Strattera

[Treehuggerone]

Is anyone on Strattera and how is it working? My doctor cut me off of Adderall after I tested negitive on the drug test. Ugh!

[STEM_Dad]

Yes, I'm on a generic of Strattera.

When I was first diagnosed a few years ago, my doctor tried me on different dosages of Adderall XR for about 6 months, but it didn't treat my ADHD symptoms well enough.

I actually asked to switch to Strattera, and it worked twice as well as Adderall did for me. It seems to work better for me than it does for most people.

• It treats all of my Inattentive ADHD traits well, some better than others.

• It does not increase my motivation.

• If I take it with food, I have no side effects. (If I take it without food, I get a short, intense wave of nausea when it hits my stomach about 20-30 minutes after taking.)

It does take days or weeks to build up in the body, unlike stimulants. (It took me only 5 days, but I've heard it taking several weeks for some people. I think that I am particularly sensitive to it.)

• Once it has built up to a therapeutic level, it keeps working 24x7. (The downside is that you can't take a break from it, like you can with stimulants. I've been told that the withdrawal if you go off it can be unpleasant.)

[STEM_Dad in reply to STEM_Dad]

I made a habit of taking my ADHD meds by using breakfast as my reminder. I eat breakfast every day, so then I remember to take my meds very regularly.

I sometimes miss a dose now and again, probably on days that I'm in a rush, but since this medication stays in my system, it doesn't fade when I miss a dose...I just can't miss for multiple days in a row.

[Carolinepink]

I suggest that you may want to consult another dr. Those “tests” to see what ADHD meds work are not reliable. The studies are all over the place. My daughter’s dr will not even us them. So I think it’s strange that you dr would stop a medicine that was working for you. Adderall and the other stimulants, prescribed correctly, are hard to abuse, the prescriptions are aggressively controlled.

[Treehuggerone in reply to Carolinepink]

I asked my friend that is a toxicologist, and he said that those tests aren't always accurate.

[Fayerweather]

Strattera works beautifully for me. It just doesn't always for everyone

[NiceUp]

I have only ever found Adderall effective for me. But I'm curious about your testing?

Do you mean to say that you're tested to make sure you're taking the drug and not, say, giving it away or selling it?

[Treehuggerone in reply to NiceUp]

I guess he thinks that I am selling it or giving it away. Meanwhile it worked fantastic for me. I was only on 10 mg.

[NiceUp in reply to Treehuggerone]

🙄That’s pretty stupid. Good luck to you.

[PinkPanda23]

Was your drug test for employment, or for the level of Adderall in your system? I don't understand the reasoning. If it was working, it makes no sense. I had better results from Adderall than Strattera, but ultimately I don't tolerate any of the meds.

[Treehuggerone in reply to PinkPanda23]

The Dr. drugs tests everyone.

[Treehuggerone]

This doctor does drug tests once a year.

[NotAChevy]

im currently on 40mg of Strattera and its really working well. My brain fog is gone, im able to concentrate better, and my moods are more “incheck”. I've moved up fr 5mg to 40mg over the last year and a half, and think I've finally hit my “sweet spot”.

I like being on Straterra, have been on Focalin before, and wouldn't go back

[seatownmotosquid]

You should request a retest. Medicinal dosing of amphetamine/dexamphetamine is so small, and those tests are often calibrated to catch recreational users and abusers who consume much higher doses and have much higher blood serum levels or urine levels at any given time. If amphetamines are detected in your sample but they don't exceed whatever threshold is used to determine a positive result, then the lab will report a negative. If they weren't aware (or just missed) that you weren't being tested for suspected abuse, then they may have applied the standard scale/criteria and tossed your test as a negative because it was below 500 ng/ml in your urine, for example. To further complicate matters, users/abusers can usually be detected for about 3 days after use, but our doses are so small that we might not be detectable after less than 24 hours. Plus, a dose of 10mg takes 30 to 120 minutes before it's detectable. So, it's entirely possible for you to have an undetectable window of time EVERY DAY.

So yeah, I would appeal and request a 1-week script and a retest at the end so they can compare the levels against the earlier test. Make sure to confirm with the lab that their records show that you are not there for a standard drug screening. If after that, you want to continue trying Strattera, that's up to you. I personally had terrible results with it, but many have done much better on it and they're probably doing better on Strattera than I am on Adderall, which "works" for me.

You need that abuser/dealer flag cleared from your medical chart. Once that's handled though, I highly recommend that you find a new doctor since this one obviously doesn't trust you. If they did, they would explore how it might come back negative even though you're taking your meds. Instead, they made a snap judgment about you and made a huge change to an effective medication plan. A change that can profoundly affect your mental state and ability to function.

[DandelionClock7]

I took Straterra for about 2.5 months and it took a few weeks for it to kick in. It definitely made me more at peace with my swarm of voices in my heard, reduced impulsivity and also helped with tuning out auditory overstimulation (I get distracted by music/voices etc REALLY easily). Unlike adderall and vyvanse the feeling of the actual drug kicking in of course is milder and for me was not very pleasant - nausea subsided quickly, but elevated BP/pulse tightness was not fun. I stopped taking it entirely as it was causing some really bad pain related to vasoconstriction sadly.