strattera medication

[Musiclover56]

Just wondering if anyone has taken Strattera for ADHD. My psychiatrist just put me on it starting at 40mg and said it should take up to 3 weeks to take effect . Dosage will go up . I have felt I had a learning disability all my life and someone finally listened to me and started treatment for it rather than just antidepressants which I have been on since my twenties and I am 67.

[Choco-Joy]

Hi, I have been on Atomoxetine (Strattera) for just about a year, went from 40 to 80 mg after a few weeks. I have mild inattentive type, diagnosed at 52 and female. I sometimes have trouble sleeping but 5 months ago stopped oral contraceptives I was on since 18 to treat lean PCOS so with hot flashes, weight loss, and IBS (pain and bloating only), that seems to happen now only when I have those symptoms, not due to Atomoxetine. So if you have some initial insomnia, it might be an adjustment period and then gets better. I remember that. Usually I sleep well. There were a few very stressful times at work where I felt vulnerable even while on this medicine, so know it isn’t a silver bullet. I have found it helpful to join ADDA (add.org) and listen to their many seminars (especially the one about STAR method to deal with overwhelm of emotions like anger and frustration) and meditation group. Well worth the small annual fee of $87 or so. I had to stop drinking coffee due to a sensitive bladder (acid in coffee isn’t good for that), and I am able to focus well at work with this medicine. That is the best part. I use a Time Timer to compensate because sometimes I hyperfocus and still forget to take breaks to move around. This helps keep my back and neck from getting sore because I have a writing job that demands me to be still to remain productive and I have arthritis in neck and have had a couple surgeries in past. Fortunately my work approved an accommodation so will be getting a sit stand desk and ergonomic chair soon to alternate sitting and standing in office to match setup at home. I ride my bike at end of day for 15 minutes and walk later to have exercise and time outside. I try to stretch end of day and unwind with relaxing music. Sleep hygiene is important. I drink well over 1/2 body weight in water, try to get majority early in day so sleep isn’t too disrupted by having to get up to use bathroom more than once or twice. I am in a women’s spiritual group where we meet monthly for Cacao ceremony, guided meditation and journal plus visual art creation. Lucky for me my religious community offering a 3 class for beginning Tai Chi plus found some videos on YouTube for that - Ann Swanson. So all these other things plus medicine I do to feel well. Good luck to you and hope Strattera adds to all you do and the combination works for you too!

[Chickadee1]

My psychiatrist put me on Strattera back in August of this year - but he started me on a super low dose and has gradually been building it up with several weeks on each dose - started with 10mg, then 18mg, then 25mg, and now I have been on 40mg for not quite 3 weeks - my next appointment is on Dec 18 and I assume he will increase my dose again then. I'm tolerating it - but I can't tell much clear difference - or that it is helping me much - but that could be due to not yet getting to whatever dose is "right" for me... I hope when I get to the right dose I will notice significant improvement. Early on I thought it was helping my motivation - but that doesn't seem to have lasted very well... later I thought maybe I was less stressed on the medicine - but later I had intermittent anxiety - so hard to say - not if it would be significantly worse if I wasn't on the medicine or not. I also thought maybe my brain fog issues were less - but I had some trouble with it again the other day... but the brain fog thing was intermittent before the medicine - not constant... so it's hard to say... It takes time for Strattera to build up in the system and the affects are supposed to improve over time - and my psychiatrist said it takes 4-6 weeks to see the maximal effects after you get to whatever dose is ideal for you. He said the effects can be a bit subtle too. He also said we still have room to increase the dose (highest dose available is 120mg) - so we still have a ways we could increase if need be... Sorry I don't have something more definite to say about benefits - still trying to find out if it is going to work for me or not. I had some mild side effects early on - and was afraid that upping the dose would make it worse - but I was pleasantly surprised that the last couple increases have been pretty tolerable - and not as bad as I feared... and side effects seem to lessen with time too - this last increase was mostly just dry mouth as a side effect - and although it is not completely gone it is better now than it was. I hope you have a good experience with the medicine and that it helps!