Anyone ever tried a placebo? | ADHD Information
My son has been on Strattera for almost 4 wks. I do not see any difference in him and he says he doesnt feel any different. I emailed his teachers and they said that he's doing well that he's not talking as much. I told my son when he starting taking Strattera that its not a magic pill and if he doesnt help himself then it wont help him. After reading many of these stories, I would say my son is on the lower scale of ADD. I do feel he has attention issues, but its more like a "blonde thing"- he's kinda airheaded. He's always had A & B's and his grades started slipping this year. Over the years(he's in 5th grd) his teachers has metioned that he has a hard time staying on task(completing his work on time). Anyway, I was thinking of trying a placebo on my son when this percription is out. Anyone have any advise? I can always put him back on it or change it to something else. He's a extremely friendly child and doesnt know a stranger and tends to be chatty, which I think is his problem. I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried this and if so, what did you use? Thanks!!Straterra is weight based adn needs to be ramped up over time. Has your doctor had you upping the dose to reach his maximum dose all based on his weight? There is a formula to this med you see. It actually does NOT leave you system but stays in your system and builds up over time.
This med is also meant for the adhd'er who is more inattentive than impulsive or hyper or like mine, both.
A stimulant is best for my son.
I wonder if this is the best med for your son? You might want to think about that. You want your son to be successful and which ever med does that, is the correct med.
Has the doctor explained these things to you? Are you upping his dose to reach his max? What is his max?
Thanks for the info. I will call his dr. and see what they say. He started off just taking 1 18mg and now he takes 2 18mg. Maybe he needs more. Thanks so much!!hi, the doctor needs to find his max. dosage based on your son's weight. Tell the doctor this so they know that you know!
Is he hyper, impulsive, etc?
No, is not hyper or implusive. He just needs to be redirected to do his work sometimes it takes one reminder sometimes 2 or 3. I just put a call to his dr so hopefully they will call me back soon.
Then this med just might do the trick!! 
My son tried this med AND concerta. My son is hyper and impulsive and needs coverage 24/7 BUT the side effects were not good for him. He had horrible depression. Keep an eye on him and any side effects.
Please ask any questions, we are here for you!! 
Re: Strattera, we are wondering the same thing.We know it is doing something, but is iit effective enough? And will things continue to improve?
I would add to Bethann's excellent comments that you might want to give it some more time. Aren't you supposed to see maxium effectiveness around week 6 of your target dose (not counting your ramp up)?
I hope so, becasue we are still waiting for maxium effectiveness! Sometimes we notice a big difference, sometimes nothing. This is our eighth week, but only our third week on the target dose - at least what the doc thinks is the target dose. There is a bit of wiggle room in the formula.The formula, as I understnad it: Take his weight, divide by 2.2, then multiply by 1.2-1.8.
And do watch the emotions. When my daughter's dose was too high, we had sobbing over the strangest things. I understand this is common if it is not dosed correctly.
I agree that you may need to give it more time. It took at least 8 weeks before we saw the full effect with my son. We ramped up to the dose he's on now (20mg total) within a week so he was on the optimum dose for about 7-8 weeks.thanks for all the help with this. Do ya'll give the meds through the summer? The dr. told me that since school is his only issue, that I dont have to give it to him in the summer. I am glad I have people to ask question to without feeling guilty. I really feel with my son that all this is voluntarily with him, as far as what he chooses to do. He's in the fifth grade and the teachers dont baby them anymore so if she tells them to hand in their homework, if its not turned in when she asks, then its 10 points off. He always has his homework, but "cant find it" at that moment(has happened about 20 times this year). At first it was his name on his paper(10pts off) and turning in late so a few papers had 20pts off. My son is the kid that knows everyone at school and would help anyone out. I am trying to decide whether he really needs meds or not. We took him to see a counsilor because of getting out of his seat(which was not an everyday problem), and being so whiney when he has to do his homework and I was extremely scared about him going to 6grade and being able to relize that loosing those 10 pts for not turning his work in at that moment would then be a zero. He's always, always been that way but I can send him to his room with his weekly spelling words and 10 mins. later he knows them. I think the dr. would have went either way as far and diagnosing him with ADD or not. I would feel so much better if there was a "blood test or xray" to determine if he really had it or if this is just who he is. It really depends on his mood. I do admit he has focus issues, but I dont think they are severe. I told my son that his meds. are not a magic pill that he has to help the meds work, but in my heart and soul I was thinking that he would take it and he would magicaly come home from school and not whine about doing his work(which he doesnt whine all the time but I would say 50/50) and stay in his seat ALL the time, hand his homework in ALL the time and thats it and not argue with his little brother(that was just a wish, ha ha). So mentally I am trying to decide whether he really needs meds for the rest of this year. When he was in 3rd grade his teacher would make comments about his focus issues at the begining of the year(she was a really, really stricked but good) and I told her that he had already was evaluated and he doesnt have ADD, (and he had been when he was 3 because he was evaluated for speech)- since I told his teacher that, I never heard anymore issues and he had a wonderful year same with 4th grade. I feel that sometimes the teachers get tired(which is completely understandable) with kids and think the MEDs are the answer. I was courious what would happen if I did the placibo thing to see how his teacher would react if they still "thought" he was taking meds. I am sorry to be so wordy, I just want the best for him, but not so sure meds is the answer at this time. Am I crazy???
My son was diagnosed correctly with ADHD. He has this condition 24/7. He takes meds every day of his life. He is an A student because of it. He does not do anything that gets him in trouble from impulsive behavior or hyperactivity.
What you describe of your son, getting out of his seat, being chattey, forgetting his name on his paper, forgetting to turn it in even though it is completed, losing the homework, etc. describes an ADHD'er.
Meds fix these things once you find the right med for your child AND the right dose.
Your son is getting in trouble for things he can't control. It is a condition that he was born with. It is all based in the brain. Someone in the gene line passed this on. He does NOT chose to do this.
His self esteem will start to sink if he doesn't get help. And then other things can change for him.
Keep asking questions, I know what it is like at the beginning of med decisions.
My story of my son is he was diagnosed just shy of 5. We ran away from meds until he was labeled in 1st grade and bullied. It carried with him all through elementary school. The kids and their parents excluded him, it was horrible. even though he was medicated at the end of 1st grade and was in control of things, the kids would try to blame him. It didn't work but the parents didn't want to think their perfect children were doing wrong - DENIAL. And of course some of them were undiagnosed adhd'ers as well.
So any way, my biggest regret is that I didn't help my son sooner and because of MY fear, HE suffered. 
I try to help others NOT do what I did so to prevent any unnecessary suffering felt by a child.
Please keep asking the questions!!
Wow, thanks so much for being so understanding. I am still waiting on his dr. to call me back. I am gonna see if he can up his dosage. It nice to have a place to come to where people understand!!! ThanksIf these behaviors have been going on as long as you say then I would think he really has ADHD and it's not just the teacher's perception. So I doubt the placebo idea would work. The good thing is that meds are not a life sentence. You can always change your mind at any time. You can try them and stop them just as quickly. But chances are once you find the right med/dose the results will be so positive that you won't want to stop them!
Your son has probably gotten by so long because he's very intelligent and compensates for his ADD/ADHD. Many ADHDers are very very smart and find wonderful ways to deal with their issues. Many kids can get by for a while without meds. But like Bethann said, it usually starts to effect their self esteem eventually. They can only compensate so long and the damage to their self esteem is not something that just goes away.
I understand what you mean about wishing there were a blood test or x-ray to diagnose ADHD. I did too! But my son is soooooo severe that there really wasn't a question. I truly sympathize with people like you because you have to worry if you're making the right choice. That's tough! For us there was NO decision. Something HAD to be done. So hang in there! You'll work it out in your own mind soon enough.
The best way to confirm his diagnosis is if the meds work. If they have a positive effect at all (even if they need to be tweaked or changed) then he's an ADHDer. Since it's only been 4 weeks on the Strattera and he's not on the max dose yet then it's probably going to take a while longer. I wish you the best of luck! We are all in the same boat around here!
thanks for all the advise. It's such a stressful thing- knowing what is right. He seems to be more emotional than he was before he started taking it. Not like depressed or anything, but when he fights with his brother or just regular kid stuff and gets introuble- he cries more and talks(yells) louder(not at me but at the situation). Is that normal? Does that mean his meds are too much? He started off taking 1 18mg for 3 days then since he's been on 2 18mgs. He weights about 60pds. He still has an appitite but him being so emotional really bothers me. He does not do this at school at all. I am just so confused on what to do.Marykath,
I was trying to get the right target dose for connab's son. He is 60 lbs. I read your post of the formula but didn't understand the last part of dividing by 1.2-1.8. What do you mean?
I just want to get her son's correct dosage on strattera but I don't remember the formula.
Thank you!
connab,
Has your doctor told you what your son's targeted dose based on his weight is?
The emotional stuff has to be the meds. but I want to make sure you are ramping the dose up correctly.
I hope Marykath or someone who knows from experience replies so we can get you this number.
You may want to call the doctor and ask him/her these questions as well.
Hang in there.
Well, I found the formula online a while ago and wrote it down.I could have gotten it wrong...better ask the doc in any case! Im just a panicked mom!
Here's how I did it for my daughter. She weighs 41 pounds. 41 divided by 2.2, then multiply by 1.2, or 1.3, or 1.4. Shire's studies suggest the target dose for kids would be a multiplier of 1.4, but there are others out there online who say you can go up to a multiplier of 1.8 to get to your child's personal target.
At his weight, 36 mg seems about right.
FYI, just to share: My daugther got a time-out at swimming lessons yesterday for not following directions. She cried on the way home in the car - she loves swimming so much. It broke my heart. We added Concerta back into our Strattera regimen today. I suppose we'll just deal w/ the rebound until we get into see the doc. I'm going to try your Hershey bar trick, Bethann. That is you, right?
Yes that is right, I am the hershey bar mom. Anything to make it easier for our children.
My son was in slims and he is not a slim. He is now turning 13 in June and wearing mens 31x30 & 32x30 pants. His body has defintely adjusted!!
Please let me know if it helps your daughter!
I so appreciate all the advise. I finally spoke to the nurse and she said he was at his optima dose and asked if I wanted to change and I said no. I am thinking maybe since there's only 2mths of school left that I am gonna let him finish up this bottle then take him off and start back before school starts maybe by then i can reason all this out. Its so hard to decide what to do, what is right, what will happen after he's been on this drug for xx amount of years. I just hate being on the fence on this, I feel like I am tetering on the edge and if I go this way that could happen and if I go that way this could happen. I just dont know.
Again, thanks for all the help and the formula.
Conna
yes, he is at his high. I got 38 for his high. So 36 is right.
He may not need meds in the summer, some don't, the more inattentive. My son is adHHHHHHHHHHHHHd, so he needs coverage 24/7.
Go with your gut, momma knows best.
We are here if and when you need us!