Medication switch??? | ADHD Information
I would suggest doing it now, because pre-K is nothing. It has no real impact. Honestly, you don't get slammed for that kind of behavior until 1st or 2nd grade, so go for it. Your child is not going to be suspended and labeled at this stage. There won't be mid-day pick up calls, incessant emails, and meetings with the principal. Yes, Strattera does take weeks to work. So what. Do it. Don't wait until summer. You need to get this ironed out before 1st grade, and it does take time. Maybe you could do it right before xmas break so the teachers don't get hit full force. Sometimes Strat only works for 6 months or so, but if that is the case, you want to go through that now, not later.Jessica N40110.860775463The doc suggested trying the switch over Xmas break and I think that's what we'll do. We talked about waiting until summer but that's too far off. I agree it needs to be done now and not later. Just like you said-this time at school doesn't really matter. Also, it wouldn't be that hard to go back on the Ritalin if it's totally disasterous!
Do you know anything about how effective Strattera is? I know that's kind of a dumb question because all kids are different but I have yet to hear any positive posts about it...maybe I'm just not readying the right ones...
Thanks for your feedback!
My son is almost 5 and he's been medicated for about 11 months now. The difference with him from before medication to now is AMAZING! But he's in pre-kindergarden at public school and his teacher, the aide, and the school OT say that his impulsiveness is still a big problem. He's much better at home but we don't put the kinds of structure on him that he has at school. So I believe them when they say it's a problem.
He's currently taking Ritalin which helps the hyperness and impulsiveness (without medication he is sooooooooooooo hyper and impulsive he can't function!) but aggravates his sensory problems so we added Tenex to help calm this.
The psychiatrist thinks we need to try Strattera instead of stimulants and I'm scared! 
Everytime we try to increase the Ritalin to help with the impulse control his sensory stuff gets out of control. She thinks that the stims just aggravate his sensory issues too badly and he will never be totally calm on them. I'm just afraid of the transition because from what I understand Strattera takes weeks to really help. The thought of my son going even a day without medication is scary! 
Does anyone have experience with Strattera? How about if you tried it AFTER you tried stims? I haven't heard a lot of positive things about Strattera on this board. Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
[QUOTE=Jessica N]I would suggest doing it now, because pre-K is nothing. It has no real impact. Honestly, you don't get slammed for that kind of behavior until 1st or 2nd grade, so go for it. Your child is not going to be suspended and labeled at this stage. There won't be mid-day pick up calls, incessant emails, and meetings with the principal. Yes, Strattera does take weeks to work. So what. Do it. Don't wait until summer. You need to get this ironed out before 1st grade, and it does take time. Maybe you could do it right before xmas break so the teachers don't get hit full force. Sometimes Strat only works for 6 months or so, but if that is the case, you want to go through that now, not later.[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry. I just wanted to say as a parent of a child who has ADHD and is gifted. We actually DID get suspended in Kindergarten b/c of impulse issues. Most schools are just not educated on alternative behavior modification for children w/ ADHD. We have been batteling the system for 4 years. HE's been on medication for 2 of those 4 years. We are currently going through behavior issues once again. I think it may time to increase meds but i'm not happy with it. I often wish w/ ADHD there was some clear neuro testing that could be done.. adn proper dosage was not through trial and error. Good luck and just keep doing your own research.. You alone will be your childs only advocate!!!!
I'm with you janie1234! I wish we didn't have to go through the "trial and error"! It's so hard on them to go on such a roller coaster not to mention a nightmare on us too! It took us about 5-6 months to get my son's medication to where it is now...the thought of going through that again makes me nervous. But I agree with Jessica N, if we're gonna do it, we should do it now.
I'm 24, and I remember getting kicked out of pre-k programs and thenkicked out of first grade. I spent the next two years in homeschool.
Eventually we figured out a medication regime that helped.
I just tried strattera for the first time, and I have to say that it reallllllly
reduced my impulsivity within the first two weeks. If that's your son's
problem I'd guess it will really help. It also really made me feel
clearheaded. Impulsivity wasn't a problem for me though, I actuallt
switched off it. It's kind of like the statterra cuts the impulsivity so that if
you didn't have enough to start with, you're not left with much impulse to
anything.
I definitely think it felt better than the stimulants. Just watch out for him
getting withdrawn and unmotivated, about half of the people I know
who've tried strattera dealt with that. I did. And it's the kind of thing I
don't think kids would notice, or know how to articulate.
Hope that helps!Thanks a lot sheltron5000! It's nice to hear from someone that's tried it. And also hear that it did well for you!
My son is on Strattera and it has been a godsend. He can't take stimulants because they put him in a very bad mood and he has terrible rebound on them.
I was surprised to see on these boards that it takes awhile to see the benefits of it. When we switched from Ritalin to Strattera we noticed the changes in him immediately. He was able to focus and was no longer angry and so impulsive.
well first I'd like to say good luck with your switch, if that's what you end up doing. I'm sure these decisions are nerve wrecking for a caring parent, as you obviously are, especially with medications that can have such heavy side effects on a child. That being said, I would like to chime in, especially since you mentioned there's not alot of positive reviews on Strattera. After being on stimulant medication for awhile (I am 25, and did not begin treating my adhd until 21 or so) I decided to try strattera, after hearing it had alot of potential for some people. Switching to Strattera CHANGED MY LIFE... For the short time it worked =/ Shortly after taking it i felt a mental clarity that i had never experienced before in my entire life, with any kind of medication or otherwise. I remember thinking "my god, this must be what a NORMAL person feels like." The change was quite amazing, and the side effects, while admittedly harsh, didn't last long, and most enver came back. Unfortunately, as has been moention by some people, it just seemed to stop working after a few months. I was very disappointed, to say the least, and ultiple attempts to use it again have never really amounted to much. Every once in a while i do hear of it working really well for someone and not stopping. That's awesome. So even thought hat doesnt seem to happen for alot of people it is possible. That alone is incentive enough. My main concern with strattera is this...At the time of my first taking Strattera I was 22 or 23. The side effects, even though mios of them disappeared, were very harsh. And this was for a young male in good health and good shape. I know adults in their 30's and 40's who have tried it (upon my recommendation) and had to stop because they just couldnt handle the inital harshness of the drug. I know they push thhis drug towards alot of younger kids, mostly because it is "non-stimulant." And to be frank, just thinking about a small child having to endure the harsh side effects that some GORWN ADULTS can't even handle has always kind of made me... sad. I guess my advice would be this: start with the lowest possible dosage of strattera and slowly work up, it makes a world of difference. thats what the low dosages are for, stepping stones. I once went to a psychiatrist, who told me, in addition to some other really insane bull**** about his opinions on treating adhd, that he likes to start his patients at 80mg of strattera from the very beginning. THAT IS A HIGH DOSE. I cannot imagine a grown person, much less a CHILD, having to start at this dose. Just be wary, there's alot of doctors out tehre that just dont know what they're doing, and thats bad enough for adults, but kids shouldnt have to suffer that pain because some docs and psychs are total quacks. I really hope my input has helped in some way, and my heart goes out to you and your child. I hope to see that you will keep posting, even if this thread gets old, I would really like to know how this works out, and truly hope it works out for you.
Best of luck.
Thank you for the info! It's very helpful! This thread has been very informative for me because I just don't know much about Strattera.
We're still trying to decide whether to try the switch at Xmas or not...The doc upped his Tenex dose and it seems to be making a difference in the impulsivness-but not enough in my opinion. She is hesitant to raise the Tenex anymore because he's so young. Which I understand but it's tough because I know it will make things so much better for him. The doc wants to wait until he's 6 to go up much on the Tenex because that's what the lable says but he's HUGE for his age so he's bigger than most 6 year olds anyway. I don't know...
Thanks for the info on the side effects. It's very helpful for me to know what to watch for because he's so young he can't tell me a lot of the time. But I know what "happy" looks like and I'm always shooting for that for him! 
We may still try it at Xmas or wait for summer break. I'll keep ya posted!
Best wishes! And have a happy Thanksgiving.