Hi,

I am new to the forum and new to Strattera. I am up to 18mg 2x daily, I will slowly taper up and see how it goes. So far so good!! My 8 year old son also takes it and has since he was 4. I has been a lifesaver for him!!

The Strattera has taken away my appetite and cravings for certain foods. Is this common? I'm okay with it, just curious if it is "normal" and does it last? Losing a few pounds will not upset me in the least.

I already notice my ability to focus and maintain interest in certain activities/conversations.:D

I've been on Straterra 2 years. Yes, it did curb my appetite by quite a bit. Partly from the initial nausea I experienced, but even afterwards, I just wasn't interested in as much food. I lost almost 20 pounds. Since then, due to inconsistent use, I've gained much of it back. The holidays didn't help either...stress eating.

What about mood? Did you guys feel any differently? Weepy, emotional, etc...?

I was diagnosed with ADD in December '06. I started Straterra on Dec 27th. I started taking my 60 MG today on week three.
I have had a couple of miniscule side affects but I am not convinced that it's not because of what I have read in the forums. (upset stomach for a few seconds, hot sweats maybe three times) I have had reduced flow at pottie time and a weird "metal" taste in my mouth.
That's it! My doses my be too small for my size. I am an above average sized male.
I have a reduced appetite but still eating three times a day, I have been sleeping really well too.
Straterra has been great so far. I hope to see the continued improvement in my focus. What do birds think about? Where was I? Oh yeah, Anywho 39 years of a whirlwind head starting to slow down feels good!

Oh yeah, Anywho 39 years of a whirlwind head starting to slow down feels good!
That's great news! I hope it continues. My daughter seems somewhat emotional these days, maybe it's got nothing to do with the meds. As we're just starting out, I expect that any side effects will wear off or change with the dose. Hopefully we'll just be evaluating it based on effectiveness in a couple weeks.

I am starting it tomarrow. I tried concerta for a few months but sometimes it caused my heart to pound and made it hard to sleep. if I took it after 10am I even felt like I was having a heart attack at night when I went to bed.

I hope the Statera works out, my MD says it shouldnt cause that pounding but reading here it looks like he may be wrong :-(

Good luck with it. If you start with a low dose you shouldn't have any extreme side effects. The first week my daughter was a little giggly, but that's it. She has been on it for almost a month and there have been no significant changes yet. Although, she has been getting to sleep at night. It may take another month for the full effect and other changes.

He is starting me on 40mg which he said is low.

You must be excited and anxious to be starting Strattera. I know I was!

I'm new to this as well, about a month now, but my doctor rec. to start low and go slow. You are starting out on a higher dose, so keep that in mind if you experience unpleasant side effects. You may be just fine, the only side effect I experienced was irritability when the dose was increased. I was also weaning off of Prozac, so that probably had alot to do with it. Oh and appetite suppression, which is great in my eyes.:D

Good Luck! I hope it works for you! Keep me posted:)

A note to parents giving it to children. Your pediatrician SHOULD check your child's liver enzymes periodically - I don't care what anyone said. My daughter's liver enzymes were sky high after they increased her Strattera and this information was only found after she went to the ER with abdominal/stomach pain and doubling over. The ER doc suggested she might have a UTI and then I mentioned that her father was a physician (lives in a different state and we are divorced) and he'd probably ask me what her lab showed. THEN, the ER doc mentioned," well her liver enzymes are pretty high - you might want to get it checked out by her regular pediatrician". She was uninformed if the Strattera could have caused it because she didn't prescribe Strattera on a regular basis. Well, it turns out that it was the Strattera and we went through a couple of months of weekly bloodwork checking to see if her liver enzymes went down. Always observe your child for jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), itching and abdominal pain. If he or she is jaundiced act immediately! Strattera was a wonderful drug for my daughter in regards to helping her with schoolwork but it turned out it could have caused her ( and one of the rare cases) permanent liver damage. Thank goodness I asked about her lab- I'm a nurse and I like to know those things but for a lay person - well, I hate to think what could have happened. So , I urge you all to make your docs check liver enzymes every so often, especially after having an increase in meds,okay?? We want everyone to stay healthy (and focused).

Good info.! My son's child psychiatrist has bloodwork done every 6 months at the hospital.

I am glad she is on top of it for us!:) Sorry to hear about your daughter, Strattera has been a tremendous help to my son as well.

I just joined the Strattera club. New doc who specializes in ADD! Really listened and understood. Started on 25-he does this very slowly one week on 25, next 40, and small increments until reaching therapeutic dose. Keeping me on all other meds this month and then will withdraw Concerta and Ritalin gradully-this is a horridly stressful month and big med changes he said would not be good.

Will keep you updated!

Yeah, lot's of changes. I wish you the best of luck. So far so good with my daughter. It helped to keep a sort of journal to keep track of changes in behavior, feelings, etc. Stuff you forget about in a month's time when the doc asks!

I had a good day today. One of my students said I was happy-that was significant-and meaningful. One dose of Strattera-25mg very low, yet for some reason, I could tell a difference. It is probably the anti-anxiety effect it has! Maybe it is placebo-just the fact that something is being done and I am not stuck in the same old, same old. I now have a bit of hope and am smiling more. Even if it is placebo-it is worth it!

RADD

I never did update this.... I HATED IT and it made me sick! One of the known side effect is that it messes with your prostate (or something) because it was hard to pass urine (or anything else) and had other sexual side effects. It ended up causing me to have a bladder infection on top of a whole bunch of other side effects. I think this crap is poison!!!