Posted by Lasagne on June 17, 2003, at 14:50:40
In reply to Re: new on Straterra, posted by beppe3 on June 17, 2003, at 12:56:54
> Hi. I'm new to this chat room and Strattera. I've been taking 10mg of Lexapro for 2 mo. with little improvement. I've been struggling with fatigue and depression for the past 5 years.
> My doc prescribed Strattera with great enthusiasm and I've been a non compliant patient. I was more tired, unmotivated, foggy, bloated, bitter taste in mouth and stopped taking it due to the impact it was having on my daily functioning. He said all the side effects I was experiencing were psychosomatic.
> After reading some of your experiences I'm thinking I didn't give it a full trial. I only remained on 20mg. a.m. for 1 week.
> Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks!
> I won't be able to read replys until this evening.****REPLY: First of all, I think 20 mgs. is a small dose. Then again, I don't know how much you weigh. I weight 158 lbs and on 80 mgs. daily. I first started on 40 mgs. and then after 4 days I increased to 80 mgs. My son who weights 80 lbs. is on 40 mgs. daily.
I would suggest that you give the medication at least 6 weeks. At first I experienced the fatigue and fogginess amongst a bunch of other side effects. Now that I am past the 6 week mark and switched to taking all 80 mgs. at 7 p.m., I am noticing a big decrease in the side effects and I have more energy. I don't need to nap for as long as I used to and I am ready to wake up by 7 a.m. Before the Strattera I used to want to go back to bed after getting my kids off to school and then I had to take at least a 1 1/2-2 hour nap everyday after lunch. In the beginning the doctors recommend that you take half of your dose in the morning and then the other half in the late afternoon. I found this made me way too sleepy during the day. Once I switched to taking it all at 7 p.m. I slept better at night and then I woke up with more energy.
Have you also been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD? For years I suffered with depression and anxiety and just recently my doctor did an evaluation on me and came up with the diagnosis of ADD. He thinks that the source of my depression and anxiety is due to the years of trying to cope with my ADD symptoms. In combination with the above problems I have also had chronic problems with fatigue and fibromyalgia.
You might like to read a book called:
Women with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sari Solden (I found it at our local library) and see if the scenarios presented in the book hit home for you and if so, then you can talk to your doctor about doing a formal ADD/ADHD evaluation.
Prior to the Strattera I was already taking Prozac and Buspar. I still continue to take them with the Strattera and I am amazed at the improvements that have happened over the last 6 weeks. I went from being in a depressive episode with thoughts of wanting to die and now I feel like I am out of the cloud and can function so much better. Now that I know that I have ADD and have learned more about it, I see life differently and somehow have more peace about the struggles I have had during my life. I have gone through various times where I would get so frustrated as to why I couldn't do things the way other people do. So many times I felt buried by the bare minimum of life's requirements, while others were forging ahead. This was very discouraging because I am a very talented person and intelligent yet for a long time this was not readily apparent because of my ADD. It was difficult for me to focus on the good qualities that I have, despite the fact that many people have told me that they admire my talents. All I could see is that I couldn't keep up with the day to day stuff like others and since that is what the majority of our time is spent on, I felt so inadequate.
Lastly, it alarms me that your doctor would tell you that your claimed side effects are psychosomatic. You might want to consider finding somebody who is more compassionate than that. My doctor who is a family practitioner has always listened to me and validates whatever experiences I share with him. It's not easy taking medication and generally there are side effects, especially in the beginning of treatment. You need a doctor that you can work with closely and feel comfortable sharing with him/her without feeling like he/she is judging you as a crazy person who is making up side effects.
I asked my doctor if any of his other patients had experienced some of the side effects I was having, and he said no, but he didn't discount them either. That is when I went on Psycho Babble to post my experience to see if anybody else had the same things happen. Sure enough I got back replies with people claiming similar experiences. So, I guess the thing to take from this is that doctors don't know every single side effect that can happen. Everybody's body is different and responds differently. Thus, he shouldn't be suggesting that you have psychosomatic tendencies. Maybe I am over reacting to this, but from my years of experience with my own mental illness, one thing I do know is that negative unbelieving people in your life only make the situation worse. You can't expect to make positive progress under such conditions. It's important that you be heard and validated.
I hope something I have said here can help you out. Good Luck!
poster:Lasagne
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030614/msgs/234590.html