There's not much info out there from ADDers yet about withdrawls when stopping Strattera. My doc and the pharmacist said you "don't need to taper", meaning you can stop cold turkey. Well, I took 80mg 2 days ago, 40 yesterday and 0 today. I plan to continue with 0. NO problems yet whatsoever.

I have actually forgotten to take Strattera for 1 day, and noticed no withdrawal symptoms at all.

Tiggwin: When I went off the Strattera after having been on it for a month (along with my Wellbutrin)...and then went off.....I actually started to feel BETTER right away.....no withdrawal symptoms at all....and side effects -- effects -- began to go away.....

Glad you're not having any withdrawal symptoms so far either.....

I definitely agree, Joan. I'm through the woods (day 2 at 0 mgs) with no withdrawls at all. I had a small headache yesterday, but I suspect that was more from hunger than from withdrawls.

Has anyone else experienced SEVERE irritability and anger after stopping Strattera? I quit taking it after the terrible side effects, and I am completely unapproachable. Also, minor headaches.

I had a recent road rage incident and that unheard of for me. It scares me because I could have hurt someone.

This sucks.

RMan: I'm sorry this happened to you....My question to you is: when did youstop the Strattera and how long have you been having these disturbing symptoms?

Hopefully they will go away....just as we don't know long term side effects of these meds, there is no information about effects from going off of them either....:(

Hi Joan: I had only taken the Strattera for about 4 days before giving up. Just doesnt' agree with my body. Too bad because it seemed to be working.

Good news, the severe anger/irritability problems are gone and so are the headaches. These seemed to be the only symptoms I noticed from quitting the drug, and those feelings lasted for only 3 days.

-Rich

Hi Joan, Rich, Tigg and Big

I quit taking the stuff a little more than a week ago, after giving it my best shot. Basically it was an exercise in frustration, with glimpses of clarity that just weren't sustained.

Starting while I was taking Strattera, and continuing every day siince, I've developed symptoms of fibromyalgia that are really, really annoying! I've never felt anything like this for more than a day or so: muscular pain and tension, and headaches that would stop a truck.

That could all be coincidence except that many fibromyalgia sufferers also have inadequate cortisol, and from what I've read, norepinephrine is the "balancing" hormone for cortisol. I may have that completely goofed up, though, as I do so many things lately...

My shrink says that Strattera seems to either work great or not at all, and my regular doc says she's found one patient for whom it works: he's 20 years old, healthy as a horse, and as she says "he could probably eat tar and not be bothered". We both wonder where the hell Lilly found all these clinical trial subjects who got such great results.

I'm happy as can be for those it works for, like you, Andrew. And I'm a little jealous, too! ;) I guess the hype got my hopes up too much.

Well, I just wondreed if anyone else experienced some of what I've encountered. On with the research!

Margreet.

Margreet: Some of what you encountered? Not quite. Horrible side effects, but not quite what yours were....Mine were: horribly increase sex drive to the pont I was not okay with, inability to pee and ache in the pelvic area and constant tingle and numbness in my mouth and overall feeling of sickness all the time.....The Strattera did help with my focussing.....interesting things your therapist said....

By the way, just an obsersation of my own that I've seen here on forums....a general observation since I've been here...Strattera seems to work better and be tolerated better by men more than by women, in general, just what I've seen....

Originally posted by theRMan
Has anyone else experienced SEVERE irritability and anger after stopping Strattera? I quit taking it after the terrible side effects, and I am completely unapproachable. Also, minor headaches.

I had a recent road rage incident and that unheard of for me. It scares me because I could have hurt someone.

This sucks.

Yep.

When I was on low amounts for other reasons (side effects!) I noticed variations on road rage and extreme depression (somewhat dangerous really!) and I chalked it up to focus without inhibition of motivation. My inhibitions are accustomed to me being able to distract myself like a two year old when i need to... Strattera made me perseverate, low doses espcially.

Either go on, or go off, but don't play in the middle. that is one weird drug in my book!

I experience pretty severe withdrawal from Strattera.

I take 80 mg nightly. If I miss a dose, I'm a mess the next day. It's almost impossible to get out of bed, and I spend much of the day feeling like one does waking up in the middle of the night. I'm certain it affects driving (or operating heavy machinery for that matter).

Taking a dose in the a.m. doesn't seem to fix it completely, although if I take 40 mg. in the a.m. and another 80 mg at night, I seem to be OK the next day.

There's nothing anywhere I've seen on Strattera withdrawal, neither on the FDA or CDER sites, nor on Eli Lilly's site, although I've seen others describe the same symptoms (see for example http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/246849.html)

I've heard enough anecdotal evidence on the grapevine to suggest that Strattera withdrawal is not rare. However, Eli Lilly's drug literature states, "there was no evidence of... drug discontinuation or withdrawal syndrome". Uh huh.

when the doctor explained this to me...he said this med was not adictive and you can stop it just like you start it...im not understanding why you would have problems stopping it...how long were you on it to start with and the dose?

GigglyBabeB

I started taking 80 mg/day in the evening before bed a year and a half ago. It may not be addictive for everyone, but it certainly is for me.

Rather than that being the definiton of "addictive" i think that is called "dose related response" meaning at different dosage levels the EFFECT of the drug changes.

So at 80 mg/day I respond, but at 0 mg/day, I experience a variety of extremely unpleasant side effects that fade only gradually over a period of time, unless I increase my dosage to 80 mg. /day, in which case the unpleasant side effects stop immediately and completely.

Tell me again how you think this phenomenon differs from "addiction" and "withdrawl"? Perhaps you think I'm confusing "addiction" with "chemical dependence". Help me understand the difference.

In plants there are a very limited number of hormones, but with just a handful, everything gets done. At one concentration the effect is to grow new plant at the tip, another to produce seed, etc.

Second, i had significantly different and repeatable experieinces with different doses of strattera, from 10 mg to 80 mg per day.

third, the blood values are not "zero" just because you forget to take a dose. they vary.

addicition is about inaprpriate solutions fo real problems (drinking alcohol as the soltion for problems other than physical muscle pain, etc.) craving, drug seeking, and reduction of response requiring increasing dose. Needing the "same" amount to get the "desired" result is not addiciton. Its called being prescribed the right amount for your needs.

In fact, "addiciton" has a bunch of separately identifiable components with their own names.

It also highlights why some drug use is called "self-medicating." Self-medicating might or might not be advisable, but it is NOT the same as addiction.

The point is, side effects happen at vairous dose levels, sometimes lower (frequently lower) than the level required for the intended benefit. There is nothing "addictive" about that by itself.

That roller coastering with the blood levels of an EFFECTIVE drug produces uncomfotable results is simply why they recommend that you NOT MISS A DOSE!

IMHO.

I'm sorry I wasn't more clear. If I'm still missing just shoot me again, and i'll try again.

I guess my thinking was this: taking a norepinephrine updtake inhibitor should result in decreased production of norepinephrine, since your brain gets used to having higher quantities of the metabolite around. Stop the Strattera and you begin to metabolise norepinephrine more quickly than your body produces it, resulting in a short-term decline in the level until your brain figures out that it needs to accelerate production.

That's the primary mechanism for addiction and withdrawl, apthough perhaps "physical depencence" is a more accurate term. It's not the same thing as tolerance, which is the continuous need to increase dosage to get the same effects. I'm also not talking about pleasure-seeking self-medication. Strattera does not give me any particular "pleasure".

Interestingly, I have heard a lot of informal reports from parents of Strattera ceasing to work after a certain period of time, suggesting that there may be a tolerance issue as well.

Strattera is a new drug, so it's not surprising that there may be effects which have not been adequately reported by the manufacturer, particularly given the approval bias of the FDA since the mid-90's (for more information on the relaxation of FDA approval standards and problems with the safety of new drugs, see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/).

Originally posted by ldfcao
I guess my thinking was this: taking a norepinephrine updtake inhibitor should result in decreased production of norepinephrine, since your brain gets used to having higher quantities of the metabolite around.

Stop the Strattera and you begin to metabolise norepinephrine more quickly than your body produces it, resulting in a short-term decline in the level until your brain figures out that it needs to accelerate production.


I'm more accustomed to considering that to be "rebound" than addiction...

In ADHD, I'm not sure that the body DOES figure out it needs more, ever, which is why some people take Strattera in the first place....

I came off of Strattera two weeks ago, after having been on it for 8 months. I've been experiencing sever headaches/migraines, depression, a total loss of focus, and short-term memory issues (I'm sure directly related to the total loss of focus). I'm still waiting for these to get better, but so far everything has worsened.
I decreased my meds from 40mg, to 20mg for a while, then stopped. I'm probably going to fail 3/4 of my courses this semester because of this.

Anyone have any suggestions? It typically takes my psychiatrist a month and a half to get back to me.... :( I really don't feel like I have that kind of time.

My withdrawal comes on in only one way. I get EXTREMELY disoriented. I have been taking strattera for about 1 year. I am currently on the 100 mg once daliy dose. If I miss a dose, less than 24 Hours later I start feeling really disoriented. less like feeling dizzy and more like about to lose consciousness, like i'm about to faint. It is so bad I can't sleep if Ive skipped a dose the night before. It was so severe I thought it would be more common but I see from reading that its not.

Tapered off from 100mgs (4 pills)/day in the am to 3 to 2 to 1 pill over 3-4 weeks. Extreme drowsiness most all of the day for the last two to three weeks since zeroing out. Lately I'm listless and inert ... a blue balloon with most of the air out.