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Post by firebug on Feb 15, 2004 10:45:39 GMT -5
Hello, Thanks for the info millermom. Nice to see a new message board for a change the CHADD boards seem to be down in the dumps lately. I am new to this board but active on the chadd boards. The inof millermom has posted is so right on the money. My son is 9 63 lbs and has been on Straterra since April so getting close to one year. he is ADHD hyperactive. We have not had the tummy ache problems  we did have the sleepy problems and played what I call the med game for about 8 weeks. So when they say be patient that is a must! We have been using 25mg first thing in AM and 18mg at bed time. It has been working great. We tried AM then PM then different doses. then we split and went to our cuurent schedule but with different doses and finally found the right combo. Millermom is so right when she says not to miss a dose and get it ASAP when you do. This seems to be the easiest and really the one complication we have is when he misses a dose and it is so obvious when he does. He has struggled with weight gain and actually lost initially but good news this week at doc he actually gained 5 lbs since Aug. I asked the doc if we could give him shakes to help with the weight and he encouraged the use of carnation shakes with breakfast not in leau of and said their is nothing wrong with another shake at night. P has made leaps and bounds with school, doing awsome in sports! It is huge. For those of you having some troubles playing the med game be pt. and like I said it took us 8 weeks and I am so glad we were persistant. The nose bleed thing. I would keep an eye on it but wouldn't be so fast to link it to the med. I had nose bleeds as a kid and still do in the dry seasons like right now. I am in CO. My sister had them too, horrible bad to get them to stop sometimes but it seemed they always came again during the dry season and were just a part of life. As far as tics go P has them and he did before starting meds. Concerta put them over the top and that is when we started Strattera. They subsided almost immediately but did not go away. I had him dianosed by a nueroligist for TS and she said she would not go as far as TS but said he has tic disorder. Well I have have done alot of research and even his Pshycologist was skeptical of her diagnosis. My little guy has TS no two ways about it but the more you learn about it the more you find it is ok. It is sometimes what makes him fun and it's well it's who he is. This is getting long so I will say gbye for now and will start checking back would be glad to share anything I can to help. |
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Post by Mayleng on Feb 15, 2004 11:36:28 GMT -5
Firebug, welcome to the site.
It's good to hear from a fellow Strattera user who are seeing success with it.
It is soooo true that you need alot of patience when trying strattera, and alot of people don't have the patience to see it through.
But the results are so worth it when it works.
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Post by Mayleng on Mar 26, 2004 8:38:09 GMT -5
Just for further info about using Strattera and an SSRI in combination.
Quote:
Paxil cannot be taken with any dose higher than 25 mgs of strattera!!! please be really careful here. We had huge, horrible anger and mood issues because my son was on 40 mg stratt with paxil. Stratt is ok with the other ssri's like zoloft. please call your dr. and ask them to change your script to that. This came right from eli lilly who I called when my dr.'s kept telling me no his issues wasn't from the drugs. I think it is prozac and paxil that interfere with the metabolism of strattera.
Kluvjazz
Unquote
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Post by westech on Apr 2, 2004 17:42:16 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
I am new to this site but I have to say reading today has helped me temendously!!!
My son is 13 and just diagnosed with ADHD. He weighs 131 pounds. He started Straterra at 40mg a day for 4 days then he went to 60 mgs. By week 1 and 1/2 we saw unbelieveable improvment. My husband and I were literally dumbfounded by the tremendous improvement. His teacher called me at the 3 week point to say she was seeing such a big improvement in Zach, so much more focused, less agitated, almost NO interrupting and getting along so much better with others. I thought my prayers had been answered. Then at the 4 week point all of the old symptoms of ADHD returned. It seemed almost overnight. At the 5 week point I called the doctor and she increased it to 70
mgs. He does take this all at once. I am wondering if
I should split it. We are now at week 6 and do not
see any great improvement. Has this happened to anyone else???
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Post by Mayleng on Apr 2, 2004 19:51:24 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, I am new to this site but I have to say reading today has helped me temendously!!! My son is 13 and just diagnosed with ADHD. He weighs 131 pounds. He started Straterra at 40mg a day for 4 days then he went to 60 mgs. By week 1 and 1/2 we saw unbelieveable improvment. My husband and I were literally dumbfounded by the tremendous improvement. His teacher called me at the 3 week point to say she was seeing such a big improvement in Zach, so much more focused, less agitated, almost NO interrupting and getting along so much better with others. I thought my prayers had been answered. Then at the 4 week point all of the old symptoms of ADHD returned. It seemed almost overnight. At the 5 week point I called the doctor and she increased it to 70 mgs. He does take this all at once. I am wondering if I should split it. We are now at week 6 and do not see any great improvement. Has this happened to anyone else??? For your son's weight his target zone should be minimum dose 70mgs and max 100mgs. So right now he is only on the minimum. You might want to ask the doctor to bring him to midpoint of his zone ie. 80mgs or 85mgs. and see if it helps. He can go up to 100mgs (his maximum). You need to do a bit of tweaking of dosages to find the right dose. The good news is he did well on the ramp up. Consistent results comes after 4 to 6 weeks on target dose. If he does not have any side effects ie. tiredness, sleepiness, stomach problems, then I would give it all to him in one dose. Good Luck |
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Post by coopsmom on Apr 7, 2004 11:34:10 GMT -5
Hello...  I just happened across this board when I did a google search for Strattera, and voila, here I am. I have a 5-year-old, Sean, that will be starting Straterra tomorrow, if all goes according to plan. He has been on Adderall XR for a few weeks, and has had his dose increased only once from 5 mg. to 10 mg. He complained of a headache every day at the same time, just after recess, so the pediatrician decided to switch his medication. They had originally wanted to put him on Ritalin, but I am an adult with ADHD that takes Ritalin, and it gives me headaches and other side effects. I then requested to try Straterra after researching other options, and am hopeful that this will help after reading the posts to this board. Sean is a VERY active 5-year-old, and I get notes, yellow or red lights from his Kindergarten teacher with notes about not staying in his seat, crawling out of his desk, not writing clearly, etc. almost every day. I am hoping that the Strattera will help with this more than the Addreall did. I do NOT want his activity level to change, just his ability to focus, etc. ANYWAY, to make a long introduction short, ;D I just wanted to say HI, and ask for any idea as to what to ask the dr. about this medication, etc. Thanks!!!!!! |
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Post by coopsmom on Apr 7, 2004 12:55:38 GMT -5
 I just talked with the nurse at Sean's pediatrician, and they are starting him out at his target doseage of 25 mg., in the morning. Is this normal?? He is taking Adderall 10 mg., and is switching over to Stratterra tomorrow. From what I have read on the boards, they should "ramp up" the medication doseage. I do NOT want Sean to have adverse side effects or to be thrown out of whack by a too large dose at one time. HELP!!
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Post by Brenda on Apr 7, 2004 15:42:22 GMT -5
Welcome to the board coopsmom. You have to start on a low dose and work your way up.My dd is 5 also and she started on 18 mg.She went to 25 mg after 4 days.We tried that dose for a few weeks until it was increased to 40 mg.It is working now.She weighs 49 pounds.What does your son weigh?You have to ramp up to help prevent side effects.It is also best to give it at night for the first week because it will make him tired.And it really does take 4-6 weeks to see the full effects.You will see some effects in the beginning but you really have to wait awile to see big changes.My dd is at 5 weeks and it's just starting to help all of her adhd symptoms.You should be able to get some start up sample packs from his dr.Good luck and hang in there! |
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Post by Mayleng on Apr 7, 2004 17:06:37 GMT -5
I just talked with the nurse at Sean's pediatrician, and they are starting him out at his target doseage of 25 mg., in the morning. Is this normal?? He is taking Adderall 10 mg., and is switching over to Stratterra tomorrow. From what I have read on the boards, they should "ramp up" the medication doseage. I do NOT want Sean to have adverse side effects or to be thrown out of whack by a too large dose at one time. HELP!! Welcome. You need to ramp up this medicine. I have never heard of anyone starting at target dose immediately. There is a sample startup package and it is normally 18mgs first and then 25mgs. I would even suggest they start him off at 10mgs first then 18mgs then 25mgs. Read the first post on this thread, everything you need to know to make stratterat successfuly is there. Give it in the evening/dinnertime during the startup, Give with food. Very weight dependent medicine. Initial side effects, if any, like stomach problems, tiredness etc will go away in time. I would question the doctor as to why he is going straight to the target dose without a ramp up. |
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Post by coopsmom on Apr 8, 2004 7:44:15 GMT -5
After reading this board, I pestered the nurse at the pediatricians office about ramping him up. I think that I may change pediatricians...THE NURSE THOUGHT THAT 25 mg. WAS THE SMALLEST DOSE. I had to tell her that it was available in 10 and 18 mg. The pediatrician is giving him 10 mg. for 4 days, then starting his target dose of 25 mg. We have an appointment with his psychologist tonight, and I will be bringing this up with her. Even though she has no control over his medication, I am hoping that she can shed some light on this for me. I spoke with the pharmacist when I picked up the prescription, and he suggested that I give the dose in the morning, so I am completely confused. My husband read the bottle, and gave him his first dose this morning, so, I guess it is out of my hands now. This whole thing has just been a nightmare of an experience, and I feel like I am working against myself. It is doubly hard when I am dealing with Adult ADHD and Sean's ADHD.  I am so glad that I found this board!! Thank you for your suggestions!! Amy Cooper |
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Post by jengindreams1 on Apr 8, 2004 20:24:45 GMT -5
Hello fellow Strattera parents. I wanted to share our family's ADHD story. My son turned six in February 2004, and now weighs 50 lbs. He is currently in public kindergarten. To say that kindergarten learning got off to a rocky start would be putting it mild. Basically, he started medication Feburary1st, and his teacher said it was like he had just started kindergarten that week. Within three weeks, he went from being a 'non-reader' to a beginning reader.
Sam was put on Adderall XR initially, his ADHD improved, but he was moody, emotional, and just not himself. There were several issues and instances that occurred with the Adderall XR, but I won't go into all of that now. After being on Adderall XR for five weeks, Sam started having tics, rapid eye blinking. He was also crashing at night when the Adderall XR wore off, and being EXTREMELY emotional all day. The doctor said that that Adderall XR was the cause.
At that point, the doctor had Sam take the Adderall XR in the morning, then Strattera 18mg in the evening. The intentions were to decrease the Adderall XR over the next two weeks, as the Strattera got into his system. However, that combination was simply too much for Sam. His tics got worse, he was in a daze, and he looked very medicated. He stayed on the Adderall XR and the Strattera 18mg for four days. The fifth day, we completely stopped the Adderall XR, and stepped up to Strattera 25mg.
Sam now takes the full dosage at 8:00pm, after he eats, just before bed. My son thinks he can't swallow pills, so we take chocolate pudding on a spoon, put the Strattera powder on top of some pudding, then top that off with more pudding so that the powder is 'sandwiched' inside the pudding. Sam doesn't have a problem taking it that way.
Sam's appetite has not decreased while taking Strattera and he has not had weight lose.
During the first two Strattera weeks, Sam's tics remained and he went back to not paying attention in class. We almost gave up hope, but that's when I found this website. During the third week, the tics got a little better and he started paying more attention in class. But he usually stayed very tired during that three week period. He went through about a week of having nightmares, but they did subsided. By week four, the tics only occurred at night when he was very tired. And he was back to learning in class. His tiredness began to subside and Sam really started perking up.
The fifth week seemed to be the magic week! His tics completely quit, he was doing great in school, he wasn't tired all the time and best of all, he was back to he usual silly self.
Sam went through a stage of what outsiders would think was confusion and emotional. But, as a mother I believe that he was actually feeling his emotions for the first time. It seemed that for the first time, Sam was actually taking time to think and make judgements. Before Strattera he simply reacted with his first instincts.
The biggest thing to do is don't give up hope! My family seemed split on what to do. Everyone had an opinion on the issue and some saw the symptoms to be worse than I saw them to be. We ultimately decided that the benefits were greater than the side effects and we hung in there with the Strattera.
Along the way, I wrote detailed letters to his teacher. She didn't know alot about the medicines and what to expect. I would send letters explaining what was happening and why and what to expect next. She was very grateful for the information.
The school basically gave me four months to get Sam up to speed on everything he 'missed' before the meds, otherwise he wouldn't go onto first grade. Most people don't understand how the whole self-esteem works in ADHD child. But, us parents do know and letting him fail just wasn't an option. I initially went to Sylvan Learning Center, but they weren't what they promised to be. I found Huntington Learning Center, and they have been fabulous.
Parents, anything is possible and just don't give up! Give Strattera time to work. It took five weeks for us to see the great effects, but it was so worth the wait!
I hope this will encourage someone out there!
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Post by Mayleng on Apr 9, 2004 8:41:48 GMT -5
jengindreams1
Welcome!, I am happy to hear that you had found our information useful and even happier to hear about the success of strattera for your child.
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
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Post by ajksmom on Apr 9, 2004 12:10:41 GMT -5
Wanted to say that I added Jessie's Strattera back to his treatment. The Concerta alone gave him anger issues and got him into much trouble at school (1 more violent offense this year he will most likely be expelled). Now he is on Concerta 27 mgs. which help his focus and helped him bring his grades up and 40 mgs. Strattera which seems to mellow him out, control some of his hyperness and some impulsitivity, but mostly eases the anger that Concerta alone brought to him.
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Post by coopsmom on Apr 16, 2004 15:53:20 GMT -5
Hi everyone! Sean started the Strattera last week, and has done fabulously so far. He ramped up to 25 mg. over a period of 4 days, and the side effects have been minimal. His teacher noticed such a difference the first day, that she emailed us in the middle of the day to let us know how great he was doing. My big concern is that he is starting to bounce back to his ADHD behavior. He weighs 47 pounds, and is 5-years-old. I have read where this has happened to others, but am not sure if it is due to the incorrect doseage or needing to supplement the Strattera. It seems that he is a bit wilder in the afternoon, but I don't see a way to split the doseage with this. Any suggestions/ideas/comments? |
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Post by Mayleng on Apr 16, 2004 18:28:19 GMT -5
Hi everyone! Sean started the Strattera last week, and has done fabulously so far. He ramped up to 25 mg. over a period of 4 days, and the side effects have been minimal. His teacher noticed such a difference the first day, that she emailed us in the middle of the day to let us know how great he was doing. My big concern is that he is starting to bounce back to his ADHD behavior. He weighs 47 pounds, and is 5-years-old. I have read where this has happened to others, but am not sure if it is due to the incorrect doseage or needing to supplement the Strattera. It seems that he is a bit wilder in the afternoon, but I don't see a way to split the doseage with this. Any suggestions/ideas/comments? Coopsmom, he probably needs a dosage adjustment. For his weight of 47lbs, his minimum is 25mg and maximum is 38mgs. It might be a good idea to bring him up to 30mgs and see if it helps. You have to tweak the dosage till you find the right one for your son. So just raise it to 30mgs (3 x 10mgs pills) a day. Right now 25mgs is the lowest so it might not be enough. It is good that he did well on the ramp up, you will not see consistent results until at least 4 to 6 weeks on Target dose, it is still building up in the system. |
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Post by coopsmom on Apr 17, 2004 11:17:18 GMT -5
Thanks Mayleng! I have a question that may sound kind of silly, but when the dose is split, when in the afternoon should Sean get the 2nd dose? Is this something that he would need to take at school, or when he gets home? I am guessing that I should give the current dose of Strattera another week or two before we make any decisions on his doseage. We are at home together today for the first time since starting the Strattera, and I have noticed a bit of a difference in his ability to focus on things. YAY!!!
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Post by Mayleng on Apr 17, 2004 13:51:38 GMT -5
Thanks Mayleng! I have a question that may sound kind of silly, but when the dose is split, when in the afternoon should Sean get the 2nd dose? Is this something that he would need to take at school, or when he gets home? I am guessing that I should give the current dose of Strattera another week or two before we make any decisions on his doseage. We are at home together today for the first time since starting the Strattera, and I have noticed a bit of a difference in his ability to focus on things. YAY!!! I wouldn't split the dose just yet. Since he is not consistent yet, I won't mess around by split dosing now. You need to see how he does on one dose, there may not be a need to do any split at all. Split dosing did nothing for my child, but it helped others. So until you know what he is like after being on the target dose for 4 weeks, then you can do adjustments on dosing or splitting and timing etc. If you need to split, most people do it at 3pm or 4pm when the kids come home, with food. Also I don't think that the 25mgs is enough for your son seeing that it is slightly below his min. target dose (27mgs is his minimum). So chances are he is going to need to be at 30mgs. If he was doing good before and have fallen off, you can raise it to 30mgs now because it is still in his target range. You might be surprised at the results. From experience, it seems most kids do well on their midpoint of the range and lately we have been finding that for kids that have been on strattera for a while, the maximum target dose works well for them. My son is on his maximum now and doing well. Good luck. |
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Post by Mayleng on May 22, 2004 6:09:23 GMT -5
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Post by kluv2jazz on May 26, 2004 8:22:07 GMT -5
just wanted to throw in something here that I recently discovered. For some reason I have frequently been forgetting Logan's 2:00 strattera dose. If it isn't a school night I just let it go as I have found if I give it to him after 4 he won't go to sleep till late. Well last night I realized I had forgotten once again his 2:00 dose. Then I got to thinking.......often when he takes his afternoon dose he takes his nap right afterwards. So why not give it to him right before bed so he would have it in him for the next morning for school. Without his afternoon dose he really struggles in the morning getting ready and such. So I gave it to him before bed and he slept all night.....didn't bother his sleep at all!! So at least now I have another option to use if I do forget his afternoon dose.
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Post by Mayleng on May 28, 2004 21:32:59 GMT -5
I thought it would be helpful if I listed the adverse Events that occurred during the Child & Adolescent clinical trials of Strattera (9 weeks) for those who have not seen it.
Adominal pain upper
Constipation
Dyspepsia (chronic Indigestion)
Vomiting
Ear Infection
Influenza
Weight decreased
Appetite decreased
Dizziness (exc vertigo)
Headache
Somnolence (prolonged drowsiness or sleepiness)
Crying
Irritability
Mood swings
Cough
Rhinorrhea
Dermatitis
Dry mouth
Diarrhea
Nausea
Fatigue
Events reported by at least 2% of patients treated with atomoxetine, and greater than placebo. The following events did not meet this criterion but were reported by more atomoxetine-treated patients than placebo-treaded patients and are possibly related to atomoxetine treatment: anorexia, blood pressure increased, early morning awakening, flushing, mydriasis, sinus tachycardia, tearfulness. The following events were reported by at least 2% of patients treated with atomoxetine, and equal to or less than placebo: arthralgia, gastroenteritis viral, insomnia, sore throat, nasal congestion, nasopharyngitis, pruritus, sinus congestion, upper respiratory tract infection.
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Post by Mayleng on Jun 6, 2004 10:47:17 GMT -5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- on Jun 5th, 2004, 7:01pm, kluv2jazz wrote: Thanks for your response. It is Paxil that has the conflict not prozac. I copied this from the strattera website. When I had called eli lilly they told me both paxil and prozac interfere with the metabolism of strattera. Certain medicines may change the way your body reacts to Strattera. These include medicines used to treat depression [like Paxil® (paroxetine) and Prozac® (fluoxetine)], and certain other medications (like quinidine). Your doctor may need to change your dose of Strattera if you are taking it with these medicines. Strattera may change the way your body reacts to oral or intravenous albuterol (or drugs with similar actions), but the effectiveness of these drugs will not be changed. Talk to your doctor before taking Strattera if you are taking albuterol. ---------------------------------------------------------------- kluv2jazz, thanks for clarifying and posting this info. I thought it was both paxil and prozac that strattera dose needed to be adjusted when taken in combo with strattera. If you don't mind I am going to copy and paste this to the "everything you ever wanted to know about strattera" thread. So the info is always up there. Thanks again. |
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Post by kluv2jazz on Jun 12, 2004 8:52:25 GMT -5
Certain medicines may change the way your body reacts to Strattera. These include medicines used to treat depression [like Paxil® (paroxetine) and Prozac® (fluoxetine)], and certain other medications (like quinidine). Your doctor may need to change your dose of Strattera if you are taking it with these medicines.
Strattera may change the way your body reacts to oral or intravenous albuterol (or drugs with similar actions), but the effectiveness of these drugs will not be changed. Talk to your doctor before taking Strattera if you are taking albuterol.
----------------------------------------------------------------
kluv2jazz, thanks for clarifying and posting this info. I thought it was both paxil and prozac that strattera dose needed to be adjusted when taken in combo with strattera.
If you don't mind I am going to copy and paste this to the "everything you ever wanted to know about strattera" thread. So the info is always up there.
Thanks again.
[/quote]
Your Welcome Mayleng!! I just don't want anyone to have to go through what we went through with Logan. It was horrible. To make it worse our Ped. refused to believe that the info from Lilly was correct!! Needless to say, I took him off the paxil against her advice. So mom's don't always trust your dr.s advice on these meds. Your pharmacist is a better person to ask, IMO.
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Post by Mayleng on Jun 12, 2004 16:10:13 GMT -5
Kelly, it sounds like your Peds is too much onto herself. If the manufacturer of the medication puts something like that in their insert, who is she to disagree. I always do my research on a medication before I take my doctor's word for it.
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Post by kluv2jazz on Jun 15, 2004 16:33:13 GMT -5
Kelly, it sounds like your Peds is too much onto herself. If the manufacturer of the medication puts something like that in their insert, who is she to disagree. I always do my research on a medication before I take my doctor's word for it. oh needless to say she isn't our ped anymore!! I even quoted them word for word on what enzyme paxil depleted which slowed the metabolism of strattera. She stilll refused to believe it. Not too long ago I called for a referral to a chiropractor for cranial sacral therapy....and she refused. That day I called my insurance and switched him to our family dr. Our family dr. believes as long as it is an invasive procedure and not anything that may cause harm, why not try it for a bit to see if it helps. So right now I am in love with him!! |
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halm
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Post by halm on Jul 29, 2004 16:36:41 GMT -5
here's what i was looking for! right under my nose! i think we will try ryan again on strattera. even tho his dr is totally unfamiliar with this med and dosing, he is open minded and will respect the info you have accumualted. last time we tried this med was in may. he was on 25 mg for 3 weeks and he was so VERY lethargic and volatile. we gave up. had i read this first i would have (please,correct me if i'm wrong!)..... 1) ryan weighs 130#. target dose is 70 mg. i will start at 25 mg at bedtime on a full stomach for 8 days 2)we will go up to 50 mg the 9th day for apprx 1 week. (is this at bedtime too?) 3)we will see what doses ( i.e a 50 mg and a 20 mg?)are available and shoot for a target dose of 70 mg by about the 20th day. (should we give in the morning by this time as school will be starting?) am i missing anything? thank you again and again for all of your help!!
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Post by RobbysMom on Jul 29, 2004 18:28:58 GMT -5
halm --
What we did when ramping up our son was give him his dosage on the 7th night (25mg in your son's case) and then give him the other 25mg the next morning on his 8th day of ramping up. Then on his 9th day he'll take the full 50 mg in the morning. He'll probably be a bit drowsy when you first begin administering the meds in the morning.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
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Post by Mayleng on Jul 29, 2004 18:40:53 GMT -5
here's what i was looking for! right under my nose! i think we will try ryan again on strattera. even tho his dr is totally unfamiliar with this med and dosing, he is open minded and will respect the info you have accumualted. last time we tried this med was in may. he was on 25 mg for 3 weeks and he was so VERY lethargic and volatile. we gave up. had i read this first i would have (please,correct me if i'm wrong!)..... 1) ryan weighs 130#. target dose is 70 mg. i will start at 25 mg at bedtime on a full stomach for 8 days 2)we will go up to 50 mg the 9th day for apprx 1 week. (is this at bedtime too?) 3)we will see what doses ( i.e a 50 mg and a 20 mg?)are available and shoot for a target dose of 70 mg by about the 20th day. (should we give in the morning by this time as school will be starting?) am i missing anything? thank you again and again for all of your help!! Presumming the 70mgs target dose is correct (I am away on vacation and do not have access to a calculator right now), my suggestion would be to start 18mgs for 2 nights, 25mgs for 2 nights, 40mgs for 4 nights and then 50mgs for a couple of nights, then 60mgs for a few nights and then 70mgs. When he is used to it and is not lethargic or have any stomach problems, you might want to change it to morning dosing or if 70mgs at one dose is too much do a split dosing, ie. 40mgs in the morning and 30mgs in the afternoon, or 50mgs in the morning and 20mgs in the afternoon. You will have to play around till you find the right combo. If 70mgs is the minimum target dose and is not effective you can go up to the max ie. weight divided by 2.2 multiply by 1.8. Needs to be on target dose for 4 to 6 weeks before consistent results is seen. I find increasing the dosage amount gradually in terms of the amount during the ramping up more important than keeping at a low dosage for a longer time. The longer you stay on a lower dose the higher the possibility of mood issues. For eg. jumping from 25mgs to 50mgs is a big jump and might be too much for the system, even though you would have had him on the 25mgs for a week. Good Luck |
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halm
Full Member
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Post by halm on Jul 29, 2004 18:49:53 GMT -5
great! a vacation! where are you?
how will i tell if 70mgs at one dose is too much?
will it just be the more common symptoms only more extreme?
enjoy your vacation!
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Post by Mayleng on Jul 29, 2004 19:06:55 GMT -5
great! a vacation! where are you? how will i tell if 70mgs at one dose is too much? will it just be the more common symptoms only more extreme? enjoy your vacation! I am currently vacationing in Singapore. 70mgs if it is the minimum is probably not going to be too much. But there are always going to be "side effects" during the ramping up period ie. tiredness, irritability or stomach problems, nasea. Which is why it is always better to do the ramping up at night (with dinner). We find that 40mgs is always the point when the kids start having some "issues" with the stomach. If you could do the dosing at night until he reaches the target dose (and a week or so after that) before changing to morning dosing it would be better. If you find that after being on target for a while and he is still getting stomach problems or tiredness, then you could try split dosing. Not everybody gets the side effects - my son did not get any side effects during the ramping up, a little tired but not enough to stop him from playing. |
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Post by caggy on Jul 31, 2004 23:28:24 GMT -5
Hi I just found this board and I have some questions about Strattera. I have 3 kids, 2 of which take Strattera. My son, Devon is 5 diagnosed ADHD March of 2003. Strated on Concerta. Made him more hyper and he stayed up 2 days (and nights) in a row. Took him off and tried Strattera. He weighs 35 pounds. He was started at 10mg and then 18 and then to 25mg (which he takes now) Before Strattera he was in 75 percentile for height and weight and through out the first year he went down to his 14 percentile. Doctor said he was still ok for height and weight, just small. This time he had dropped to his 9 percentile. He has not gained any weight. He actually dropped weight and just gained it back. Doctors seem not to be worried about this (we have seen 2 child psychiatrist and our regular family doctor). This is my main concern with Strattera. Also the first several months Strattera worked great. My son was so focused and non impulsive and so much less hyper. After 8 or 9 months on it, I noticed the medicine wore off earlier and earlier. Now I am lucky to get 5 hours out of it. Afternoons and evening are rotten at our house, I dread them. My son has now began to get very agner over little things, punching, kicking, spitting, throwing stuff at whomever or whatever made him upset. We had to replace a door already. (He is 5 years old weighs 35 pounds). I have gone to see a child psychiatrist with Devon. The psychiatrist wanted to keep his dosage the same and strat on Clonodine in the afternoons. I tried that. Clonodine made my son fall asleep no matter what was going on, and when he wasnt sleeping he was as if in a trance. Doc asked us to try longer, we tried a month, nothing changed. I took Devon off of Clonodine (had other side effects the were not flattering, also). Psychiatrist was very upset with me but I knew it was best for my son. I saw that psychiatrist 2 more times and felt like I was talking to a wall. So I found another psychiatrist. She wants to double Devons dose of Strattera. So he would be on 50mg, although he is 35 pounds. I believe this is way too much. She also was not concerned with his weight. I am wondering if anyone can help me out and give me some suggestions on what I can do. I would like to get the results I did the first 8 or 9 months. I would like to add he is super smart has been reading for about a year and is going to start Kindergarden in September. And his speach was very delayed(just about caught up now) but everything else he is really intelligent with.
My daughter, Abby is 6 years old, weighs 43 pounds diagnosed ADHD in September of 2003. She strated Strattera right away since her brother was doing so well on it. She takes 18mg every morning. Her weight and growth is also big my concern with her. Her main problem was impulsivity. I have noticed, like her brother, that the meds seem to wear off earlier and earlier (she makes it to about 3 or 4pm). She is super smart, also read way before kindergarden. She actually started teaching herself cursive writing (she is going into first grade). But she just control herself, and I dont think she can help it. I remind her constantly to think before she speaks and before she does things. Has anyone else experianced the meds wearing off after being on for a period of time?
Has anyone else had the lack of growth like my kids have? Am I too worried about this stuff? should I just let the psychiatrist do her thing and listen? I need any kind of answers I can get. I dont feel comfortable giving my son 50mg for his weight of 35 pounds, does that sound normal doasage for his age and weight? Any help is greatly appreciated. Afternoons at our house stink and it is really rough on my family and myself. thanks in advance. Jessica
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we did have the sleepy problems and played what I call the med game for about 8 weeks. So when they say be patient that is a must! We have been using 25mg first thing in AM and 18mg at bed time. It has been working great. We tried AM then PM then different doses. then we split and went to our cuurent schedule but with different doses and finally found the right combo. Millermom is so right when she says not to miss a dose and get it ASAP when you do. This seems to be the easiest and really the one complication we have is when he misses a dose and it is so obvious when he does. He has struggled with weight gain and actually lost initially but good news this week at doc he actually gained 5 lbs since Aug. I asked the doc if we could give him shakes to help with the weight and he encouraged the use of carnation shakes with breakfast not in leau of and said their is nothing wrong with another shake at night. P has made leaps and bounds with school, doing awsome in sports! It is huge. For those of you having some troubles playing the med game be pt. and like I said it took us 8 weeks and I am so glad we were persistant.
I am so glad that I found this board!! Thank you for your suggestions!!
