My First Cycle of Strattera | ADHD Information

I've been reading the posts on this message board and it is apparent to me that there are consistencies with my experiences with Strattera.  Let's just start from the beginning.  I'm a new member on this message board and I figure its the best way for any replies to be as concise as possible.  And please..do reply.

When I was a kid I was very gifted and often went to a special program with other kids of the same intellectual capacity.  I was alway a sponge as a young kid for anything I found interesting.  Basically, I was the type to read encyclopedias simply because of the fact that I enjoyed the endless amounts of information.  Now don't get me wrong, I was like any kid that climbed trees, scraped knees, and drove my parents mad.  I was no angel and was extremely hyperactive.  I did extremely well in elmentary school all the way up through high school with the level of focus and attention I would pay to my schoolwork.  I was a high school athelete and I was devoted to the sport of Lacrosse so much so that it allowed me to attend an Ivy League school.  Unfortunately it was in college that I started to notice problems with motivation and focus.  Even for subjects that really interested me and classes with professors that I liked, I found it very very difficult to be excited about learning and focusing on any work that I needed to do.  Now keep in mind this was a kid that loved knowledge, and all of a sudden, I couldn't keep my mind focused on one thing longer than I was obligated to.  I basically got through the first 4 years basically by cramming like a maniac and doing just satisfactory work.  I felt really unaccomplished and nonetheless found myself finished with school and starting a new job.  Now when it comes to my livelihood as compared to a lecture, I tended to take my job more seriously than schoolwork.  Even in college. (Yes I had to work during college)  Now that I had no more schoolwork to worry about, I was set to just kick butt at my first full time job as an adult.

About 8 mos into my job, I was promoted to a senior position in my department that required more project oriented responsibilities as opposed to task oriented when I first started working.  This is when I really started to struggle because I found myself constantly procrastinating the responsibilities that required more attention and more time to actually get done.  For this reason I was looking to always put these projects aside in exchange for the quick and simple tasks.  As a senior in my dept, I was expected to progress into more involved tasks that required thorough analysis and follow up.  I started messing up because these projects piled up.  This is when I finally started to think there was something wrong.  I made an appointment with a neurologist and after some discussion he suggested I take Strattera. 

I've taken Strattera for 6 mos and finished my presription and refills.  I wanted to use this forum to provide you all with my experience on Strattera.  I was prescribed the 40 mg for this time.  For the first month, I really felt the strong affects of Strattera and knew when it kicked in.  I'll start with the side effects and cover the good things after I state the bad.

I want to first say that for me 40 mg was way to strong and when I wanted the meds to wear off, they wouldn't and I found myself looking to do things just to make my mind tired in order to fall asleep.  I've been reading a lot of posts stating that Strattera made people lethargic and sleepy, but for me, it was just the opposite.  Although I felt drowsy during the day (since I took it in the morning always before work) it was never enough to actually put me to sleep.  I felt drowsy but never did it put me to sleep and not enough to think that taking more would help. For this reason, I experienced insomnia from time to time but not enough to attribute it to Strattera. I was burdened with insomnia more prior to taking strattera.  The medication acutally helped me to focus on settling my mind and sleep soundly.  Being a scatterbrain prior to Strattera, falling asleep was a challenge but with Strattera I felt confident that I could when I wanted to.  

Taking strattera also had some physical effects mainly in the first hour or two that I felt it working.  I was always sweating profusely, yet felt very cold.  Dry mouth was common, but I typically drink water like a camel anyways and didn't really find this to be a major discomfort.  The biggest side effect I experienced was the trouble urinating and a feeling of tenderness and hypersensitivity to the point of pain in my testicles.  This usually would occur after having not eaten and around the time a person would feel hungry. I'll use the workday as a reference and felt this usually around the time that would be appropriate to eat lunch.  But this feeling of hunger was rare since I did feel reduced appetite.  However, when I ate, the pain in my groind would subside, and I would eat all the food that I had sitting in front of me.  Another physical effect I noticed was how my eye left and right would twitch very rapidly but not affect my vision.  I would just feel the muscle of my eyeball twictching very fast.  Now having been off it for about 2 weeks, I don't experience this anymore. 

On a sidenote, I'm scheduled to see my doc this week after having taken Strattera for 6 mos.  So I've taken the meds and now have had a chance to see how coming off it has been.

Now, on with the side effects.  As far as sexual, I felt mixed effects.  If I were to engage in sexual activity during the "peak" (2-3 hrs after taking the pill) hours that the drug would be in my body, I found strangeness in how an erection felt and upon ejaculation, would feel the same sensitivity to my groind as mentioned earlier but with more intense pain.  However, since this was the case the one time I endulged in sexual intercourse I made the conscious choice to not have sexual intercourse during the "peak" times.  Therefore, when I would engage in sexual intercourse(usually at night after 10 hrs taking the medication) it was definitely an enhanced experience.  I felt my erection was more intense, and the sensation was enhanced. I also lasted longer prior to ejaculation and was more in control of when I wanted this to occur.  My partner was obviously pleased with this side effect.  Upon orgasm it was much more intense and pleasurable as compared to orgasms I had prior to Strattera.  I had no issues with impotence.

As far as social, I had mixed positive and negative effects.  Let's just put the dosage in perspective since I felt these effects at work when the meds would be in full effect.  At work, I felt more inclined to keep conversation serious and brief and at times in retrospect thought of myself as too serious.  However, communication with work related issues, I felt more confident than ever when speaking to managers and executives personally or during meetings.  Prior to Strattera, I would always come off as talking too much/fast and cutting people off prior to fully listening to what they would say.  I say a drastic improvement here especially during business meetings.  I felt more organized in my thoughts and knew what I wanted to say because I was more patient to collect my thoughts rather than impulsively reacting.  The downside was the fact that my friendly and conversive nature prior to Strattera switched to serious and I found myslef less likely to be friendly and congenial.  I became more cutthroat and more driven to get the job done regardless of the fact if I was making friends on the way to accomplishing whatever it was I needed to.  This proved to be commendable from managers and I appeared to them as an extremely focused individual.  But I also found myself slightly detached from friends in the same dept. due to my swing in perspective to the work environment.

I have seen a drastic improvement in my organization and thoroughness in all responsbilities.  I have excelled to the point that after being a senior member of my dept paralleled with my recent medication on Strattera, I am looking at another move up in the corp ladder.  I have been able to process information more efficiently since it wouldn't be a whimsical thought that would soon slip out of my mind.  Being on Strattera, I was able to focus on the information at hand without letting my mind wander to thoughts about the matter at hand.  Prior to Strattera, I would often miss the points of product/business processes because I would think about a single aspect of it and have my mind wander on this single aspect without processing it entirely.  

The most disturbing side effect was my anger.  I woud only get angry at things that would make anyone else angry regardless if they took Strattera, but it was the severity of this anger that concerned me.  I felt unable to calm down once I felt angry and would feel what probably other would call rage when I would get upset.  It took monumental efforts to calm myself down.  Typically the time for me to just shake something off was normal when compared to other people, but after being on Strattera, I found myself completely unable to relax and as I said let it roll off my back.  It was as if my hyperfocus on the person/thing that got me upset was tough to shake off unless I did something about it, thus exercising extreme anger.  It was as if I needed to exert a physical reaction while being angry in order to get myself to halt the steam coming out of my ears and finally calm down.  This concerns me greatly.

I tended to not take it on the weekends and from what you've read always took the medication prior to going to work.

I applaud you for having this far into my post and I finally get to the point where you the reader can supply your input.  I have been reading more on the stimulant variety of medication and wanted to know if there was anyone in my shoes that has taken both Strattera and the Ritalin/Adderall medications. 

I have read that the stimualnt varieties work better on the usual hyperactive people and Strattera works better on people who aren't usually hyperactive.  Is this accurate and from what you've read, do you think I should try it?  I obviously will want a lower dosage for Strattera for the simple fact that I don't want to be feeling the effects 5 hours after my workday is over. 

I thank you for having read this and I welcome any replies.  I would really like to hear from individuals who have had the oppty to compare the efficacy or success of Strattera as compared to the stimualnt variety of Ritalin/Adderall.

 

Thank you.

I tried strattera recently - hoping to fill in the small gaps my normal dose of dexedrine leaves behind (ebbing and flowing urges that sometimes pass by, hyperactive spurts, etc.).  I got on the 40mg/day dose as a supplement to my daily dexedrine.

I found at first it was good.  I focused almost to an extreme.  I felt driven to complete complex tasks.  My day went a little slower because of them.

Within a week though I found too much physical side-effects.  Stomach and intestinal cramps - usually around my lateral oblique muscles that felt like I'd run a marathon and had major bending over pain.  I would find myself fixated at nothing at all - and had to be "called back".  It was too much.

So, I cut them off totally.  I'm staying on my dexedrine, but now know the strattera is meant for other's with different ADHD needs than my own.  Also, they are not covered by my insurance and are damn expensive - even here in Canada!

good luck to those who it helps though.  I'm glad we have options.

  I recently "went off" Strattera 2 weeks ago, after taking it for a month...I certainly have noticed changes and improvements in my concentration when I was on it..but I got every side effect you can imagine off of it the first 2 weeks (They did gradually subside..well most of them anyway).  My decision to go off it was because it changed my personality..people around me (Like my girlfriend and immediate family and friends) noticed that I wasn't as much fun anymore, too serious about things and grumpy more ofthen than before...after I got to thinking about it I realized they were right...going off of it was a snap..no withdrawls or 'Comedowns' at all..it was the easiest thing I ever "Kicked" in my life, and I did it cold turkey.

 

  I'm going back to my psychiatrist Thursday to see what the next move is..right now I am researching alternative medications..I don't want to feel "Sleepy" all the time (Which is what Strattera did 1- 40mg capsule Twice a day)...even when I took all 80 mg earlier in the am It still depleted my energy 12 -24 hours later. Id rather be a little bit more awake on whatever medication I will go on next..and If the people around me can't deal with any changes in personality/temperment once on whatever else he's gonna try to put me on..I'd rather be on nothing and suffer with my ADD.

 

List of Side Effects:  Dry Mouth (Constant), Weight Loss (No decrease in appetite though), Involuntary tics, sleeplessness with lethargy (At the same time), mood swings, sexual side effects (Not to get personal but I never once had a problem with 'Getting it Up' until I went on Strattera, I'm 30 years old..lucky that side effect wore off quickly...headaches, low energy..and I became almost like a mute around my social crowd.  My girlfriend said "I Changed" and I didn't want to admit it (Afterall,How dare she criticise me when trying to treat my ADD?) but she was right after I got to thinking it over...she didn't like it and I didn't either.

 

Just my own personal experience with Strattera...don't mean however that it won't be like this for you.