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Post by Eliserose on Jul 16, 2004 15:44:44 GMT -5
Hi, I am new to this board but frequent others. I see some user names that look familiar so hello to all.
My situation and question: I have an 8 year old dd ADHD combined type, and we are in the midst of a Strattera trial. So far, she has been on it for almost 3 weeks total, 2 weeks at target dose. We have seen slight improvent in hyperactivity, not consistently though, but we have seen NO improvment in cognitive abilities, and really she is worse in terms of being spacey and zoned out. This is the most concerning to me that her attention and focus and ability to think clearly seems worse than on no meds at all. SO, anyone out there who has had success with Strat have any thoughts. Is it common to see this mental "fog" as we wait it out or is this a bad sign?We do plan to wait a couple more weeks to see if this med will kick in for her. We by the way are on the correct target dose and have some room to play with in going higher. SHe has used Concerta in the past and it was great with controlling her symptoms, but she lost weight and didnt eat and had some edginess and socail withdrawl on it, but it was great in terms of helping her academically.
Thanks for listening.Hope to keep up with this board too.
Nancy
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Post by HooDunnit on Jul 16, 2004 17:06:58 GMT -5
Hi Nancy and welcome to the forums. I don't know too much about the medications, so I probably shouldn't say anything. But I hope that someone will be along soon to help you, and I will send Dad2Brooke a private message. He is the moderator for this forum, and his daughter is taking Strattera, I believe, as well as a stimulant.
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Post by jdmom on Jul 16, 2004 17:21:43 GMT -5
Hey, great to see you here!
We've probably spoke on the other board about this, but I don't remember. Jarrett was on Strat for 12 weeks, but we had to change because it wasn't helping with his hyperactivity. From what I've heard about Strat, I would really wait until she has been on target dose for 6-8 weeks before I discontinued it. Jarrett's hyperness was the only problem that I had with it. I think it did wonders for his focus and he never acted spacey or "foggy" as you describe. Give it a some more time, especially if her appetite is better than it was on the Concerta. That way you won't wonder further down the road if you gave it enough time to "kick in". Good luck!
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Post by Dad2Brooke on Jul 17, 2004 14:53:26 GMT -5
Hey Eliserose, glad to see you made it.
Yes, as Hoodunnit mentioned, my daughter is on Strattera and Concerta.
We took her off Concerta in the beginning and put her on Strattera because we were looking for a stim alternative.
Like jdmom says it does take about six weeks at target dose to see the best results. Also Strattera is weight based, so too little or too much will not give you the best results. (moodiness and irratability are possible side effects of over or under medicating with Strattera)
There are many threads on Strattera here in meds and they have a lot of useful info. You can use the search feature at the top of the board. Aslo a google of Strattera will yield a lot of useful info.
After about six months, we did add Concerta back (at half her previous dose) because Strattera was doing great for her hyperactivity, but not some much for her concentration. The smaller dose of Concerta seems to be doing the trick, and she eats better and does much better in school.
Summer is a good time to try Strattera and you still have about six weeks left to give it a lot of time to work. Also, if you decide to stop it, then it does take a couple of weeks (?) to leave their system. If you have to go back to just Concerta or add in half a dose, then the stim will kick in immediately.
Good luck and be sure to search for "Strattera" for more info, especially about the proper dosage per weight.
Good luck and let use know how it goes.
Welcome aboard.
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Post by Eliserose on Jul 18, 2004 21:23:58 GMT -5
Hi ,
Thanks for the responses. We are going to continue to stick it our with this med and hope for the best. We have only been on target dose for 2 weeks or so, so lets hope we will see results soon. I find it interestign that I see on these boards that people have found Strat to work on focusing or hyperactivity but often not both.
JD mom you found it worked wonders for the focusing but not for the hyperactivity. What do you use now for your son?
Dad to Brooke- did you find that it helped at all with focusing or just not as much as you had hoped? What is the prevailing wisdom on adding back in Concerta? Does a lower dose work? My dd had used Concerta 27mg successfully so I wonder if she could get by on 18mg in addition to the Strat. She is combined type and needs help with both activity and focusing.
Thanks again for your insights.
Nancy
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Post by Douglas on Jul 19, 2004 9:26:33 GMT -5
It sounds like your child has a highly variable metabolism, and Strattera alone is going to be somewhat variable in its effectiveness under those circumstances. You may wish to combine it with another med, a stimulant.
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Post by Eliserose on Jul 20, 2004 11:56:59 GMT -5
Douglas,
Thanks for you response . What do you mean by a variable metabolism and just curious why you think that is the case with my daughter. I do think she has a fast metabolism as she has always been thin.
Nancy
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Post by LaurieL on Aug 4, 2004 12:35:34 GMT -5
My son has been on strat for over a year. I added in a very small dose of adderall xr last September when school started as he just did not have the focus or concentration at school. He had his best year ever with the combo. Still has bad appetite suppression tho. Took him off adderall this summer but really has not gained any weight.
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mom3
New Member
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Post by mom3 on Sept 8, 2004 18:13:54 GMT -5
I am the mother of a 10 year old with ADHD. We switch from Focalin 10mg 4 x daily to Stattera. This is our 3rd month. The once a day dosing is great but he is on 80 mg daily and it still does not seem to control his attention. His behaviors are awful. He has anger outburst and is violent to his brothers. We never noticed this on the Focolin. He has also gained 22 lbs on this med. He tinks about eating from Am to PM. We are going back to the Dr. tomorrow. I hope they have answers
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Post by LaurieL on Sept 9, 2004 10:45:05 GMT -5
Hi Mom3- Strattera is dosed by weight so maybe there needs to be an adjustment to the dose. Eighty mgs seems high to me but then I don't know how much your son weighs. My son is ten also but only weighs 52 pounds- he takes 18 mgs twice a day. He also takes 5mg of adderrall as he just did not have the focus on strattera at all. He also has zero appetite. Maybe you may want to think of adding some type of stim in to the mix. I have been interested in Focalin but until a long term dose is out I don't want to try it as I won't have him take meds at school.
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