on Daytrana so she is not the greatest resource. If I bring information to her she will listen. I think we’re lucky that way.
I’ve rambled long enough…thanks in advance for your help.
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shari
152.1Hi there. Our son has been on Daytrana since it came out so about 2 years now. We give him an oral dose of ritalin when he wakes up about 5:30 am. Put on the patch 15mg at 6am and take it off at 6pm. This has worked very well for us. One other tip is that we use oppsite dressing covers over the patch as we found they do fall off at the pool or beach or when he is sweaty in the summer. We buy them online in a box of 100 so they last 3 months. the name is oppsite 3000 dressing covers. Hope this helps. Shari
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D French
153You poor thing. SOunds like you have your hands really,really full. My daughter is 6. Daytrana was the first ADHD med that we tried in November of 07 and we loved it. It took a full two to two and a half weeks before we could see a real difference in her so you won’t know for a week or two how this med will affect him so be careful about adding the other med or he may have an overdose. It takes a full 2 hours for it to kick in though. My daughter has to be at school a little after 8 am so I would sneak in her room while she was sleeping a put it on her at 6 am and wake her at 7 am. It looks like you want to have the med working before he wakes so try putting it on him while he is asleep. My daughter slept right through it every morning. We really, really loved Daytrana but unfortunately a couple of months ago we had to change to Concerta because my daughter couldn’t handle the adhesive on the back of the patch. We tried everything but it would itch her so bad and break her out to the point of bleeding that we had to stop. It would itch her so bad she would always peel it off and get in trouble at school. I pray that things will get better for your son. Only us parents of ADHD/ADD kids know how hard it is to help our kids be in a strict society of good behavior kids. My heart hurts so bad for my daughter I thinks sometimes it will burst. God be with you and your family!
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Melissa
154We just started using the patch a few days ago and the issue we are having is with the patch sticking on my sons skin. Even when I first apply it in the morning the edges don’t stick and start to peel up. It seems like we are having the opposite problem of a lot of others who have trouble getting the patch off. I make sure his skin is clean and dry before applying, but it’s not helping. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
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D French155
Hi Melissa. When you put the patch on his skin. Put the palm of your hand on the patch pressing it firmly for 30 seconds. That seemed to help us!
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Jen
156Hi Melissa,
also, pop the patch into the freezer for 30-60 seconds. That will make the triangles easy to peel off. Then put it on your child’s hip and press firmly with the palm of your hand for 30 seconds. That should do it. Good luck! -
Terri Walter
157My son is 10 years old. He has been on 60 mg of Vyvanse. The meds worked wonders with his ADHD, but he had tics so bad he couldn’t stay in class or attend church or go anywhere staying quiet was necessary. His doctor prescribed Daytrana for us to try. Has anyone experienced tics while taking Daytrana?
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Jen158
Re: tics, I was going to ask the same thing. My daughter is on 15 mg of daytrana and I believe I see more blinking and sniffing than before… She’s blinked before the medication but since we started her on 15 mg instead of 10 mg she’s started blinking a lot more and making some noises. It’s not too distracting — but if it doesn’t clear up soon we may need to go back to 10 mg. (She did OK on 10 mg, but better on 15 mg.) I’ve heard that tics can subside over time too. I’ll be watching for that.
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NINA M TRAVIS
159TOO WHOM IT MY CONCER
MY DAUGHTER SAMANTHA HAS HER HIGHS AND LOWS AND HAS BAD NASTY MOOD SWINGS SHE ALL SO HIS WHAT IS CALL AND SHE TOLD ALL OF US LAST EVENING ROUND DINNER TIME HER BIPOLAR SHE NEEDS OTHER MED CKIND OF A PATCH ON WHAT SHE IS TAKEN NOW ON 15MG OF DAYTRANA PATCH SHE REALL WENT OFF LAST WEEK I HAD A HARD TIME IN GETING UP BUT SHE WAS SICK WITH SOMETHING AND NOW ALL OF US ARE GETING SOMETHING OR OTHER IN THIS HOUSE HOLD.
HER MOM RIGHT AGIN DOSE ANYONE HAVE THIS PROMBL AS WELL LIKE ME
NINA -
Shannon
160Hi Melissa,
When you place the patch on him, holding it in place really will make a difference. I make sure all the sides are down and then just cover the entire patch with the palm of my hand and press firmly.
My son is 9 and has been on Daytrana for nearly 2 years now. We went through all the bad backing problems, but since that was resolved, we’ve been thrilled. Now that he’s responsible enough, in order to make sure he has his appetite back by dinner, he goes to the bathroom about an hour before school lets out, takes off the patch and flushes it. This also helps with making sure he goes to sleep at bedtime. But lately we’ve noticed his grades declining and his handwriting is becoming illegible again, so we think it’s time to up his dose. He weighs about 60 pounds now and was around 50 when he started on the 10 mg – it would make sense that he might need a higher dosage, correct?
And congrats to whoever can get insurance to cover it – we pay $130 a box, but it’s worth it for the help it gave my son. Several different oral medications did nothing to help. At 6, the way my son described it was “my brain is talking nonstop to me and it’s so fast I don’t even know what it’s saying.” The Daytrana makes it so he can listen to his brain now :-)
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