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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by NKP on May 6, 2021, at 8:32:37
Greetings all.
I've been on atomoxetine for around a year, and my current dose is 60 mg / day.
I feel that the benefit that I derive from it does not justify the side-effects. I'm also skeptical that I even have ADHD. My wife thinks I do but I don't think so. As far as I can see I simply don't meet the diagnostic criteria. In particular, I had no signs of it as a small child.
It was only when I was 16 that I started having dysexecutive brain function which caused my grades to plummet.
The reason I'm on it was that I was hoping for an improvement in my executive brain function, but there isn't much of an improvement.
Mind you, working from home during the pandemic and so losing routine and structure hasn't helped either.
Some days I wander around in my pajamas for most of the day and only get around to showering in the late afternoon.
So I'm thinking that I gave it a shot but it hasn't really worked that well and I want to stop using it.
According to Eli Lilly, you can stop Strattera cold turkey. Would it be looking for trouble if I did this on my current dose?
My family medicine doctor did offer me Concerta but I'm too scared of addiction to go on it.
I'm also on Zoloft and Fluanxol both which work well and have relatively few side-effects compared to the Strattera.
My main side-effects from the atomoxetine are (i) sleepiness, (ii) I seem to no longer enjoy listening to music, (iii) dude specific side-effects, (iv) I'm worried about long-term heart effects.
Posted by undopaminergic on May 6, 2021, at 8:38:58
In reply to Can I stop 60 mg per day atomoxetine cold turkey?, posted by NKP on May 6, 2021, at 8:32:37
> Greetings all.
>Hi there.
> Can I stop 60 mg per day atomoxetine cold turkey?
>If I were you, I'd go cold turkey, but that is my favourite way of ending just about *any* drug, and I never had a problem with it -- not even with opiates.
However, it is generally recommended to taper off.
-undopaminergic
Posted by rjlockhart37 on May 6, 2021, at 14:05:46
In reply to Re: Can I stop 60 mg per day atomoxetine cold turkey?, posted by undopaminergic on May 6, 2021, at 8:38:58
i stopped it complwtly years ago in high school, it was a low dose, was 25mg capsule. I only stayed on it for 3-4 weeks. My doctor didnt taper me, we simply stopped it and went to adderall xr
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"Discontinuation of atomoxetine did not result in the development of an acute discontinuation syndrome and was well tolerated. It appears that atomoxetine may be discontinued without risk for symptom rebound or discontinuation-emergent adverse effects. Tapering of doses is not necessary when atomoxetine is discontinued"
Posted by linkadge on May 6, 2021, at 16:53:55
In reply to Can I stop 60 mg per day atomoxetine cold turkey?, posted by NKP on May 6, 2021, at 8:32:37
Similar to you, I was not diagnosed with ADHD as a child. However, I think the mix of depression, and side effects of SSRIs have led to executive dysfunction that is not improved by SSRIs alone.
I would taper atomoxetine, personally. Perhaps 10mg every 2-3 days.
Linkadge
Posted by NKP on June 22, 2021, at 15:07:33
In reply to Can I stop 60 mg per day atomoxetine cold turkey?, posted by NKP on May 6, 2021, at 8:32:37
I've been gradually reducing my atomoxetine dose over the past few weeks, from an original 60 mg/day, at a rate of roughly 10 mg/day less every week or so.
I've so far noticed two things:
(i) I used to have a bad nervous habit of biting my fingers (not my nails, but my actual fingers). High doses of NAC helped control this but caused irritability, plus there's a theoretical cancer risk from taking high dose NAC for long periods. At 60 mg/day of atomoxetine, this bad habit disappeared completely. Since I've been down to around 30 mg/day of atomoxetine, this bad habit has begun to return.
(ii) Today was my fifth day on 20 mg/day and I was a bit "slow". I made many mistakes while speaking, mixing up words and such. My thoughts also felt very slow.
I hope that (ii) will get better as my norepinephrine receptors resensitize. Is there anything I can do to hurry the process up?
This is the end of the thread.
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