ADHD

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A casual community for people with ADHD

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Relevant Lemmy communities:

Neurodivergent Life Hacks

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Doctor recommended trying Strattera, looking for other users experiences (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi !

Just to go straight to the point, my doctor is thinking of trying Strattera in me, since it was recently made available as a generic and I tend to have prevailing side effects with stimulant medication (ritalin, Rubifen, elvanse).

I have some questions that would like to hear from people that are/were on this medication to share:

I understand this is non-stimulating and seems to work akin to an antidepressant. Therefore, do I have to take it every day? Even on days I do not need ? With stimulant medication I only take it when doing theoretical work, and skip it when on the laboratory or other minor tasks and would never take it in days I'm not working, because I can't just interact with people and gives me a baseline anxiety the whole day.
What benefits did it gave you ?
Any prevailing side effects?
How does it compare with stimulant medication (after taking it for some weeks)?

For a bit of context:

I've been diagnosed for about 6 years now, and started with Ritalin XR. However, I could only keep using it for some months since it gave seriously side effects that persisted 3-5 months after stopping it. I later switched to Ritalin IR, which worked for some time and gave me less side effects. But it started to be ineffective after some months.

Then my doctor tried Elvanse (Vyvanse), it worked on keeping me focused, but the anxiety and the huge time frame of action of the drug led to me only taking it once or twice a week.

I'm now back on Ritalin IR, but always feel the anxiety and aversion to interact with people that I always feel with these 3 stimulants.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

One of my kids (1 of 2 with adhd) is on Strattera. He first tried ritalin, but that was really bad for him. Physically it was fine, but he ended up with a constant dark mood and dark thoughts that a 10 year old should not have.

He then tried Elvanse, and while it worked for his adhd, he seemed emotionally numbed. Unmedicated he was bouncing between the walls, but at least he was happy. On Elvanse he was just... numbed.

Now he's on Strattera, and he's not that bouncy anymore, and a much happier kid. And his parents aren't exhausted all the time either, which is a bonus. The only ill effects is that he sometimes gets a bit queazy for a short while after taking it, but it doesn't take long to pass. This could be a result of his aversion to pills, but bribing him with a glass of chocolate milk makes him take it without hesitation.

EDIT: For reference, his older brother had very good effect feom ritalin pretty much right away, so he's on concerta with reduced appetite as the only side effect. He eats like a T-rex in the eveneing to compensate, so it evens out with no issues.