Strattera

[lcrane]

My son Chase (16) was just reevolulated today at the dr. office he is ADHD, plus server angry problems. I was wondering if there are any DIS parents out there that there child has taken this medicine. I have read some things on the internet, but i would like to have some information from parents of kids or teenager that are on this medicine.

Thank You,

Lisa

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

Hi,
Not a parent, but someone who personally took it a few years ago. Personally, I hated it. (sorry). It made me so tired (I fell asleep in my 7 am class all the time). It made it so I didn’t care about grades: I failed a couple of quizzes and just shrugged it off (very unlike me). I had massive headaches and could not multi-task at all. I lost all interest in reading, art, poetry etc. My parents said I was like a zombie. I just became really apathetic. My doctor took me off of it after 2 months.

OTOH, my dad took it (he has adult ADHD) and he did GREAT on it after the first week or so when he too had the sleepy side effects. His mind stopped racing, he could concentrate and finish projects. He became more organized etc. It was great for him.

I’d suggest your son start the meds over a weekend so you can see how the side effects affect him. I swear I slept 20 hours after taking it the first time. lol

ETA: Neither my father nor I have/had anger issues, so I don't know how the medicine will affect that.

 

[brios86]

I took it a couple years ago. All I remember is terrible heart burn. No matter what I did or what I ate or drank with it, the heart burn was there.

 

[bookwormde]

Kids with classic ADHD and are "angry" often have other undiagnosed disabilites which they are being "punished" for which they percive as abuse and thus the maladaptive manefestation of presenting with inappropriate anger (actually it is quite appropriate since they are being abused)

Get a full functional devlepmental clinical evaluation, in 90% of the families that I have exposure to, previosly unrecognized disabilities are identified, and once understoond and supported progress can be made on the anger issues since the source is understood without continuing medication (which does nothing to remove the source of the anger).

A developmetal pediatric neurologist is the best place to start, ideallly one is part of an experaince clinical group in genetic neurological variances.

bookwormde

 

[kirbydog48]

My DS11 has been on Strattera for about three years. He as ADHD plus Asperger's and multiple learning challenges, so the meds are tricky. We tried several stimulants, but they resulted in terrible mood swings. The drug has helped, but it's not a quick fix. DS needs lots of support in school, and now that he's in a therapeutic program, things are much better. I've learned two important things in our journey...

1. Get an independant neuropsychological evaluation, not done by the school or someone the school suggests. You can't play guessing games. Many issues look like other issues. You need the data and someone who can make the appropriate recommendations.

2. Have any brain-altering meds handled by either a pediatric psychopharmachologist or a developmental pediatrician.

Also, assemble a good team...school, outside psychologist, etc.

 

[kstugan]

My 12 yr old son was on this medication for about 3 years. He was fine on it for the first 2 years and did alright with school, but not working to his potential. The last year he was on it, he had a lot of anger issues. He is normally not a child with much of a temper, but became very violent (especially the last 6 months). I fought with the doctor for the last 6 mths to take him off of it and finally discontinued it on my own for his own safety. We left him off of meds for about 6 months, but had to finally put him back on ADHD meds due to poor grades. He is now on the Daytrana patch. It works wonderfully for him with the only side effect being a little bit of appetite loss. His grades have dramatically improved and was accepted into all honors classes this year. We have much more flexibility with it since it can be used only when needed (for school) and taken off when not needed. My 10 yr old was just put on a few months ago and doing very well with it. He says he feels smarter (he is already in a class for kids with high abilities). My 7 yr old youngest son has been on it for several years and is the only med we have found that works great. He has more side effects than his 2 brothers, but is more complex medically than either of them.

 

[lcrane]

Thank you everyone for all of your support and the answer to some of my questions.

I just don't want to feel like i am a bad parent for trying to help my child.
We did find out that the angry issue have been going on for the last 3 years along with anxiety. See we almost lost Chase dad 3 years ago, he was in a coma for a month. Alos need a kidney transplant, which we got Sept. 17 of this year. I was also diagnostic with Breast Cancer 2 years ago. The Doctors think that the other issue could have been there all along, with the ADHD, but it took these 2 dramatic things that happen in his life to bring other issue around. This was his first day on the medicine yes he was sleepy, but he said that he felt calmer more at ease.

Thanks everyone for reading.

Lisa

 

[Nik's Mom]

My 8 year old ds is on Strattera and Dextroamphet. He has ADD and autism with a lot of anxiety issues. We tried several different drugs for his ADD, but they seemed to make his anxiety worse. Finally, his doctor found the combinationof Strattera and Dextroamphet to work. He has been on it for almost a year and seems to be doing well.

If the Strattera causes drowsiness, we were told we could give it before bedtime. It ended up not making our son drowsy, so we give it in the morning.

I do have to say, if the Strattera doesn't work, there are a lot of other meds that make work better. What works for one person may not work for another. Our first attempts at medication turned our son into a zombie. It was heart-breaking to watch. If one thing doesn't work, try something else. And hang in there!

 

[SueM in MN]

I am going to move this to the disABILITIES Community Board where it will be on topic.

 

[Kitty-chan]

My son's been on Strattera for a couple years now, and while it's not a cure-all it's definitely helped him. On the (rare) days that he's forgotten to take it, he tells me he can really feel the difference.

He's had some trouble with appetite loss, and he was a skinny kid to begin with,
so we end up making him a lot of milkshakes.

Your mileage may vary, and I'll echo the earlier suggestions to get a thorough neuropsych workup and/or work with whatever professionals are appropriate in your case. My son has multiple diagnosis, some of which were very tricky to get to, and having a team of dedicated specialists and school support have made the difference between a miserable kid nearly failing all his classes, and a reasonably happy C-student who loves to learn, even if he still sometimes hates school.

 

[Fly4free]

My Ds starting taking Strattera before he was even in kindergarten. He was diagnosed with severe ADHD and also modorate ODD his last year in preschool. the Strattera was a wonder drug for him. It did make him tired so he took it at night about an hour before his bedtime. This helped him sleep and also helped with his bedwetting. He was a different boy for many years on this med.

By the time he was in 5th grade I ended up taking him off the Strattera because we had to keep increasing the dose and he was starting to have some anger issues. It just didn't seem to work for him anymore. I think the onset of puberty has something to do with it too. He is now on Adderall xr and that is helping him. He seems more balanced again, but he is having trouble sleeping. Hope this helps.

 

[Hasil72]

My DS was on Strattera for over four years with great success. We did find that he needed to take it at night as it did cause drowsiness. They say that it also has the added benefit of helping a teeny tiny bit with anxiety. The only reason we took DS off of it was because his anxiety reached a level that required meds and there was only 1 that didn't interact with the Strattera. It happened that med didn't work for DS. So we switched to the other non-stimulant ADHD med called Intuniv. Might want to keep that in mind as well if the Strattera doesn't work out. It's worked out great and is geared more toward the more emotional side of ADHD type behaviors. I think you'll find other threads like this one if you search Strattera on this site.

Good luck!