Good experiences w/Strattera? | ADHD Information
[QUOTE=NYJets] Tryan920 - We are 5 days into the full dosage (25mg). We are giving it to him about 2/3 of the way through dinner. He is getting stomachaches and a sore throat about 45 minutes after taking it (but otherwise no significant ill effects). He wants to go to bed right away. So, your experience was that the tiredness went away (going to bed on time is nice, but I hate to basically give him a sleeping pill) after some time at full dosage?. Did the stomachaches seem to disapate as well? If the stomachaches don't go away, we might split the dosage to 10mg in the AM and 18mg in the evening.
In any case - thanks to all for the replies.
Eric
[/QUOTE]
I give My son his dose after breakfast, but I don't think it matters when you give it. When Thomas first started he would get real tired by mid-day for the first 2 weeks...sometimes so tired he needed to nap, but after that he was fine.
We went through the "sleepy stage" again when his dose was increased, but that was also only for a week or so.
The Stomache-aches stopped around the same time.........As with alot of meds, sometimes they just need time to adjust.
Tommy will still have the occasional stomache-ache or bout of tiredness but only a handful of times a month, and nothing that interferes with his day.
I hope everything works out for him....keep us informed
Take care
Hi,I am a concerned Dad with a 6 year old boy with ADHD.....primarily hyperativity/impulsivity. We initially tried Strattera, but he wouldn't swallow the pill. So we decided to try Adderall XR (10mg). On the second day he was having frightening hallucinations....so we immediately discontinued the drug (and have decided against stimulants). After waiting a couple of weeks, we tried the Strattera again and he was able to swallow it. We did 1 week at 10mg, 1 week at 18mg, and yesterday he started at full dosage of 25mg.
In reading this forum there seems to be an overwhelming anti-Strattera lobby on the board. I am not sure if it is due to the FDA warnings or personal experience. This is pretty disappointing. I was wondering if anyone had any positive experiences with Strattera....especially in adolescents. We are really desperate for something good to happen and I really could use some encouraging news. I know we need to wait 4 to 6 weeks....but it would be nice to hear something good from parents that have kids on Strattera.
Thanks,
Eric
Welcome to the board!
I hope you have good results with straterra. There are certainly people whom it helps. I went to hear Dr. Patricia Quinn speak on ad/hd in Houston last weekend. She basically said that at this time, stimulants are the most effective medicines used in treating adhd. Of course they do not work for everyone, or they have unacceptable side effects. Many people were very exited when strattera came out and tried it instead of their stimulant meds, only to switch back later.
I'm sorry about what happened to your son. That sounds scary! Hope you get some positive results.
Koko38779.4739699074My son took Straterra for a year. First few months we had problems with
dry throat, cough and being very tired.
Tried different dosages.
We pulled him off a month ago because the whole time he was on this
crazy med he became very aggressive and violent. He would be kicking
and spitting in school and would say he did not know why he did it. I
believe him and the school believed him.
We never had the problem last school year (was not on med)---this is the
sweetest kid.
He has now been off a month and it is sooo nice to see my child back
again and smiling--not moody, agitated and irritable.
Just an fyi....my son's neurodevelopmental pediatrician told me they are
rethinking prescribing Straterra to kids because they felt that they had
such a large increase in kids who were extremely moody. It's almost as if
this med brings out some monster in the child. And this is from our
experience.
I will share that I have 2 other friends who tried Straterra for their kids
and SAME problems.
My son is 8 and has been taking Strattera since May of last year.....We've had great success with it so far.....It is tough to have to wait to see results, but I feel it was well worth it, my son is still the same funny kid I love, just toned down a few notches and much more attentive in school.....
He started at 40mg/day and we recently upped it to 50mg......expect some tiredness in the beginning till his levels normalize and always always always give it to him after a meal to avoid stomachaches...
If your doctor hasnt already done so, get blood work done to make sure there are no current issues and have repeat bloodwork done about 2x a year.....The risks are low, but its always best to stay on top of things.
Good luck
BTW......I'm from NY too.....Just End The Season
I currently take strattera, and I've had good experiences overall with it. It worked incredibly well initially, but I will say that over the months the effects have tapered off. I'm pondering switching over to stimulants, but I'm VERY uncomfortable with the idea. I just tried adderall today, and I'll try it for two more days to see how it works.
I'd definitely say to give strattera a try, though you may eventually find that you need to enhance it with a stimulant. It can, however, afford the ability to give your child a smaller dose of the stimulant for the same effects, and that's definitely worth something. Be aware, however, that the side effects can be numerous.
Last two nights no stomache aches.
Hopefully the next step is positive results.
Eric
[QUOTE=NYJets]Last two nights no stomache aches.
Hopefully the next step is positive results.
Eric
[/QUOTE]
Thats great to hear.....I started to see some improvement with my son after the first 2 weeks....but nothing to significant until about 7 weeks......
I've always told my son that the medicine isnt to "fix" him...merely to "help" him.This way he gets more of a sense of achievement and pride when he starts to have better days and it really seems to be an incentive to him to prove that he can do more.
My husband initially was in the habit of asking (out loud and in front of my son) "Did he take his pills yet today" when Tommy had a bad day. I find that to be incredibly contradictive to what we are trying to acheive.
No matter what med works best for your son, positive reinforcement is the key to helping them develop good coping skills and habits .
Best of luck
I, on the other hand, have nothing but positive things to say about Strattera. On stimulants, my youngest child was moody, angry and couldn't sleep. On Strattera, he's happy, can concentrate and sleeps well. He's been on it for three years with occasional dosage changes as he grows. We've had a few side effects - a little heart burn and tiredness with dosage changes.
For the past few months, it hasn't seem to be as effective and he's at a maximum dose, so we switched him to a trial of Focalin XR. - He hasn't slept well for two weeks, he's moody, fidgety and is definitely not at a therapeutic dose as he can't concentrate at all.
As with all meds, I think that every case is different! We're going to try Provigil for a few weeks and then probably back to Strattera.
My oldest son is also on Strattera for the past 2 years. He did extremely well on stimulants for 7 years, but needed dosing (even with concerta) during the school day. It's almost impossible to get a high school junior to go to the nurse during lunch for meds, so we switched him to Strattera. The results aren't as good as with stimulants, but they're very acceptable.
Strattera always knocks me on my arse for the first two days, and then after those first two days it leaves me totally keyed up. So hopefully it'll pass for your son too. If not, just give it to him a bit later, like right before he would normally go to bed.
[QUOTE=Tryan920]
My son is 8 and has been taking Strattera since May of last year.....We've had great success with it so far.....It is tough to have to wait to see results, but I feel it was well worth it, my son is still the same funny kid I love, just toned down a few notches and much more attentive in school.....
He started at 40mg/day and we recently upped it to 50mg......expect some tiredness in the beginning till his levels normalize and always always always give it to him after a meal to avoid stomachaches...
If your doctor hasnt already done so, get blood work done to make sure there are no current issues and have repeat bloodwork done about 2x a year.....The risks are low, but its always best to stay on top of things.
Good luck
BTW......I'm from NY too.....Just End The Season
Tryan920 - We are 5 days into the full dosage (25mg). We are giving it to him about 2/3 of the way through dinner. He is getting stomachaches and a sore throat about 45 minutes after taking it (but otherwise no significant ill effects). He wants to go to bed right away. So, your experience was that the tiredness went away (going to bed on time is nice, but I hate to basically give him a sleeping pill) after some time at full dosage?. Did the stomachaches seem to disapate as well? If the stomachaches don't go away, we might split the dosage to 10mg in the AM and 18mg in the evening.
In any case - thanks to all for the replies.
Eric
NYJets38782.4287152778
NY Jets,
Welcome to the boards! Don't be too discouraged by the negative reports, People tend to post on negative experiances more often than positive ones. It is just the nature of things. When things are going well people don't feel the need to post. Kind of like prayer, when things are going well we are not as likely to get down on our knees.The meds effect everyone diffrently, you just have to try them to see how they will work. I use the negative reports as things to look out for... Hang in there I know it can be frustrating searching for the right treatment.