Not splitting the capsule, but taking 2 pills a day.

I took 40 mg for a week, then 60 mg for a week. On 60 mg I had terrible urinary retention. I felt like I had to pee, but hardly anything came out. Sudafed does the same thing for me. Then, for various insurance reasons I went on 20 mg generic Ritalin for a week. It did not do much for me so I stopped taking it and found a new doctor.

The new pdoc put me on 40 mg Strattera for 2 weeks, then we will re-evaulate. It is working pretty well for me. But I can feel it wear off in the afternoon. Typically I take it around 7-7:30 AM. I think a larger dose may help me concentrate more. It may also prevent my 2PM yawning. If I take 30mg in the morning and 30 mg in the afternoon, how likely am I to get the urinary retention? My urinary retention actually occured in the afternoon after taking a 60 mg capsule in the morning.

Another side effect I get is waking up at 5-6 AM. My regular doctor said may it was because it was when my dose was wearing off. That doesn't sound right to me. Would splitting up my dose help?

I'm starting this today. I started 2 1/2 weeks ago with 40 mg, then after 5 days moved to 80 mg. I too am suffering from urinary retention as well as a rise in blood pressure.

I'll let you know how it works out.

Well, not many replies on people taking 2 pills a day. Today I convinced my doctor to prescribe 2, 25 mg pills a day. Rather than the sinlge 40 mg a day i took for over a month. I'll take one at 7:30 AM and another at noon. I'm a little worried about getting less of an effect before noon due to the lower dosage in me. Maybe I'll end up moving the second dose earlier. If I can remember to take it.

splitting the dose is the only way for me, there is no way i could take the side effects of a full 80mg every day. even though they are really only bad for the first 2-4 hrs or so, the sweating in particular for me, is unbearable...

splitting the dose 40 before bed and 40 2hrs before(2hrs to let the side effects subside) i leave the house in the morn works for me...

as for your waking up at 5-6am, that is something i like about strattera, and the reason i take it just before i goto sleep, because in about 5-6hrs after i take it i will wake up and feel like ive already been awake for hours, and ready to hop out of bed.

i am also curious to the exact reason for this too...i do hear that studies show strattera effects drops significantly after 6hrs of taking the dose, so maybe your doc is right in saying you wake because its wearing off...who knows..