Strattera causing irritability? | ADHD Information

Hello,

My son started Strattera a little more than a week ago. He weighs 46 lbs.
and is taking 10 mg. It's going well right now, but the biggest side effect
is irritability. He becomes very grumpy and irritable about an hour after
taking the meds. As soon as the medicine wears off, his old happy (albeit
wild) comes back.

Has anyone experienced this irritability issue? Did it eventually go away?
Did anything help with this?    How long did it take if it does go away
eventually?   I'm trying to find hope that this will work for us as stimulants
are not a good match for my son.

Thanks so much!!This can sometimes happen during the ramping period. It should go away once you reach target dose. For some, however, it is a side effect. We did not see any irritability with Strattera, even during ramping. When do you go up to your next dose? Diane V39496.2247800926It happens during the ramp period, since the  body is adjusting to a new med. When does he go to 18mg? You will probably see marked improvement as he gets closer to target. Thanks for your replies. I so appreciate your advice! My doctor gave me a
bottle of 10 mg. tablets and said after a week, if we still don't see
improvement, to give him another pill in the morning (meaning a total of
20 mg). I've seen the 18 mg. dosage mentioned several times. Shouldn't
we be going to 8 mg. first instead of to 10 mg?

Basically, my son has shown improvement and my doctor said not to
increase the dosage unless we need it. I don't feel like we need it right
now. He's calm, focused, etc. Does this seem right? When would I want
to go to target dose?

Thanks!

trident I think it's fine to go to 20 instead of 18. Why fill a whole new prescription. You can do this now. 1 week is PLENTY on 10. It doesnt sound like your docotr really "gets" how Strattera works though. we increased our dose every week until we reached target dose. His target is between 25 and 37. So I would think if you went to 20 for several days - 1 week, and  if needed more you could then add another 10 to bring you to 30.I would go to 20 for a few days, then 30, then 40. DO not stop until you get to at least 40

We're in the same boat at Trident...my DS is 6, also about 42 lbs and was just increased to 18mg (we just started Strattera 2 1/2 wks ago).  Soo I have some questions

 

edbson, why should 40 be the target?  I'm concerned b/c Strattera is weight based, but I have no idea what that translates to for my son.

Has anyone used Strattera to replace Stims and been successful at no longer using stims?

Can anyone recommend a site or somewhere is that is specific about the anatomy of Strattera, what to expect, how much etc etc etc I've done reading and all, but as you know the net is flooded with bad stuff about Strattera and the good stuff isn't as involved as what I'm looking for.  (If this is stealing a thread please let me know and I'll start a new one....)   Thanks

Thanks. So even if he seems like he's doing fine now on 10 mg. I need to
still add to the dosage starting now? I thought waiting until it seems like he
needed a booster is what I was supposed to do?

twodoodles he should be on 25-35 mg for his weight. Stratteras website is excellent Look at the full prescribing information for physicians. We stopped stims and used Strattera only. It worked great for a few months, but not enough and now seems to be petering out on us. We will probably be adding or switching back to stimulants later this week. Hopefully we can just supplenet with a stim, beacuse I can stnad Strattera alone, but she's not learning at school this way.

 

trident29, I thought he was not doing fine on 10 having irritability? That will go way the closer he gets to target dose as Edbson says.

My daughter was on Start from Nov. 6th to January.  We did the ramping.  Started out with 10mg week one, 18mg week 2, 25mg week 3 and stayed there until at the end of Dec. something started to happen to my DD that I have never seen.  She had extreme anger, irritability, you name it she had it. It was aweful for her.  However, it works for others.  She has been on Concerta since Jan. 17th, and it doesn't affect her like the strat did.  Also, she eats good and sleeps good.  It's a trial and error like I hear many say. Good luckOh yes it's frustrating! We are off the psych today, for yet aother med change............I think, for us, this is how its just always going to be. I'm trying to make myself accept it....................I hope this works for you. I loved Strattera while it lasted for us. I'm wondering if he wont even keep her on it and just add a stimulant to it..............it's really is perfect for making her "calm", but she is SO severely distracted and inattentive it's really not enough for school. I think if she was an adult and didnt have to try to learn divisibility rules, or world geography, it would be ok..........................unfortunately she has to get through 5  1/2 more years of education .

Thanks Diane!  I have been to the site before, but never noticed that link.  Okay, at least I feel like I have a bit of a clue about dosage.  So at 18 he's close. 

I'm nervous that this will be another medication that works great for a while, but then ebbs off.  We're weaning him from the Concerta and he's down to 18mg.  Soon he'll be off entirely (about 3 more weeks, once we hit the 6 weeks for Strattera).    I just hate the thought of putting him through all this for nothing.  I'm already seeing the affect of decreasing the Stims.  This is all so frustrating.

thanks for your help