DS just started Strattera ... ?'s

[It'sWDW4me]

My DS has had the worst school year to date. He may fail 7th grade. He was diagnosed years ago with ADHD and Aspberger's. To make a long, nasty story short, he hasn't taken meds for a year or so but he's finally come around to acknowledge that they did help when he took them and he now realizes that he needs to take them. Unfortunately, he's also now dealing with depression.

We talked with his doctor last week (Wednesday) who prescribed Abilify (2 mg) as well as Strattera (25 mg). She recommended he start the Abilify immediately, which he did - starting that night before bed, and to start the Strattera a few days later. He started the Strattera Monday morning before school.

Yesterday, the school nurse called around 11:30 to say DS was in the nurse's office complaining of a stomach ache. He wound up feeling nauseous the rest of the day and actually went to bed a little after 8. He's stayed home from school today. I'm not sure if he has a bug or if the meds are making him nauseous. Both Abilify and Strattera list nausea as a common side-effect so I'm thinking it may be the meds.

If you know someone who suffered a "common" side effect, did it dissipate or did you switch meds? If it went away, how long did you suffer through it before it got better?

 

[steph124ny]

My son is also on Strattera and gets sleepy and stomach aches from it. We solved it by having him take them right before he goes to bed. You may want to ask the doc about taking them at night to minimize side effects. They are time release so it will still work. We have found that the lower doses of Strattera did not help much. He is in 8th grade and on 60mg. Are you going to step him up to a higher dose at some point?

My son also takes Celexa in the morning.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

My son is also on Strattera and gets sleepy and stomach aches from it. We solved it by having him take them right before he goes to bed. You may want to ask the doc about taking them at night to minimize side effects. They are time release so it will still work. We have found that the lower doses of Strattera did not help much. He is in 8th grade and on 60mg. Are you going to step him up to a higher dose at some point?

My son also takes Celexa in the morning.

DS was also saying he was sleepy so we are planning on having him switch to the nighttime dosing tonight. Did your DS get a fleeting stomach ache or did it last the entire day?

As for the dosage, the last med he took was Adderall 25 mg so the Dr figured we'd start at the same dosage with Strattera. If it doesn't help too much, we'll bump until we find the right strength for him.

Thanks for responding so quickly!

 

[steph124ny]

My son doesn't complain of stomach aches anymore, so I guess they went away. He had tried Strattera a long time ago and we determined it didn't do much for him. After trying MANY others, we came back to it after a few years. When it first came out, docs were very conservative with the dosing, but after a lot of trial and error, my doc said that it is generally found that it works better in the higher doses. It might take a few weeks to work though...it has to build up, unlike the stimulents. I would imagine you'll have to step up the dosing after a week or two...I'm no doctor, but 25mg wouldn't do much for my kid. Sort of like taking 100mg of Tylenol when you have a full blown migraine... Just stay in touch with your doc and let them know if you see no difference in his symptoms.

Hope nighttime goes better for you! It really helps my son sleep as well as controlling the ADHD, so it was a win/win for us!