Strattera anyone?

[robinm1922]

Hello,

A quick run down, I brought difficult child to neuropsychologist and he thinks there is enough evidence to suggest she has a slight case of ADHD/ADD and has suggested a non stimulant medication for treatment. He can't prescribe but asked me to check with her dr to see if they would be willing to prescribe it to her.
We are trying to get her scheduled for more extensive testing to make sure diagnosis is correct. He is going by the paperwork I filled out and her test scores from the school. He said her results show comprehension issues in language.

She is on 20mg of Celexa for major depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She has a psychiatrist appointment in three weeks, would a dpoc be able to prescribe this or does she need to go to primary doctor?

Anyone have any experience with this medication?

Anyone know what I should expect with a full neuropsychologist exam?
Thanks for your help!
Robin

 

[jal]

The psychiatrist can prescribe Straterra. My difficult child was on it, but it didn't help, but my difficult child can't take a stimulant to save his life. Good luck!

 

[bran155]

Hi and welcome. My nephew was on Strattera a while back. It did not work well for him. He was very mean and nasty on it. It didn't even calm him down, it only irritated him even more. He hated it and truthfully he wasn't very likable while on it. They tried him on Vyvanse, works wonders!!! He does really well on that. His grades have improved immensely, he is able to sit still and focus much better. His mood is great. He actually likes taking it. But please know that ever medication works differently for each individual. I just wanted to share my experience with you. Good luck with the doctor and the medications. Let us know how it goes.

 

[KTMom91]

Strattera was a disaster for Hubby, who had previously been diagnosis'd unipolar depressive. He was a mess, even at the correct dose for his weight.

Miss KT took it for about two years. Her classroom focus improved, but she still had the social problems. When she started high school, she went back to the stims.

 

[robinm1922]

Thanks for the feed back, the neuropsychologist recommended a non stimulant drug for the ADD/ADHD and right now Strattera is the only one on the market that I can find. Most of the other one have a negative interaction with the Celexa that she is currently taking.

If her psychiatrist says it will be OK then I think we will try it and I will keep a close eye on her. One more thing to add to my I DON'T KNOW LIST... I wish I had a dollar for every I don't know that has come out of my mouth in the last year woo hoo I would be super rich!

Or maybe he will not advise taking anything else right now.
I will let you all know what happens. I was hoping for someone to have a good experience but it isn't looking too good!

Thanks for the advice.
Robin

 

[LucyB]

We've actually had very good luck with Strattera for our son. He was on Adderall XR before the Strattera. The Adderall caused major weight loss and tics. The doctor didn't want to try him on another stimulant, so he put him on Strattera which was very new at the time. He had problems with nausea and being tired for a while, but those problems ended long ago. He has been diagnosed with acid reflux, which I suspect may be caused by the Strattera, but I don't know that for a fact. I don't know why he is one of the few it seems to work for. Good luck.

 

[DazedandConfused]

I know there are people on this board that have had good luck with it.

Unfortunately, it didn't make one iota of difference for both of my difficult children.

 

[Marguerite]

Every kid is different.

If it's any consolation - although we had a bad experience with Strattera (only a few weeks ago) it was obvious after only three days that there was a major deterioration in difficult child 3's behaviour, much as Bran described. We took difficult child 3 off it and after another couple of days, it was out of his system. He began to improve from about 36 hours after his last tablet. Mind you, we were still in the low dose introduction phase of the Strattera. You might find he's OK in the lower dose phase but has trouble when you ramp it up after a week. I guess similar story - if you have to stop taking it, it's just a matter of giving him a few days (at most) to let it wash out of his system.

Sometimes you just have to try it. The alternative is to do nothing, and sometimes that's just not an option either.

Marg

 

[Fran]

My difficult child has been on strattera since the day it came on the market. It has worked well enough. There are some suggested executive function help that is an off label but we wanted to give it a try.