Strattera and Trileptal questions

freckledpotter

New Member
Our difficult child had an outburst tonight of mass proportions. We haven't seen one of these since he started Strattera. It lasted 2 hours. He just kept being mean no matter how many times I told him he needed to stop. It was as if he just wanted to be mean, and see how mean he could get. I tried not to react to it all, but that's really hard.

I know there are many of you who have problems with Strattera. I guess my real question is have any of you had Strattera work in the beginning and then just have it start going backward?

Our doctor recently recommended putting him on Trileptal, but hasn't diagnosis BiPolar (BP). I know it's recommeded to get off the Strattera before starting that, but I was wondering what the consensus on that drug is.

Thanks all.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Hi frelkled and welcome!

I noticed a couple replies of yours on some other posts and am glad to see you have posted and done a signature!

It's interesting that you pose this question now because another member posted a strattera question yesteray! The thread "new medication for difficult child" addresses almost the same issue.

Strattera is, although used for adhd, a SNRI antidepressant. As the day goes on and more members log in, you will find a number of members who children have reacted negatively to strattera, increased raging, increased anger and frustration, etc.

I think it's really important to make sure adhd is the only thing difficult children are dealing with before strattera is added. If there are any signs of emerging mood disorders or such, it's not a good medication for our kids.

Sharon
 

smallworld

Moderator
Sharon is right about Strattera. But even some kids without mood disorders have reacted negatively with moodiness, anger and aggression. What is often recommended is to wean from Strattera and then get a baseline read on behavior after the Strattera is completely out of the system and before deciding on the next medication.

I'm wondering how your difficult child's anxiety has in the past or is currently being treated? Has he tried any other medications with positive or negative results.

Trileptal is an anticonvulsant/mood stabilizer that is used to treat seizures related to epilepsy or ease the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder. None of my kids have ever tried it, but I know that it is often tolerated well (few side effects) and does not require blood draws the way other mood stabilizers do. Like many mood stabilizers, it doesn't target anxiety all that well.
 

busywend

Well-Known Member
I believe it can work for a time and then stop working. I think all medications are capable of that.

Straterra made my difficult child very emotional. She said it made her hate me.

We never tried Trileptal.
 

Christy

New Member
I know there are many of you who have problems with Strattera. I guess my real question is have any of you had Strattera work in the beginning and then just have it start going backward?

YES! This is exactly what happened with our son and because he was on several medications. we did not suspect the straterra at first, he became totally agressive and unstable. You are wise to be concerned and monitor closely.

He was placed on trilleptal at psychiatric hospital after the straterra fiasco. The positives, there was no noticible side effects for my son and it he seemed to improve as the dose was titrated up. It has been about 4 months and he is again becoming more manic so I think that an increase in order. We vist psychiatrist tomorrow.

Good Luck!
Christy
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
My son is 7 days off Straterra right now and just now beginning to get back to his "normal" level of impulse control and aggression. There was ZERO impulse control on it and much more aggression than we typically deal with these days. Was a bad mix.

He did the same thing on Trileptal. Made him absolutely crazy-manic.
 
B

bran155

Guest
Both my daughter as well as my nephew became very angry and mean while on Strattera. Their fuses were much shorter than usual, it was like they were looking for reasons to be nasty to us.

My daughter was on Trileptal for about a year, it worked okay in the beginning but after a few months she was back to her old self again. That is the pattern for any drug we put her on. I swear she has alien blood!!!

Good luck.
 
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