My son is on the 15mg patch. He is developing OCD type behaviors...

The active ingredient in Daytrana is methylphenidate. This is the same drug as Ritalin. My son has been on some form of Ritalin since he was 6. It has always affected his appetite. He will generally eat like a horse once it has worn off in the evening. We always give my son his med after he has eaten breakfast and let him eat as much as he wants for dinner. Still my son weighs about 25% less than most boys his age. He also has developed a habit which I at one time had refered to as OCD. He constantly licks/bites his lips causing constant chaffing. His behavior and attentiveness however are WELL controlled. I have learned that no treatment or lack there of, that is without flaw. You as a parent, have to make the difficult decision of whether the side effects of the medicine are greater than the condition itself. Good luck with the natural approach. I feel I tried everything with no success. I tried... decreasing glutens, omitting red dye, ommiting sugar, supplementing with various vitamins or herbs (St. Johns Wort, B12, etc...) There is no easy sollution and I sympathize with you!

Hello, my 7 year old daughter is also on Daytrana 15mg. She is also showing many signs of OCD. She too picks at her fingers, ears, and eyes all day long. She also has no appetite. I am not sure what to do. They gave her a syrup to take at night to help her with her appetite, which is really not helping. We have tried many other meds before this one. I know how stressful this can be. I hope things work out for you and your son.

I am a 21 year old adult male that has just been prescribed Daytrana 15mg. I took Focalin 10mg twice daily and had problems with grinding teeth and lockjaw. My physician prescribed Daytrana and the 15mg dose to lessen that effect. (Both Focalin and Daytrana use methylphenidate) It has help SIGNIFICANTLY with the lockjaw. I have noticed no change in my eating habits or odd behaviors like nail biting. My attention has never been better. Daytrana has been much better than it ever was with Focalin. Also, I used to take Focalin XR 20mg and could not sleep. Then changed to Focalin 10mg, lockjaw. Now Daytrana 15mg over 9 hrs seems to be working wonders. I hope this info helps.

We are still on the Daytrana, the herbal stuff did not seem to work. I am taking my son to a pediatric neurologist but we can't get in until January. The nail thing has gotten better. I just have to remind him to stop it and he now does it very little. I have also reduced his sugar intake by about 80% and taken him off of all food dyes. I have seen HUGE improvements since doing that-I recommend it for all ADHD parents and adults. Thanks for all of your input!