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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Siraris on January 11, 2004, at 21:44:48
I was diagnosed with ADD a long time ago, but forget when I actually started taking Ritilan/Adderall/Concerta or Strattera (I have been on each at different times in my life). Ritilan/Adderall/Concerta didn't sit well with me, because it made me feel like I was on speed. I felt like I was on a speeding train, so I stopped taking them. I finally heard about Strattera while it was still in development, and prayed it would be my wonder drug. I tried it when it was finally approved, and it didn't work well. Found out later you needed to taper up by 10 mg (slowly) and Lilly had not told most pdocs about this.
So now I'm back on Strattera as of about a week ago, and I'm feeling kind of odd. First of all, I was taking only 10 mg, once a day at dinner time. I was getting terrible dry mouth and not feeling hungry and whatnot. I also started getting anxiety as well, but that could be related to me going back to school after winter break and feeling nervous about it.
I told my pdoc today that I was feeling the really bad dry mouth, and he was really surprised because he said a 10 mg dose is what someone who is about 20 lbs would take. I happen to be 6' and 180 lbs not anywhere close to 20 lbs :P He said to try and go up to 20 mg and see how it goes. So I took it today, and I feel like I did back on the stimulating ADHD drugs. I need some time to see how I feel related to concentration, but I feel totally wired, my heart is racing (my pdoc warned me that it will cause my heartrate to increase but it feels like it's going very fast I never feel like I take an accurate pulse), I feel almost like I'm high or something like that.
Can anyone explain this to me? Has anyone felt this way, especially on strattera? It could be subconcious anxiety, or it could just subside after 2 days or something, kind of like it did when I took 10 mg last week for the first time.
I just don't understand why I am feeling this way. I think I feel focused, but I don't like these other side effects. I have never tried/abused speed (obviously I've drank coffee and taken stimulants by perscription before) but I thought Strattera was not a stimulant.
From the description of what Norepinephrine is, it sounds like a stimulant to me, although it says it's an inhibitor, which to me means it would stop blood from racing through arteries, and not increase rate of breathing.
I'm just kind of confused, and it feels like this is not going to work, and I really want it to because I need something to help me focus and concentrate.
Posted by Cairo on January 12, 2004, at 12:48:39
In reply to Question about Strattera and ADHD drugs, posted by Siraris on January 11, 2004, at 21:44:48
My daughter's experience with Strattera, titrating dose upwards VERY slowly to only 10mg, was that it induced melancholic depression in her. We had tried it b/c all the psychostimulants cause social withdrawal in her, but we needed something for attention. My gut feeling is that her fight or flight is in overdrive. She also has Fibromyalgia, dysthymia and social phobia.
Also, we put her back on Concerta 18mg and Ritalin 10mg BID, but the noon dose of Ritalin has started causing agitation even though she did OK on it before. I think her Fibromyalgia is flaring up and this is affecting her attention.
The bottom line is that each individual is unique and inattentiveness can be caused or exacerbated by different things. We're in the process of trying to find a good psychopharmacologist to sort all these things out. I don't want to go the purely trial and error route with meds as this will take too long and I'm convinced that a smart doctor can make some assumptions on her neurotransmitter needs by taking a good medication history.
Good luck to you!
Cairo
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