strattera

I started a thread on this on 2-07. You might want to scroll down. We are switching to it from Adderall as of today so I have no experience to relate. Doctor was very impressed with clinical trials—few side effects and most wear off quickly. He said that because you take it every morning you do not get the up and down effects of the amphetamines. Good luck.

My son has been on Strattera for 15 days. Most of the sleepiness problem has gone away, but not all of it. He has periods on a few days of still feeling exhausted and wanting to sleep. His appetite remains good. He does seem more hyper to me than on the former drug Adderall. I’ll have to keep an eye on that. My son is having one potentially serious side-effect. He has heard voices arguing in his head 1-2X week (other than at sleep transition times when this can happen normally) and been unable to get rid of them for some period of time, up to 45 minutes. He never had this before until starting this medication. I am a clinical psychologist, and I don’t think they are hallucinations per se, but they are not normal or OK. I am consulting with his physician on Monday to discuss this.

A certain number of adults taking these norepinephrine re-uptake drugs, mainly for depression, report this symptom. The voices frequently don’t stop unless the person stops taking the drug. So, I’ll keep the Board informed.

My son said that when he is on Strattera and taking a test at school he is able to analyze and comprehend and not be so stressed out as compared to the anxiety he would get when on Dexedrine. He doesn’t think his appetite is any more than before. He is still somewhat easily distracted but he doesn’t have the easily angered emotions that he had when the Dexedrine would wear off.

He also doesn’t hear any voices either…he said…”No Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde here. He is more even tempered on Strattera and that he likes. He is ADD-Inattentive if that make a difference..

Do you think your son is talking about “self talking” I do that when I am thinking through problems. It is something I think many kids do…

My son is on Day 8 of Straterra. So far so good. He tells me that it has built to about 2/3 efectiveness of his former medication (Adderall). I’m told it takes about two weeks to see about how effective it will be and then another week to be at the strength that will be maintained by a daily dose, so I feel like we’re on track. I’m cautiously optimistic that this will work for him. His appetite has improved and he has had no side effects except sleepiness the first two days.

I am a big fan of Straterra and have been sucking up as much info as possible on it. My son is doing very well on it. I thought I had found every single bit of info written on it. I have not heard anything about hearing voices. Are you sure this might not have been a symptom of his prev. med withdrawal?

Hearing voices is what made us quit ritalin. Scared both my daughter and I very, very badly. Thought we were alone on this!

Would like to know where more of the ADD boards are. And am very interested in the Strattera as the Adderall has not as effective as the Ritalin. I would like to move away from the stimulants if possible.

One of the reasons I have been doing everything in my power to avoid meds is an adult friend took wellbutrin. She told me one day she stopped because she forgot her daughter. I said, “You mean you left her somewhere.” She said, “No, I forgot I gave birth to her.”

True story.

Good question. It could be a side-effect of withdrawal from Adderall but I won’t know for another week or so. Strattera, like all the new antidepressant medications out there, is a member of the class of norephinephrine re-uptake drugs. Some of these drugs differ from each other by only 1 molecule. Despite efforts from the drug companies to reduce unwanted side-effects, all of these drugs have possible unwanted symptoms in some people. I can remember in the early 1990s when Time Magazine had Prosac on its cover as a miracle drug. Then over the next several years, we learned that Prosac induced mania in a significant number of people and some of these people made suicide attempts. As I mentioned in another post, Yale found that 7-8% of their psychiatric admissions to the hospital were from mania-related symptoms induced from these new antidepressants (norephinephrine re-uptake drugs). I hope my son makes it on Strattera but I have a wait-and-see attitude.

I hope to talk with my son’s physician in the next day or so, and I’ll give an update then.