Am I over-analizing this? (Straterra) | ADHD Information
To the one's who know of our adhd journey you may already know that I am a huge worry-wart, who didnot want to even start adhd medications in the beginning but I feel the school is pretty much forcing us to.
Okay so anyways, My son 9 yrs. started Straterra 25 MG 6 days ago. He was not ramped up like he was supposed to be. I called his doctor who told me that he could put him back down to 18 MG but since he really isn't having many side effects to just stay with the 25 MG. He also said that he may leave him on the 25 MG and not ramp higher if the 25 seems to be working.
Okay.. So the school has told me on monday and tuesday that they can see a big change for the better. By wednesday (Which was yesterday and his 5th day and was off of school for the holidays) I also saw that he wasn't nearly as bad. He really does seem to be much better. he still is hyper but as most of you have told me, straterra doesn't help much with being hyper.
So here is my questions. I have read on this board and many other places about Straterra causeing suicidal thinking. Ofcoarse being the complete worry-wart I am I have been obseving his every action. So here is what I am noticing.
He rubs his hands alot. Almost like a nervous habbit. He blinks his eye's alot (but he has done this for years now, but blinks them even more) He seems a tiny bit withdrawn. He isn't as happy and smiley as he was. Example.... Before the medicine he would run through the house and jump in my lap and have a huge smile on his face and tell me some funny silly joke, he would try to make himself fall out of my lap being silly and just be hyper and smiley and laughing. Now since he started on the medicine he will sit quietly beside of me. I will tell him I love him and he will quietly give me a kiss on the cheek and say I love you to mommy. Okay this may not be a huge deal... I am just taking notes on any changes.
His sleeps seems to be fine. He was eating good. Except for today and yesterday. He didn't eat that much at all for those days.
Now this is the questions that I wonder if I am over observing. On the way up to the inlaws house he was telling us about the cycle in the ocean. (Which is not like him to have fun talking about things he learned in school, But that is actually great!) So he told us that the small fish eat plants and big fish eat small fish etc. etc. And then he told us that the other class got to disect a frog. He told us that he wished that he had got to because he wanted to cut it open and look at it's heart!!! Ok.. So this may be normal talk for some little boys but my son usually would never and has never said things like this. He would usually say he would never disect anything because he would feel bad for the animal/insect.
Okay next.. 1 hour later I was outside sitting and talking to him again. The leaves were falling and he caught one. He told me that his friend once had a leaf that had a sharp point on it and it was sharp enough to stab someone in the heart!!!! Okay... This is not like him eiether.. Ofcoarse his friend didn't have a leaf like this, he does make up stories to share with me sometimes... but never about stabbing the heart.
Okay today. My son was playing with his baby brother. His brother grabbed his shirt. They were play fighting. My oldest son started twirling around and around making the shirt get very tight around his neck!! I told him loudly to stop!!! He kept doing it! My youngest was laughing. I told them both again to stop playing so rough NOW! and they both stopped.
So this is my questions. Do you think this is caused from the straterra?? Or am I over observing this?? I mean.. when he was twirling around play fighting he didn't really look like he was trying to harm himself at all. It seemed to be done out of fun. But how could THAT be fun??
I have been watching his behavior like a hawk. I am very worryed about him being on medication that has suicide as a side effect. My friend gave me a link to a webpage called Ritalindeath.com Ever since I went to that site I have been freaking out about every little thing!
I really don't know what to do. I mean.. My son doesn't act depressed. He has been outside playing with his friends. Playing with his toys, building with toys, playing LESS video games and MORE with actual toys (which is again rare for him) He doesn't really seem to be showing any signs at all of suicide or wanting to hurt himself. Except for those things.. But maybe I am just taking little things and stretching them.. So confused.
What does this sound like to you? Is this enough for me to stop the medication? Should I tell his doctor?
Also if he stays on the 25 MG and doesn't ramp up is that ok? And if I want him off of the medicine do I have to wean him from the 25 MG or just stop altogether?
Thank you for your replys!!
peacefulpisces39408.6429398148
Peaceful, If your happy with the level of improvement your child has received from the dosage he is currently taking and the side effects are not interfering with his day-to-day life I wouldn't make any changes.
As far as your other concerns, you are doing the right things by monitoring his behavior but you have to keep your perspective, keep a log and consult your physician. I hope you are using a Psychiatrist and psychologist for his treatment because the will best be able to understand any changes in his behavior.
Now about the article you read, no matter what meds you are giving you child there are always concerns but the website you noted is one sponsored by Dr Fred Baughman an early advocate of the Church of Scientology - not only do ADD, ADHD not exist in their world, but they don't believe in PMS or Post Partum Depression. I am not trying to diminish the validity of the parent's story but the medical community instructs us to monitor our children closely when they are being given these meds and the pharma industry has added these warnings to their meds as additonal advice and to protect themselves. It is up to us to follow this advice.
No, he really cannot stay at 25 mgs and see continuous results. What you are seeing is not the actual results you will see at the target dose. Sit back, relax, stop over analyzing, and yes RAMP him higher on the Strat!With friends like that... How does the saying go? Who needs enemies? That web site is awful!!
I know from your previous posts how carefully you weighed this decision. My son (who had been on Ritalin for years before the side effects outweighed the benefits) also started having much more in depth conversations once he started the Strattera.
He is also a 9 year old boy. Regardless of how you see your son and the values you teach them, most 9 year old boys would find the idea of seeing a frog heart pretty cool. Also, I don't know what your son's social situation has been in school, but he could also be listening to the other kids around him more than before, so his comments are age-appropriate in a way you haven't seen before. Does that make sense?
Also, the incident with your younger child could be the result of your son making a decision based on the response of the other party. Your younger one was laughing and enjoying himself. Although you didn't like what was happening, your son was reading social cues and that's a good thing.
Of course you want to watch for any out of character behavior. But in our case, my son's personality was not so apparent before he was able to digest the world around him a little better and respond to it. Do his teachers know about the medication? Every school has a different policy on that. They would know if he was being aggressive or inappropriate.
[QUOTE=MetisRebel]
I was kinda sad I had to stop taking it because I liked the way the strattera made me feel [kinda cheery] even though it did nothing for the hyperness or focus. I slept great on it and had an excellent appetite.
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Weird that it made you feel cheerful and raging at the same time. For me Strattera seems like a more complicated med than some of the others -- especially with the ramp-up and the fact that some effects show up after months of use. I personally feel a lot more comfortable with the immediate effects of methylphenidate on a younger kid, but I know that it doesn't work well for everyone, and I wouldn't want to influence anyone's decision.
[QUOTE=Joy2] [QUOTE=MetisRebel]
I was kinda sad I had to stop taking it because I liked the way the strattera made me feel [kinda cheery] even though it did nothing for the hyperness or focus. I slept great on it and had an excellent appetite.
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Weird that it made you feel cheerful and raging at the same time. For me Strattera seems like a more complicated med than some of the others -- especially with the ramp-up and the fact that some effects show up after months of use. I personally feel a lot more comfortable with the immediate effects of methylphenidate on a younger kid, but I know that it doesn't work well for everyone, and I wouldn't want to influence anyone's decision.
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I'm actually WITH you on that sentiment. I fail to understand why a street drug can take effect within minutes yet the pharma companies keep inventing crap that takes 6 weeks to "take effect".
What REALLY troubles me about it is because I studied the research around how people on THE WAITING LIST to see a psych actually improved within the 8 weeks they were waiting even though they weren't getting any treatment. And I have to wonder how much of this effect is due to expectation, not chemical reaction.
After all--if it took an aspirin 6 weeks to get rid of your headache--would you even bother to take it?
Something really troubles me about this whole pharmacological situation.
All I know was that I felt livlier on the strat and it worked on some of the depression [anti-depressants don't work on me] until it was completely ramped up, was doing fine for a few months then within a week I blew a rocket. I also suspect it should have ramped up again because I had gained weight [YAY] and couldn't because my doc was getting it for me from Eli Lilly and all they had was 40mg doses to give away *sigh*
So if it's properly administered it might be very good in some cases.
Tell your friend thank you and then ignore the websites she sends your way. First of all, Strattera isn't even in the same class as Ritalin. That's like taking and aspirin and having someone tell you the dangers of ibuprofin. BTW, both aspirin and ibuprofin are very safe, but not always and for everyone -- either one can harm you if you have various pre-existing conditions. Just to put the Ritalin website into perspective.
As far as Strattera goes, just keep watching and listening. With my son, the difference was dramatic and negative. He was saying things like he wanted to hurt his sister and became out-of-control angry/violent. He was worried about these feelings and knew they weren't right or normal for him. After that we started with a new psychiatrist at a major medical center who explained the neurobiology of Strattera vs. Ritalin vs. guanfacine and said that it probably made sense -- based on his profile -- that he had such a negative reaction to Strattera. I can't remember the details of each medication -- he talked about varying effects on dopamine, norepinephrine and adrenaline and how the meds can work with or against each other. I should have taken notes.
Don't worry but watch. If Strattera doesn't work, don't write off other meds. They are all different -- and what joy to not have to struggle with your child all the time.
I agree. He will continue to get even better at target dose. My daughter is only taking 18mg and she told me yesterday, I relly like this new medicine, it makes me feel very calm. She does seem to be too. It's obviously not near where she should be but it's semi encouraging to me. I am still seeing appetite suppression.
So ramp to his target dose and like evryoung says, start a log and track his progress, see how it goes.
He may now be talking about things that he didnt talk about before because he is able to organize and get his thoughts out. My daughter who wont even let us discuss blood, she is Miss drama, LOVED dissecting the frog and owl pellet in school....go figure 
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As far as Strattera goes, just keep watching and listening. With my son, the difference was dramatic and negative. He was saying things like he wanted to hurt his sister and became out-of-control angry/violent. He was worried about these feelings and knew they weren't right or normal for him.
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After about 4 months on it--that happened to ME as well so I'm glad you posted about it.
I hadn't heard of aggression as a possible side-effect. Since I got pneumonia right afterward the aggression started my doc blamed the cortesteroids because I tend to go nutso while on them, anyway. Even AFTER the lung script was done I remained infuriated all the time so I stopped taking the strat. I knew if I didn't, sooner or later I was going to deck somebody and the rage coming out of me was unbelievable.
I was kinda sad I had to stop taking it because I liked the way the strattera made me feel [kinda cheery] even though it did nothing for the hyperness or focus. I slept great on it and had an excellent appetite.
Hey MetisRebel,
your story is so similar to my daughters that it is spooky. the strattera made her very easy going and mellowed her mood out. around the four month mark she also was diagnosed with pneumonia. And then all heck broke out. Sever mood swings, laughing one minute, then crying then throwing toys, then crying. it took about two weeks after the antibiotics were done to realize that it was the strattera.
i was wondering if you think it was the combo of strat and antibiotics that triggered the aggression? or just your body reacting poorly to the strattera? have you thought of trying the strattera agian?