New Med Strattera....

Hi Tracy,
My daughter is on Adderall XR. But if you go to the older messages on this board maybe around the third page there was a whole lot of replies to a Strattera question. Sorry I can’t help ya. Take Care

Thank you for dragging this up to the top of the board. I very much want to hear the Strattera experiences. I would love to get my child off stimulants. Please keep posting…

Check out the Strattera web site to see what the Eli Lilly Company has to say about their product:

http://www.strattera.com/index.html

My son is about 6 days into it. started with 4 days of 40 and is up to 60mg once a day…He is 16 years old. He didn’t take it today as he had surgery but his attitude is good, his eating is fine, he is staying more focused and not so angry when he was coming down on Dexedrine. He had been on Dex for about 2 years…and it was time to either bump up the dosage or to try something different. Our pediatrician is a good friend of mine and he was the one who suggested Strattera to me…He said when he first heard about Strattera he was skeptical as he had much success with the stimulants but when he saw how the psychiatrists were choosing Strattera over a stimulant he decided to try it out and he has been impressed with the results he has been getting so far…so good.

how does it work? can anyone explain in laymom’s terms?

This is my experience with Strattera after 3 weeks:

My 13 year old daughter who has ADHD and depression has been on Strattera for almost 3 weeks. She was previously on Concerta (54mg) and Zoloft. She didn’t seem to be doing well on the Zoloft and her teachers reported that she was very agitated and unfocused. She’s very difficult with me (I take so much!), so a lot of times it’s hard to tell what her real mood is. She’s tried lots of different SSRI’s over the years and they all seem to lose their affect after awhile. In anticipation of the Strattera, her doctor stated having her taper off the Zoloft about 10 days before I got the Strattera.

She switched cold turkey from just Concerta to Strattera. Initially, in the first few days of 25mg. of Strattera, I noticed a very positive affect. She seemed happier and sweeter. Her doctor upped her to 40 mg after 4 days and it all in all, veering seemed positive. She did vomit one morning about 1 week after she started the med and then 2 days later, but I just assumed it was a stomach virus. However, after reading lots of posts on MANY different boards, I now realize that vomiting was probably a side effect.

After about 10 more days I upped her dosage from 40 to 65.
I did this because of all the reading I have done and also I had talked extensively to the manager of a clinical trial here in my area. This trial has been going on for about 6 years. The mgr said the optimal dose for her weight was about 72 mg. based on their experience. Anyway, on 65 mg. my daughter’s mood has become horrible. She has become tearful, verbally combative and moody. She has never been an easy child by any means, but this behavior is about as bad as I’ve seen in a very long time. I was so hopeful with the Strattera. I am going to reduce her dosage down to 40 mg again and hope for an improvement.

By the way, her teachers report a calmer, focused and less hyper child. Maybe she just takes out all her aggressions on me. Also, it is hard to separate out the 13 year stuff from the efficacy of the med. She has delayed puberty and just started developing in the last couple of months. Maybe it’s the hormones?

I think puberty is rough going no matter if your child has issues or not. And from what I hear from parents of LD kids its even worse . Hang in there!

Karen,

I read an article that said Strattera targeted different brain chemicals than do stimulants. Stimulants primarily target dopamine transmission, while Strattera targets norepinephrine (I think). I hope this helps.

Andrea

Hello,
I think I started this conversation 10 days ago! I am happy to say that my son has “leveled out” on the Strattera. We are up to 40mg. He did the first 4 days at 25. It has taken until now to get at a level that I feel he is controlled. This week will tell how well it helps him focus in school. Last week we were still bouncing around. I plan to tell my ped. this week what a nightmare it was coming off of Concerta. I think parents need to know so that they don’t get discouraged and can watch the kids more closely. I will keep you posted. Keep the good info coming. Nancy