40 years old and seeking medication for the first time

@zsazsa…i am not quite paranoid about the side effects of strattera, but i am really conscientious of them. i am really sensitive to the effects of any drug, esp. the side effects. i had a very scary reaction to an antibiotic this year that gave me all the symptoms of a heart attack and got my wife on the phone to 911 and a trip in an ambulance to the emergency room. first time for all of that.

i’m not used to taking much of anything and on those few occassions i do take something, i usually anticipate feeling more than i’m supposed to. sudafed gets my heart skipping around and a dose of benedryl will knock me out for a day and a half.

i worked at a children’s home as a house parent with my wife and we had, in the course of 2 years, about 30 different teenage girls living with us. we were with them the med changes and saw some good stuff, but also some very bad stuff w/ regards to effects of the drugs. i just don’t want to go thinking that everything is hunky dory and overlook some possible negative side effects that might be happening to me. i’m not going to quit taking it, at least for a good while, but i’m not going to play down the new feelings and sensations i have had since i started taking this. if there are any red flags, i want to know what they are. i want to know that the things i am feeling are being felt by others taking this.

for some people who have been taking meds like this for years, it may not be a big deal, but this is all new to me and i am a bit nervous about it all. it took me a lot to get to this point and i am going to continue on this path unless it appears that the side effects may be worse than the potential benefits.

feeling really grumpy as well.

My psychiatrist has told me to watch for two things in particular… extreme anger (very short fuse and typically unprovoked) as well as bouts of sadness, depression and thoughts of suicide.

She has been very serious about this because these are apparently ‘red-flags’ that the medication is the wrong one for my biochemistry. He advise has been from the first moment, if you see these manifesting themselves in any degree, you need to come in and if you can’t, stop the medication immediately. Then come and see me as soon as possible.

I have been very fortunate in that Concerta seems to be working great for me and that this is also the first medication tried.

With the success that I have been blessed with, I only wish and hope that all other have similar successes and positive results.

The only downside that I have seen so far is that my appetite is completely eliminated for up to 10 hours after I take the medication. I figure its a small price to pay but realize that taking some sort of meal replacement formula like Carnation’s instant breakfast drink or EAS Myoplex protein drink/meal-replacement to ensure that I am getting nutrients and calories into my body to maintain my health. Not only that but some sort of multi-vitamin.

Sorry, I am thinking like a bodybuilder again… nutrition and supplements… my apologies.

Distracted66

i’ve been on the 85mg dose for a couple days. felt a bit nauseous the first couple days but today i feel ok except i blacked out a couple times earlier in the day.

i realized that the tingling sensation has backed off a bit. funny, but i almost miss that feeling.

i’m not sure of many benefits right now, though. at least nothing more than i have already mentioned. i am not sure if my ability to focus has improved.

yeah, i’ve been self employed for a few years now. i haven’t done much work at all the past few weeks. i’ve mainly just been trying to get myself acclimated to the med. it’s been rough. every day i feel something different taking place, but i know things are settling down.

i know about having to put extra effort into work to get the same results as everyone else and in the past couple years it was just starting to get worse for some reason so i felt i had to do something about it. i got to where i was having to work 12+ hours a day to get the same amount accomplished that used to only take me 8-10 hours. that was taking a lot of time away from my wife and daughter and it sure wasn’t helping me meet my clients deadlines.

i don’t “feel” really any different, just more settled and level if that makes any sense. i chose strattera in part because it gets built up in the system and doesn’t have the ups and downs you get when you are on stimulants and they wear off late in the day.

as for side effects today, i’ve felt pretty jittery and i’ve been blacking out some when i stand up. the tingling has also come back. nausea hasn’t been there so that is good, but the jittery and blacking out a little has been bothersome. it will pass, though, just like the rest of the side effects.