Focalin made my daughter experience "derealization" where she felt separate from everyone and it made her very withdrawn, spacey, foggy, and depressed.

This was b4 she was dx with BPII with Psychotic features and OCD ("pure" OCD - the kind with intrusive thoughts) but when I asked her if it made her feel like she could focus more, she said (hesitantly) "Yes…But, like, on the wrong things…" which, she later told me, meant that she focused more on her disorganized and obsessional thinking vs being more able to focus and engage with the outside world. Her teachers (who I purposely did not tell about the meds, so they would be objective) told me that in the few weeks she was on them, she got much worse in class and was very withdrawn.

Yes, it may also just be the wrong AP, but you need to put some pressure on this Doc. I know that when my DD finally got the right dx and the right meds(after several Pdocs, meds, Therapists and on her 2nd hospitalization), she was finally able to say she felt better and became more engaged in the world of "reality."

If your son says he doesn't feel a real change, then they haven't found the right med(s) or dosages and/or therapy (is he in therapy?). Not that it will be perfect, and it may take some time to find the right meds for him…But for the Doctor to, so early in the game, not even try to make any changes in order to help your son feel better and to, basically say he just has to "deal with it" as part of his dx -which may turn out to be true but, certainly, may not be - is either Professional laziness or ignorance, IMHO.

(Sorry for the run-on sentences - I don't have a lot of time:-)

Don't give up!!

Best of luck,
K