Strattera advice please

[Anonymous]

Dr up’ed me to 40 mg. The tight neck is gone, but the stomach isn’t to happy. On day 5 at this dosage, day 3 of the stomach cramps, gas etc. At 18 mg this lasted about 3 days….

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[turbo]

Thanks for the update!

On my end, I’m not sure I mentioned it, but my family doc put me on Flomax to try and ease the urinary side effects, which it did quite handily — as well as all the sexual side effects. In fact it worked so well that I had dropped from once a day dosage to once every 2 or 3 days and “it” still worked great. lol.

Now I’m on day 9 at 40mg myself. At about day 5-6 the urniary issues returned so now I’m back to taking Flomax once per day hoping it will bring the problem under control again. What may be a factor, though is that I didn’t start the Flomax until after about 7-8 days on 25mg. I found relief by day 10, but perhaps the side effect itself was also lessening as my body became used to the meds?

On the bowel end of things, gas has stopped for me. No cramping or constipation for me since day 1 except -hmmmm- things appear to work slower. Instead of going to the bathroom every morning, I now go only once every 4 days or so. As you can imagine, it’s a doozy. Kind of freaked me out the first time! lol.

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[Anonymous]

WOW, I’m going 3-4 times a morning! It’s the pure volume that I can’t get over (sorry this is gross I know). The feeling of being constipated as well as the neck tightness are better. Over all I would say it is helping, I need to make changes in the form of more exercise and over coming some other self defeating habits before I can say if this is the magic bullet. So far so good otherwise.

BTW: Metamucil is great for getting things going and for me it helps with the cramps and other discomforts.

Cheers.

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[turbo]

Do you mean you go 3-4 times every morning? Or that things stop for a bit and then when they get moving you go 3 or 4 times? The second one is what I’ve experienced. I’ll look into the metamucil and see if maybe it will help me become more ….errrr…… regular

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[Anonymous]

Every damned morning. I have to add 10 minutes to my routine so I’m not late for work.

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[turbo]

May I ask how fast the Metamucil works for you? Is it like an overnight thing? I used to go every morning, almost like clockwork, so once every 4 days or so is unsettling and it would be great to change that.

You know- I’m not sure if this is the Strattera’s doing or not, but I’d comment that most of “us” would just end up being 10 minutes late for work in your situation

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[Anonymous]

For me I drink the MM around 4:30 PM and that has finished with me by morning. I also try to get another glass in the morning, but normally forget this one. With IBS the MM almost eliminates cramps and spasms as well as keeping things together if you know what I mean. If I forget to take it the next day is a long day.

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[Anonymous]

I have been on Strattera for over 6 years now. It worked wonders for me. I tried different doses. It ended up that 100 mgs worked the best. However, i could not take it all in one dose or I would be asleep in about an hour So I take 40 mg in the am and 60 mg in the pm. I also take zoloft and the combination of the two has work wonderfully. Strattera was really a life-saver for me.

I now can no longer afford the Strattera and have to switch to another medication that is on the teir 1 of my insurance plan. All of them are generics. Can anyone tell me about a generic ADD that has worked well for them?

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[Anonymous]

My son, 13 now, has been taking Strattera since he was almost 8. He experienced the upset stomache, it’s hard to tell about the digestion as he has IBS as well, no other side effects. He, of course, does like how he feels when he’s not on meds – just not always the consequences:) He made improvements almost immediately and although we’ve had to raise his dose he’s still on it. It’s just been the last 3-4 weeks that it’s just NOT enough! I’ve been through a step-son with ADHD at puberty and at the 100mg dosage (he’s over 6′ now). I don’t know that I believe anything can ‘do it all’. I don’t want to change his meds~he’s had so much success with them. I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with kids on Strattera at this age.

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[Anonymous]

@ Callmecrazy, I wanted to see how things are going for you.. I am about two weeks behind you with the Strattera and i wanted see how your progress is going. I know it make me feel better to hear from someone that is making the same steps, but before you.

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[Anonymous]

it can screw up your stomach? oh! yay! my tummy has been pretty wobbly and not happy for the past few days, i was blaming tortilla chips cos i have a bit of an IBS thing going on, but if its the recent dosage increase that the shrink got me doing, i’ll just get back to munching on those salty suckers.

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[Anonymous]

I don’t know… Its frustrating too. The most I can say about this drug is that it seems to be doing something, but what I don’t know. My tenancy has been to get very depressed and moody in the winter so I’d been using various anti depressants for that, this is about the same. As it work in a similar way to the anti depressants work I get it, but I still CRAVE stimulation so I can wake up my brain and do something. Moods are up and down, my belly always has problems so I don’t know if this is really making matters worse, my focus is about the same, energy is less if anything. Actually I need to confirm my follow up appointment for month 2 review time.

Anyone else had these results? Did you try something else?

I’m working on trying to get back in to regular exercise 20-40 min a day, but I feel exhausted and completely unmotivated to make a change. Actually, my resistance to change seems to be stronger that before. Odd.

Good luck out there folks!

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[Anonymous]

I am curious, because i noticed the other night with my partner, i self medicated by started an argument. So then i am wondering if this is helping me get the stimulation that i need (like you said Callmecrazy “I still CRAVE stimulation”) or is it just keeping me more emotionally balanced. I am not sure.. I was given this because adderall gave me anxiety, but i am wondering if i should pursue something different….

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[Anonymous]

i’ve been known to potstir and provoke for the sake of mental stimulation, but not more so while using straterra- if anything i’m more self aware and able to avoid that kinda thing happening while on it.

i did find myself yelling rather unexpectedly and a bit overenthusiastically with irritation over a silly little thing* this morning though – maybe i’m a bit more prone to my temper flaring, but i think its probably just that i’m more aware of it happening than i was before.

******

*silly little thing: when he’s getting ready for work and is planning to drop me off on the way, i’ll ask the boyfriend “what time do you want to leave?” he’ll respond with “whenever you’re ready”, which is clearly NOT a TIME.

2pm is a time. ‘in ten minutes’ could be considered a measure of passing time too. ‘whenever jen is ready’ doesn’t quite work in the same way.

i have absolutely no clue how he expects me to keep to any kind of organised schedual and be ready on time, when he’s basically giving me free rein to pander to my every little whim, impulse control challenge, and flight of faffing-about-fancy, contrary moment, etc.

but i DO know that he aint gonna be remotely pleased if i take him at his word, and am ready to leave 6 or so hours later, after pissing about online, doing my nails, experimenting with new hairdos, looking for a better pair of pants to wear, getting a spot of lunch, etc- and am then rather suprised to hear that he actually wanted to leave 10 minutes after i asked….

*silently fumes in exasperation, and bangs head against wall repeatedly.* FYI helpful non ADHD partners: ‘whenever’ is about as useful of a response to time related questions as ‘whatever you want to make’ is to ‘what would you like me to make you to eat for your dinner’ -type ones. IE: not remotely. we need MORE STRUCTURE than that!!!

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[Anonymous]

I’ve been trying to Sus this out for a while but useful information is hard to find.

To my understanding ADD is thought to be primarily an issue with DRD4 and dopamine levels. Beyond this I am flying by the seat of my pants because a clear explanation of the drug treatments are not to be found. They think this and believe that. They say option one is to risky and option 2 is too uncertain. So lets play drug store darts and see what works for you. Back to the meds. If the idea behind stimulant based treatments are to provide increased levels of dopamine to improve its function as a catecholamine neurotransmitter then what are these other drugs doing?

“Dopamine is commonly associated with the reward system of the brain, providing feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement to motivate a person proactively to perform certain activities. Dopamine is released (particularly in areas such as the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex) by rewarding experiences such as food, sex, drugs, and neutral stimuli that become associated with them. Recent studies indicate that aggression may also stimulate the release of dopamine in this way.”

“Amphetamines increase the concentration of dopamine in the synaptic gap, but by a different mechanism. Amphetamines and methamphetamine are similar in structure to dopamine, and so can enter the terminal bouton of the presynaptic neuron via its dopamine transporters as well as by diffusing through the neural membrane directly.[citation needed] By entering the presynaptic neuron, amphetamines force dopamine molecules out of their storage vesicles and expel them into the synaptic gap by making the dopamine transporters work in reverse.”

“Dopamine is closely associated with reward-seeking behaviors, such as approach, consumption, and addiction.[23] Recent researches suggest that the firing of dopaminergic neurons is a motivational substance as a consequence of reward-anticipation. This hypothesis is based on the evidence that, when a reward is greater than expected, the firing of certain dopaminergic neurons increases, which consequently increases desire or motivation towards the reward.[23] However, recent research finds that while some dopaminergic neurons react in the way expected of reward neurons, others do not and seem to respond in regard to unpredictability.” –Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine

Most reports for Straterra are 50/50 at best. My experience is this in no different that Prozac or Cipralex in adjusting the chemistry to improve focus, concentration or energy. Actually I felt better on Prozac, focused and energetic, but a little spacey, but I gained 30 lbs in a year.

I have a followup with the Dr and frankly I will be requesting a change in meds. Between the lack of improvement and the increased GI problems, constipation and frequent need to pee NOW, the pros do not out weigh the cons.

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[Author]

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