strattera anyone?

[pandas mom]

My DD7 started strattera 18mg this week. As a result of antibiotics and IVIg, we are enjoying a period free of anxiety, tics, OCD...However, impulsivity, memory, and attention issues still exist. We consulted with our neurologist and Dr. Murphy about starting medication to address these issues. She's come so far, but she's still working too hard to feel okay. We started a few days ago, and she's been irritable and moody (marked difference from the happy girl we usually have). I've been told to give it time to adjust. After the horrible mood swings she endured before she improved with IVIg, I can't believe I invited this back into the house. We started the meds. with good intentions. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this side effect after initiation of stratttera? Thanks!

[kimballot]

My son started on Straterra last summer. He is adult-sized and started with 40 mg. for a week or two and then went up to 80 mg. He had problems with dizziness and heart racing when he went up, so they bumped him back down to 40 mg for a month and then increased to 80. We've not seen any increases in rages or other side effects. He has had more frequent headaches since he started it, but we also changed antibiotics around that time, so that may be part of the headache situation.

 

Is it possible for you to titrated down to a lower dose for a while and build even more slowly?

[Mayzoo]

Here is a forum search for Strattera. I do not anyone on here personally who has used it, but I knew I had read it mentioned several times:

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=search&fromsearch=1

 

 

Well, sorry, the search criteria did not stay in, so just put in the word strattera. I think I had 3 pages of results when I did this.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Mayzoo

[MomWithOCDSon]

We asked about Straterra fairly early on in our PANDAS journey, primarily because it was an attention-performance med that Sammy Maloney had used for a period, and our DS and Sammy seem to have a lot in common both physically and mentally.

 

Our psych at the time said he had not found a whole lot of efficacy with Straterra and instead gave us Intuniv, another non-stimulant ADD/ADHD med. It made DS very sluggish, especially by afternoon, and, at times, lowered his blood pressure more than we liked. We found if we kept him up with regular snacks in the afternoon, after a few weeks, he seemed to "regulate" to the Intuniv. However, it never really did much to improve his focus. So, given the side effects, we dumped the med altogether after about 8 months, deciding it wasn't worth it.

 

What we have found to be very effective for DS's focus, however, is zinc. We use a SolaRay formula called Opti-Zinc, which is supposed to be a maximally bio-available formulation. I know there's a condition called KPU which causes zinc depletion in the body in some folks, and perhaps that's why DS benefits as much as he does from the supplementation (we've not had him tested for this condition, however). But I have to say the "post-zinc" DS and "pre-zinc" DS are light years apart with respect to focus! Quite honestly, for us, it's one of the few "natural" rememdies we've found to be infinitely more efficacious than the prescription med.

[pandas mom]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. We're going to give this medication a few more days and see how it goes. We're working with a naturopath, too, so I'm going to check in with her about zinc. Thanks- I'll keep you posted!