ADHD

9644 readers

102 users here now

A casual community for people with ADHD

Values:

Acceptance, Openness, Understanding, Equality, Reciprocity.

Rules:

No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments.
No porn, gore, spam, or advertisements allowed.
Do not request for donations.
Do not link to other social media or paywalled content.
Do not gatekeep or diagnose.
Mark NSFW content accordingly.
No racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, or ageism.
Respectful venting, including dealing with oppressive neurotypical culture, is okay.
Discussing other neurological problems like autism, anxiety, ptsd, and brain injury are allowed.
Discussions regarding medication are allowed as long as you are describing your own situation and not telling others what to do (only qualified medical practitioners can prescribe medication).

Encouraged:

Funny memes.
Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
Questions on confusing situations.
Seeking and sharing support.
Engagement in our values.

Relevant Lemmy communities:

Neurodivergent Life Hacks

lemmy.world/c/adhd will happily promote other ND communities as long as said communities demonstrate that they share our values.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

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]

40 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I've been taking this (Atomoxetine) for at least 15 years. The biggest side effects for me are: Intense, but quick nausea about 3 hours after ingestion. It helps to take it with food. Lowered sex drive. Drowsiness.

I take it daily and its been the best drug for me, despite the side effects.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Does the drowsiness and lowered sex drive persist during the whole day ?

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

The drowsiness lasts a few hours (2-4?), but the decreased sex drive doesn't usually last as long (1-2) hours.
As long as I've been taking them regularly, both of these symptoms are more manageable. I've never felt it was unsafe to drive my car or anything, but your mileage may vary.