Considering Strattera | ADHD Information
He has been on ritlain and turned in into the physco child. I want him off the stimulants as I have read they are the most dangerous of them all. He has been on meds for 8 years now. He is an honor student but is starting to have health issues that we believe is linked to the adderall which scares me to death. His dr. wants to try strattera but knock him down to a low dose of adderall until he gets used to the strattera. If we see that it isnt working me and my husband have decided we are going to do away with all meds all together and go all natural and give it a shot. That to me is my last option as I have tried all the others. We havent try concerta but from what several dr.'s have said it didnt have the outcome they expected it to. So I am just at a lose right now.My son is 12 and has been on adderall xr for over a year now and recently started having chest pains, we have done ekg and echo and they cant find anything wrong but he is still having them.
Well will all the news stuff about adderal xr I want to take him off of it due to it is too close for comfort for me. I am nervous b/c he is doing great in school for the most part.
I have considered Strattera but a little nervous, has anyone or anyones child taken this before and what was your outcome?
Thanks in advance.
Teressa - out of all the ADHD meds the one I'd be worried about is stratterra. It has many side effects and tends to leave one feeling slow and rather zombie-like. I personally see the effects when I took it and hearing from others here.
Adderall XR may not be the best (it's a trial and error for everyone) - but have you tried him on Ritalin or Concerta? For many children that is the best route as they have the background of success and very few side effects.
Also, there isn't much new about Adderall in the news. There are some fear mongers but the info they spread is all about kids with pre-existing heart troubles and as you've ruled that out it's not the thing to worry about. Chest pain can often be actually pressure in a child and anxiety can cause that. Adderall has been known to aggravate anxiety feelings in children and adults. Check with a psychiatrist who knows ADHD as possibley your son has a comorbid condition concerning anxiety. There are anti-anxiety meds that could help and keep his focus and better attention as well.
I have heard that so many people feel zombied out on Strattera. I'm on Strattera and haven't noticed feeling zombied at all. At the beginning when I started taking it I felt different but that was compared to the way I felt being on no meds. Even at the beginning I felt calm, clear-headed and focused. But what I noticed most was that my head was quiet. I could follow my own thoughts, remember things better. It was like coming out of a fog. The differentness (if that's a word) was un-zombie like. I don't recall feeling buzzed or spaced out. Definitely not like I was on a drug-induced high.
There are side-effects of Strattera that are somewhat aggravating but manageable. #1 Dry mouth! Ugh! I hate that but on the up side it makes me consume much more water. #2 Constipation - directly related to the dry mouth #3 Loss of appetite - at first I literally had to force myself to eat. Now 6 months into it I eat when I am physically hungry, eat until my body says that's enough then I'm done. Food has ceased to become the semi-religious experience that it was before I was put on meds. Alcohol - I'm able to control that much better as well. I also don't drink as much caffeine. In short, I'm not self-medicating.
Something to keep in mind about Strattera. It is mucho expensive. I'm on it because it is a non-stimulant and due to one of my hobbies (flying) I don't want anything to threaten my pilot's license. The Strattera is bad enough. The FAA won't even let you take cold medicine hardly. You might want to price it out before hand.
Momof2bys,
My daughter is on Strettera right now and has been for about 9 months. I am currently waiting on her Dr. to call me back. I want her off of it, when she first started taking it, I thought it helped her a little bit. But now she has been showing violence in school, which is really weird because she has never showed any at home. You would think she was a different person in school than at home. At school she recently tore the room up compeletly. But yet at home I have never had any problems with violence at all. Since she has started taking Strettera she has had very very bad breathe even when she brushes her teeth and uses mouth wash, or mints the oder is still there. It about kills my to be right in front of her. Bless her heart I can't tell her that though. She also has dry mouth all the time, along with constipation. As for the eating problem she eats very little at all, most the time I have to make her eat or she won't. She is only 10 years old, she also takes Concerta 54 with the Strettera 60 once a day. Read all you can about the drug before you put your child on it. Ask alot of questions about Strettera. Good luck
Hi, my son started Strettera and the only thing we have noticed is abdominal upset and sleepiness. I have the some serious concerns with the Adhd meds in general none of them are perfect all have some side affects and why does it seem that when put on a ADHD med there are other meds prescribed at the same time i thought that when you put a kid on a ADHD med it was supposed to help the problem not a cocktail of drugs. 
[QUOTE=Summer'Mom]
Momof2bys,
My daughter is on Strettera right now and has been for about 9 months. I am currently waiting on her Dr. to call me back. I want her off of it, when she first started taking it, I thought it helped her a little bit. But now she has been showing violence in school, which is really weird because she has never showed any at home. You would think she was a different person in school than at home. At school she recently tore the room up compeletly. But yet at home I have never had any problems with violence at all. Since she has started taking Strettera she has had very very bad breathe even when she brushes her teeth and uses mouth wash, or mints the oder is still there. It about kills my to be right in front of her. Bless her heart I can't tell her that though. She also has dry mouth all the time, along with constipation. As for the eating problem she eats very little at all, most the time I have to make her eat or she won't. She is only 10 years old, she also takes Concerta 54 with the Strettera 60 once a day. Read all you can about the drug before you put your child on it. Ask alot of questions about Strettera. Good luck
[/QUOTE]What makes you think it is the Strattera and not the Concerta?....or perhaps the combination?.....seems like a high dosage of both for a 10 year old. 60 mg of Strattera is for someone who weighs 94 lbs (at least as I understand the recommended dosage).
strattera helped my son at first ( fist month) then I did not notice any benefits ...he is now off of strattera and seems to be much calmer and happier...he was kinda moody on the stattera
If you decide that this is the best for you , just keep your eye out for side effects or for the med not to work as it is designed to work...I think we kept my son on this med longer than we should have ( did not realize it) because it really was not working to control his ADHD symptoms...
here's my story for strattera. My son was on it for 2 years. He is now 8. the med worked great for the first 5 or 6 months, then we had to up his dosage to right around 30 something mg.s then about 6 months later, upped again to 60mg! Went well, but over time (so slowly) we didn't realize how the meds were not really working. Then he started getting into trouble alot at school. So, about 8 weeks ago, we took him off it and put him on adderall 10mg XR. Night and day difference. But the withdraws from the strattera were horrific! my little 8 year old was out of school for a week, was having thoughts of people killing him and him killing himself. After 5 nights of pure hell, the thoughts slowly stopped. Now he is back to his sweet self. with less meds and very happy, and he almost never gets into trouble. This is just our story. It may not happen to any one else, but it happened to us.
Some people have had great success with it, some have not. Hope this helps. We are going from Focalin xr20mg to Strattera 40mg. My son is currently on only the Strattera. The pdoc said it would take 4 days for this dose to get in his system. Tommorrow is the 4th day. The Focalin was causing some OCD issues that were affecting his actions with his classmates. Luckily next week is spring break. So far it is doing NOTHING!! He is loud, impulsive, hyper but is kinda listening. We also started something similiar to OGRAM's marble system, but we are using poker chips. They are easier to find. I thought I would lose my marbles looking for marbles. Oh, maybe they were the one's I lost.
It's confusing....all these drugs. Seems best to try a few different ones before settling on one. lol
If I was guessing and I am, I'd say your doctor, right or wrong, feels that your sons chest pain is not cardiac related. Strattera being a norepinepherine reuptake inhibitor would make it possibly as bad as amphetamine-like ADHD drug for cardiac risk patients. Norepinepherine is the most powerful vasosonstrictor that exists. It's given intravenously in dire situations specifically for its vasoconstrictive effects in order to raise blood pressure. The brand name for Norepinepherine is Levophed. There is a saying taught in nursing school... Levophed, leave em dead, to impress upon us how potent it is. Basically norepinepherine is such a powerful vasoconstrictor that when given intravenously people lose fingers and toes due to lack of blood supply. Now obviously Strattera is not that potent but because it's mechanism of action is as a norepinepherine reuptake inhibitor it does increase blood pressure, increase heart rate, cause cold hands and feet, and is contraindicated in cardiac risk patients.
Like Glen said before me chest pain can also be related to anxiety in which case I would think all stimulants and norepinepherine(noradrenaline) reuptake inhibitors would make worse.
Also some people describe acid reflux as chest pain and vice versa. I could be wrong but I think that could be a major difference between the two meds. Straterra because of its induction of a fight or flight response in the sympathetic nervous system, drys out the GI tract causing constipation but would have less acid reflux. Adderall on the other hand because of its central stimulating effects may cause increased gastric production and possibly reflux. I know I had to give my son a med to decrease acid production when he was on Adderall and it did help but I didn't do it long term.
Sorry for too much information. I learn as I'm going too so this is as much for me as anyone. I might as well type and share and even though I sound like a know it all, I don't.
The question asked was a while ago, I hope you got it figured out.