mel1 Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I am on day 5 of Strattera. The first 4 days, I took 25mg. Now I'm starting 40 mg. and just see what happens(whther I need a higher dose). I'm wondering what other people's experiences with Strattera have been. What doses were effective, side effcts, etc. Oh-and does it work?!!And how do you tell it is working. The one big difference I have noticed is that my extreme noise sensitivity is practically gone. For example, my kid are right now running amuck all overthe house making loud and annoying sounds. ANd It really doesn't bother me. I just calmly tell them to use their "indoor voices". To which they ignore! I posted another thread, which I did not get responses from because I didn't think about this med being a non-ssri med. I guess it's not a stimulant. If there is somewhere else I could post that would get me more responses, feel free to move my thread. I could really use some input. I have read all the stuff on Strattera, but want to know personal experiencs. Melissa, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I am on day 5 of Strattera. The first 4 days, I took 25mg. Now I'm starting 40 mg. and just see what happens(whther I need a higher dose). I'm wondering what other people's experiences with Strattera have been. I could feel it working within 24 hours. What doses were effective, side effcts, etc.I was once able to get a response at just 10 mg a day, but I built up a tolerance. I also became cognitively inflexible--I would know that there were other viewpoints, but conjuring them up in my mind was impossible. I had no way to describe this that would make sense to my parents, who were convinced that, since I had gotten tolerant to the maximum legal dose of Concerta in the United States (108 mg a day) that no stimulants were ever going to work on me. If I had my way, I would have quit at the first sign of the cognitive inflexibility nonsense, which got to be so bad that when I wrote an anatomy essay citing more than one thing and just putting [possible page number] in parentheses (which you only do when it's an essay on just one thing) and not realizing that no one would have any idea which particular source any of those quotes came from. I also used way too many quotes because I couldn't imagine other ways of saying what my sources said. My parents were just proud that I stayed on task all night. If my anatomy hadn't gone on a six-week maternity leave before we got our papers back, I would've been taken off of Strattera immediately upon seeing my grade (65/100). As for side effects, I woke up at four in the morning for no goddamned reason night after night and would come to school feeling a little fuzzyheaded, but not particularly tired from the neck-down. I also remember palpitations and spontaneous goosebumps. And I kept taking it with Concerta (the Strattera's not supposed to work for a couple of weeks, right?) up until my parents came home from a rainy outdoor wedding they never wanted to go to in the first place to find me begging to go off of Concerta because of that. Looking back, I should've just gone straight to Adderall. Sure, I've had to increase my dose four times (to 30 mg a day, the maximum child dose), but it has given me my goddamn soul back. This would be soul as in, "that which differentiates humanity from today's technology." Oh-and does it work?!!And how do you tell it is working. The one big difference I have noticed is that my extreme noise sensitivity is practically gone. For example, my kid are right now running amuck all overthe house making loud and annoying sounds. ANd It really doesn't bother me. I just calmly tell them to use their "indoor voices". To which they ignore! I had that, too, at a school assembly when I realized I didn't need to cover my ears. At the time, I saw it as "oh shit, what did I lose now?" I had a little emotional blunting before that, but nothing like after. For a while, I was happier than I'd been on Concerta, but I found that I couldn't feel sad even when I tried. Which should have made me sad due to its subtle hints of dystopianism. Instead, it just pissed me off. I still cared about politics, though, which I didn't after going off of Strattera. I know because I could not make myself give a flying fuck about the results of last year's election. I knew, intellectually, why Bush being president was bad, but it didn't sound bad, and neither did dying. It didn't sound like a good idea, either, though. The reason I don't go around looking for emotional support is because it's only recently that I've had any emotions to support. I really wish that, when I told my mom that I bombed the last third of the ITED on 18 mg of Strattera and 54 mg of Concerta because I couldn't stay the fuck on task, instead of begging to go back on Concerta (which worked on my ADHD when I went back on it, surprisingly), I had begged to go on Adderall. Thankfully, my Concerta finally crapped out for good in February, and I thought to get help for that in March (when school was over, the problem went away...kind of), and I could at least enjoy good photography again. I know this because Shawnee Mission East had (has?) some beautifully photographed motivational posters, including this one with intensely green moss on rocks in the mist in the same hallway as two of my classes. Relearning to appreciate music was harder, but I'm getting there. I no longer dread the turning on of the radio, knowing it will be another disappointment. I posted another thread, which I did not get responses from because I didn't think about this med being a non-ssri med. I guess it's not a stimulant. If there is somewhere else I could post that would get me more responses, feel free to move my thread. I could really use some input. I have read all the stuff on Strattera, but want to know personal experiencs. Melissa, Thanks. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In my case, you didn't get any response because I just couldn't answer that. Looking back, the difference between actual maturity and that which my parents mistook for maturity due to their lack of telepathic abilities and my lack of ability to articulate myself... Got to go! I'll give you the answer later. Edited to add:...is that what I was doing involved noticing that I couldn't care about X and then thinking, "do I really need to do that?" whereas maturity would involve asking whether or not you really need to care and then not caring about it. Watch out for that. Please. Don't end up like I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 By the way, I was on it for two months and I do a pisspoor job of metabolizing via CYP2D6. You may or may not have noticed me mentioning being on 10 mg a day at one time (that didn't last long) amidst all the scary crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 It worked great for my ADD at 80mgs for 4-5 months. Better than great. It was amazing. I was more together than I've ever been in my life. Then it stopped. One day it was there and the next day it wasn't. Nothing. I spent the next three months trying doses from 10 mgs to 120 mgs they. Nothing. One side possible side effect to watch out for is constipation which can be SEVERE. I went for five days without being able to take a crap until finally I was doubled over with pain at 4AM begging my gf to go to the store for an enema kit. Not fun. If you find yourself unable to go for more than three day, I strongly suggest you start taking a laxative so you don't explode. StrungOut: As far as the inflexibility goes, do you think it could have amplified some of your aspie traits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 StrungOut: As far as the inflexibility goes, do you think it could have amplified some of your aspie traits? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes and no. The sensory crap went away, but I had huge problems with overestimating how much the other person would know going off of it--I would take my Calculus book up to the teacher and ask him to help with a problem and he'd have to tell me, "yes, if you show me which one."--but I know I had some of that on Strattera because of that anatomy paper. I actually thought that this: (page#) (or the thing on the Pubmed abstract I deemed most likely to be the page number) was a helpful in-text citation on a paper citing more than one source when two of them were from NEJM and I didn't name the authors in the body of the paper. There was a time when I could have made myself, with very little effort, see the Constitution from the point of view of those who freaked at anything resembling a centralized government. After a while on Strattera, it was impossible to imagine why anyone would get paranoid about anything government-related because I just couldn't do it right. The main reason I wanted it back was because it was fun, especially to imagine what certain things would've looked like 20 or 30 years ago. Like the idea of a Disney animated movie with even one on-screen decapitation, where no one is all good or all evil, with prostitutes and released in the year 2000 (Princess Mononoke). Ironically, I recall reading thread on a mind control discussion forum about "PERPs" and several posts later, the guy who started it tells us that that was just him losing it on Strattera and being delusional about why. I was able to find it on Google last year, and I have no idea why I can't find it now. Damn. Anyway, I got the cognitive inflexibility thing from this paper, which I now realize was talking about beta-adrenergic agonists, not norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. The phrase just happened to describe what I felt perfectly. My aspieness never screwed up my ability to imagine emotions that much. In fact, there were times when I felt like leaving the room because I was imagining it too intensely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel1 Posted July 29, 2005 Author Share Posted July 29, 2005 Strung OUt- HUH? I'm sorry if my feeble brain got lost in there somewhere! VE- Okay-I am going to have to post this somewhere else too where people will see it because there are a lot of meds that cause constipation. My daughter gets constipated from apple juice and other foods and it has gotten severe enough that I had to take her to the doctor. Here are some ideas for constipation that don't invove an enema(something I think does not sound like fun!). 1. maple syrup-it tastes yummy. YOu can have it on your pancakes or French toast and it is a natural laxative. Something Her Ped. told me. Works like a charm. You take one teaspoon every 3-4 hours til you poop! (Forgive me for being blunt- I have 2 small children so it is a frequent conversation topic in our home!) 2. Dried apricots. Cut them up and put them on your cereal. 3. Lots of water and walking can also help. 4. Pear juice. Oh- and there are some really good cereals that have alot of fiber. THer are also a lot of good foods that have fiber. So, the key is prevention- the maple syrup is a 911, so you don't have to resort to an enema. That's all I can think of right now. I know for me in the morning all it takes is a good strong cup of java and a cigarette. mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 Strung OUt- HUH? I'm sorry if my feeble brain got lost in there somewhere! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sorry about that. It's getting better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel1 Posted July 29, 2005 Author Share Posted July 29, 2005 My brain or yours?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 My brain or yours?!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mine, and you are not the first person to get left in the dust by one of my big fat fucking tangent-fests, and that's when I don't forget to explain something, which I'm guessing I did. Seeing as you:had the option of walking away without looking rude,didn't have to put up with "blahblahblahwhy'smymouthsodryblahblahblah", andcould go back without interrupting meyou got lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 My gf will talk for half an hour without bothering to notice if anyone is paying attention to her or not. I just nod at the right places and go about whatever else I'm doing. I try and take in enough that I know what's going on if I'm expected to say something. If it's something important she'll have my full attention. of course. If she's reciting point for point a documentary she saw on TV the night before, I don't have the attention span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrungOutOnLife Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 My gf will talk for half an hour without bothering to notice if anyone is paying attention to her or not. I just nod at the right places and go about whatever else I'm doing. I try and take in enough that I know what's going on if I'm expected to say something. If it's something important she'll have my full attention. of course. If she's reciting point for point a documentary she saw on TV the night before, I don't have the attention span. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The nodding. Lorenzo the YMCA counselor used to do that when I'd go into monologues--when he wasn't literally napping. I don't mean bored napping, I mean eyes closed, back in a reclining position napping napping. I got the sense that he wasn't interested, but I didn't know a non-awkward way of stopping. It never occurred to me to just stop and that most people would be too relieved to care how weird it looked or didn't look. Looking back, I wonder if he wasn't using me as a white noise generator. StrungOutOnLife *who just remembered that she had this up* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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