Strattera plus stim? | ADHD Information

Hi Marykath! I guess you already know my success story with the Straterra/Ritalin combo-I think it's a great combo, (so far anyway!) at least for my little guy.   You'll probably never really know until you try it.  The good thing is that you should know right away if the stimulant is going to aggravate her like before. At least it's not like the Strattera where you have to wait soooooo long.  It might be worth giving it a try...at least for a couple of days.  Good luck and please keep me posted!

My daughter has been on Strattera for the past month and a half. For two weeks we have been on what we think is our target dose - 18 mg in the a.m., 10 mg. at lunch. She also takes 25 mg Zoloft in the a.m.

Things are better than they were when she was on stimulants. She is much less hyperactive and argumentative, but focus and impulsivity are still issues, especially in the afternoon. But she is much more social and involved than before. Most importantly, she is happy.

I talked to the pediatric neuro today and he suggested adding a low dose of a stimulant in the a.m. She is already on a high dose of Strattera for her weight. I know many people do stims plus Strattera, but I'm scared to go back to stimulants. They agravated her anxiety so much. She was soooo angry. And now, with Strattera, I finally have a happy kid.

The pediatric recommended 18 mg. Concerta. Thoughts?

Will the psychiatrist put you on a list to be called earlier than May if someone cancels and appointment?  It may be worth a shot???I think Logan'sMom makes a good point. And if that doesn't work, you could ask the docs to consult. My son can't get in to see the child psych until June or July, so our ped is consulting with her on the "multi-med" route. The ped didn't feel comfortable trying anything outside his norm, but knowing it was going to be a long wait...he calls/visits with the psych to discuss my son's case.

Either of those might work? Or someone new...that's always an option.

Just about eight hour, right around 3 p.m. That is rebound, right? She does have emotional issues, so it's hard to know what's what sometimes.

There's finally a pediatric neuro in town - he's new. We see him tomorrow. We might switch. Right now we travel 1 1/2 hours to see our current doc. So, hopefully, the new guy will bejust as knowledge and more accessible. We'll see.

Thanks for your response. It's nice to know there are others out there going through something similar. I am thinking perhaps this just isn't the stimulant for her.

Hey Marykath,
Just wanted to give you a boost of go-juice. You (among others) have really helped me when I felt down about this whole "can't find the right med" thing, and I wanted to return the favor. I really hope the neuro can get you to the place you need to be. I say you, in the plural, because I feel we moms (caregivers) are along for the same ride as our kids on this med journey. Best wishes for you and your dd!

If it happened at 8 hrs then I'd think it was rebound. That's about when it would wear off. Hopefully the new doc can help you out quickly with this.  It may be something as simple as adding a short acting afternoon dose, taking her off of the long acting meds completely and just going with the short acting ones, or changing the medication all together.  She was on Vyvance before right?

I always look at these stimulants as two different categories (I have no idea if I'm right or not, this is just what I've noticed! )  There are at least two "families" of stimulants.  The Adderall family and the Ritalin family.  I believe Concerta is the long acting Ritalin so maybe the Adderall family would be better??? I'm not sure what Vyvanse is...

My son had horrible rebound on Adderall and virtually none on Ritalin.  His rebound was worse when we tried the long acting Adderall and better (not great) on the short acting.  So changing these things can really make a difference.

It's going to just be trial and error so I'm really glad to hear that you have a new doc coming in.  Maybe he'll have some fresh ideas and you can get to the answer faster!   Hang in there!

Thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it!

The new doc wasn't useful. He said he doesn't feel comfortable perscribing "so many" meds for someone this young and that we should see a child psyc. Again, there is one of those in town and we already have an appt. w/ her - her first available - in MAY! We are thinking our next calls will be to the childrens' hospital - again, an hour away. I never thought we lived in the back of beyond until all this!

Anyway, thanks for the imput. I think we just need someone more accessible w/ some fresh ideas.

 

Well, we added Concerta over the weekend at 18 mg. This is on top of the Strattera and Zoloft. Didn't notice much of a difference in the a.m., but - wow - the afternoon rebounds were over-the-top. Three hours of constant screaming on Sunday.

Called the doc and he said to come in, but of course they can't get us in for a week and a half. So we dropped the Concerta for now.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, three hours of screaming! That's tough!  It's a shame you have to wait a whole week! How long after she took the Concerta did the rebound start?