Strattera Side effects | ADHD Information
Just for the record, this is my experience with Strattera.
Started at 40 mg. High BP (normally low) and high pulse rate. Read the same article at crazymeds. org. Went down to 20 mg for a week. No BP or pulse rate issues. Up to 25 then to 40 mg. Again, no BP or pulse issues. Actually was feeling quite good. Almost eurphoric. Sweating and constipation really sucked, though, as well as urinary problems.
Was very tired and lethargic for the first few days but that subsided. No sleeping problems at any dose. But I did wake up with a lot of anxiety. Even though I'm on Lexapro 10 mg for that.
Then about 3 weeks into therapy tried 50 mg of the Strattera. Bad bad bad things. Very depressed and angry. Totally irate over stupid things, etc.
Dropped back down to 40 mg for awhile. Still no joy. Finally gave up on it.
Now on Adderall XR 10 mg per day with Wellbutrin XR 300 mg per day. Much better for me! No BP or pulse issues, no depression, no anger. Now I feel joy.
kimo38179.7359722222Wow, a messageboard that's current, I'm impressed. Most these boards are 2 years old.
I just started Strattera 7 days ago. I have been feeling really tired and fatigued. My P-doc combined this with my Welbutrin to give me more energy. I have a combination of ADHD, Depression (fatigue and low interest not mood swings). The Welbutrin keeps me awake, curbs my diet, but I was still fatigued.
My question to you board members is: Will I be tired on Strattera all the time or is this a common side effect that subsides? I take the strattera at night to ease the fatigue during the day. I even notice at the gym, I was able to work out hard for 1 and 1/2 hours, now at 30 minutes i'm exhausted.
Was this supposed to give me energy like my P-doc said, and should I have felt it after 7 days?
What can I expect from this drug, I am on 40 mg, 200 lb male, 43 years old? I'm trying to get into law school and could not concentrate all my life. But at this age I have calmed down somewhat. I really need to be able to concentrate and focus. I was on Concerta and it speeded me up, but did not help me concentrate.
WAKI38176.8205324074
Disregard
WAKI38256.0016087963Strattera puts me sound to sleep if I take even the trial size dose of 40mg. I divide it into 4 capsules of 10 mg each. 10 mg, even twice a day is about all I can take without getting major fatigue like you describe. I'm surprised you had the energy to exercise at all. The first week I tried the 40 mg, I didn't work out all week. Mostly, I slept. Didn't get a thing accomplished, but didn't really care either : )
I take adderall xr for focus, it's fantastic. I take a small amount of strattera for the afternoon and evening "calm" it gives....I guess more for mood than focus, because it sure doesn't help me with that. I do notice that I wake up much more alert in the morning with the strattera.....I take it around 2-3pm in the afternoon.
It really works well for calming my thoughts, stops the racing...jumping from one topic to another thinking. The adderall accomplishes this during the day, but at night, when it wears off, the distracted thoughts are back if I didn't take the afternoon strattera.
Maybe you could try taking a smaller dose more often....am and lunch time? I've heard many people say that this helps avoid the side effects of fatigue.
Hi all, i'm new...my name is Sarah and i'm 24 years old., a graduate student and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 13...was on Wellbutrin throughout childhood 13-18 then nothing..then back on meds about 2 yrs. ago....
I was on Strattera for about 6 months and I really hated it. I had been on Adderral XR 10 MG twice daily previously and did fine on that, but I moved and had no insurance so the only thing I could be on was Strattera because the Dr. at my college's health center gave me free samples. I had numerous side effects with the medication. In the beginning, I lost almost 10 lbs for no reason (which was a good thing in my case, but I gained it back after about 2 months). I also had upset stomach, headache and dry mouth. In addition, it did very little for my concentration. I was also on Wellbutrin in conjunction with Strattera. I took 80 mg a day of Strattera.
When I obtained my insurance from my job, I went to a psychiatrist and went back on Adderral. However, I am on 10 mg 2X daily of regular adderral because of insurance issues. I am not as happy with regular adderral as with XR but it is better than that crap Strattera. I spoke with several doctors about Strattera and they informed me that it is actually an anti-depressent and its use for ADHD is very debatable in the medical community. It may work for some people, but not for others (I guess that is the way any of these meds are..) I also was switched from Wellbutrin to Lexapro, and i'm not really sure why because I feel more depressed. Also, I have gained 6 lbs. which I have attributed to the Lexapro since there has been no change in diet.
I hope I provided some helpful info..
Sarah
I'm taking Strattera, and trying desperately to find some way of taking it which avoids the problem with drowsiness. I take 20mg in the morning.The problem with Drowsiness
Basically, if I take Strattera and then sit down to read or, say, pay attention to a lecture, I can be pretty much assured that I'll spend an hour or so fighting desperately to stay awake. This is annoying because it becomes an activity in itself, and prevents me from doing what I set out to do, and because when I fail to stay awake, I pass out, and that's plain embarassing.
I'm seriously considering going back to Adderall. Professors tend not to appreciate students who pass out during their lectures.
MafiaKiddo, No kidding. I have long ago given up on trying to change that. Anti-depressants are way more scary then amphetamines, but no one bats an eyelash.Ive been having sexual side effects and unbelievable fatigue on Strattera. I was on ritalin, and it seemed to work so much better. Im thinking of going back to it. Anyone else had problems with Erectile Disfunction??< ="">
richter111, do a search on this forum for certain key words and you will find others with similar problems.
Good luck
You'll pardon me but I have another suggestion why it doesn't seem to affect some kids. They're just kids!!! 
Kids with all that kid stuff and they are being diaqnosed as adhd but they are bored, too bright, too curious, too creative for the adults around them, or have immature neuron wiring, etc. which may account for the ones who seem to out grow it...Maybe they're the ones who can tolerate strattera...
Just a thought. The rest of us get to adulthood and we are still struggling even though we've been trying so hard to compensate... I really don't think of my neighbor's daughter as adhd... At least not compared to the ones in my family (even the non- ADDers
)
Isis
[QUOTE=andocrates]I hated strattera, it was the worst drug I have ever taking. My god are they serious about that? The side effects are way worse then having ADD.
Now here is something interesting I have observed again and again, on all the message boards. The people who like it all have children on it, I have found only 3 or 4 adults that like it. This could be the result of:
A.) Children are less prone to the side effects.
B.) Children don't understand side effects so they don't perceive things about their body as well as adults.
What do you think?
[/QUOTE]
For my son I would have to choose A. He is very intuned to himself, his body & his ADHD & he tells me how happy he is on Strattera compared to the Aderrall.
Also we must remember that the neuro pathways for childrens brains have not finished developing. When my daughter had her head injury 2 years ago we were told she would be paralysed down one side and would have to relearn how to walk.
She wasnt, a mild weakness was all she had.
The doctors explained that if a Adult had the same injury, they would have had slurred speech and would not have recovered completely. She will always have this hidden disability, but there is nothing noticeable on the outside, because her brain was still young enough to develop new pathways.
But in adults we are kind of like stuck in our ways, because our brains are fully developed!
Therefore, the drugs we give our kids are in a way changing their formation, you cant add food colouring to a cake mix and expect it to bake the way it was intended to in the first place, it has changed.
If you think about it logically, if our kids are missing chemicals and we are supplying their brains with artificial chemicals, their brains are going to change to accomodate this. They are not going to be the adults they were going to be without the meds, for better or worse, I do not know yet.
Rae7038270.7565162037Howdy folks!!! Well, I have been on Strattera for over four months and here are the things I have noticed: No random thoughts, easier to change subjects with out "hangover" from the previous subject (it used to take an hour before I could focus on the new subject without thinking of the previous subject), a MUCH better outlook on life (my girlfriend noticed that), I sleep like a stone, almost no grinding of teeth or blanket stealing, (I have more sleep issues than you can shake a stick at), improved vision at night (still dont know where that came from), I can use my hyper focus more effectively and I can look at things more objectively rather than emotionally. Downsides: Im slightly more prone under stressful situations to lip off, still having a hard time getting motivated, the frequent urination has faded but I can definitely tell something is different with my prostate, ejaculation is different and I tend to have a "leaky faucet". (Sorry, I dont think there is a nice way to say that).
To me, the benefits far outweigh the side effects but then again, I have not tried adderall or ritalin. It seems to me most of the complaints about Strattera come from people who have used stimulants first. It makes me wonder if I should try them to see which one I like better.
The other thing is dosage. If you are not right on, you DEFINITELY pay the price. I took one too many the week before last and the following week I was a pile of crap. If I take it at 7 am and 1pm (40mg each) I do great; I actually get a slight euphoric when Im right on my meds. I set my cell phone to remind me to take it at 1pm so I could get back on schedule. I hope this helps.
Tim
I everyone, I'm new, sick, and could use some advice.
Since I started taking strattera, ever-so-often I would get this feeling of coldness. And it's very cold, it feels like somebody is holding ice to my skin(mainly around my arms and neck). But I would be sweating like crazy(honesty, sometimes I would leave a puddle of sweat wherever I was sitting). I left school about 20 minutes ago and I am now typing at the computer with a big blanket around me. I never saw a side effect quite like this on the bottle, so I was wondering if it was normal.
Hey T440, how long have you been taking it? I had the cold chills and hot sweats (at the same time sometimes) for about a week after starting, then it wore off. I would go from absolutely freezing, wearing a coat to stripping off as much as possible in less than a minute. Back and forth, back and forth, and yeah, I sweated A LOT. It was quite gross really, went through a lot of shirts. But like I said, after about a week, it faded until after about a week and a half, it was mostly gone. I get it still every once in awhile, but very rarely. I've been on it for about 3 weeks. Hope this helps, sorry you're feeling so lousy.
I've cut the dose down.I've been feeling 'normal' except that's not an improvement. My focus is not very much improved and I itch alot...(but no rash) I had a very bad blood sugar type (I've seen others have these) episode yesterday, I've never had that ever happen before. The only thing seems to be that I don't speak so rapidly or impatiently. I missed a night and I was bummed out all day.
Isis
I've been taking 40mg for about 2 months now and usually in the morning around 9am and by 11am I am ready to go back to bed and by 3pm I usually fall asleep for 15-30 minutes at my desk. Some days I take another 40mg around 2pm and that will practically knock me out. In addition, the constipation is becoming worse and to a point where I dont want to take Straterra anymore. I've also noticed a dry mouth on most days, but its tolerable, unlike the constipation and sleepiness. When I got back to my doctor I am going to see if we can try Adderall as the only benefit to Straterra has been the reduction of random thoughts and my mind wandering, but I don't still have the drive to get things done or the focus to stay with something for very long.
Well guys, I reckon all this defeats the purpose! Personally weighing up
being distracted, random thoughts, wandering mind
vs
falling asleep, itchiness, constipation, dry mouth, lack of drive, lack of focus
hmmm there could be something seriously not suitable about this medication! Are not the side affects distracting enough to make the medication a complete waste of time?
Crikeys, I would rather be the manic nightmare that I naturally am
I went off the strattera. Have been on wellbutrin and remeron with great results.
The wellbutrin helps focus and the remeron helps sleep. and anxiety.
Strattera is bad news as far as I'm concerned.
It has been 1 month since my first experience with Strattera. I have never taken any ADHD meds before, and I am 21 years old. I coped very well with my ADHD all of my life, until I hit college, and I knew something had to be done if I ever wanted to finish. Strattera was the first med I ever tried, and I started at 40 mg. I didnt like it at first. It made me very tired, depressed, constipated, and nauseous for the first 2 weeks. I then started taking 60 mg, and none of the side effects went away. I felt as if nothing was changing. I was still a lazy, scatter brained girl who was incredibly impatient, angry, and un-focused. I made an appointment with my doctor, and I stopped taking my meds 4 days prior. While I was off of the strattera for those 4 days I noticed things that I was doing, that I wasnt doing while on the medication. For instance while on the strattera I wasnt compulsively snacking and eating all the time. Normally, after a long day of school or work I would come home and have a snack, but not just one snack, more like 5 or 6. Or at dinner time I would always clean my plate, whether I was full or not. Since being on the strattera I never snacked, and during a meal I would actually stop eating once I got full. Also, I noticed my vision alot clearer while on the meds.
I told my doctor about my experience with the medicine, and she decided to keep using it for at least another month. (Its only been 2 1/2 weeks, and usually Strattera takes about 4 weeks to work. ) She increased my dosage to 80 mg, and I am to be continuing using this until mid november.
So far, and I have seen a drastic change in my mood. I have been much happier, relaxed, and calm. Which is excellent because I have such a short fuse, and the littlest things can set me off. This medicine definitley helps with moods, impatience, and anger. I have noticed alittle on over-focus, but that doesnt happen every day.
So, basically, after a month on strattera, and 1 week at the right dosage I have noticed improvements in my mood, vision, patience, appetite, sleep, and alittle in my focus.
So far so good. Anyone who is on strattera, I urge you to keep using it for at least a month on the CORRECT dosage before you give up hope.
Hope this helps someone. Sorry its so long.
A
You said it!!!
I have the same lack of motivation and constipation. I am going to try to get my doctor to prescribe adderall, but that's not for a while.
Has anyone had good effects from this stuff that make it worth the bother?
Isis
Happily my 9 year old does very well on 60mg. He was drowsy for the first 2 days, but thankfully he is able to do all his school work & homework w/o any problems. He also stays in his seat better, has a better appitite, sleeps, & is a much happier child. His system could not handle stimulants, so we are very happy that the Strattera does work for him.
I am sorry this isn't working well for you all. Would you do better with a stim?
My experience with my 9 year old son is the same as CSMOMMY's. But perhaps that's because the type of ADHD he is dealing with is hyperactivity/low impulse control and has no problem focusing. Additionally he hasn't reached puberty, so perhaps that is an influencing factor on Strattera's effectiveness/side effects.
Paul
Come to think of it, my neighbor told me her daughter does very well on Strattera, and adderall was a nightmare for her. So I guess for kids it may well be better. I have misgivings about kids and stimulants anyway.
She can have all my strattera! Maybe she has some leftover adderall!
Isis
I hated strattera, it was the worst drug I have ever taking. My god are they serious about that? The side effects are way worse then having ADD.
Now here is something interesting I have observed again and again, on all the message boards. The people who like it all have children on it, I have found only 3 or 4 adults that like it. This could be the result of:
A.) Children are less prone to the side effects.
B.) Children don't understand side effects so they don't perceive things about their body as well as adults.
What do you think?
I've only been on Straterra for two days, the only side effect I have is a mild headache for most of the day. My problem is finding a good doctor to go to and discuss trying different meds. I was on Ridallin in College and nothing for the last 3 years. I just got into the Mortgage industry and am having problems concentrating on the boring part... paperwork, cubicle life in general, so I'm struggling to find a good general doctor that I can discuss options. Going to a different doctor at my clinic means I have to explain myself each time and justify why I have ADD and all that crap. I hate that!
I FINALLY got a doctor who will treat me for ADD. Even though I know the effects amphetamine type drugs have -And you can tell if they are working or not right away (I can control the dosage too) he says he has to try the Strattera first, otherwise the gov. starts on him But it's supposed to take 4 weeks to tell for sure if it's working.- so I was on 25mgs for 4 days. The second day I couldn't keep my eyes open. By day 5 I was on 40mgs but I kept crashing out. I have been prescribed 80 mgs but it's worse than at 40mgs so I'll drop back down to 40 tonight. Yes, TONIGHT - I have to take it at bedtime because it knocks me right out. Now I feel like I have the flu, achie and tired. Still no focus and it's worse because i'm more tired and unmotivated than before. My joints ache, I have all the symptoms of low blood sugar, I get headaches, and I'm craving sweets all the time, even when I normally wouldn't be. This stuff totally sucks.
I wonder if anyone out there has tried it with crappy symptoms at first but stuck with it to find out it works, or can I be pretty certain at this point that this is a dead end street? It's only been 2 weeks. I could try the lower dose for one more week and it may feel like nothing in time- Better than what it has been. I doubt I'll get anything done though...
It gives some warnings about blood vessel diseases. I just had a pulmonary embolism. Does that seem risky? If it were working i might want to risk it, but so far this isn't worth it.
Isis
andocrates - I have seen the same pattern myself. Perhaps adult hormones affect the drug differently, this may also be a possibility.
And yes your A and B are also possibilities.
As long as I took the Strattera in the morning, the insomnia side effects wore off. As far as sexual side effects, I didn't have any but I had tremndous problems with increased heart rate. Insomnia is pretty common. It will wear off.
I just started taking Stratera for my Adult ADHD. So far I can concentrate better than I could with Welbutrin, but it has two big side effects that I don't like:
1 - Insomnia. Last night I couldn't sleep for longer than 1 hour without waking up.
2 - Sexual side effects.
Anyone know if these eventually fade away over time?
Taverner38168.6102083333
Howdy new to AD/HD and new to this forum. I am currently on my 3rd day with Strattera and so far so good. I take no other medications for anything else; this is the only drug besides nicotene I take. I was a little hesitant about taking stimulants since caffiene can make me climb walls after 4:00pm. I wish I would have seen this site before I told my doc I wanted to take strattera.
I found this website www.crazymeds.org/strattera.html and this person makes a big deal about "breaking" in to higher dosages. So Im kind of following his guidelines: 18mg for 4 days, 25mg for 14 days, 40mg for 14 days then an evaluation. This person could be a total freak for all I know but it makes sense to me. He also said that going past your "ideal" dosage has rather severe and dramatic side effects and it could take up to two weeks to re-adjust to a lower dosage due to how strattera stays in your system for such a long time. I cant help but think that maybe some of these nasty side effects may be caused by jumping up to a high dosage so fast without fully evaluating the previous dosage. You know, just because Eli Lilly says 80 mg is the "ideal" dosage doesn't mean its ideal for us.
Another thing I was afraid of is if I started on stimulants and they work so quick, I would have NO patience for the Strattera if it came second. You know us ADDers have SO much patience
My side effects so far have been no big deal so far. Just getting up in the night to urinate. But I have also had some good too. My vision seems to be just a little more acute?! (is that weird?) I have not ground my teeth the last two nights and I "Gave 'er the onion" last night on the couch.
So not too shabby so far. Ill keep you folks informed!
hurltim38168.6853125
I never understood why people are more afraid of stim medicines like adderall then they are of drugs like strattera or anitdepressants like paxil. At least with amphetamines they act instantly and wear off just as quickly. With meds like paxil you have to take them for a month just to see if they help. By that time if they don't work you've already built up a dependancy on them. Then you have to go through that awful withdrawal period when you want to stop. I remember going through withdrawal from effexor a few years back and I was really really sick for a month, and it took several months for me to feel completely better. I also stopped taking Adderall for about a year once to see if I could do it without meds. I had absolutely no withdrawal at all from it. Sure my ADHD symptoms returned but that's not withdrawal that's just what my body is like when I'm off of the med.
I understand that everybody responds to meds differently but for so many people to be so afraid of stimulants seems rediculous to me. The other drugs they are willing to try are just as if not more dangerous. I guess a lot has to do with the media hype around stimulants right now. If you're going to take the time to research and worry about the possible side effects of stim meds then I think people should also do the same for other types.
Hi guys,
I was just diagnosed with ADD about 3 weeks ago by my psychologist. and I started Straterra yesterday. I felt so nauseous(sp?) and tired. Today, my body feels really tired...it feels like I'm coming down from a caffeine high. THis is how I feel when I drink a cup of strong coffee, and when it wears off, I feel tired but restless at the same time. I dont know, I thought this medicine is supposed to make me more productive, but so far I'm pretty lethargic. I'm only on my second day, so I know I have to wait...but this sucks! I'm too scared to take something like adderall because I have heard it's addictive, and I come from a familyt aht is prone to addiction. Anyways, since I'm new to this ADD thing though I've had it my whole life, I'm glad I found a place for discussion. THanks for listening.
Crabby
First off all medications can be addictive. I've never abused the recommended dosage or took medications I was not prescribed (many many different kinds over the years so believe me I know the pluses and minuses of these drugs). I can tell you from experience that you will experience withdrawal when coming off of almost any medication that you take for an extended period of time.
The important thing is to decide if you need to take medication to treat your ADD and if you do finding the one that works best for you.
Side effects can usually last about 2 weeks while your body adjusts. You should also try the medication out for about a month before deciding if you want to stay with it or change it.
Another quick note, While Adderall has been wonderful for me I've found that it usually only works for hyperactive people. In talking to people who suffer from only the inattentive form of ADHD, they have reported feeling jittery and nervous on Adderall. This seems to be because adderall is a stimulant (which calms down hyperactive brains) but in inattentive types it works the same as if you drank a ton of caffiene.
CrabbyRam
Be patient, I know that maybe hard, but Strattera takes a full two weeks for the stuff to be metablized into your system. Strattera effects the dopamine levels in your brain unlike the amphamines (Concerta, Adderall and Ritalin). According to the medical community, this is the area where ADHD roots from. So theoretically, it should be more effective (in some people, not all). Further, you won't know if the dosage is correct for at least two weeks. If not, you'll have to wait another two weeks. until it stablizes in your body. Is it worth it? For my 9 year old yes! For an adult......I can't guide or help you on that one. The feedback received on this site seems to be split 50x50.
I think part of the problem, is that other behaviorial conditions have been diagnosed as ADHD when in reality they are something else (Bipolar, depression, etc). So the family doctor who treats measles, mumps, flu and sore throats will dispense a standard ADHD med and standback to what the reaction.
My feeling since joining this site is that anytime someone (child or adult) is diagnoised with a behavioral challenge by the family MD, it's time to seek a second opinion from a qualified psychiatrist whose expertise is in this area.
I hope that helps.
Paul
Well, I finally have gotten myself down to 20mgs, and I hope if I skip a night and take the 20mgs two days apart it will about LEAVE my system. Last week I didn't take my 40mgs for 2 days and the second day I was quite ill. So I took 20mgs for a few days. Yesterday was the clearest most, productive day I've had in a month. The itching, lethargy and sugar cravings are subsiding. 
I have an appointment with a new doctor on Wednesday and I HOPE he'll be sensible enough to start me on some good old-fashioned AMPHETAMINES which will make me mellow out, focus, and begin to tackle these boxes and *finally* move in to this new house, get to these Halloween costumes... Oh yes, and stop getting lost when I'm driving. 
As far as addiction goes, these psychotropic things are sooo hard to get off of. You don't have control at all. I don't like the idea of taking something for a month before you can even assess if it's working and what effects it has on you before you attempt to spend a week feeling like crap trying to get it out of your system. My doctor hasn't called me back when I left messages for him that I wanted to get off the strattera after 3 weeks and I've been left to make my own mistakes. At least with amphetamines I can control the dosage then and there. I know when it's working or if the dosage is too high or if if I need more. Or if I don't need them today at all. Some days you don't -you get to be a bum and SLEEP.
I don't like to be chained to meds.
Isis