I am thinking of starting my son on Strattera. He is currently being evaluated by a Neuropsych for LDs, he has already been dx as ADD/IN, currently on Concerta. Concerta works great on his attention, impulsiveness etc but he has difficulty falling alseep. I am thinking of changing to Strattera. But cannot do it until after the neuropsyh evals which would August 5. I understand there is a ramp up period and if I start on August 5, it would only give a month till school starts. I don’t want any side effects to impact the start of school. Any suggestions, advice or ideas?
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks Rebelmom, for your advice. I am just weary of changing meds because he is doing really well on Concerta, attention, impulsivity is down, self-esteem is up and he is happy. He is being tutored for his reading, and went from not able to decode to being at Grade level in just one month. Couldn’t have done it without the meds. I just don’t want to rock the boat seeing he is doing sooo well now. But I guess the sleep issues bugs me too.
That's true
Rebelmom,
You are right. I can always go back to stimulants if Strattera doesn’t work. Thanks again for your help.
Re: Help on Strattera
[quote=”Tesla”]What is Strattera? Did I miss something?[/quote]
Strattera is a new Non-stimulant med that just came out to treat ADHD.
Re: Help on Strattera
Missy Mom,
My son and I are both on Straterra and like it very much. However, I’m a big believer in not fixing something that not broken. If Concerta is working, and the only problem is sleep, you may be able to address that without the risk of trying a medication that takes a month to know if it’s going to work or not. When my son was on Adderall, he was a night owl up and down until 2:00 AM. I used GABA on him, and it worked the first night. GABA is an amino acid and is available where vitamins are sold. He took it about an hour or so before bedtime, and he was out for the night. You have a little time before the neuropsych eval, so it might be worth a try.
If you decide on Straterra, I agree with Rebelmom. The side effects are temporary and the rewards are great. My son and I were using Adderall when we switched to it, but Adderall wasn’t working all that great for either of us when we made the change.
Thanks Julie
Julie, thank you for your response.
I have tried many things to help my son sleep. I have tried GABA, melatonin, valerian, cal/mag, Dr. Amen’s milk concoction, bernadryl (helps but I don’t want to use it long term), but they didn’t help.
I am happy to hear you and your son have been Strattera successful. It gives me the incentive to give it a try. As Rebelmom said, i can always go back to stimulants if Strattera doesn’t work.
Hi Missy mom,
It sounds like you have done some homework. If you are aware of the side effects, you can try to head them off easily. Remember most people don’t have bad side effects. A full stomach will ward off the tummy ache, overpowering sleepiness is cured by giving at bed time, two smaller doses will stop any headaches. Just keep in mind, this all goes away shortly. If he is only inattentive, then I think you should start august 5th. The worst part of the ramp up is the H and the I component. Strat can work on these but it takes longer and lets face it, these symptoms are the most debilitating in school and at home. I have seen that with inattentive types this med works very quick and it is usually a very smooth transition. If you told me he was H I might have answered differently. There is a lot more bumps for the H child, still it does work for them, it’s just a little trickier. My son is also inattentive and had minor ramp up side effects. We saw mounting improvements right up to week 9. You may have a nice experience ahead of you and your son. Keep in mind that Strat has a min and max dose. It is not like Stims. 1.2mgs and 1.8mgs for every 2.2lbs of body weight. Some where between 1.2 mgs and 1.8 mgs is the perfect dose for his symptoms. A few mgs can make a very big difference, even in adults! But anywhere under or over that is not recommended by the manufacturer. Good Luck!