Alright to start off, I'm a 16 year old student who has dealt with ADHD (specifically ADHD-I) for my entire life. For the first time in my life I'm finally trying out some medication, so my mother convinced me to see a doctor to get him to prescribe me something and he ended up choosing Strattera.

I started with 25mg for a week, then increased dosage to 40mg and I took that for another week, the dosage was then increased a final time to 60mg which I've been taking for nearly a week and a half now. The doctor said I wouldn't notice any changes until the 3 week mark and just like he said, I didn't. Now that it has been 3 weeks I've slowly started to feel different, and now for the past 3 days I've been experiencing quite the severe case of what I believe must be depersonalization.

For the past 3 days I've felt as though I'm no longer who I always knew myself to be, I feel like I'm living in another world or another dimension and that I'm somehow "out of my body". I used to be a regular participant in the world but now it seems as though I'm just a spectator, and I'm not actually a part of life anymore. It's a very unnerving feeling and I just want to go back to the way I was. I was going to stick it out until the summer was over so I could see how well I could concentrate in school but I don't think I can put up with this much longer. I can't express emotions anymore. If someone tells me a joke and I want to laugh, my mind won't let me so I'll have to fake a laugh to convince myself I find the joke funny. I feel... mentally numb... if that makes any sense.

I see my doctor this week to let him know how the medication has been going and I'm not sure whether to completely stop taking this or just decrease the dosage, because perhaps that might be enough to help me focus better but also return me to my regular state of mind.

Any suggestions as to what I should do? I didn't even know Strattera could cause depersonalization...

It's been nearly 5 days now and I can't stand living like this any longer, someone please give me some advice to cope with it until I get my doctor to allow the weaning off process...

I wish I could be more help, but I haven't experienced anything like this on Strattera. It sound serious and I would consider discontinuing use completely.

My advice to you is to try to get a hold of your doctor and tell him all of this and see if you can just stop immediately. If you can't get a hold of your doctor call your pharmacist maybe?

Good Luck, I hope it works out good for you.

Ing- I have been taking 40mg for 13 days. On day 14 (today) I stopped. Day 3 and 4 were met with great focus and euphoria. From day 5 on, my focus went into the toilet and my personality dried up. I am typically a happy person during the day - entertaining myself with out of the blue songs and jokes and generally fun to be around. From day 5 on this came to a halt. Its like I didn't have the compulsion to entertain myself or others. It felt like I was becoming a zombie. Almost no emotions. Today I didn't take anything and by mid-day I was back to entertaining. Not sure what tomorrow will bring.

Alright to start off, I'm a 16 year old student who has dealt with ADHD (specifically ADHD-I) for my entire life. For the first time in my life I'm finally trying out some medication, so my mother convinced me to see a doctor to get him to prescribe me something and he ended up choosing Strattera.

....

For the past 3 days I've felt as though I'm no longer who I always knew myself to be, I feel like I'm living in another world or another dimension and that I'm somehow "out of my body". I used to be a regular participant in the world but now it seems as though I'm just a spectator, and I'm not actually a part of life anymore. It's a very unnerving feeling and I just want to go back to the way I was. I was going to stick it out until the summer was over so I could see how well I could concentrate in school but I don't think I can put up with this much longer. I can't express emotions anymore. If someone tells me a joke and I want to laugh, my mind won't let me so I'll have to fake a laugh to convince myself I find the joke funny. I feel... mentally numb... if that makes any sense.

I see my doctor this week to let him know how the medication has been going and I'm not sure whether to completely stop taking this or just decrease the dosage, because perhaps that might be enough to help me focus better but also return me to my regular state of mind.

Any suggestions as to what I should do? I didn't even know Strattera could cause depersonalization...

I thought, "Did I write this post?" The joke part and the feeling "out of my body" and "mentally numb" are all exact examples I've given to my parents and my doc about how I feel on Straterra. I started on 25mg for a week and I couldn't stand my life, so the doc had me try 10mg. Still couldn't stand it. I literally feel like it makes my ADD worse, at least that feeling like I need to be doing something, but I can't focus or figure out what to do. My eyes get twitchy if I close them, I feel like I'm vibrating in my skin for the first hour or two, incredibly uncomfortable overall. I am ADHD-I too, which if I'm not mistaken, is the ADD without the hyperactivity. Been diagnosed since 3rd grade and I'm 27 now. I have taken Provigil (Modafinil) for 2 years and I can't say enough good things about it. I am driven/motivated, I am focused, I can organize and prioritize task lists for my day, and then actually get them done. I get all of this and I can still carry on a conversation(impossible on Straterra and very difficult on Ritalin/adderall) and laugh and have a good time, or feel sad if the occassion calls for it. I am not numb at all. I feel more articulate too. There is very little come down, basically I notice myself being less motivated. And at the end of the day, I can lay down and close my eyes and go to sleep.

I would ask your doc about it. Remember, this is your body and you have to live with it everyday. These meds are supposed to improve the quality of your life, if the bad effects hurt more than the good effects help, it doesn't seem like the right choice.

Pac

Just found this thread randomly searching about ADD medications, totally forgot I ever posted this lol.

It's been 4 months since that incident with the Strattera, after I went off of it I returned to my regular state of mind and was able to enjoy life again.

Since then I was prescribed Concerta which being completely different from Strattera, worked pretty well. The only thing wrong was that it made me way too jittery and it would make me sweat profusely.

I've now been taking Adderall XR for about a month and so far this is definitely the best medication I've tried. Again it has the issue of making me jittery but it's not quite as severe as the Concerta, and I can get so much more stuff done while on Adderall. It pretty much makes me feel great and just more lively altogether, and of course it helps me concentrate in school. I just don't like taking it every day because it sometimes makes me feel exhausted, like my body will be tired as hell but my mind will be wired.

None the less Adderall XR is what I'll stick with from now on. Thanks for the feedback btw. :)