I just got diagnosed with adult add today. My doctor started me on 40mg and then in a week i go up to 60mg. I'm a little nervous because I've been reading that a lot of people like it but then there are a lot that don't. i guess I'm just needing a little encouragement!:)
If anyone wants to tell me their story (good or bad) please do!

Hello ndnbutterfly! Welcome to the Forum!

Strattera has been one of those drugs that people either hate or love. Rarely is there an in between.

I'm one that has loved it.

Strattera is one of the drugs that is supposed to "build up" in your system. This is true for some. However, my experience is that the effects are almost immediate. I metabolize it quickly. Your mileage my vary.

I started at 40mg, then bumped to 60mg. On the 40 I was focused and calm, for the first time that I can remember. The only time I felt wonky was a for a few hours after I bumped up to 60mg. I was light headed, had the shakes, etc. I rested for a few hours, and haven't had a problem since.

The only side-effects I have ever had have been an occasional headache and a rarer metallic taste in my mouth.

But like I said, I metabolize it quickly. My 60mg began wearing off after a few hours and I was bumped up to 120mg. Then that was weraing off to soon and I couldn't sleep because the racing mind and chatter would come back at night.

So we added Trazadone at night to help sleep. I take as needed.

This year, the Strat was wearing off about two hours after each 60mg capsule, so we've now added Effexor, which has helped, but I don't really like it much.

All of this has occurred over 4 years time. So I wouldn't be concerned about it not working anytime soon, but we're all different.

I give the Strat a thumbs up. Never had a problem with it except it slowly losing it's effectiveness.

I hope you find it works as well for you. But if not, don't worry. There are plenty of alternatives out there.

Something that might help put things into prospective. Somewhere over 90% will respond well to some ADHD medication. For each individual drug, somewhere in the area of 75% will respond well and 25% will not. Somewhere around 5% will have bad side effects and about 1% will have doozy side effects.

The purpose to this is to help you understand that reactions to the medications are very individual. Finding the right drug is pretty much a crapshoot. If Strattera works, it has a number of advantages over the stimulant drugs. If nothing else, it doesn't have to have a three part prescription and you can get a script for several months worth. Many docs start with this one and I feel it is a very good place to begin.

Monitor how it works for you. If, after 4 or 6 weeks, you do not feel you are getting good results get back with your doc. Watch for bad side effects. They do happen at times.

Good luck. I am glad you found out you were ADHD. Many suffer their entire life with a disorder that can be treated. It can sometimes change a life. Seen it happen more than once.

Dizfriz

I started it a few days ago and what I've learned is the first few days are rough because your body has to adjust to the stuff. The side effects are lessening every day for me. I feel fine right now last night I felt much worse. I'm on 40mg too but the first day I took 80mg just to see what the effects were like and I felt good but I was real drowsy and the slightest little thing drove me into a near murderous rage.

I wouldn't say you'll react the same way I do to it but you might so try and stay away from anything that might **** you off the first few days especially loud irritating noises.

Theres a good few positive effects to this stuff like the fact your never hungry but if theres food in front of you you still feel like eating. You don't feel pain half as much. For some reason every morning I wake up feeling real good since I started taking it. Its actually getting better every morning. This morning I felt brilliant and I had the urge to clean up the kitchen for some bizarre reason. Usually I'm so lazy and disorganized the last thing I'll feel like doing is cleaning up.

I would much rather switch to Ritalin because I don't like the idea of this stuff accumulating in my body but after only about 3 days it seems to be stabilizing by the day and the side effects are fading away. I wasn't ****ed off at all today. Sleeping isn't much of a problem either. The main issue still is drowsiness though. I'm drowsy for at least 3 hours after I take the stuff. It sorta comes and goes in waves though.

Its a mixed bag anyway. Theres are positive effects and side effects. The side effects for me are drowsiness and irritability. They've dropped 10 fold since the first day though. I'm starting to like the stuff now.

I started it a few days ago and what I've learned is the first few days are rough because your body has to adjust to the stuff. The side effects are lessening every day for me. I feel fine right now last night I felt much worse. I'm on 40mg too but the first day I took 80mg just to see what the effects were like and I felt good but I was real drowsy and the slightest little thing drove me into a near murderous rage.

I wouldn't say you'll react the same way I do to it but you might so try and stay away from anything that might **** you off the first few days especially loud irritating noises.

Theres a good few positive effects to this stuff like the fact your never hungry but if theres food in front of you you still feel like eating. You don't feel pain half as much. For some reason every morning I wake up feeling real good since I started taking it. Its actually getting better every morning. This morning I felt brilliant and I had the urge to clean up the kitchen for some bizarre reason. Usually I'm so lazy and disorganized the last thing I'll feel like doing is cleaning up.

I would much rather switch to Ritalin because I don't like the idea of this stuff accumulating in my body but after only about 3 days it seems to be stabilizing by the day and the side effects are fading away. I wasn't ****ed off at all today. Sleeping isn't much of a problem either. The main issue still is drowsiness though. I'm drowsy for at least 3 hours after I take the stuff. It sorta comes and goes in waves though.

Its a mixed bag anyway. Theres are positive effects and side effects. The side effects for me are drowsiness and irritability. They've dropped 10 fold since the first day though. I'm starting to like the stuff now.




Now I'm finishing week three and I feel like everything makes me mad!:mad: I've never been like this before. I don't know if I should stop taking it or wait it out (I see my doc Sept. 3rd.). It seems like it's getting worse everyday. It's not doing anything for my concentration or focus at all. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Hello ndnbutterfly! Welcome to the Forum!

Strattera has been one of those drugs that people either hate or love. Rarely is there an in between.

I'm one that has loved it.

Strattera is one of the drugs that is supposed to "build up" in your system. This is true for some. However, my experience is that the effects are almost immediate. I metabolize it quickly. Your mileage my vary.

I started at 40mg, then bumped to 60mg. On the 40 I was focused and calm, for the first time that I can remember. The only time I felt wonky was a for a few hours after I bumped up to 60mg. I was light headed, had the shakes, etc. I rested for a few hours, and haven't had a problem since.

The only side-effects I have ever had have been an occasional headache and a rarer metallic taste in my mouth.

But like I said, I metabolize it quickly. My 60mg began wearing off after a few hours and I was bumped up to 120mg. Then that was weraing off to soon and I couldn't sleep because the racing mind and chatter would come back at night.

So we added Trazadone at night to help sleep. I take as needed.

This year, the Strat was wearing off about two hours after each 60mg capsule, so we've now added Effexor, which has helped, but I don't really like it much.

All of this has occurred over 4 years time. So I wouldn't be concerned about it not working anytime soon, but we're all different.

I give the Strat a thumbs up. Never had a problem with it except it slowly losing it's effectiveness.

I hope you find it works as well for you. But if not, don't worry. There are plenty of alternatives out there.

Thanks for the welcome Grafter! I don't think that the Strattera is going to work for me because I am so irritated all the time. Any little thing makes me upset or mad. I don't know if I should just stop the strattera or not. I think I'll call my doc today.

Thanks for the welcome Grafter! I don't think that the Strattera is going to work for me because I am so irritated all the time. Any little thing makes me upset or mad. I don't know if I should just stop the strattera or not. I think I'll call my doc today.

I'd love to hear what your doctor has to say about this particular side effect. I believe that in the UK and Europe, Lilly has to include agitation as a side effect in their materials.

Now I'm finishing week three and I feel like everything makes me mad!:mad: I've never been like this before. I don't know if I should stop taking it or wait it out (I see my doc Sept. 3rd.). It seems like it's getting worse everyday. It's not doing anything for my concentration or focus at all. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
I know exactly what you mean. Same thing happened with me. Everything was ****ing me off and it was making me depressed. The side effects lessened every day though so you obviously have it worse. Talk to your doctor and tell him what its doing to you and he'll take you off it.

I talked to my psychiatrist yesterday and told him that it wasn't helping at all and told him the side effects it had and what he said is "You've been on it 3 weeks now and if its not helping and not only isn't helping but also has negative effects stop taking it". He's sending me a prescription for Ritalin now. Its a serious relief because the Strattera was making my life crap. I'm fairly optimistic about Ritalin because unlike Strattera most people on Ritalin have good things to say about it.

Bogwarrior my doc said the same thing that since I've been on the meds for 3 full weeks then obviously it's not going to work for me. So he said to stop taking it ASAP and we'll try a stimulant. I don't go back until Sept 3rd but that isn't that long, so we'll see. I'm not sure which stimulant that he will try first. I don't know if there is one better than the other (Ritalin, Adderall, etc.). I've been reading alot on the stimulants and of course since I'm not a pharm buff I have no idea which one would be best to try first. I've also heard good things about Ritalin.

Jamie my doc said that can be a side effect (but not before I started the meds). I don't remember reading that anywhere in the info pack (but that doesn't mean anything cause I can't remember anything anyways!LOL). They definatley should have that in the top side effects because all the other side effects I could handle (headache, nausea, constipation, etc.) But it also wasn't helping me whatsoever.

Also my insurance has to pre-approve the script before I can get it filled. Does anyone know how long this takes or if they just give you samples or something while you wait? Do all insurance companies do this?

If anyone has any advice on meds (if one is better than the other) please let me know, I'm totally up for any suggestions! So far everyone on here has been such a great help! Sorry this got longer than I intended!
Thank you all for your advice in advance!:D

I am a pharm buff myself and I know a bit about stimulants like amphetamines. There are a few different amphetamine products they prescribe for ADD but it basically boils down to about 3 or 4 molecules.

Theres Ritalin and Concerta which is methylphenidate. It has its advantages and disadvantages over the other amphetamines. I've never tried it but supposedly it makes you highly alert, energetic, motivated, gives increased self esteem and self confidence and gives a short (about an hour) burst of euphoria. The major downside of Ritalin is it has an unholy comedown. When the stuff wears off supposedly you feel like crap. This happens with other amphetamines too though and certain things help like keeping yourself hydrated, forcing yourself to eat and taking vitamins. I think its alot like a hangover its malnurishment that causes the comedown.

Number 2 is Adderall which is a mixture of l and d-Amphetamine if I'm not mistaken. Supposedly this gives alot of the effects associated with Ritalin plus increased euphoria but it doesn't have half as bad a comedown. Many people think Adderall is superior to Ritalin but some people like Ritalin better some people like Adderall better. Adderall can be abused too.

Number 3 is Dexedrine which is pure d-Amphetamine I think. This is just a more potent version of Adderall.

Number 4 is Desoxyn. Pharmaceutical grade methamphetamine. Obviously this isn't widely prescribed because meth has such a bad reputation. This seems to the king of ADD meds. I've tried this one myself and its ridiculous how much it helps. I think they only prescribe this in extreme cases of ADHD when all else fails.

There are other products like Vyvanse which is just an altered molecule of Amphetamine which metabolizes inside your system so it acts as a slow release mechanism. Basically the same thing as Adderall. I haven't read about the other ADD medications.


My recommendation is to try and get Dexedrine or Adderall because it has maximum benefits and minimum side effects. Given the choice definitely take Dexedrine or Adderall over RItalin but if the doctor gives you the choice between Ritalin and a non stimulant drug obviously take the Ritalin.

Well, I'm so glad that you are a pharm buff! LOL It helps a bunch! I don't know if my doc is going to ask me what I want to try or if he'll recommend something, but I'll definately try the Adderall if he asks. I also definately could use the added energy since I NEVER have any, and with 3 kids 10 and under it sure would help!!! Especially since my 6 yr old boy is major hyper! But do any of them help with short term memory? Because mine sucks. Have you started the Ritalin yet? How's it working out? Let me know. Thanks for all the info, I truely appreciate it! Have a great day!!:D

I started taking Ritalin today and good holy mother of god its like switching from a bicycle with a flat tire to a sports car. Absolutely no side effects at all so far. I'm not bursting with energy or anything its more like I'm about as calm as humanly possible but at the same time I'm ready to get up and work. For the first time in about 2 months my drawers are full. Usually I have a pile of clothes on the floor because I'm too lazy to put them into drawers but the first day I started taking Ritalin I filled the drawers. Feels like quite an achievement for me haha.

No euphoria at all like some people mention maybe that comes with higher doses but I definitely feel good. I have a much more optimistic view of life at the moment which is the opposite to what strattera did to me.

I'm not too sure about short term memory. I read that while your on amphetamines your short term memory along with nearly all your mental abilities are increased but when the drug wears off it has a counter effect making it harder to remember things. There are lots of vitamins and supplements you can take to help with all this though. Amphetamines tend to deplete dopamine levels so its a good idea to take Tyrosine supplements. Tyrosine is the bodies natural precursor for making dopamine so it will help replenish any dopamine the stimulants use up.

I highly recommend switching to Ritalin or another stimulant. The difference between Ritalin and Strattera is Ritalin actually works. On top of that it also has alot of positive side effects as opposed to all those bad side effects associated with Strattera. I read an article that stated about 60%(don't remember the exact percentage) of scientists in countries like the U.S., U.K. and Germany take Ritalin regularly to boost their mental abilities. You wouldn't see them taking Strattera.

I did waste a month of my life with that Strattera crap but at the same time now I see how lucky I am that I'm on Ritalin instead. I hear people complaining about being on Ritalin because they'd rather be on Adderall or Dexedrine but they don't know how easy they have it compare to us poor bastards that were put on Strattera.

Strangely enough just writing this post gave me a burst of euphoria which is real unusual for me because I usually hate writing. It really does seem to be an academic wonder drug this Ritalin stuff. I'm looking forward to college now.

Bogwarrior,
I'm sooooo happy for you! You really sound great. You sound absolutley hillarious! Like totally different! I'm glad that the Ritalin has helped you so much. I can't wait to get to my doc until tomorrow! I'm assuming he's going to want to try Ritalin (since this is the first choice?) You really sound optimistic about school and everything and that is awesome! Keep me posted and let me know how your doing! I'll let you know about what my doc says tomorrow after my appointment. Have a great day!!!!

I did waste a month of my life with that Strattera crap but at the same time now I see how lucky I am that I'm on Ritalin instead. I hear people complaining about being on Ritalin because they'd rather be on Adderall or Dexedrine but they don't know how easy they have it compare to us poor bastards that were put on Strattera.I must be really lucky with my doc. I've known him for years, and he put me right on dex when I suggested it. He's letting me try a focalin (dexmethylphenidate) trial now, so I can see how they compare. He might let me try desoxyn, but that's probably pushing it, especially with dex working ok.

Before I knew I had ADHD, I tried strattera just to see what effect it would have on me (self-medicated without a script). I'm ADHD-PI, so it wasn't clear to me if I had any disorder, as I don't fit the typical ADHD stereotype. I had a lot of side effects on just 10 mg/day, and after a while I noticed some mild tics. I felt overstimulated, irritable, and generally like crap. Who knows what the long term side effects would have been like painful ejaculation, ect.

Neither dex, nor focalin even came close in terms of side effects. It's hard to judge the overall effectiveness of strattea from a few anecdotal reports. But it really sounds like this stuff is crap compared to the stimulants, and just favored because it has no abuse potential and is not controlled. In much the same way SSRIs are so favored within the medical industry now, even though they have tons of nasty side effects and crazy withdrawal.

Regarding my last comment, I think that is a bit overstated. I've been reading some reviews on strattera on the net, and it does appear to be effective. It might suite some a lot more than others, and it's possible I would have responded much better to a very low dose like I do with stimulants. I might even consider trying this sometime.

well it has been 4 days now I took myself off strattera,the first thing that i notice is the aches and pains and the tiredness are back, It does not even matter how much coffee I drink I am still tired. Some one told me once that if you take l-tyrosine it would take away the tiredness, but they are wrong. I went to the doctor a year ago with a notice from my snsurance company saying that they were not going to cover strattera, because I had not tried a stimulant first. The doctor said that it was ok, he would just give me samples. Last month he ran out of sampled and he wrote a prescription for them again. I will not pay 350 dollars for one months worth. So I am just going to have to live with being tired again. The man problems went away too. It f eels good to be human again. The alertness is gone, I slept through 2 alarm clocks the other day and was late for work again. Oh another thing My nose is stuffed up again. little things agitate me too. I have enough for three more days. I am thinking of taking one. just for the aches and the pains and the drowsiness.

day seven I canot breath through my nose again, I just slept 15 hours and I still feel tired I have not gotten any thing done all day all I want to do is sleep,I also have a massive head ache and my body aches all over , I feel unmotivated . On day six i told some peo0ple off at work. I feel agitated and I feel like going back on marijuana. It is cheaper but then again it makes my add and my learning disability worse. I have decided to go back on the pill. Who cares about the sexual side effects it is worth it.

Can I ask why you aren't taking a stimulant? Have you tried any? I tried Strattera first without success and I'm having good luck so far with Methylin, but it doesn't last that long. I have to take it 2x's a day at 20mg and then some days I need like 10 mg to last the rest of the evening if I have things I need to get done after work.

You off that Strattera crap yet ndn? I've been taking Ritalin for a month now and its great. I'm the top of my class in college. Thats mainly due to the fact I can sit for 5 hours straight studying and doing projects and never get bored. I don't even wanna stop when I get started.

Yes Bog, I've been off the Strattera for a while now. I'm on the Methylin(Ritalin). It works good, but doesn't last that long. I can definately tell when it's wearing off. I just can't stop yawning, and I get kind of irritated at stupid stuff. I'm glad you're doing really good on it though. I think at my next doctors visit(not until December) I'm going to see if he'll let me try Adderall. I don't know if it will be any better. And I've heard that if I go to the extended release it doesn't work as well. I don't know, I guess we'll see. Thanks for asking!

Yea I'd love to try Adderall myself but at the same time I still get hungry and tired on Ritalin so I don't lose any sleep or weight. I know amphetamines wipe out my appetite and need for sleep.

It was a huge leap from Strattera to Ritalin so I'm happy with the Ritalin.

BTW Adderall lasts 10 times as long as Ritalin so I'd say thats what your looking for. It makes you feel much better too. Thats a blessing and a curse though because it feels so good its easy to get too into it and start taking mad doses of the stuff on the weekend and become addicted. All it takes is a bit of discipline to keep that under control though.

I really don't know if my doc will let me try Adderall. He gave me the Ritalin 1)because I'd tried it years ago with success. 2)most of his adult add patients that don't respond to Strattera take it. So I don't know, we'll have to wait and see. He's pretty easy to talk to but I'm not sure about how he feels about Adderall.