Best time of day to give Strattera?

[jengindreams1]

My son is six, 53lbs. He started Strattera in March. His Strattera has been up'd from 25mg, to 30mg, 35mg, and finally to 40mg. He's been at the 40mg for five days. We give it to him every night around 9:00pm. We're not seeing the full results that we had seen in the past. How long before we see the full effects from the up'd dosage?

Also, should we change his med time to the morning to see the full effects? If we should change the times, should we go ahead and change it now, or wait another week or two?

In order to be consistant for school, do we need to give it to him every morning, around 6:00am, even during the weekends or the days he doesn't have to get up early? If we change it to the morning, would we need to stay very consistant with the time? If we stay consistant, some mornings, he wouldn't eat with it, he would just take it and go back to sleep. Would it upset his stomach?

Any advice is welcomed!!!

[Mayleng]

If your son does not have any side effects now ie. tiredness and sleepiness, a good time to give it would be in the morning. You don't have to be too stringent about the exact to the minute time everyday. If he wakes late in the weekend just give it to him after his breakfast. I used to give my son his strattera at 10am on weekends or whenever he wakes. On weekdays he gets his meds at 8am.

[jengindreams1]

Thank you so much Mayleng! It used to make him very sleepy, but I'm not sure if it does now, but it doesn't appear to make him sleepy. Should we go ahead and switch it now, or wait till he gets adjusted to the 40mg?

By the way, you are SOOO helpful!!

[Mayleng]

jengindreams1 said:

Thank you so much Mayleng! It used to make him very sleepy, but I'm not sure if it does now, but it doesn't appear to make him sleepy. Should we go ahead and switch it now, or wait till he gets adjusted to the 40mg?

By the way, you are SOOO helpful!!

Glad to be of help.

You could try switching to morning dosing now on 40mgs and see if it helps. If he gets tired (he might be for a few days) after a week or so, you could try doing a split dosing, either [20mgs am and 20mgs pm] or [30mgs am and 10mgs pm]. Some kids find 40mgs too much to take in one dose (especially for the stomach problems). You do know that 40mgs is on the high side of his dose range. His minimum is 29mgs (1.2 kg/mg formula) and his maximum is 43mgs (using the 1.8kg/mg formula) and 45mgs (using the 1.9kg/mg formula)

[sportsmom]

I give DS his dose at suppertime. We don't eat at the same time every night and it still seems to be ok with him. I finally got the dr to increase his meds. DS is now up to 50mg. I am going to try 25mg in the morning and 25mg with supper. I know they say Strattera stays in the system for 24 hrs but I would like a booster for homework time(that is when we have to start school ). Towards the end of the school year homework time was getting to be a real struggle and I don't want a repeat performance when the new year starts. BTW DS will be 13 next Sunday and weighs 77lbs(I believe--the nurse first weighted him in kilo--then when she redid his weight she did it very fast--I was trying to look . We are still on the iron threapy. We won't know results from that for another 3 months. So far he is still very very restless when he is sleeping. But I am home for a few weeks due to my surgery and I do make sure he takes it 2x a day--DS not happy--he does not like the color when it comes back out HAHAHA sorry I had to share. I am looking into the Omega-3 therapy--not only for DS but for the whole family---dr agrees that it is good for us .