anyone tried Strattera??

I started with Straterra almost two weeks ago. My son has been on it for six weeks. The main difference from stimulant medications is that the drug takes a while to build in your system. It’s 3-4 weeks before you know how efective it will be. Start it when you can sleep if you need to. Sleepiness for the first two days is the most common side effect but after that it goes away.

Another wonderful difference from stimulants is that Straterra doesn’t wear off as long as you take the maintenenace dose every day. It’s so wonderful for my son to be able to function in the evening as well as he does during the day. I haven’t been on it long enough for it to be fully effective yet, but so far I like having more focus in the evening hours.

I’ve been following other people’s experiences with this drug on this site and one other site. Some people have had bad reactions to it, or feel that it simply doesn’t do anything. I think it’s like any ADD drug. You have to try it for yourself and see how it works for you. The hardest part from my standpoint is not having full focus while the drug builds up in my system, but it gets better each day. In another two weeks, if I do as well as my son has it will have been well worth the wait.

Julie,
Which dosage did you start with? I’m very drowsy on just 10-20 mg.
Just started it ten days ago. I’ve been bored and restlessby evening, a little less
depressed, but that’s about it. I take ativan for anxiety, benadry for sleep.
I have other fatigue/health problems.
When do you take your Strattera?
I was prescribed to take with breakfast and gradually increase.
I understand some take Strattera in the evening and others take
half dose am, half pm.

TIA,
Susan M

Dear Julie, I have searched the internet for information on stratter but, was unable to find any . Do they have a web site I can look in to?
My daughter takes concerta,however I really intrested in stratter because it is a none stimulant med. If you do know of a web adress for stratter I would be most intersted to look into it.

Thank you,
Nancy Torre

Have no fear, Nancy. Here is the official website.

http://www.strattera.com

perhaps you didn’t find it because it looks like you are spelling it wrong from your post (strattera, NOT stratter) Also, if you check my initial post in this chain, I included a lot of information about strattera that may answer some of your questions or “introduce” you do this drug—in fact, I actually cut and pasted it from different links on that website.

Dr. Drea

I was diagnosed with ADD a week ago. I’m a 22 year old male college student. My doc started me on strattera 40mg. I took it for four days. After taking strattera I noticed that I would get really tired an hour after taking it…tiredness lasting up to an hour then going away. But the main reason I have to stop is because it makes my chest tighten up really bad making it difficult for me to breath. It almost feels as if my lungs were replaced with that of a 2 year old child. Its horrible, lasting up to 5 hours after taking strattera. If my child was put on strattera, I”d be really concered about it affecting his or hers breathing.

Hi, Susan M

I started with 40 mg. Straterra for the first 4 days, then 80 mg. I take my dose in the AM before breakfast. It’s been a little over 3 weeks since I started. So far, so good. I think it’s going to work for me. My son has been on it now about 6 weeks and he is doing well on it too.

Hi Nancy

Another board that has a lot on Straterra is HealthBoards.com

There is a lot about people and their various experiences using the drug while getting used to it. Some of it I found re-assuring; some scared me. Of course, it’s like anything— those who are having troubles with it post with questions and concerns more than people who having nothing exciting to report because the drug is working well.

I am on 120mg and really love it. The doctor kept me on adderall for 4 weeks then decreased the dose of adderall and increased strattera. I also feel a little drowsy sometimes but take it before bed so its great. I also notice an amazing improvement in my sleep. I used to need 8.5+ hours of sleep and woke up groggy. Now I wake up after as little as 6 hours and feel great! I must be in REM sleep the whole night because I don’t remember dreaming hardly ever, now I am in a constant dream state. I think one of the great things about this medication is doctors will be more likely to look for other adults with adhd now that they have an effective drug that can’t be abused.

I’ve been on Strattera now for about a month. I was prescribed 40 mg. a day for three days, then move to 80 mg a day. I was so jittery and edgy with 80, that I backed off and probably increased the dosage much more slowly than most of what I’ve read. I got up to 80 mg about 2 weeks ago, but find I still cannot take the two capsules together without feeling that ‘edge.’ If I spread the doses about 4 hours a part, I feel no side effects.

I sought psychological counseling because in spite of being tremendously successful as a healthcare executive, I felt like a carried a little cloud of chaos around with me all day. It always felt to me as if my disorganization and clutter of my desk would lead to someone realizing my head wasn’t clear either. I felt like a fraud—that maybe I had “bluffed” my way up to significant positions and even ‘bluffed’ my way through bachelors and MBA programs. My doctor described these feelings as irrational in that I graduated with honors and have promoted quite successfully. But…he understood that what I felt was very real to me.

I took a battery of tests for all kinds of problems and ultimately was diagnosed as a classic case of ADHD. I am 46 years old. While I have never taken any medications for psychological disorders (never took much more than aspirin or antibiotics when sick)…I did a lot of “self-medicating” with alcohol and earlier in life with marijuana and other various illicit chemical substances. He told me this is typical.

This new medicine has been really interesting. I hate having to take something regular every day as I’ve never been able to remember a vitamin or even birth control pills on a regular basis. I’m told that this goes along with my diagnosis.

So…how I am doing after one month? On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the greatest improvement, I’d say I’m around 7-8. Rather than having 5 legal pads full of notes to myself, I’m down to 1. My desk is so clear that people think I’m leaving. I’m not crabby at night to husband in daughter the way I apparently was in the past. I’m not eating compulsively or cruising the tv channels trying to numb and quiet my brain.

Sorry for such a long posting…but I think we may be on to something with both the diagnosis and use of Strattera to correct whatever the problem was.

I have been on Strattera 40mg for the past 3 wks. I have felt alot better & more focused. I could type and alway get different wpm due to my concentration. Now I have been on a roll of over 60 wpm. I always typed between 30-35 wpm or even under that amount. Now I can type with accuracy and nonstop without spacing out.
Its wonderful to know I can type and not loose my concentratation whereas; I would loose my spot, space out, and constantly make errors. I say It all depends on the person whom can tollerate Strattera. My side effect have ceased except for a slight case of nauea but its not as bad. I have also had my good day where nausea did not occur. I hope the nausea will soon cease totally. I probably will have to up the mg. because I feel it wearing off by early evening. I do take my 40mg at 8am. Good luck for to the rookies I only have one advice about side effects: Hang in there it gets better after 3wks.

I LOVE Strattera. I can focus and stay on task with it.

My only complaint is that it makes my mouth very dry. Doc says it’ss not really dry; it’s just that your mouth believes it’s dry. He says chew gum; that does work. Dental hygienist and dentist concur on gum-chewing (Freedent for me and my nice new caps!), saying a dry mouth promotes tooth decay. When your saliva production shuts down for whatever reason, you’re at increased risk. They also gave me a Rx-strength fluoride toothpaste to compensate.

I am changing dosages right now, and don’t know whether slight dry mouth from Prozac for depression (caused by undiagnosed ADD!) is exacerbated by Strattera, or whether when I (probably) get completely off Prozac it’ll be as bad with Strattera alone. 40mg Strattera, 60 mg Prozac/day.

In short, gum does the trick.

Robin