Topic

I am a 19 year old female, 2nd year of college. l have been prescribed Strattera and l am scheduled to begin taking it the first of the year. l talked with my doctor, but l still have a few questions. l wanna know what it really feels like when you take it.Is it something that l am going to possibly become dependent on?Will it change my personality?l am supposed to take it in the AM.So once l have been taking it for a while, am l still going to be able to function before l take it in the morning?Also, how soon will l see results? Weeks or months?If l take it at 7AM, how fast will it affect me?Also, l have insomnia-like symptoms, l do not sleep much and l am BOUNCING off the walls.In pre-op once, l was given a medication to help me relax and calm down, and instead l freaked out.Also, this may not be relevant, but when l have drank, and been drunk, l have actually been able to focus so so so well. Like a laser.It is weird.

 

ADHD/Strattera

Most likely, u wo not see any effect at when u first start taking it. It takes a while to get the dose right, & most likely u will start off with a dose that is lower than what will end up having a theraputic effect for u because ur doctor will want to see how u tolerate it & get a sense of how sensitive to it u will be. I've been told it can take up to a month to get the full effect of the medication, although I would say that u will probably notice some improvement sooner than that.

Since Strattera is not a stimulant, it does not keep u up at night. Actually, it often has the opposite effect - one of the common side effects is drowsiness. The pills r time released so the medication stays in ur system for a full 24 hours. When the medication causes excessive drowsiness, doctors will often have their patients take their pill before bed rather than in the morning. So the point is that u will be fine before u take it in the morning because u will still have enough from ur last dose.

Strattera was originally tested as an antidepressant, & it did not end up working to treat depression, & it turned out that it did work for ADHD. But the point is that it is more like an antidepressant than the stimulants traditionally used to treat ADHD. Stimulants have an effect that is almost immediate, & works well with a single dose, because they're basically like super-charged caffine. They actually activiate parts of the fight-or-flight response to stress (specifically, the parts involved in alertness), & increase norephinephrine & epinephrine (adrenaline) levels only as long as the drug is actually in ur system (a few hours). Strattera, on the other hand, works by holding ur norepinephrine level pretty constant at a higher level on a long-term basis. It works by preventing reuptake of norepinephrine in the brain so that over time, levels increase. It is a lot like how certain types of antidepressants work, except it is acting of a different neurotransmitter.

As far as I know, you're not likely to become dependent on Strattera, although for it to work properly u do need to take it regularly. It should not change ur personality appart from improving attention & reducing impulsivity.

That said, these r all perfectly legitimate questions to ask ur doctor. Hopefully he or she knows quite a bit more about this than I do, & u should not agree to take any medication until ur doctor has answered all the questions u have about it.

 

ADHD/Strattera

My son took strattera for a while, at first it did affect his sleep, after about 2 weeks the problem went away.

I noticed a change in about 40 minutes to an hour. He did change, but it was a good change. He was much more focused and easier to deal with. He said the medication helped him, it made all of the other voices quiet so that he could hear the right ones.

Your perception of what you are like when you are drunk is very altered.