I'm flipping through some of the posts on Strattera and heartburn, and I'm wondering if it's common and does it go away? Oh and is it heartburn I'm feeling? That burning, lump in throat kind of feeling? Burning in the sternum (sp?) area too.

I think it's heartburn :( Oh geez I hope it isn't! Or if it is I want it to go away! I really don't want to try another drug again. I was on welbrutrin and it made me break out into hives. I mean ALLLLLLL over my body :eek: even my lip started to swell up :p

Hi -

Yes, this absolutely sounds like heartburn. You might also have a weird taste in your mouth. Mine reminded me of minty schnapps or mouthwash...

Unfortunately, it didn't go away on its own, and one of my pdocs indicated that this tends to be the case when people have this side effect. Fortunately, in my case it wasn't actually caused by strattera. Mine was actually caused by <yuck> constipation, most likely due to underlying IBS. Who knew? Strattera can aggrevate constipation on its own, and this can put the rest of the digestive tract under pressure, which can cause the heartburn.

2 ideas for you to consider & talk about with your pdoc:

1 - are you getting enough fiber and drinking enough water? Through my experience I learned that it's possible to be constipated without actually feeling bad or experiencing pain. I just didn't have a need to "go" every day. This became much worse when I became very dehydrated on vacation in Las Vegas, and simultaneously the heartburn also became worse.

Other things to try: Not eating for 3 hours before bed. Don't lie down after eating any meal. Eat smaller meals, and choose blander foods. Avoid mint and chocolate, as they help relax the stomach's sphincter muscle. Get moderate exercise. I also ate lots of tums, but found that they only helped for a few minutes at a time during the worst of it.

2 - can your dose be split from one dose to two doses per day? I have had no side effects with 18mg of strattera taken twice per day instead of 1 40mg capsule in the morning (of course, however, this dose hasn't been enough to keep me thinking straight, and I'm definitely going to ask my pdoc about an adjustment at our next appointment). Splitting a dose can decrease the side effects, but it won't work for everybody, particularly people with sleep-related side effects.

If it keeps up, definitely talk to your doc. Call them if you don't have another appointment for a while. I ended up taking myself off strattera cold-turkey during the worst of it, which is not necessarily a great idea (turns out I could have brought myself to the local psych hospital ER, as it was a med-related side effect). All that acid refluxing can do serious damage if it goes on long enough. It also just feels bad, which isn't worth it!

Good luck!</yuck>