Posted by zeugma on June 24, 2003, at 23:17:44
In reply to Re: Thoroughly annoyed at Strattera » zeugma, posted by Viridis on June 24, 2003, at 22:43:14
> Thanks -- I take 10 mg/day of Adderall per day as well, so I am using a stimulant with Strattera (totally OK with my pdoc). I use very little caffeine (typically one-two cups of tea and about half a cup of coffee per day). Do you really think this could be causing the side effects? Adderall really helps, so I don't want to discontinue it. But I like the Strattera as well, if the side effects would just go away.
Viridis,
I find the timing of caffeine to be key to how I can tolerate. I make a small pot of coffee (about 2+ cups) first thing in the morning, and it's fine. I take the Strattera with breakfast, usually while I'm still drinking the coffee. I've had no problems with that. If I have any more caffeine after that, my back and neck knot up and I get a tension headache and nervousness.
I guess what puzzles me a little (about Strattera) is that it FEELS so much like a stimulant. i haven't taken stims in years, but this seems to have a 'kick' like I'd imagine an amphetamine would. Do you find this also?
The thing is that my pdoc must really like this med- he gave me a YEAR to titrate up to a therapeutic dosage of nortriptyline, and every increase in dosage was my idea. I've been on the Strattera for about five weeks, and I've gone through several sample bottles at steadily-increasing dosages. I was running out of 60mg capsules so I called him and he asked me if I had any 40 mg caps left- he wanted me to try 80 mg. I tried it today and felt really organized at work. The drug seems to have a clarity-inducing effect that I wasn't expecting at all. So I feel that it actually complements the nortriptyline I also take (at night). Its' strange though that two drugs that supposedly have the same mechanism of action should feel subjectively so different. I worry about pharmacological redundancy, but my ADHD is severe enough to put up with a few s/e. Plus there's always fiber capsules to 'help things along.'
poster:zeugma
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030624/msgs/236828.html