Does Strattera cause apathy

Answer 1

Caroline, I have been doing a lot of research on Strattera in consideration of putting our 13-year-old son on it. In my research I found that many people found the medication to be more affective when it was given in the evening after dinner, or after bedtime snack. This would help the child sleep during the time they are usually lethargic, and by the time they wake up, they are in a good mood and ready for the day.

I was diagnosed with adult ADD, and was given a prescription for Straterra. I was so wiped out by it that I stopped taking it after the fourth day. I am a shift worker, and my doctor prescribed it knowing my hours. This medication was not only dangerous for me to take, it was irresponsible for my doctor to give it to me. I was falling asleep at the wheel. I am taking Wellbutrin at the moment, and have little to say about that. Tired of being a guinnea pig ...

My doctor did tell us that it makes children tired. Well, how can they concentrate in school if they are tired! I am concerned that my 10 year old acts tired, slow to speech. I highly recommend taking it at night especially if they have trouble sleeping anyway. I will not be contining this Stratera if I do not see the tiredness go away in the next few weeks because it seems painful for my son to stay upbeat enough to function.

I highly recommend the book "Below Grade, Wrong Grade " if you have beginner students. This might keep them from being on medications when they are older.

Yes. I find it more difficult to remain on task ot do tackle demmanding work while on Strattera. I have been on 40/day, 80/day and now on 60/day. I am male, 52 and otherwise in good health.

We asked my nephew's pediatrician about Strattera after his psychiatrist put him through a "lets try this" list of meds. It has changed his life. He is more focused, energetic, and happy. He also has his appetite back!

Straterra was initially energizing for me, but now, a month later, it's _very_ sedating.

My dose is(was) 25mg/day, BTW. My doctor has tried increasing to 50mg/day, but it's not helping. I will be discontinuing it soon if this doesn't go away.

I have been taking Strattera for 2 months. I am a 46 year old female. I started out on 40mgs. for the first week. During this time I became sleepy 2 hours after taking the medication. However, I was taking the medication in the evening so I did not affect work.Also I did interrupt my sleeping pattern at night. The 2nd week the dose was doubled to 80mgs. By the end of the second week I was no longer feeling sleepy after taking it. By the 3rd week my sleeping pattern was back to normal. So far I have found the medication very helpful with concentration. Other benefits for me include elimination of anxiousness and negative feedback loops in my thinking. I am currently experiencing no negative effects from the medication.

I'm not Adhd. However, depressed, due to chronic levels of high stress I am veeery disorganized. My little girl's doc. just supplemented her depakote with Adderall. She is acting like baby Hitler- brought out her ocd and project oriented side. I NEED to be alert in this combative environment otherwise known as home sweet home. I am SOOOO sleepy. (age 28) Is this an unusual side effect for adults? Does it go away? Nodding off now, Sleepy lady

I am a 33 year old male a recently diagnosed with ADHD. I took 40mg for the first four days and started on 60mg today, after a few weeks the dosage goes up to 80mg. I take it in the morning, the first few days I was incredibly tired. The first day I actually left work a couple hours early and went home to sleep. The next day was a little better, I made it through the day, then the third day it was normal and I managed to get eight hours of sleep, the other nights I did not and figured that was why I was tired. I have seen a number of other side effects as well and my concentration has not improved at all. I am willing to give this medication about a month to improve. I am highly intellectual so I have managed to build quite a few coping skills over the years to deal with my inability to concentrate while reading, etc. While I spend a good majority of my time reading at work I can do my job without medication, I am also pursuing another degree so my off hours are spent reading as well. I hope some of these side effects diminish or disappear.

Being 'highly intellectual' has little to do with ones ability to cope with ADD/ADHD. In fact, based upon what you said in your post, it sounds as if you 'cope' and function well enough without medication. However, if you feel you need drugs for your condition there are quite a few other alternatives you could try that won't cause lethargy. You should discuss these alternatives with your doctor.

I asked my doctor what to take because i felt un-focused on menial tasks at work and I've had ADD as far back as i can remember. I took Ritalin as a child but was able to do without it after a while.

When my doctor put me on Strattera, at first, i was drowsy, then i would be wide awake for a while. after a couple weeks though, it evened out and I found that taking it right before bed worked for me. I slept well and woke up at a decent hour feeling refreshed and motivated. And I've ALWAYS had trouble getting out of bed in the morning (SNOOZE button's are a curse).

I have certainly had severe bouts of lethargy while on Strattera. I also suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, but this is being treated with a CPAP machine and predates my Strattera intake. There may be other explanations as I take other medications which could be causal, either on their own, or in combination. I also have gut problems which could also cause lethargy and sleepiness.

In my case, the lethargy ocurs in recurrent bouts rather than being a stable condition. This suggests that Strattera, if involved, is not the only cause.

My solution is to take methlypenidate during this time. It generally helps to buck up my system if I take it for three or four days. After that time, it has the reverse effect. The tendency to fall asleep as soon as I lie down and doze off when sitting upright, is magnified dramatically.Very odd. It's as if there is a limited reservoir of whatever brain chemical is being released. (Does anyone else have this kind of reverse effect from methylphenidate (rather than Strattera), well before the drug wears off?)

I starting taking Stratter two weeks ago after being on Adderall. Adderall made me hyper and i could go a whole day without sleep. But, even being on Stattera for 2 weeks, I still feel sleepy. I have been taking it in the morning. I have been reading so many posts that say to try taking it in the evening. I am going to try it tonight. I did not take it this morning and I feel wide awake!

My son has been taking Strattera at night but he is very lethargic during the day. Does anyone else have this effect?

Answer 2

I've been Strattera for 3 years, and I'm in the process of trying to transition to Adderall. After getting past the initial excitment of Strattera making a big impact on my life, I started feeling detached, apathy and emotionless. It really dampened my joy of life and made me passionless. However, I was never depressed on it. I just felt flat on it. Everthing and everyone seemed pretty boring to me. I had a pretty good sex drive before strattera, but it also dampened my libdo somewhat--which of course, adds to the boringness.

I'm starting on adderall, and it doesn't have any of the problems. However, who knows if it will work as well as strattera or what new side effects it will have. There is no free rides with drugs. There's always side effects, but some drugs work better for others. When I told my Doctor about the side effects, he suggested that I try adderall. He said that people who really have add or adhd suffer less from the major side effects from adderall than those are boderline cases. One last the larger the doasge the stonger the side effect.