Posted by Lasagne on June 11, 2003, at 15:13:26
In reply to Strattera AND Adderall?, posted by Viridis on June 10, 2003, at 20:26:41
Reply to below post: My son was taking 40 mgs. of Metadate (slow release Ritalin). It stopped working well after about 5 or 6 months of doing great, so our doctor suggested that we try Strattera by itself. We did this for about a month. He would get 20 mgs. twice daily. The first week things went pretty well except that he was not as focused in the afternoons. We tried playing with the dose a bit but it still didn't give him satisfactory results to make it through his school work. So our doctor suggested that we combine the Metadate with the Strattera. So now he is taking 40 mgs. of Strattera and 20 mgs. of Metadate. It does a good job of controlling his symptoms until about 3:30 in the afternoon, which means the homework time is not easy to deal with. We tried uping his dose to 40 mgs. of Metadate but it made him too moody. Now it's the beginning of summer and we are going to try something different in hopes that we can get him better stabilized to start 6th grade. Although, he has been tolerable to be around with the combination of Strattera and Metadate, he definitely isn't doing as well as I have seen him do in the past with other stimulant treatments. I would say that the best effectiveness he ever got was from the Adderall, but over time he became resistant to it. Since then we have never been able to get him back to the level of effectiveness that he had on the Adderall. All I can say is that it is worth a try to combine the Strattera with a stimulant. I have been doing this for two years straight with my son and it is just a constant trial and error process. Because children are still growing it is I think more common to have these problems finding the right treatment and maintaining it. I wish you luck.
Original message:> I've been using low-dose Adderall for quite a while now (10 mg/day), and I find it helpful for ADD and depression. However, I'd like to try Strattera, and my pdoc is keen on this too. I'm wondering if others here have taken Strattera and Adderall (or another stimulant) simultaneously.
>
> I've seen comments elsewhere that suggest one stay with Adderall (or Ritalin etc.), at least while the Strattera is kicking in, while others say to discontinue the stimulant before starting Strattera. In the Strattera prescribing info, there's no contraindication listed for amphetamines etc.
>
> I plan to start the Strattera cautiously, at a low dose, since I'm sensitive to certain meds (Wellbutrin and SSRIs). I'm just wondering if anyone has used Adderall and related meds together with Strattera, how they made the transition, and so on. I'd like to have some feedback so that I discuss this in an informed way with my pdoc, who's very reasonable and open-minded, but also somewhat cautious. He doesn't mind mixing meds (within reason), and listens to what I say, but I'd like to be sure I know what I'm talking about.
>
> Thanks in advance!
poster:Lasagne
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030609/msgs/233205.html