Strattera Question? | ADHD Information

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My son is not on strattera anymore but I do recall it working right away!!!!! The strattera worked really well for about a year and half then he started to get really aggesive and irritable. He was taking 60mg once a day with a combo of risperdal. He is still taking risperdal with lamictal now. Hope this can help you!!!! Strattera is an SNRI antidepressant and typically takes 4 to 6 weeks to reach therapeutic levels.  Side effects include headaches, stomachaches and moodiness.For those of you that have your children on Strattera...Did you see a difference right away or did it take some time to kick in?  My son has always taken the regular stims, Ritilin, and Concerta, but seems to metabolize them too quickly.  They work for him, but the dosages, no matter at what level, just quit after 4 to 5 hours.  His pdoc wants to try him on Strattera, which we are starting, to see if it will work better for him.  When he was on the other stims they kicked in right away and we knew they were working.  Is it the same with your children with Strattera?  Thanks for the help.The Straterra didn't work very well with my 6 year old. We tried for about 6
7 weeks, but we were at the top dose for his size. So, we are now using
Daytrana.

The Straterra took about 4 weeks to see a good change. I just wasn't
pleased with the results. Hope you have good luck with it!

We saw an immediate difference.

Trevors mom:

How old is your child and how long has he been taking strattera for? Did you see results in the first week?  My son (6yrs) is now taking 18mg and it has taken long to see differences. By now, he is in his seventh week. I see some improvement but still not completely satisfied.

The hardest thing is the older a person gets the harder it will be to inforce anything even with teenagers. I would prefer liquids that can be put in juices or a shot form or evaporates in mouth method. I think a person should be taught the skills also they are lacking in.

Daily for life from Melaleuca for me.Kids do their Aussiepals and calc/mag also. Kids can also do provexplus. Anyone 75lbs.  or more can do the daily for life packs.  They have one for women and one for men. We do their Solumel also for cleaning the house. We also own a purifier from Ecoquest. Helps have healthier air. Easy to clean also. No refill filters either. Next plan to have the water filter system for the whole house.

No wonder starattera didn't help him his neroephenephrine is on level. The rest are what are off.  So his test showed anyhow. mariaven, my son is trying straterra now because he has tics as well, he is also trying clonidine, it is supposed to help with tic control and impulse control for adhd

Ivanhoe,

I started my son on supplements before stopping Stratterra and they seem to have helped. What multi-vitamin do you use? I have tried to find one without all the additives, but haven't yet.

Takes weeks to work - but it can be combined with the sim he was on before, just to get you over the first few 'non-working' weeks.

Dd started on Strattera last Nov. at the minimum dose.  Slowly ramped up the dose.  Saw a little improvement in distractibility.  By April, it was at maximum dosage, but dd started losing attention in class.  Added in Concerta, saw improvement.  By June, dropped Strattera entirely.  Based on a lot of posts here, I would say not to expect it to work for very long.  Of course every child is different, you should give it a chance to work.  Just don't be too disappointed if it quits working after a while.  That happens a lot, it seems.  Good luck!

Because it's properties work much like an antidepressant (it's a norepinephrine  reuptake inhibitor rather than seratonin) it takes weeks to build in the system.  A minimum of 2 to see anything really, that was when we started seeing improvement.  We've done strattera for the last 16months, side effects were stomache ache and irritability, which we treated with wellbutrin off label.

FYI, in addition to the delayed effectiveness, the effectiveness of Strattera, unlike stims, is affected by weight.  Therefore, if your child grows or gains weight, you may have to change dosage.  The important thing is not what the mg being prescribed is, but the mg/kg ratio.  The max effective dosage tested is 1.4mg/kg up to 70kg.  After that, they measure in adult doses.

graciepoints38959.5631365741

I had my son on Strattera for about 8 weeks when he was 4 1/2.  It took a couple of weeks to kick in.  While he calmed slightly, he lost weight, complained of stomach ache and was still impulsive and hyperactive.  And he didn't seem particularly happy on the medication.  So we took him off.

I know a mother of an ADHD teen who takes Strattera and reports that he feels like he's not taking anything at all.  He still has focus issues, however. 

 

My son (6 years) has been on strattera for about 5 weeks since he was recently diagnosed. At times it is confusing for me to tell if he really is receiving benefits from this med; that is to say, that some times I notice certain control in him, an some others he still behaves the same way, impatient, and not being able to concentrate well. He started in a very low dose that, according to what the neurologist said, is going to be adjusted in 2 months; we are just trying the medication to see how he tolerates it.  I am a little anxious because there is no other choice for him but strattera since he has tic periods.

 

with my son it didnt work well by itself so he has to take the straterra and concerta together. since weve done this its been so much betterStraterra takes about 2 weeks, some times longer to see any results.  My son was on it for about 2 years.  BAD idea.  He was 7 and having thoughts of killing him self, hurting him self, and dreaming others are shooting at him!  We took him off it and the withdraws were just as bad, and some times even worse!  My suggestion is not to use it.  There is a HUGE class action law suit about it.  My worry is about the long term effects this medication might have.  Like when my ds is in high school.  I worry that the damage from the Starterra will provoke thoughts of suicide in him as an older person.  I recommend trying to go with any other med.  But this is my opinion.  I do know some that have had great success on it.  But over the past few months, several of the parents have taken their kids off of it for the same reason.  so the number of people that i know that have used it is shrinking my the day. 

SLEEPYNESS IS A SIDE EFFECT ALSO. IT DIDN'T LAST LONG ENOUGH FOR HIM EITHER. HE DOES VITAMINS INSTEAD. THEY DO HELP OUT.

MULTIVITAMIN IN MORNING

CALC/MAG IN AFTERNOON

GOOD FATS ALSO.

CAFFEINE IF NEEDED!

My daughter tried strattera for a few months but her stomaches got progrssivly worse to the point where she was throwing up every day- I didnt like the results at all either so we went back to rialin before we tried metadate wich she is on now at almost 7 yrs old about 55 lbs she is takeing 40 mg. Almost no side effects and it seems to be working all day with one morning dose. But good luck on any med- we all know its trial and error.