adding to stratt

[didi]

My son is on his max dose of stratt. I have read that some of you have your kids on a combo of stratt and a stim....How did your doctor come to this?

My son is having trouble paying attention at school and when I contacted our doctor he wants to put him back on a stim. No strat. He told me he doesnt combine meds.

I really dont want him off the stratt because he didnt handle stims well before. He couldnt sleep and didnt eat. He also seemed to catch every virus that passed by.

I need some ideas about how to deal with the doctor before our appointment.
Jodi

[camismom]

With my dd, we found the Stratt to be helping her hyperness and impulsiveness quite a bit, but not the attention. This seems to be a common thing with most kids I've seen or heard of on it, that is why the stim was added back. The stim helped with the attention, while the strat handled everything else and kept her on a even keel. With add back the stim, while staying on the strat, you can go with a much lesser dose than before. Tell your doctor that it is not up to him what is done with your child, it is up to you and this is what you want.

[AustinsMom]

You might check out this site: millermom.proboards23.com/

Millermom has alot of knowledge about strattera and may know of some article you could take to your appt. about combining strattera and a stim. Your dr. might work with you on this if you bring him some research. Good luck.

[Dad2Brooke]

Brooke has been on Strattera since November 7th and it does wonders for her hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

But we, too, added Concerta for the focus issues. We were able to do half of the dose of Concerta that she was on with just the stim.

This combo seems to be working well, but I notice some moodiness and irritability more often now.

I recommended it to the doctor, but he readily agreed to try the combo of Strattera and stim.

Good luck getting what you want from you doctor.

Keep us posted.

[StaceyK]

I am new to this site, but I have some experience with what you are asking about. My 9-year-old son, has ADHD and was diagnosed when he was 2 1/2. He started out on ritalin and we have tried all types of doses ande different medications since then. Last year we found all day acting concerta and it really made a difference. Especially when used with clonidine. However, he was still impulsive and had behavior problems on the play ground. This last fall his doctor added strattera to his clonidine and concerta regime. It has done wonders. My son's teacher said he is the best he has ever been. On some of the other medication combinations he was like a zombie, just a shadow of the cute boy I knew he was. But with this combination of meds he is alert, himself, only with a little more control! ;D ;D ;D

[seagull]

I have a question about combining Strattera and Concerta. I've seen many posts noting that a lower dose of Concerta is required after combining the two meds, but what about the Strattera?

A brief history: Started my son on Concerta (18 mg) at age 6, increased to next higher dose (don't recall the mg. dosage), and saw improvement. Decided to try a different med after correlating Concerta with stomach upset. Changed to Adderall XR, but had to get off that when he developed vocal and motor tics. Both the Concerta and Adderall did an OK job helping him to focus and decrease hyperactivity, but this kiddo put the H in ADHD! Switched to Strattera about 6 weeks ago... he's taking 25 mg twice per day. I really haven't noticed improvement... a phone call from school today confirmed that he's having extreme difficulty completing work, staying in his seat, disrupting class, etc. (he's in 2nd grade). I'm considering going back to the 18 mg Concerta in the morning (that dosage didn't seem to cause nausea), but wondering if I should continue giving him twice daily Strattera... any thoughts? Thanks!
-Cindy

[HooDunnit]

Hi seagull and welcome to the forums. As you may know, Strattera takes quite a while to build up in one's system and become effective if it does. Maybe 6 weeks has not been long enough. Stimulants, by contrast, become effective quickly. Some people give both, but I can't say if the Strattera would still then be two doses. Maybe someone else will know. But it sounds like some morning Concerta would be a good idea.

Barry

[LaurieL]

I don't know if I would go with the same dose of concerta that he was on when he was on it alone. Using strat we have been able to lower my son's adderall xr dose to 5mg. He takes 18mg of strat in the am and another 18mg in the afternoon. We give him the adderall in the morning with the strat. Tics have been a problem for us also so by using the smaller dose it has really helped the tic issue. Also strattera is based on weight so make sure you are not to high on his strattera dose cause that will mess things up also.

[seagull]

Thanks Laurie:
The 18 mg Concerta dose is lower than what he ended up with when taking the Concerta alone (18 mg was his starting, ineffective, dose). It's the Strattera I've got questions about... I just haven't seen anything definitive regarding whether that dose should decrease. He's at the maximum recommended dose for his weight.

An aside... I tried the Concerta/Strattera combo today and had an e-mail from his teacher telling me that he had a great day, and completed all of his classwork. And she had no idea that I had changed things today. I've been on this rollercoaster too long to think that this is a magic bullet, but it does encourage me that I might be onto something. (Keeping my fingers crossed).
-Cindy

[LaurieL]

That's good news Cindy I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I actually have been wondering if I want to keep my son on Strattera. He has been on it for over a year. The only thing that has made me want to so far is that the stim dose is so small. I keep going back and forth. We had some tic issues/anxiety that seems to have stopped. I keep thinking if I up the adderall or switch to something else he will start to tic again. It is like a puzzel isn't it.