justour2boys

Momto2Boys
We are currently using Vyvance and Tenex with difficult child#1 and it is not working well. He is not putting on weight as he should and the peaks and valleys are VERY rough on everyone. Dr. (dev pediatrician) suggested Strattera and after researching it I am willing to give it a try.

But, I want to hear from parents... the good, the bad and the ugly about using Strattera. You know the stuff the dr doesn't tell you!
 
T

TeDo

Guest
difficult child 1 has been on Strattera for 9 years with great results. They added Tenex 6 months ago and now he's doing awesome. There are some on here who have had bad experiences with the Strattera so keep an eye out. I'll let them tell you what kinds of behaviors it caused for their kids.
 

ksm

Well-Known Member
difficult child 1 has been on Strattera for 9 years with great results. They added Tenex 6 months ago and now he's doing awesome. There are some on here who have had bad experiences with the Strattera so keep an eye out. I'll let them tell you what kinds of behaviors it caused for their kids.

We tried it for about two months. Didn't have the best luck.. They started out with a low dose and we worked up to treatment level in about 4 to 6 weeks. She had stomach pains and nausea. We gave it a break as it was the last two weeks of school and tried again in the summer. Didn't work well then either. She was very tearful and once back up to the regular dose, she had two episodes of what a I now know is referred to as "word salad" in which she was either falling asleep or just waking up and started speaking in a jumble of words that made no sense at all.

I hope it works for you and your child. KSM
 

ceebee

New Member
My son has been on Strattera since 2007. He is sixteen and a half and we have had good results with Strattera. Concerta kept him up all hours. Ritalin was a disaster. Strattera lets him go to sleep. Other friends have had various experiences with it. I did a lot of reading on the different medications just so I knew what the benefits and risks were. I took my questions to our specialist and she was great at answering our questions.

Hope this helps.
 
B

bigbear11

Guest
TRex has been on Strattera for about 4+ years. It has made a big difference for her. While she is still not at 100% in terms of focus and control she is soooo much better. We had tried Stims as an add on to the Strat and she couldn't deal with that.... massive rebound... not good. The thing with Strattera is that it will take longer to see the result than with a Stimulant so be prepared to have to wait 2 months or so to be able to make a good decision about it (unless there is a negative reaction of course). It can cause anxiety or worsening of anxiety symptoms in some kids but didn't in TRex. Make sure your doctor works up to a high enough dose as it is weight dependant unlike the stims. It has been great for us.... Trex is herself just more in control. Good luck.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
It either works or it doesn't. We were recommended to try Strattera for difficult child 3, but after 3 days he was getting increasingly agitated and violent. Finally he attacked me, plus the way he was behaving afterwards (and the way he was talking, not making a lot of sense) told me we had problems. I rang the hospital and they said to bring him in, but by then it was 2 am and he was finally getting to sleep. We discontinued the Strattera.

Just a few weeks ago, easy child 2/difficult child 2's shrink (now ex-shrink for reasons which will become obvious) told us she could not prescribe dex for easy child 2/difficult child 2 (even though she's been on it for 15 years, no problems) until we'd had a neuropsychologist assessment for her. With waiting lists months long, I did not relish easy child 2/difficult child 2 running out of medications and being off them for that long. The doctor offered to prescribe Strattera instead, but clearly did not understand that it has to be taken every day. I told the shrink that I wasn't happy about giving easy child 2/difficult child 2 a medication she hadn't taken before, and a medication that had caused problems for her brother, when there was a medication on the market that she was already used to that helped and didn't cause problems. The shrink then suggested we give easy child 2/difficult child 2 her brother's leftover Strattera (dose unknown). Hence - ex-shrink, now.

Some doctors see Strattera as a better, non-stimulant option to stims. It is supposed to be a better choice in cases of ADHD that are also anxious. However, we've seen that where the anxiety is exacerbated by the kid not coping with ADHD, treating the ADHD (however, including with stims) helps the anxiety also.

difficult child 3's psychiatrist doesn't like Strattera, he prescribed it on the advice of another specialist but warned us that it probably would not be as effective. And he turned out to be right. In our case.

So it's a "su ck it and see" situation. If you try it and it works, then it's great. But if there are problems, jump ship sooner.

Marg
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Years ago it didn't work for difficult child but his bipolar wasn't at all stable and it caused aggression. He has been back on it for a couple of months with o.k. results-not causing aggression though:)
 

pajamas

Member
ADHD medications are very individual. Strattera was a wonderful thing for Holden - once it was invented. We had tried everything else that was available to that point. Other stimulants led to melt downs when they wore off and symptoms that were worse than the ADHD unmedicated. It doesn't seem to do much for me, but I don't have the irritating buzz I do on traditional stimulants. It's OK for CeCe, but Huck is so far better on Vyvanse. Worth noting - it's a blood level medication so you don't see results right away - may need to overlap with other ADHD medications.
 
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