strattera | ADHD Information

hi all .im new to this site .we are living living in ireland but need your appreciated help .my son 15 and half ,adhd. and odd.was on ritalin for last 10 years . was recently on 50 mg ritalin la in t morn, and 15 mg ritalin pm.but it never worked properly for him,,so docs changed him to strattera 3 wks ago. first wk  they gave him 25 mg strattera and kept him on his usual dose of ritalin,. 2nd wk  strattera was upped to 50 mg and they reduced ritalin morn from 50 to 40 mg and cut out his evening dose. all was going fantastic we really found an improvement . he could feel a difference himself. but last wk they cut the ritalinla to 20mg , eventually to cut it out next wk,but he is after reverting bak to the old behaviour, how is it that we saw huge differnce 1st 2 wks and now its like he s not an any meds? i give him his meds personally. we are stunned with this .does anybody have experience of this or would anybody shed some light on this subject?we would really appreciate your help>

Hi -

We're new to Strattera also - ds has been on it since the end of May. He was also on 20mg of Daytrana. We started at 25 mg strattera for a week, went to 40mg since and cut the Daytrana off last Wednesday. I am happy with the results so far, but think I understand your concern with the "old" behavior. My understanding is this med only works on about 30% of ADHD kids. Sounds like possibly the Strattera is not working well "alone". As I am new to this also, I'm not sure about continuing a combo of the 2 meds, but that's what I will be talking to ds doc about.

Some of the reasons ds is on strattera is to improve anxiety/tics - these have improved a lot and his overall mood is much happier, but I don't think it is helping to control the focus/concentration and impulsiveness nearly as well as the Daytrana. I feel we will have to do something else when school starts - possibly trying 10mg daytrana - not sure what dev. ped. will suggest.

Have you noticed an increase in appetite? My ds is eating 24/7 is seems like since we stopped the Daytrana.

While I may not have been much help, please continue updating on your sons progress, I will too. Thanks!

Strattera is supposed tp be ramped slowly, from 10 mgs to the target dose. Tagrte dose is 1.2-1.8 mgs per kilo of body wieght.

Strattera also takes 4-6 weeks after reaching target dose to see improvement.  The Dr. cut out the Ritalin too fast, started Strat too high.

Is this a Psych, or a ped?

MY DD took Strattera for quite a while and the only reason we stoppped it was due to appetite increase. DD did not need to gain weight.

edbson wrote..."Strattera also takes 4-6 weeks after reaching target dose to see improvement. The Dr. cut out the Ritalin too fast, started Strat too high."

I agree. It's very common to feel that Strat is not working at this stage. Many people give up too soon and don't give the drug enough time to build up in the body and work properly. Give it more time. Strat is also a drug that works good with other drugs, so you may want to continue on a stimulant medication a little longer. If after 4-6 weeks he still doesn't show substantial improvements, then let your doctor know. Also, keep in mind that IMHO drugs don't "cure" ADHD, but give our children an opportunity to learn how to control themselves. "Bad habits are hard to break." Dad in Akron39273.6989236111Well , his target dose is between 36-54 mgs, with 36 being the lowest possible for his weight. I would ask why the 10 wasn't prescribed, and why they want to go to 50, which is on the high end of the ratio.

Thanks for the information - I will be checking back with his doc.

After thinking about it for awhile, I'm wondering if she didn't do the 2-25mg because she said some kids have a hard time with stomach/intestinal problems at the higher dose. She said to try giving him the 50mg at once, if he has problems, we can try 25 in the am and 25 in the pm.

We're upping to the 50 because although his attitude is better, listening and all that at home, I just don't think that he'll have enough of the focus/concentration/control needed for what's expected of him in school. If it doesn't work at 50, hopefully we'll have time to try a low dose stim such as 10mg Daytrana - not wanting multiple meds so sure hope the 50 works.

Thanks again for the info - this is a totally new med to me so I appreciate any help!

My son is about 68-70 pounds (but as I've said before, eating like a horse so who knows how long he'll stay there!)

This was prescribed by a developmental pediatrician at the childrens hospital.

Haven't really had side effects. He's on 40mg now so it's not that I think we'd be ramping up too fast from 40 to 50 - it just seems that ds doc doesn't know there's a 10mg if she wants to do 2 - 25's (even though we just got another prescription for 40mg last week).

I would, ramping too fast can cause ugly side effects.

What is his weight?

Is this a psych or a ped? Some Dr's know alot more about ADHD and the meds used than others.

edbson39274.4862847222

edbson -

You said it is ramped up starting with 10 mg - I just got off the phone with my son's doc and she said we're going to try and do 50 mg (he's now on 40mg) so she's calling in a prescription for 2 - 25 mg to be given. Shouldn't I be able to give him a 40 mg (we already have) and a 10mg instead of getting another new prescription??