strattera | ADHD Information

just a question for anyone who might know... 7y/o boy on strat started back in aapril on 40 in the eve (usual ramp up - no problems). We started having some trouble a few weeks ago and changed it to an am dosing (still 40). Now we have changed it again - 25 in am 25 in pm - my question is...... does it still take the 4-6 weeks to see full effect or should we being see a moderate change due to a moderate increase. He has only taken 36 hrs off between the last change. Just curious to see if anyone knew or had any insight. It does seem to be helping somewhat but I was wondering if I need to be a lot more patient. (its been 8 days)

Thanks

  Strattera is a tough med in my opinion. I was on it for 6 weeks and the side effects was just too much for me to handle. I had just about every side effect you can imagine. It effected my whole charachter and personality (As well as other things). I have inattentive Add and the last thing I needed was to be slowed down and boy did it do that to me. I would go to work, come home and crash, not something thats ideal for someone who like to socialize, and is out and about as much as he can.your 7 year old is taking 40 mg/day???  is that the correct dosage?  my 6 year old was prescribed 10mg.  just concerned.7 at 40 this would concern me. Look at the chart it should be weight based. This sounds to much to me. When our 9 yearold took it did 36 most but he is 52 lbs. We quit cause made little difference. If you needed 2imes daily is it really a 24 hr, pill like they claim. I have been told by a LD specialist most people are happier with stims. Brent38618.4520023148

My son iust turned 8 this week and he's been on 40mg since May....I don't think age is as much of an issue as weight

Thomas is currently 65 lbs...he wal 69 or 70 when he started but the weight loss I beleive is due more to his football season starting than the meds.

I don't beleive changing the time frame of the dosing should hinder its effectiveness.....what issues are you having with it?

Its working great for my son, but unfortunately it doesnt work well for everyone

Good luck

I read is suppose to be a 24hr med if so how come needing 2 times is needed.It just made little difference for our son at all. Ours also has spd also. We just didn't see enough difference to keep him on it. Some kids tolerate the side effects better if you split the med into 2 doses instead of one dose all at once......its a blood level med so as long as the child is getting the full dose within the 24 hours, that is sufficientNeeded to update - hadn't checked this board for awhile - he was 63 lbs when he started on the strattera - he got as high as 25 2x/day - he is off now. His mood was bad and he had lost his spark and zip, I didn't like the changes. He started off well on it but....  Yes strattera is weight dependent not age - 40 was high end for someone his size but he also metabolizes quickly and we overshot his target when we went to the 2x daily. I think we all find what works best for our kids and go with it - for mine strattera wasn't it. We are working on a new baseline and more evaluations too to make sure we have correct dx - for the time being he is off meds. We will see what our next chapter is. My daughter, 8, has been taking straterra for about 1 1/2 now and we have made a couple of changes since she started to find what was right for her.  When she started she was on a once daily dose of 35mg a day.  She wasn't sleeping very well and started having headaches.  We talked to her doctor and lowered the dose to 28mg a day.  The headaches stopped right away and she was able to sleep great!  I noticed that the symtoms of the adhd were noticable and so did her teacher, so I split the doses up, she now takes 10mg in the morning with food(which always helps) and the other 18mg after school with a snack, which is when I notice she starts to need it again.  This is working great for us.  Before the straterra she took focalin, and we didn't like that at all.  She had a lot of ups and downs and acted drugged when she was on it and I hated that.  With the straterra she acts just like her self without the constant sound affects, movement, nonstop talking.  But still communicates and remembers things, she is more orginized.  All of those things improved with the straterra.  I do however limit her sugar intake, which makes a huge difference.  If she does eat alot of sugar, it's like she has no medicine in her at all.  Maybe that's why some see no difference.                     To sum it up, very happy with straterra!!!