After my brother took his first dose (40mg) of Strattera, he was falling asleep at work. Does this mean that it is too strong? I also heard you should start at around 20 for a couple weeks and then increase the dosage. Is this true? Do you think he might not have ADHD if it doesn't work for him? Can he break the Strattera in half? I know you can't Concerta, but what about Strattera? It doesn't release throughout the day like Concerta does.

Hi Mochi,

I think your brother should ask his doctor these questions. You may want to check out the Strattera website, www.strattera.com (http://www.strattera.com). You should never break the pill in half, for one reason it comes in the plastic capsule, and you really can't break it in half because of that.

You didn't mention how long he has been taking Strattera. It takes a few weeks for the side effects to go away. But please remember, everyone is different and will react differently to medications.
Strattera's dosage is based on weight of the person.
Let us know what happened!
Donna

The two first month I took Strattera, it made me sleepy. Now, it stimulate me! Sadly, it doesn't work for my concentration. I took it at night for a few weeks until I got used to the effect, then, I switched to the morning.

I've been on it for 8 days now, and I really don't like it at all. It does indeed make me fall asleep at work. The doctor told me to keep taking it and to "stay the course". It has not helped me attention/concentration issues at all. I take about 600mg of caffeine in the morning just to remain awake. I have very low energy levels so far, can't get anything done, and just don't like the stuff at all. Wish I would've gotten Adderall instead. If things don't magically get better after a month or whatever I think I'll be done with it.

I suspect the mechanism behind this is increased extracellular norepinephrine -> decreased quality of sleep -> sleep deprivation -> tiredness during the day, and eventually beta receptor downregulation attenuates this.

So far I am not a fan of Strattera at all.

I take meds for my ADD and Epilepsy. I had the same thing happen to me. It reoccurs when they switch my meds too. Usually takes 30 days for me to get used to it. After that I'm fine.

Dawn

strattera is a medication that takes time start giving it's stimulant effects. It's a body loading drug where it goes in and settles in into the body and then starts releasing.

Think of it like a sponge squeeze effect,
when you start putting liquid into the sponge it keeps soaking it up until it reaches the point where it can't take any more and starts giving it out to the body.....

Yeah, but why does it do that? I see on PubMed it raised the levels of DA and NE in the prefrontal cortex by 300% (on par with methylphenidate) in a rat study almost immediately. I don't understand why the buildup time is so long in humans at a similar mg/kg dose.