Strattera

[asdfdoc]

Has anyone tried Strattera or any kind of selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor by any chance? Cymbalta? or Wellbutrin?

I just got prescribed Strattera for my ADHD a couple of days ago. It's giving me massive headache but I plan to stick with it for a couple of weeks.

[Hoping]

Has anyone tried Strattera or any kind of selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor by any chance? Cymbalta? or Wellbutrin?

I just got prescribed Strattera for my ADHD a couple of days ago. It's giving me massive headache but I plan to stick with it for a couple of weeks.

I, and a few others, have tried Wellbutrin (aka "bupropion"). Doing a quick search of the forum should high light those posts. I was taking about 300mg per day, but recently stopped. I've been on it for a couple years now, and just don't like the idea of being on medication like that long-term. That being said, I did notice that Wellbutrin gave me more energy and helped with sex drive during a time when POIS-depression was at an all time high. It didn't seem to help with other physical or cognitive symptoms for me. Still, SOME improvement is better than NO improvement. I encourage you to report back on your experience with the medication -- either here, or elsewhere on the board. Good luck!

[Nightingale]

I tried straterra about 8 years ago, and it didn't work for me, and it may have caused me to feel funny.  I was on Cymbalta for at least 4 years, but it gave me nightmares/vivid dreams and I it probably contributed to at least 2 psychotic episodes I experienced.  I felt and feel much better after coming off of it.  I was severely depressed (POIS had a part in it) but Cymbalta was not effective in stopping it.

[asdfdoc]

nightingale, what are u taking right now? anything helped you by any chance?

[asdfdoc]

I stopped Strattera due to massive headache. I read cornelius's post and was expecting this to work, but I quit in 5 days because of the damn headache...
Then, I started wellbutrin 4 days after quitting strattera. I had a psychotic experience with wellbutrin... I had delusions and most importantly, on wellbutrin, I completely lost empathy. I became completely indifferent. I wasn't able to feel sadness. I quit wellbutrin right after my psychotic experience, which happened on day 5 of wellbutrin.

I do have ADHD and social anxiety. I think I have borderline personality disorder as well, bpd is not yet diagnosed but I am sure I have it. My pdoc wants to go over this after I get my adhd in control. I hope my last string of hope, ritalin, works for me.. I am so sad.

[Nightingale]

Oh my goodness, asdfdoc, I'm SO SORRY to hear about the psychosis...  This is the danger with antidepressants, especially ones that increase dopamine.

Are you taking an antipsychotic?  They can help with social anxiety.  Ask your psych about a low dose of something.  What's worked for me has been Seroquel.

Borderline is very rare in men, but you should absolutely get evaluated for it if you wonder because it's so tough dealing with BPD on your own.  If you do find you have BPD you should find the most supportive therapist you can get.

As far as norepi uptake inhibitors, I may have suffered a psychotic episode while taking Cymbalta (SNRI) and Provigil (wakefulness promoting agent) and the same time.  I took Cymbalta for long time even afterwards, and I'll tell you I have felt much less edgy and had less scary dreams and images while being off it.

[Nightingale]

Oh just thought of this: for the ADHD, ask your doctor about Intuniv.  It's a norepinephrine-reducing med that happens to affect attention. It does this by working like an alpha-blocker, keeping norepinephrine in check

It is indicated for teenagers, but your doc might be open to prescribing it to you.  I had issues with memory on it that probably had to do with my antipsychotic interfering, but I had major benefits in terms of social anxiety and edginess in general.  They have used it to improve sleep in people with PTSD, and that's exactly the benefit I got. Plus, it's not a stimulant!

I found out it was not for me rather quickly though, and it is expensive.  If your doc puts you on it, ask for just a week's worth of starting dose.  If there are no problems, just call him/her and ask for more!

[asdfdoc]

thanks. I think even 100mg SR is too much for me. It did not help me at all with concentration. However, I found it to be very effective anti-depressant medication. I may come back to wellbutrin but to like 50mg or 25mg per day. It made me numb, loss of empathy.

I tried ritalin for the first time today. Oh boy, it worked for my ADHD. It wasn't what I expected. But my concentration improved a tiny bit and my vitals were within normal limits. My diastolic pressure went up to 100 for like 5 minutes but went right back down. I was on 5mg. I am going to try 2.5mg and 10mg to find the right dosage. The problem is ritalin only lasted me like 3 hours. Anyway, I was told by my doctor not to have sex for 2 weeks to see how I do with adhd medications w/o orgasm. I see progress with ritalin. =)

[Nightingale]

Cool, lets see how this works.  I'm interested in Ritalin myself.  I just got my records from a psychiatrist I saw back in 2005 who was managing my antidepressant and trying me on ADHD drugs.  I tried quite a few things like Adderall and Concerta to no avail.

[asdfdoc]

ritalin solved my ADHD! I am so happy! the downside is that I am super sensitive to dosage... the smallest available is 5mg, and I go thru phases where I concentrate better w/ some anxiety then hyper. I cut the pill into 2.5mg, works well but missing something. So I tried 3.75mg. Perfect. I've also tried 7.5 and 10mg. They just make me hyper. I have a very short therapeutic window for ritalin. It's not euphoric nor speedy in any means. My vitals are within normal limits. The other concern I have with ritalin is that it lasts so short. I feel it 1 hour after ingestion then it goes away around 2.5 hour mark, giving me only 1.5 hours of productivity. I Otherwise, I am still very happy that I found something that works for me. I plan to ask my doc to prescribe me something that lasts longer like concerta.

I also have a problem with frequent urination (more than 12x / day). I went to see a urologist and he prescribed me oxybutynin (this is for old people) for oversensitive bladder. I don't have any urinary tract disease or diabetes mellitus or insipitis. Docs n I think this is purely from psychological facture since when I perform surgery or fillings (I am a dentist) on patients, I never have to go pee. I never get distracted when I provide dental care as well because I am super focused to get things done under time attacks. Oxybutynin took an edge off peeing so much. And most importantly, and somehow, it makes my physical symptoms of POIS much better! I don't get that abdominal cramps the day after sex anymore on oxybutynin. I know it relaxes all the smooth muscles in the body so I guess it does that to my prostate and seminal glands as well. I feel much better! Ritalin takes care of the mental part of my POIS and oxybutynin for physical fatigue. I am not sure how it works but it's great.

[demografx]

I have also had good luck with low-dose Ritalin. And oxybutinin (but too much "backfires" and gives me dry mouth, thirst, and thus the inevitable [more frequent] urination).

[asdfdoc]

i've been on oxybutinin for a bit, and i've concluded that oxybutinin does nothing for me. It dries the hell out of my eyes and saliva. I look fatter and I feel fatter. All this water retention had to go. It did not help me at all with polyuria. Doc and I concluded that it's psychological (hormonal) cause.

ritalin was the one that significantly reduced # of times I go to bathroom in a day. It was decreased from 12-16 to less than 6 times a day. I am on daytrana btw. It's a wonderful medication. daytrana is a transdermal ritalin patch that releases constant amount of methylphenidate over  9 hours (up to 24 hours, I use for 14 hours/day). This has been the smoothest and the least side-effect med that've been on.

I definitely feel daytrana effect everytime I take it but I am not sure if it works all the time for my adhd symptoms. I feel that my senses are heightened but my concentration is hit or miss.

When I take a break from sex and take magnesium supplements, daytrana seems to work better for my adhd. I can't seem to isolate if it is the magnesium or not having sex that helps daytrana to work. I've been having problem because when I have sex I forget to take my magnesium supplemtns because I am so fatigued. lol...

Daytrana itself does not help me recover from POIS. I am still dead for the whole day or two...

Something funny happened today. I had my daytrana and didn't have sex for 2 days. I took my magnesium supplement for the first time in a while. I felt daytrana working like the first day I took it. At the same time, I've only been on this medication only for like 5 days, I can't really say much.

[haidcat]

On average I per 10 to 15 times a day literally 10 mins after I drink water I pee it right out. Leading To a funny situation where the more water I drink the more dehydrated I get. I discovered that it I was not taking in enough potassium I use Morton's no salt half a teaspoon of potassium chloride in the morning half a teaspoon at night with a large cup of water. It significantly reduced my urination frequency and made me much more hydrate. Worth looking into

[B_Daniel]

very small doses of ritalin help me as well.  But I don't care for the side effects, as mild as they are at that dose, it just feels unnatural.

I've found some success with wellbutrin, but only when i take it 2 days on, 2 days off.  don't know why. 

[asdfdoc]

been on daytrana (ritalin patch) for about a month now. I am on super low-dosage at about 7.5mg transdermal over 9 hours. that's eq of 3.75mg oral every 3-4 doses over 9 hours. I realized that it helps me tremendously with my ADHD. But there are days when it works and when it doesn't work. It is highly dependent of my sex routine. When it works, it's night and day difference. When it doesn't work, I am again hyper or sometimes have severe headaches.

I still have no idea if magnesium helps me with adhd or not. I think it's sex, what I found out is that this only works for me if I don't have sex for about 3 days and have a really restful sleep over 8 hours.

Another thing I've been kinda experimenting with is 5-htp and niacin like what other people suggested. Niacin is no-go for me. It does nothing to me. However, if I take 100mg capsule of 5-htp 30min-1hour before sex, I am less fatigued and my head is clear. Interestingly, if I take 5-htp with breakfast and put the daytrana patch on after sex day before, my ADHD is gone. I am still not sure what kind of conclusion to draw from this yet. But seeing for me how adderall and saint john's wort relieved my physical symptoms (with a lot of side effects) and how ritalin does not relieve my physical symptoms makes me wonder if serotonin system is also involved in pois along with dopamine, or it is solely serotonin problem with adhd being a separate problem. my pdoc is willing to prescribe my some ssri next month or so after my body gets used to ritalin patch. my pdoc has other reasons to prescribe ssri to me: anxiety, premature ejaculation and etc. i am not so optimistic after going through 6 months of failures.