Strattera/ Is this suppose to happen? | ADHD Information
My son takes RitalinSR which only lasts during school hours. He doesn't take it on weekends and school holidays.If Strattera has changed your son in such a drastic manner, I would absolutely ask your doctor to take him off of it. It sounds like Strattera is making him depressed and anxious.
The other thing that struck me about your post is that you said he was diagnosed with ADHD because he was getting angry at the teacher and that you had no problems at home. I'm not a doctor -- just a mom -- but that description doesn't exactly sound like ADHD to me. Did a pediatrician diagnose him? Did your son have any psychological or cognitive testing to determine if he truly has ADHD? Honestly, I think you may have to dig a little deeper to figure out the true problem. Just my humble opinion.
Here's some of the side effects that may answer your questions:
Indigestion; nausea; fatigue; decreased appetite; mood swings; possible stunted growth; can increase blood pressure and heart rate; pulse and blood pressure should be monitored at beginning, after each dose increase, and periodically thereafter.
My guess is that this med is not a very good mix for your son.
My son (6) was diagnosised with ADHD in February due to his temper at school. (As I believe they called it borderline.) (He was getting angry at the teacher if he could not get his way or do what he wanted to do. He was doing his work but every now and then we would get called from school to come and pick him up. He would not do this at homeand we had no problem with him doing homework.) He has been on 25mg of strattera for about 1 month. The school has seen a big improvement in his behavior and work. But I feel like I have lost my fun little boy.
He always ran around and played outside. He loved baseball. When he began strattera, we started notice him a lot calmer. They did complain of him being tired at school but I know this is a side effect. As the weeks passed on, my son was very irritable and always tired. He did OK at school but was very tired and did not like to do the fun things he use to like to do at home. Today, he was just too tired to play baseball. He is also started to be obsessed with gameboy, which in the past he could care less about.
I have also noticed that he does not have the friends he use to. He is saying mean things to them. He could use to make friends with a rock. 
He is not eating much,very constipated and frequently urinating. We first tried adderall but that freaked him out the first day he took it. (He actually went crazy.)
We give him his pill in the morning and usually by 9 or 10 he is very tired. I am wondering if I give it to him in afternoon, then this would not make him so tired.
I miss my loving little boy who was filled with energy. Does anyone know of a medication that just last during school hours and he can be his regular self on weeknds and nights?
Thanks,
From a very worried mom
Ritalin has a short-acting form that lasts about four hours. The downside of this is that your son will have to take his second pill at school, which is usually given after lunch. You can give him this form, however, only for school and not on the weekends, school breaks, or during the summer.
Good luck, and I hope your happy, energetic, gregarious child returns quickly!
My daughter was on strattera for 6 months & the same thing happened. We ended up taking her off it because we wanted our child back. Nothing excited her, nothing made her happy when she was on strattera. Anyway theres a thread at another board you can read entitled "Everything you ever wanted to know about strattera".Heres the link:
http://millermom.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=general& ; ; action=display&thread=1067310659
i edited to say that every time I post the link that ; keeps showing up..I'm not putting it there! Well, if you copy & paste the link without the ; it should work. Sorry I couldnt get a working link in.
Misty2238808.823125My 12 year old was on Straterra for about 6 weeks about 3 months ago. Not only did it not do anything for him in school or at home he became very very depressed. He actually told a guidance coucellor at school that he wanted to kill himself. I was devastated! A day later I got an email from the Lily company who makes Straterra (because I sign up on their web site when I was investigating the drug after the doctor suggested it) and this email is telling me that suicidal thought are a side affect of the drug this is as not on there web site the day before the email went out... I was horrified and that was the end of those drug, straight to the toilet for them. I know that not all children will suffer from these feelings and affects but I think that as parents we need to have our eyes open and trust our own feelings about how our childern at being treated and medicated. My son is now on Dexedrine and honestly life has never been better (so far) !!!!!
ChristieP
My daughter is on Strattera as well. You can give it to him at bedtime. If your major problem with it is him being tired, try that. It sounds like otherwise it is working. I might also ask for a slightly lower dose if switching to nighttime doesnt not help as much as I think it will. First try switching to a nighttime schedule though. My Doctor encourages her taking it at night as it helps her sleep. All of the other meds kept her up night and day and she had vicious bags under her eyes.
Good Luck and dont give up...finding the right medication can be frustrating!
We tried Strattera also and I am NOT a fan....it seems as if this med is causing lots of problems for folks....
I suggest you talk to your doc and try something else....
FYI - when we went off this med our doc had us go to a lower dosage for a week then we were off
Any time a child takes a stimulant medication, they become irritable and should be placed on an anti-depressant in addition to the medication.
I believe it is Strattera (or maybe Concerta - I can't remember because we have tried everything) that is in their system 24/7. I completely relate to what you are saying about missing your boy...they truly are different on meds...however, with the right mix, and the right psychologist, this will all balance out in time.
I agree with the person who wondered why the teacher thought ADHD when he was angry, that to me doesn't sound like ADHD. My son is a classic textbook ADHD child, but anger is not part of this at all.
Best of luck!
SPeckham, it is not categorically true that when a child takes a stimulant and he becomes irritable, he should be placed on an antidepressant. Whoever gave you that idea? It is not standard medical practice.
BTW, Strattera is an antidepressant in the SNRI family (not a stimulant). It stays in the bloodstream 24/7. A major side effect of Strattera is mood swings.
Great Lynn,
I think this drug has more problems associated with it than originally thought. I am happy as well my son is off this med as well...would love to hear about your experience with ATTEND
Just wanted to pop in here with my 2 cents -- it took us awhile to discover that the short-term ritalin (methylin) was the best choice for our son. He had the mood swings and just wasn't himself while we tried adderall and one other extended release med. (Everyone reacts and metabolizes meds differently.) Our doc won't prescribe the straterra because he said he is not comfortable with reported health problems possibly associated with the med, and the fact that it is very new -- he doesn't want to use it on his patients yet. (Not trying to upset anyone using straterra -- just reporting what our doctor said -- I know that everyone responds differently to different types of meds.)
Our son on ritalin is still his gregarious, playful self, just a little more relaxed and focused when on his meds, and not as impulsive -- which helps to keep him out of trouble. He does not get irritable when on the ritalin -- he's happy that the meds are working and that he is doing so well in school. I also like that we can skip doses on the weekend to give him a break, or that we can supplement with an extra half-dose on days that he might need it. His appetite is slightly suppressed during the daytime, but he makes up for it at suppertime by eating more than I do every night !
Good luck on finding a solution that works well -- follow your instincts and listen to your child. :o)
We just recently took our 12 year old daughter off of straterra and she thanks me every day! She would tell me it was helping, but I didn't see it. All I saw were the horrible mood swings, which just added to the normal hormonal things going on with her! We went on omegas and Attend and seems to be working. She still doesn't like homework and sometimes it's a fight but not anything like the meltdowns she had on straterra. I think this drug ought to be band! Also, she didn't notice how bad it made her feel until not being on it a couple of weeks. Her report card last week said that she seemed to be enjoying school and joking around with her teachers!
Just a thought. Because a med did horrible things with your child, does not mean it is horrible to everyone. All meds affect everyone differently. My son did horrible on adderrall xr, and I will never put him back on it, but I know it has helped a lot of people.It is wrong that if a child reacts irritably to stim you should add an antidepressant. Wow. A combo. of stims and antidepressanst can reek havoc in the systems of kids--that's a lot of pumping "up." You need to find out the root cause of the bad reaction to the stim. If it's a misdiagnosis and not ADHD, adding an antidepressant will only cause more problems. Even with ADHD, that's again a lot of "up." Straterra IS an antidepressant which takes about six weeks for full affect. A bad reaction to Straterra, can mean a misdiagnosis too. ADHD is often the first, and often NOT the last, diagnosis a child gets.