Hi,

I've been lurking on this forum for a couple of months, but this is my first post. I have a 10-year-old daughter who was recently diagnosed. She's the combined type, but heavier on the impulsiveness and inattention and lighter on the hyperactivity. Anyway, she's been on Strattera for two weeks now and I wanted to share my observations. She started at 18mg for one week and has just finished a week at 25mg. We go to 40mg tomorrow.

The best way to describe the effect of Strattera on her symptoms is to say that it is like the volume being gradually lowered. The first few days the effects were very subtle (and imperceptible to her and her father). Soon she started having more dramatic improvement in her mood and her self-control. The concentration was only somewhat better. Then we seemed to have a setback, but then I realized that she was just acting like her normal self but in much milder form. She was giving me a hard time about her piano practice the day after her lesson. Because she had been so cooperative the week prior, I started to panic and think the medicine had stopped working. Then I remembered that she always gives me crap about practicing the day after her lesson. This, fortunately, was more muted than normal. We had a few more really great days and then on Sunday we appeared to have another setback. Again, it was under circumstances where I normally would expect her to give me a hard time. Interestingly, even though she was being difficult and moody, she was content to go to her room and stay there. Before Strattera she would have been in our faces the whole time. Since then she's been doing great.

She's had very few side effects. She was a little nauseous the first day, but that subsided (she always takes her pill in the a.m. right after breakfast). She's had a little dizziness, a little tiredness and a little scalp tingling. All these symptoms seem to have gone away.

We still have a long way to go, but I am really encouraged. When she was first diagnosed I was hoping for the quicker fix of the stimulants because things were really rough. Her doctor convinced me to try Strattera first because it helps avoid the ups and downs of the stimulants and because it isn't a controlled substance.

Thanks to all of you who have posted in this forum. I read almost every word and it's really helped.

Emsmom, thanks for posting some good news. Your mention of the "to practice or not to practice" piano battle brought back memories. Both of my children are musically gifted, but my daughter's favourite instrument is the piano. She never needed to practice for any length of time, but she knew that some practice was expected. I've lost count of how many times, in the early years, I would walk into the piano room and find her, arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her face and the announcement, "I'm quitting." I would calmly and sincerely say, "So, quit. It will save me time and money." A spark of anger would light up the scowl and she would reluctantly tickle the ivories.

My daughter is grown up now and teaches her own piano students. She often tells me she is glad I didn't let her quit. :D

Thanks, your reply warmed my heart!! The piano has been both a bane and a blessing for us. My daughter is a really talented pianist and would never quit lessons/playing, but the routine of practicing is a struggle for anyone, but especially for her. While we've had may battles over the piano, it's also provided a great deal of self-esteem for her (she even won the city competition last year) and it's helped me understand her concentration problems more so than her schoolwork ever has.


I'm so happy to hear that your daughter is now a piano teacher. What a great thing to pass on her love of music.

Your daughter's success in piano will help balance the challenges of ADHD. Winning the city competition! How insightful to understand her concentration problems. I hope the Straterra or some other med. helps her achieve what she is truly capable of. You both sound like a winning team.

Sounds like a real success story. When I started on Strattera, my doc told me it was very "subtle." To tell you the truth, I always doubted whether it was doing much of anything until I had to stop taking it (not due to medical reasons -- financial reasons, unfortunately). I'm a Strattera believer now, too!