Strattera Poll

[Bumble]

I am starting Strattera because I can't tolerate stimulants and they didn't help much anyway.

I've heard that Strattera really doesn't have a good track record for helping focus. I am interested in finding out the stats from CB members, so please take my poll.

Thanks,

-- B

PS (I posted here because I figured I get more response here than in the AD section)

[Antiks]

Strattera helped a little bit with focus, but it sent me right into mania so I stopped taking it.

[AirMarshall]

I"m taking Strattera, and it does help. It isn't a total answer but it helps. I dropped Adderal cause it got me to wired, wrecked my sleep and left me strung out, not to mention that it was losing effect and requiring higher doses.

a.m.

p.s. Technically Strattera is NOT a stimulant but an SNRI. Still, I can feel it kick in about an hour after taking it and it does give me a bit of a lift.

[dangergirl]

It didn't help me focus and I started rapid cycling.

[Maceo]

It didn't help at all.

[Siegfried]

I took strattera for a year before moving to adderall so I can tell you about my personal experience with it.

For me it gave me a razor-sharp-laser-like concentration and focus that I could use for anything not just stuff I like (I haven't felt that yet with adderall), yet that was the only thing it did for me. Other aspects of my ADD like my incapacity to plan and organize were left untouched. Also I got some side effects like very dry mouth, weight loss and apetite loss and it also made me sleepy. I could tolerate those effects, I could even force myself to eat in order to avoid the weight loss, however, the deal breaker was the sleepiness. It was so intense to the point of almost falling asleep while driving. My doc lowered the dose from 80 mg/day to 60 and even 40 but the concentration effect was gone (for some reason I was only able to get it only at 80 mg/day). So that was it for me.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I mix strattera with adderall. I wonder if I would get the super concentration effect of the strattera plus the energy (that would help neutralize the sleepiness), the organization and the ability to do things that I get from adderall. Has anyone tryed that combo before?

[Ashdene]

To be honest,

I found it like eating candy, but not as nice tasting!

Although at the time, i don't thinking anything else I was taking was really working for me and was all over the show, so could be a whole bunch of vairables thrown in there.

Maybe if I tried again I'd notice a difference but now take concerta, which works wonders.

Good luck

Love Ash

[Guest jimbo]

I've been on 80mg of strattera for two months and the side effects are horrible... my digestive system has gone completely haywire. Every time I burp, I get this horrible taste in my mouth (the medicine, I suspect). I've had explosive, almost literally, explosive diarrhea for weeks now. If I take something for the side effects, I get newer side effects. I see my doc in a few weeks, but I feel like I'm falling apart.

And I still have most of my original ADD-Inattentive symptoms: forgetfulness, daydreaming, spaced out, bored, disorganized, procrastinating, short attention span, et cetera...

I really don't like the idea of taking stimulants, but I can barely focus without some type of medication. I gotta talk to my doc again

[Wasper41]

Does nothing for me as far as the ADD. Vyvance is gonna be the big one if insurance comps will pay for it. It really helped me...but now I'm out and it cost $155 w/0 insurance. Figures right.

[ChemistryExperiment]

Strattera helps. Not as much as stimulants, but because of my hallucinations without stimulants, they worry that the stimulants will only make them worse.

[Rabbit37]

Okay, here's another two cents. I seem to be spending a lot of money today.

Ped wanted to start my son out on strattera. We did the research. Our insurance doesn't even cover it, because it doesn't show any reliable effects. Sorry, I know that sounds really simplistic, I can't think straight right now, but there's a lot of studies out there that indicate it doesn't do much at all. And then add in the fact that it takes so long to even begin taking effect. I don't know, maybe it does work for some people, YMMV and all, but the the research we found was very dismal. We pulled him off it immediately, we didn't have the 6-8 weeks for it to kick in (he needed help immediately for school work). And generic dexedrine is working like a charm.

Sorry, maybe I'm not supposed to be responding second-person, but that's just our brush with the drug.