# Anybody tried Strattera?



## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

Im currently on Strattera but im not sure what to make of it. I seems that my anxiety has increased and im on day 4 on 18mg. I tried Reboxetine before but that sent my anxiety through the roof. Wellbutin made me irritated and somewhat more anxious than usual. Concerta made me superanxious and apparently raises NE more than DA.

Maybe raising the NE isnt that good for SA?

Please share your experiences. Is Strattera any different? Should i wait it out?

/R


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## karoloydi (Feb 18, 2010)

Rymdis said:


> Im currently on Strattera but im not sure what to make of it. I seems that my anxiety has increased and im on day 4 on 18mg. I tried Reboxetine before but that sent my anxiety through the roof. Wellbutin made me irritated and somewhat more anxious than usual. Concerta made me superanxious and apparently raises NE more than DA.
> 
> Maybe raising the NE isnt that good for SA?
> 
> ...


I am also interested in strattera. Wellbutrin was increasing my generalised anxiety as well. But only when I wasnt active. Wellbutrin made me irritated as well. So I am thinking that maybe strattera would be better for me cause it comes on lots of different strengths so its easier to control the dose. 
What dose of wellbutrin were you taking before? What do you think the equivalent dose of strattera os for 150mg of wellbutrin?
Only thing that made me worried about strattera were the frequent reports that it makes you have painful orgasms. Have you experienced anything like this?


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Atomoxetine acts as an NMDA receptor blocker in clinically relevant concentrations.

PMID: 20423340 
Status: In-Process 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is increasing evidence that not only the monoaminergic but also the glutamatergic system is involved in the pathophysiology of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Hyperactivity of glutamate metabolism might be causally related to a hypoactive state in the dopaminergic system. Atomoxetine, a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, is the first non-stimulant approved for the treatment of this disorder. Here we have evaluated the effects of atomoxetine on glutamate receptors in vitro. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was used to analyse the effect of atomoxetine on N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in cultured rodent cortical and hippocampal neurons as well as on NMDA receptors heterologously expressed in human TsA cells. KEY RESULTS: Atomoxetine blocked NMDA-induced membrane currents. Half-maximal inhibition emerged at about 3 microM which is in the range of clinically relevant concentrations found in plasma of patients treated with this drug. The inhibition was voltage-dependent, indicating an open-channel blocking mechanism. Furthermore, the inhibitory potency of atomoxetine did not vary when measured on NMDA receptors from different brain regions or with different subunit compositions. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The effective NMDA receptor antagonism by atomoxetine at low micromolar concentrations may be relevant to its clinical effects in the treatment of ADHD. Our data provide further evidence that altered glutamatergic transmission might play a role in ADHD pathophysiology.


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## karoloydi (Feb 18, 2010)

crayzyMed said:


> Atomoxetine acts as an NMDA receptor blocker in clinically relevant concentrations.
> 
> PMID: 20423340
> Status: In-Process
> ...


Yeah. memantine helped me with my ADHD a lot. From what I ve read its the glutamate/creatine ratio in the brain that plays role in adult ADHD:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=37b837e243debb215f630b42dd000471


> Background
> The dopaminergic system is thought to be essentially involved in the pathogenesis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there is also evidence for abnormalities in the glutamatergic system and recent theories focus on a disturbed interaction between the two systems as the essential pathogenetic mechanism of ADHD. In the present study, we wanted to test the hypothesis that prefrontal glutamate signals indirectly indicate dopaminergic dysfunction in adult patients with ADHD.
> Methods
> Twenty-eight adult patients with ADHD and 28 group-matched healthy volunteers were studied clinically and using chemical-shift MR spectroscopy (MRS) of the prefrontal cortex covering the anterior cingulate gyrus.
> ...


But look at this one. What does this mean? I am a bit confused. Does it say that high creatine in brain is bad for ADHD? Cause I ve read lots of studies that creatine is good for the brain. Or is it only bad when glutamate is high?

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cap.2006.0008


> Objective: The glutamatergic prefrontal-striatal pathway has been implicated previously in the neurobiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We used short echo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to examine glutamate in the prefrontal cortex, left striatum, and, as a control area, the occipital lobe.
> 
> Method: Thirteen treatment-naïve ADHD children and 10 healthy comparison subjects participated. All were males between the ages of 6 to 11 years of age. Twelve ADHD subjects were scanned after 8 weeks of treatment.
> 
> ...


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

I was offered Strattera today, but told my doctor I couldn't afford it. Its a really expensive medication that my drug coverage doesnt cover. Having had tried Wellbutrin SR and XL at 300-450mg, they never did anything good for my SA nor ADD.


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## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

karoloydi said:


> I am also interested in strattera. Wellbutrin was increasing my generalised anxiety as well. But only when I wasnt active. Wellbutrin made me irritated as well. So I am thinking that maybe strattera would be better for me cause it comes on lots of different strengths so its easier to control the dose.
> What dose of wellbutrin were you taking before? What do you think the equivalent dose of strattera os for 150mg of wellbutrin?
> Only thing that made me worried about strattera were the frequent reports that it makes you have painful orgasms. Have you experienced anything like this?


On 150mg Wellbutin i was ok but that didnt have any effect. After one week at 300mg the irritation and anxiety appeared. Tried this two times with the exact same result.

i have no idea if Strattera will help my SA or ADD but some say it have some anit-anxiety effect.

Personally im a bit sceptic to this for my SA but who knows.

/R


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## MissMay1977 (Oct 25, 2008)

I was prescribed strattera for my ADHD and it did not improve my symptoms. I quit taking it after about a month. I also took generic wellbutrin for depression and it relieved my depression but caused horrible bad breath and metallic taste in my mouth.

I now take Paxil and it has done wonders for my depression and my SA. I take a herbal product for my ADHD.


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## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

MissMay1977 said:


> I was prescribed strattera for my ADHD and it did not improve my symptoms. I quit taking it after about a month. I also took generic wellbutrin for depression and it relieved my depression but caused horrible bad breath and metallic taste in my mouth.
> 
> I now take Paxil and it has done wonders for my depression and my SA. I take a herbal product for my ADHD.


Did Strattera do anything for your SA?

Do u have any severe side-effects on Paxil? And what meds have you taken before? I rememer that for me Paxil was not that good for SA and the side-effects were horrible. Guess there are different types of SA.

What herbal are u taking btw?

/R


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## MissMay1977 (Oct 25, 2008)

Rymdis said:


> Did Strattera do anything for your SA?
> 
> Do u have any severe side-effects on Paxil? And what meds have you taken before? I rememer that for me Paxil was not that good for SA and the side-effects were horrible. Guess there are different types of SA.
> 
> ...


Strattera did nothing for my SA.

I had a few brain shocks at first with Paxil but not anymore.

I am taking a product that GNC makes called Stat:GET FOCUSED for my ADHD. It is about $17.00 for 7 packs.


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## silverfish (Sep 18, 2009)

Strattera is a weird, weird medication. I've taken it and it didn't do anything whatsoever for me. a lot of people don't think it really does anything but it does have some nasty side effects like 1/100 people on it for more than a year or two get appendicitis - and there's more stuff like that.

according to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomoxetine, it did not make it as an antidepressant...



> I am also interested in strattera. Wellbutrin was increasing my generalised anxiety as well. But only when I wasnt active. Wellbutrin made me irritated as well. So I am thinking that maybe strattera would be better for me cause it comes on lots of different strengths so its easier to control the dose.
> What dose of wellbutrin were you taking before? What do you think the equivalent dose of strattera os for 150mg of wellbutrin?


This quote concerned me because I am pretty sure that I've read that Wellbutrin actually often causes anxiety. A little bit of Google-ing, and I found this article on wellbutrin and anxiety that says wellbutrin can in like 15% of people cause serious anxiety as a side effect and that there is no scientific study clearly showing that it works as a treatment for anxiety.


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## Saqq (Dec 1, 2008)

been on it for about 2 weeks (40mg/day), so it should start kicking in soon, takes about 2 weeks like most ssri's/etc - so far nothing really though. Hopefully get switched to adderall next appointment 

Xanax seems to have an effect on me with Straterra in my system though, 2mg xanax feels pretty good, whereas without it, I'd take 10mg and barely feel any difference


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## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

Saqq said:


> been on it for about 2 weeks (40mg/day), so it should start kicking in soon, takes about 2 weeks like most ssri's/etc - so far nothing really though. Hopefully get switched to adderall next appointment
> 
> Xanax seems to have an effect on me with Straterra in my system though, 2mg xanax feels pretty good, whereas without it, I'd take 10mg and barely feel any difference


are u taking it for ADHD or SA? Yeah, 2 weeks should be enough to determine if it works or not. I guess things depends a lot on what others meds you are taking at the time. Imbalance can be really bad.

/R


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## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

LaRibbon said:


> I was supposed to try it for ADD, but was reluctant because I don't tolerate anticholinergic effects well. Eventually I got ritalin instead, I'm not sure what to make of it as I've only taken a few small doses, but so far there seems to be a mild reduction in anxiety (social and general) though it only seems to last a few hours.
> 
> I have tried prestiq (it's also noradrenergic) and that made me kind of agitated but didn't aggravate SA. Anticholinergic effects were severe though and I had to stop taking it.


What dose of Ritalin are you currently taking? From what i have read 99% of the people with anxiety problems get increased anxiety from that one. It even says in the information from the manufacture that this should not be given to people with marked anxiety


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## Rymdis (Mar 14, 2010)

I can feel that my Strattera is kicking in after 6 days now. Much more irritated and agitated but also a bit more energy  And this is only on 18mg/day. Similar feeling that i got from wellbutrin.

Many feel something 3-4 days after they started the treatment ive read.

/R


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Dr House said:


> I was offered Strattera today, but told my doctor I couldn't afford it.


I just looked it up and see the price is sky high (can't imagine why health insurance rates are through through the roof and into the stratosphere; such a total mystery).


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Rymdis said:


> What dose of Ritalin are you currently taking? From what i have read 99% of the people with anxiety problems get increased anxiety from that one. *It even says in the information from the manufacture that this should not be given to people with marked anxiety*


The same warning is found on dextroamphetamine, which I take -- and which doesn't increase my anxiety level at all. If one followed every contraindication, I'd never be taking an amphetamine, since you'd be hard pressed to find many with higher anxiety levels than me.

My Ritalin experience is limited, but it didn't seem to cause anxiety. At least Ritalin clearly didn't cause any significant increase in anxiety otherwise I'd certainly have noticed real fast. If it had any effect on my anxiety, it had to be relatively subtle since I can't say I noticed.

As for Wellbutrin, that's the pill that does nothing. Even at 450 mg it does nothing. Has a nice appetite suppressant effect, but that seems to be all it does for me. That effect is subtle though -- not like dextroamphetamine where take 10 mg and you will have no desire for food when it kicks in.


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## eppcheck (Jul 27, 2009)

UltraShy said:


> I just looked it up and see the price is sky high (can't imagine why health insurance rates are through through the roof and into the stratosphere; such a total mystery).


It's the manufacture's price not the insurance's that is through the stratosphere since it's only available as brand (I'm a defender of insurance since I work for them lol). If you don't have good coverage then insurance will pass that bill along to you. My copay is $50 and insurance is paying around $200. I'm not continuing it though. It has no effect whatsoever except killing my sex drive just like every other SSRI I've tried.


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## beaches09 (Feb 1, 2009)

Yeah wait at least a couple weeks. Like a lot of meds it takes some time to adjust.

Strattera's largest impact for me was waking up every single morning on less sleep than I would otherwise normally need and feeling more refreshed than ever in my life, each and every day. That by far and away was the best thing for me as I normally usually needed way too much sleep and if I didn't get enough I would be absolutely dead and disconnected inside. 2nd best was that it opened up my creativity tremendously, I was actually relaxed and able to teach myself how to make electronic music while on it. Where as normally I would be a total hyper-brain unable to relax enough to take the time to figure stuff out. It also got rid of a great deal of general anxiety. I don't remember in particular how it was with social anxiety though, it was a while ago and a bit blurred.


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## focuspocus (Sep 11, 2013)

Has anyone here been on an Starterra - memantine combination?

Im ADHD with bipolar and anxiety and currently on Ritalin- Starterra and it seems to be working fine (Starterra decreases the Ritalin induced anxiety for me).

I was thinking of asking my doc to add memantine to this combo, to help with my bipolar, but wanted to ask if anyone here has been on such a combo (Ritalin-Starterra-Memantine) or atleast (Starterra-Memantine) combo before?


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## ingenious53 (May 27, 2011)

Have you thought about using an anti-depressant? This might help with your anxiety.


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