No Side Effects, No Improvements | ADHD Information
LMAO at talking and tying shoes!! it is a bit like that around here....
4 more days in and we have seen no more real improvements. We go back to the dr on thursday.
My husband and I have decided that if the doctor recommends it we will give the strattera another 4 weeks trial. This will see us through vacation and lots of stimuli in the forms of aquariums and museums.
Another 4 weeks will put us near the beginning of the school year. If we still arent seeing results then we have time to make a change before beginning 5th grade. If we are seeing some result we will continue the trial into the school year.
I guess what I am saying is that I am willing to give the Strattera a good trial because 1. John does not have behavioral or hyperactivity issues that make him hard to work with.. and 2. We are not having any sideeffects at this point.
I am concerned about having another school day go by with his mind a million miles away.
LadyBentley - I'd be interested to hear how your son is doing on the Strattera after 4 more days since your original. We made the decision not to use this drug for our child after the Dr. told us this would not help with the attention as much as the impulsivness. Our little guy was not doing well on stimulants (of any kind), so now we are working other avenues. Oh another thing the Dr. told us about Strattera - give it a month before you give up. I've read several posts from others that mention giving Strattera combined with a stimulant in order to get maximum benefit. I certainly don't have any real advice to offer, but thought it was interesting that our Dr. said it would NOT help so much with focus/attention issues.
My son is kind of absent minded, too. If he is doing something and starts talking (which is ALWAYS!), he forgets what he was doing. He can't even tie his shoes and talk at the same time! Not a good multi tasker at this point.
weve been on family vacation for near a week now. I am finding him so frustrating right now. He cant seem to remember ANYTHING. Last night I asked him to take a bath because we were going out for a fancy dinner - it was our familyversary (my husband and I were married a year ago) anyway, he took the bath, was in there for near an hour but didnt wash his body or hair. It is so frustrating that I have a kid who still cant bathe without help. it just goes on and on. I dont know if it is harder becaue we are away from home and the schedule is messed up or what, but I really hoped that things would be easier now that he has been on the meds a while... sigh from the oceanside....
Elizabeth
And I thought it was just my kid who couldn't do anything alone! I am sorry that you are dealing with this, but I have to say it is, once again, so encouraging to find I am not alone. It's strange, b/c my two year old is so independent , never wants help with anything, and is totally fearless; my older girl has never been like that, so I have had to learn to let the little one do her thing. I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation. Happy Anniversary.
Allison
LadyBently - Happy Anniversary! 
I would love to be there with you watching the waves break. Much better than sitting here in my office working away.
I'm sorry, but I had to laugh about the bath thing. I too, thought that only MY son couldn't bathe without somebody constantly staying on him and telling him the next step.... pick up the shampoo, put some in your hand, ...... Currently he's doing pretty good, but living in a drought area is helping because he is very environmentally minded. When he starts to slow down, I poke my head in and give him the guilt trip. "Think about how many trees could get a drink from the water you are wasting."
LadyBentley,
My only experience is with Strattera and Adderall XR in combination. I do know thought that Strattera can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to show the full effects. It is possible that your son my still need a larger dose than 40 mg. My son who is 8 and weights 48 lbs. is on 40 mg Strattera and 10 mg adderall XR. We tried moving him up to 60 mg of Strattera (hoped it would help with the Adderall wearing off in the evenings a bit more) but started to get some sleeplessness symptoms so we are back down to the 40 mg. Give it a few more weeks. I think you'll have a better idea of how it is going to work by then.
-Gettingagrip-
gettingagrip38191.47552083332 weeks at the full dose? because we had 8 days below full dose (4 at 25 and 4 at 40) and now 6 days at 60. We have to go back to the doctor next Thursday, I really hope we have a better impression of how things are going by then. His appt is on day 12 of the full dose....LADYBENTLEY,
I know you are looking for a better impression, but remember this is summer time and your son is at home and not at school. If the Strattera is for focus and impulse control, it might be a bit harder to observe the results at home instead of at school where it is very structured and the teacher is within arm's length all day long. Just a thought.
Paul
LadyBentley
My 7 yr old son tried Strattera for 6 weeks (very long weeks!) We did not see any positive effects, and I feel we gave it a fair trial. He did get tics from this med. and this is the med. they normally give kids who have a tic disorder. Go figure! Everyone's biochemical makeup is so different.
It would really be nice to try the meds over the summer to get the dosage right and start the school year with out med changes. I wish you luck!
Our son is still very absentminded at home, has trouble remembering what he has to do to get ready for camp each day, forgets what he is doing in the middle of setting the table... stuff like that.
we shall see....
LADYBENTLEY,
We've had the same experience as GETTINGAGRIP with our 9 year old who weights 62 lbs. He's on 40 mg of Strattera and it took weeks before we had a stable dosage and visable results.
Paul
Hi, I'm Maureen.
My 10 year old daughter has been taking Strattera for almost 5 weeks. Previous to that, she's taken Adderall, Adderall XR, Concerta, and Ritalin LA. I do see a glimmer of hope with the Strattera, and she seems more focused a few hours after taking it, but we've been giving it to her after supper because it makes her so tired.
Anyway, I'm wondering from those of you who have a positive experience with Strattera, what is your dosing schedule? Do you give it once a day in the a.m. or p.m. or do you split the dose in two?
Also, if you give it just once a day, do you notice a period just before the next dose where the ADHD symptoms get worse?
Thanks for any feedback!!
Maureen
My son (10 in Aug) was given Strattera for his inattentive ADHD.
The doctor started him on 25 mg for 4 days, then 40 for 4 days and then to 60 - the optimal dose for his weight (110). He has been on the medication for 13 days now.
We have seen what we feel are a few small glimmers of hope but no real improvements in attention or recall. I was really hopeful that we would begin to see some more improvements by now.....
On the other hand other than a few sleepy days and an occasional upset stomach he has had no real side effects - I am going to ask the Dr. to reimburse the grocery money - he said my son would lose his appetite and he is eating as much as ever!
Just wondering if anyone else has had no result from Strattera. I know it takes a few weeks to see full results, I guess I was just hoping that we would be seeing a little more by now.
Elizabeth
yesterday (day 17 on med, day 9 at full dose) my son said to my husband, "I got distracted today. During arts and crafts when I should have been listening to the teacher the wind was blowing in the trees and I wondered how many spiders were up there."
After dinner at my parents house he said he saw a spider in the window by the door, wanted to stop and look at it. I could not see the spider and was at that time unaware of his other statement. I just hurried him along as I often need to do.
Then, he went to bed as usual but was up an hour later complaining of spiders that were in his room. Still not putting 2 and 2 together I sent him back to bed and told him that we live on the second floor and that spiders dont come up this high and that even if they did the screen on his window would keep them out. He said he had felt bits of their webs hanging from the ceiling. I suggested he sleep on the bottom bunk if it made him feel better.
When I went to bed an hour after that he was on the bottom bunk with a comforter pulled over his head (it was over 80 degrees out) and the lights were on! He has never been afraid of the dark!
I dont know if this is a side effect of the Strattera or not - but it sure is curious.
yeah, that is curious. Did he see more spiders today or was it a one day type of thing? poor guy.well weve had no more spiders - and a visit to the ped. The doc seemed to think that upping him to 80 might help, so we will start that this weekend. Also, the doc wants us to wait till the first part of october to see how well he does in school... so forward we will go....I was also given that med and it did nothing for me John told me this morning that he is worried that the medicine wont help with school coming up. I hate to waste even a week or two, I think that I will make an appointment NOW to see the doctor after 2 weeks of school......LadyB,
(long time no hear, I know, sorry!)
This "spider" thing....my oldest (12) is what I consider to be "bugphobic" and is also scared of the dark....but he's always been that way....this spider thing with yours, is it possible that it's some sort of reaction to the meds? I know that some kids will develop physical "tics" and stuff, I was just wondering the possibility/probability of a "mental tic", so to speak.....I mean, if he actually saw spiders, that'd be one thing, but to "feel the webs hanging down from the ceiling"? I'm just curious as to your opinion on this one, as sometimes my youngest (4) will wake up in the night (though thankfully not often) complaining of a bug/spider in his bed....of course, there's never one there.....do you think there is such a thing as a "mental tic"?
PJ
I have no idea what the spiders were about, but it seems to have been a one time thing.
On the positive side, we went to pick him up at Camp on Friday evening and he said to his little friend "CJ" I want you to meet my parents." CJ responded "ok, I want you to meet mine too - this is my mom and this is my dad"
John said "nice to meet you and shook their hands" then politley said to CJ "ok come meet my parents now"
This was signifigant in many ways, First he remembered the other little boy's name - second he actually WANTED to make a social overture. Third, when the other boy wanted to go first no fuss was made. Last but not least, when sidetracked by being introduced to the other parents he didnt forget that he wanted to introduce his friend to us!
All in all pretty significant, if even on a small scale.
Not small at all, I'd say. I've noticed small things too; kinda makes the tears well up. My girl told me she feels like things are not pressing in the front of her head now. I am glad he is doing well.hi. My son was on Strattera for the whole summer with NO reaction to it at all!!! There were no side effects, but it didn't help him one bit. I could have given him a piece of popcorn and it probably would have helped more! I hear the Strattera does help many people, but my son is EXTREMELY hyper and impulsive. He doesn't have attention probs, and I'm wondering if Strattera helps more with the attention end of this disease than the hyperactivity end. I kept waiting for this med to "kick in" and it never did. I went back to Concerta, which works great for him - I just wanted him to eat better so I tried the Strattera. Good luck!!!!daraHey there, they put me on Strattera after I had a bad physical reaction (though a really wonderful mental reaction) with Ritalin. I take 40 mgs in the morning when I wake up. Arghhh, hardly any difference! The first few days I was nauseous and got the cold shivers/hot sweats, switching like every 10 seconds, and just felt very weak (didn't want to eat anything). Now most of that has gone away except for the occasional shiver/sweat and constant decrease in appetite, but almost no mental difference! How long do you all think I should wait before asking them to up me to 80 mgs? I have been on this just over a week, and I know that's not all that long, but I want it to work now! Shocker, I know, I'm impatient lol. I'm just sick of waiting to be able to think straight. It has helped my impulsiveness a little, but hardly any my focusing ability. So frustrating.
LadyBentley wrote:
I am so really really pleased. I was very worried, and I know he needs to have coping mechanisms and organizational skills, but it seems apparent now that the Strattera is providing him with some additional ability to do well in school, which was the primary concern anyway
Lady B.......wonderful news
well after much frustration it appears that being back in school has made some sort of difference. He is bringing home his unfinished class work and homework - ALL BY HIMSELF! His lunch box has come home EVERYDAY! He told me that he is really able to FOCUS and feels so much better about school this year!
I am so really really pleased. I was very worried, and I know he needs to have coping mechanisms and organizational skills, but it seems apparent now that the Strattera is providing him with some additional ability to do well in school, which was the primary concern anyway 
back from vacation and less convinced than ever that this med is working. Yesterday in the pool playing volleyball and he couldnt keep track of the score... he was unable to pack for daycamp this week - had forgotten after 2 weeks off what goes in the backpack (only 3 items, swimsuit, sunscreen and towel)
His memory is as useless as ever... and I feel so helpless! I had really hoped that the Strattera would work and that he would be off to a good start for 5th grade...
I want so much to help my wonderful bright sweet child find success... but I just dont know how
Oh - many hugs to you and your boy. I know how hard it is sometimes. I get so sick of making lists for my son, but it's the thing that helps him the most. I just stick a specific list to whatever bag he is going to take and then let him handle it. I know it sounds stupid, but I bought a cheap backpack for each activity: swimming, karate, trumpet, etc. Then I used heavy tape to 'laminate' the list for each activity and used a safety pin to pin it inside. For school, I have an agreement with his teacher that we both check his planner to make sure everything is written down.
[QUOTE=LadyBentley]
His memory is as useless as ever... and I feel so helpless! I had really hoped that the Strattera would work and that he would be off to a good start for 5th grade...
I want so much to help my wonderful bright sweet child find success... but I just dont know how
[/QUOTE]
Boy do I know how you feel!!! We had the same exact experience with Strattera. My daughter was worse on that med than no meds at all!! Plus, she experienced rebound/emotional outbursts around the time she would need to take the next dose. She had the memory of a gnat.
Have you tried any other meds to treat his ADHD or was Strattera the first one. don't get too down, there are other alternatives. It typically takes a while to find the right med at the right dosage. Good luck with everything. I know how very frustrating and heartbreaking it is!
Maureen
Thanks so much to everyone for all your support
Yes, Strattera is our first try, and I just cant see it working. He is on 80 mg a day, and has no visible improvement yet.
I am also noticing that his social skills / interrupting are getting WORSE!
This morning I was listening to a segment on the news (regarding the food pyramid) when he piped up... hey mom they said potatoes are bad food...
Yes John, I said, Im trying to listen.
Oh well, what they were sayin is that...
John could you be quiet so I can listen
Yeah, as soon as I tell you what you missed...
My husband says... John you mom is trying to watch this, please eat your breakfast and let her.
I will but I want to tell her what she missed!
John BE QUIET!
now they are thanking the guest and an ad comes on ..... John says to me with complete innocence...
Did you learn anything new about potatoes?
ARRGHHHHHHHHH
When my son does that I will say "Yes I would love you to tell me, just in one minute" then I will put my hand on his shoulder or leg to kind of hold him down - he seems to be able to hang in there JUST.