Does Adderall make you have mood swings?

Answer 1

One of the main features of adult adhd seems to be mood swings.

These are very rapid and can occur up to 2-3 times a day or a particular mood will last up to several days, not more. This is in contrast to Bipolar disorder where the moods (depressed or elated) last weeks or months at a time.

The mood in adhd is both reactive, in response to the environment around you and spontaneous, just coming out of nowhere. People with the adhd seem to be hyperreactive to their environment, so things that would only alter mood slightly for those without adhd, can make massive differences to someone with adhd. E.G. An adhd person may get quite elated in the presence of a member of the opposite sex they are attracted to or have sudden crashes in their mood after negative comments are made about them.

Also in adhd, moods (such as elation or depression) can come completely out of the blue with no reason at all. A sudden wave of elation or a crashing depression can just occur within the mind from nowhere.

As opposed to borderline personality disorder, when low, someone with adhd can feel suicidal but the mood does not stay low long enough for them to do it (of course there are exceptions). Borderline personality disordered people have rapid mood swings as well, but these are usually different levels of depression and they don't often feel normal.

Resting mood state may not be normal in adhd, so it can be on the elated side or the depressed side and swing from this resting position in either direction.

The important thing that distinguishes the mood swings in adhd from bipolar is not only the length of time in the swing (shorter for adhd) but also that in adhd it is not severe. There may be rapid speech in adhd, with rhyming, talking off the point and singing, but when elated there are no grandiose delusions (the person does not think they are special). in fact they may be showing off, but it will tongue-in-cheek and when questioned at a deeper level, they will admit they are joking and low self-esteem is nearly always present in adhd regardless of the mood.

The other complicating factor in all this, if this wasn't bad enough as it is, is that independent of the adhd, someone with adhd, may also be suffereing with bipolar (about 10% of bipolars) or maybe suffering with borderline personality disorder or even all 3. Depressive episodes may also be superimposed on an adhd background, which will need treatment in their own right with antidepressants.

Answer 2

Strattera and Mood SwingsStrattera does cause mood swings. I am 28 yrs old and been on Strattera for 2 weeks. I've noticed that my behavior has been totally inappropriate in the last two weeks that I've been taking Strattera. I am much more sensitive to emotions such as anger, irritability, and have negative thoughts as I analyze everything. As I'm currently planning a wedding in a few months my stress level would be generally higher; the Strattera in my system is just messing with my emotions even higher. The benefits of the drug are not even close to the negatives it causes. I have many side effects and lets not forget the sexual ones. Guys, I can honestly say..pay attention to the way this stuff effects your body. I have never had any side effects from medications but Strattera. I just don't feel the same sexually since I started taking Strattera and as I have read this forum I'm not the only one.

Here's more:

• I am an adult, age 44, and was diagnosed a few months ago with ADD. The first medication I tried was a low dose of XR Adderall. It raised my blood pressure and within a month I quit taking it. Then I began taking Strattera, 40 mg. and since I usually like to go very slowly before increasing to the recommended dose by my doctor, (he wanted me to do 40 mg, for two weeks, then 60 mg for two weeks and possibly 80 mg after that). I have been on the 40 mg for a month and I was about to move onto the 60 mg.

But, here's what has happened: I had the usual side effects, slightly upset stomach, dry mouth, insomnia ... these were mild, but noticeable, and they did go away very slowly. I was just about done feeling the side effects at the one month mark but I have noticed a BIG difference in my IRRITABILITY levels. It took me a while to finally figure out that it was the Strattera, and not just me, or PMS or the moon or whatever. I would have something occur that would make me feel irritable, and my normal response is to let it pass naturally and it does. Very quickly.

However, on the Strattera, I have been feeling irritable almost DAILY and it DOES NOT PASS quickly! In fact just the past three days, whenever I have come across these irritable feelings they hang on for a LONG time and actually tend to become almost RAGEFUL in strength, which is NOT me except for years ago when I was first diagnosed with depression and had never been on any meds. The rage feeling is so overwhelming that soon my eyes tear up and want to cry. It took me about 4 of these daily events before I realized that it was the Strattera! I am not willing to see if this goes away; it is too disruptive and I have a fairly stressful life at this time, which does NOT need any extra factors. I also have two young boys and I don't like to be irritable with them any more than we are used to! HA! I think that ANY med needs to be given a good month to adjust to -- the worst side effects are generally in the beginning two weeks and gradually decrease over time. I think that my particular metabolism is a bit slower than most and it takes me a month to get the full effect of any side effects that I might have. That has been the case with the Strattera as well. As for any BENEFITS with the drug in my experience, I would say that I didn't notice any but then I was on the lower of the doses my doctor recommended. I won't know if it would have addressed the ADD. I won't wait through the irritability to see!

• My 14 year old son was switched slowly from Ritalin to Strattera, and then slowly increased the dose. As the dose increased so did the amount of his anger. So we just increased the medication more until he was on the maximum medication, which is when he blew up at school and got suspended. I still hadn't figured it out, and he had gotten so angry that he had to go to bed with a horrible headache and his face turned beet red several times. Then he told me he hated his life and wanted to kill himself, when 10 minutes before we were all smiling and happy. That is when I took him off everything. We have been watching his diet, and he is doing okay. Still having problems forgetting things, but the mood swings were a much bigger problem.

• I have been on Strattera now for about 6 months. I am currently taking 80 mg...was on Adderall XR before but was switched due to increased heart rate. While I have seen benefits relating to increased organization and productivity (almost to a compulsive nature) the irritability is horrible. At first I thought maybe it was hormonal or something, but I am certain now that it is related to the meds. I find myself having ZERO patience. I am frazzled by the smallest of things and feel the anger rise to a point where it feels like the blood is rushing through all extremities. I am rude to those I work with and have put my boyfriend through the ringer. I find I have this pessimistic outlook on things that I previously never had. In addition to the extreme moodiness, I also am sleeping very lightly and wake up throughout the night. Hopes this helps...I actually have a call into my doctor to what we can do. For me, the cons of Strattera far outweigh the benefits.

• I take 40mg of strattera and 10mg of Lexapro. My moods became stable with lexapro, and the strattera is making me crazy. I am very hard to be around because I am easily irritated. My girlfriend has noticed a big change since I started strattera. I am more focused with work, but I am hurting inside. I am 20 years old, male, 200 pounds. I was fine for maybe the first month, but I seem to be getting a lot worse. Things that are usually nothing to me drive me crazy. I fight a lot more with my girlfriend because I am so all over the place with my moods. I am going to stop the strattera and stay with the Lexapro. I am happy to see I am not the only one. I would appreciate any other suggestions

• My son is 8 years old. Diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia. I know I sound like a mom in denial here, but I promis Austin has NEVER been a discipline problem. He has NEVER had his folder signed at school. Doctor put him on Adderol and we had really bad side effects. Austin, who is usually very likable and outgoing, turned inward and became very quiet and unsocial. Again, not a behavioral problem, but just completely anti-social. We tried Staterra in December. Started with the trial pack and then went to 40 mg. We have given it a try, but gosh, he has become so unfocused and hyper and back talking at school. He become a behavioral problem at school. His friends even started backing away. This is VERY unlike him and the teacher and his tutor both, asked that I reevaluate my decision to put him on Strattera. In fact his teacher said he is like a time bomb waiting to go off. I have heard wonderful stories about Strattera, I desperately wanted it to work. I liked the idea that it wasn't a stimulant, but he has just become so obnoxious and out of control we are going to stop taking the Strattera.

• My 16 year old daughter has been on strattera for 3 weeks. She has slowly increased her dose as prescribed. Her moods are now almost unbearable. If she isn't crying, she is yelling and being very rude. This behavior is not normal for her. She is the most caring and compassionate person I know. She came to me today and asked if she could quit taking the meds. She is afraid of her behavior. I will not give her any more doses.

• My 8 year old son was started on Strattera 25 for 4 days and then increased to 40mg daily. After about 4 weeks both my husband and I noticed a sharp increase in our son's irritability and also a great increase in oppositional behavior. We saw the physician that prescribed the Strattera and he increased my son's Wellbutrin but didn't stop or change the strattera dose. The other night my son had a rage like episode over a trivial issue and proceeded to hit himself in the head and tried to bang his head against the wall. He verbalized the desire to not keep living although it was not suicidal idealization. I decided to stop the strattera and notified the physician. Several days later my son is much calmer and not exhibiting the untoward behavior any longer. In addition, his appetite has improved greatly. So it appears to me that physicians need to be really aware that these behaviors can come from this drug and if the side effects out weigh the benefits why give it to your child? Has anyone else noticed these side effects with their children on Strattera?

• My 16 year old has had increasing rage related mood swings since being on Strattera. We have not seen the benefit of her being able to focus in school as we had with stimulants, but having been on a high dose, she would be somewhat moody coming down from the stimulants. She was on 80 mgs in the am and slept all the time. We switched to 40 in am and 40 at pm. There was no progress in focusing in school. We cut her back to 40 in the am and her moods became increasingly worse. After missing one dose, then skipping the next day (to start taking meds in evening), rage got the best of her and she resulted in needing Psyche assistance. The withdrawal from Strattera was even worse than the mood swings while she was on it. She has now been 4 days Strattera free and is happy, her mood is stable, she is laughing, enjoying herself, pleasant, polite, but yet still show some hyperactivity. I can handle the hyperactivity and will get her involved in lots of physical activities to get rid of some of her energy. Never again would I allow my daughter to be put on Strattera. As far as the stimulants, they are great in small doses. For her, her metabolism was so fast that she needed larger amounts to be effective in focusing her in school, thus the irritability when coming off stimulants in the evening. My thoughts, YES, STRATTERA DOES CAUSE HORRIBLE MOOD SWINGS.

• The mood swings, irritability, rage, rudeness, anger, tiredness, and other negative behaviors displayed by my daughter are related to her use of Strattera. Lilly is making a fortune on this medication but, while it notes mood swings and irritability, the extent of these side effects are not listed by Lilly's information packaging and many physicians and psychiatrists are unaware of the extreme nature of the negative effects of Stratters. I intend to have my daughter's psychiatrist and neurologist both send informational side-effect forms to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). While these forms are extensive and a hassle to the physicians, this information needs to get to those who prescribe and to those who will use this drug. The information posted on this board needs to get to the FDA and to Lilly so others will be properly informed of the horrible mood effects that Strattera can cause. I would beg each of you to request your prescribing doctor to contact the FDA with your comments about Strattera. There is enough anger in this world and we don't need a drug that is being give widely to children and adults alike to add to it. Best of luck to all of you.

• I will be starting strattera after I finish getting off another medication, they don't mix, that's why the doctor said. I always ask about side effects, and I always research the medication as much as possible. I appreciate if someone or all of you here e-mail me and let me know what your side effects are/were. Thank you

• I've been on it a month and haven't had any mood swings as far as I can recall. I do have some severe bouts of lethargy, which are depressing because I have no energy during them, but no other mood side effects as yet.

• I've been on Strattera for a month. At first I started with 40 mg for a week and my blood pressure shot up to 150/90 and my pulse was 106 (usually in the 60's). Got off for a week. Started again at 20 mg and very slowly built up to 40 then 50.

Long story short . . . I'm very moody, depressed, irritable. I cried for hours last night thinking about my mom who passed away 4 years ago.

My husband and I rarely fight and we've gotten into 3 fights since I've been on the med.

I've snapped at people at work for no reason and I just feel miserable.

And at first I was feeling great benefits from the med, focus, concentration, motivation, etc. Now - about the only benefit I'm seeing is I'm able to pay attention to conversations and not interrupt people.

I see my shrink on Tuesday. I'm telling her I won't be taking this crap anymore. :)

• Since I am under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress, I didn't associate my irritability with Strattera until I had been on it for a couple of months. In addition to making me very angry most of the time, it increased my sex drive to an unreasonable level, when contributed to my grouchiness. So I don't really know if it helped my ADD. I was too agitated to concentrate.

• I have a 10 year old boy who has been on Strattera for almost a year. He hates the medicine. He says it hurts when he takes it. He has been very angry and I have been concerned about his constant self-abuse, like hitting his head on the wall and scratching his face. I thought it was the Strattera wearing off. I had no idea it WAS the Strattera. His moods have been all over the board. Low and bored, angry and upset, hysterical and screaming. I feel so bad. I didn't know.

• Oh my gosh, yes. I got this link from another website now that I've been off it for nearly a month. I was on it for 2-3 months. It was sheer hell. I was so irritable, angry, and raging. I, too, thought it might be hormones (I'm a 50 year old female), but the correlation with the meds finally became clear to me.

What gets me is that my therapist seems to think I am nuts for reacting this way. I tried to hang in there because I wanted so much to improve my focus and organization -- and I think it might have helped some -- but the price of having a Mr. Hyde personality definitely was not worth it.

I still can't believe the words from the posts I've read here -- they describe precisely what happened to me on Straterra. And the more I read about it and how quickly it went to market to simply provide a non-controlled substance for ADHDers, the more frightening it becomes. If it really helps some people, fine, but how will people know about the side effects with so many medical personnel so certain of Lily's good intentions (ha!) and so unwilling to listen to their patients who, of course, do not speak with the authority of controlled scientific studies.

I hate to imagine what this drug may be doing to children who must have a harder time articulating feeling "different" and not themselves -- not to mention that a drug could make them angry and mean.

• My 9 year old son was put on Strattera for about 3 months. Not only was he incredibly irritable, he became compulsive and manic. He also had a short episode where he became delusional. After that we took him off and it was like watching him come out of a trance. These medications are not fully tested and if they are, the bad stuff is not getting reported.

• My twelve year old son Kevin has been on Strattera for about the past year. He has ADHD and has been on several different ADHD medicines, but they always, even did not work or made him lose too much weight or caused mood swings. We thought that Strattera was the answer to our prayers. We could have never been more wrong. Kevin was once a happy, loving, caring, easy going, and making pretty good grades; Now Kevin doesn't care about anything at all. He has failed the 6th grade, gotten into constant trouble at school, become rude and disrespectful. He has constant mood swings, that can cause him to cry easily or if angered, to become violent. This has been the most horrible experience of my life, seeing my son go through all this. Our doctor didn't tell us that this so called wonder drug, would cause so much damage. I thank God that I found this web-site today, because we have felt so extremely lost, with not knowing what to do next to make this situation better. What ever you do, don't ever put your chid or an adult on Strattera. I hope with all my heart that this helps someone, who needs answers. Good Luck to any going through this and May God be with you to help you through it.

• Yes, Strattera causes mood swings, rashes and other side effects. My son acquired a rash throughout school and had mood swings of crying a lot and angry. Upset stomach too on only 25 mg. When school let out I took him off and within a week his attitude changed, he doesn't cry like he used to and not as angry either. He is 12 yrs. old.

• Most definitely. My 10-year-old son told me that he feels like he's going to explode and hurt someone which is so far out of character for him, that I discontinued Strattera the next day. This conversation occurred minutes after we were laughing and having a good time. It really scared me to hear him talk this way. Je also became a bit compulsive - feeling the need to be clean. He also became uninterested or "lazy" acting and it was summer with a pool in the backyard! Too many negatives to continue with the med.

• I have been on straterra for 7 months now after 3 months I saw a significant drop in all the major side effects (i.e. appetite loss, sleepiness, dizziness....)I am 29 years old. this is the first med I have ever tried for my adhd. I love the way it makes me feel and behave except when I have my period. I can say the other 3 weeks of my life are of better quality but I have to do damage control from the one that I pms on. My children see mom lose it and my poor husband is usually the one whom I have such an issue with. these rages last anywhere from an hour to days but I feel like I want to divorce him and leave my life behind due to anger and a few hours later (after I call or e-mail him a horrible tirade at his office) I realize that it is stupid, and I feel totally embarrassed. I know it isn't me and my husband just tells me how much he loves me (the saint) anyways.I still don't like putting my family through this. Other than chaining myself to the radiator I don't know what to do. Straterra has given me my good nights sleep back and calmed my racing mind.those things are awesome so which would my family rather have Me all adhd or once a month psycho woman?

• My daughter started on 18mg for 3 weeks, then the Dr. upped the dosage to 25mg. She has been on 25 for 5 days now, and she is experiencing unbelievable mood swings and temper tantrums. She even tells me she doesn't want to get angry, she just can't help herself. I have a call in to our Dr., and am thankful to have been able to read these other accounts. I think the meds may be causing her behavior.

• Well I am glad I am not the only one experiencing these horrible mood swings! The other day, I completely snapped at my boss at work. This type of behavior is not normal for me. I am a 26 year old female and have been on Strattera for about 2 months. I have had no problems (other than nausea) and then suddenly, I began experiencing frustration and irritability. I am not sure that dealing with these emotional outbursts is worth the positives of the medication. Any suggestions on minimizing the emotional outbursts of Strattera other than caffeine? Thanks.

• I am sitting here with great emotion seeing if I can put into words exactly what I want to say. As a nurse I wanted to help my husband who has been diagnosed with ADHD for his childhood and adult years. He has been taking adderal for the three years that we have been married off and on. I was excited like everyone else was at this break through medicine that is not a controlled substance. Finally something that would work well. Oh how was I wrong. My husband was on this medicine for two months. I saw drastic mood swings that brought new meaning to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. He was erratic with his behavior and you never quite knew what to expect. I did not know what to think and we were told by his family Dr to give the medicine time to work. Our family also endured the mood swings as well. His performance at work was failing. No to mention his home life. He had no patience with the children or myself. He had no control and this medicine made it 1,000 times worse. I would advise anyone taking this medicine to talk to your Dr if you notice any of these symptoms. If you do not quite feel right. If you are feeling increasingly angry and out of control. This is not how the medicine should make you feel.

• As a result of taking this medicine my husband struck two of our children. This has been a huge nightmare for our entire family. If he had been on his adderal this would not have happened. Strattera may work very well for some.

• I'm so glad to find that I'm not alone in this complete nightmare. I'm a 35 year old male who's very physically fit and always on the move. The one thing I'm most proud about is I'm a Daddy of 4 great kids and love every moment I'm with them. I was easily diagnosed as having ADHD from as young as 5 and have been on Ritalin (K-12), chose to be on nothing (18-30), Adderall (30-35) and most recently Strattera. My doctor felt 4 months ago that he should try switching me to Strattera, because it was this new miracle drug and between us, I'm fairly sure some if not all of our doctors are getting incentives to switch their patients.

I'm the type of person that constantly goes out of their way to help others, I've coached soccer (recreational.- travel) for 13+ years, I've been the Cookie Dad for my daughters Brownie Troops, Assistant Pack Leader for my sons Cub Scout Pack, joined the Navy Reserves 2 years ago (because I felt I needed to help in any way I could after 9/11) and assist several other volunteer groups. Now I'm currently separated from my wife, have been banned for LIFE from volunteer work in my community, lost two of my kids to my ex-wife (which took me 7 years and $20,000.00 in legal bills to get full custody of them), have been put in jail overnight (first and last time I hope), drained my savings to stay alive (homeless currently) and it's possible I could be going back to jail and or have a conviction on my record after my court case next week. A conviction as you might be aware would destroy my future ability to secure a good job, ban me from ever working as a volunteer with kids again and be dropped from the Navy (only after they get their chance to rip into me too - because the military then charges you for the same offense(s) that the civilian courts do - double jeopardy).

To make it short my life has become a living nightmare beyond imagination … All because of the anger that took me over after being on Strattera. I truly became a modern day Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and now all I am is scared and alone.

Four months ago, after being switched to Strattera I informed my wife that I couldn't feel any difference (with regards to positive effects), but she saw the negatives. I became irritable, and completely not like myself, for one thing I didn't mind entertaining the verbal battles that occurred in our marriage and plunged recklessly into ripping her apart verbally (please note I love my wife with all my heart and soul - she's truly my soul mate and my best friend). Well these verbal assaults, regardless the fact that we both knew were the medication talking and not me took their toll and started to systematically destroy our marriage and our friendship. On top of this, we have a merged family (like the Brady Bunch) I brought in two kids and she brought in two kids into the marriage. Blended families are already tough, now place in a grown man with medically induced anger problem. (3rd week on Strattera) On my wife's BIRTHDAY I dropped her off at her favorite hair saloon to have them pamper her, plus since I needed the extra bonus points for being such a jerk to her, I hauled all the kids to the local car rental agency. Well I rented her a brand new, completely optioned out Suburban, so that we could do a fun family trip the following day. While I was in the office my biological son (12 years old) came to me and told me that my 6 year old step son was being a problem - I went out there to find that he was using permanent marker to draw on the seats of our Minivan and throwing video cassettes into the heads of the other kids in the Minivan. I could feel my anger going throw the roof (still the sane side of me was saying he's just a 6 year old kid being a kid) so I yelled at him to behave and to sit still for 5 more minutes, giving me time to get the keys to the Suburban. I turned around and saw him (with complete anger on his face) kick the back of my biological daughters head (he thought she took one of his toys) not once but twice before I could get to him. I reached into the back seat and PUNCHED this little 6 year old in the SHOULDER (left no marks or bruises) 3 times and yelled at him. Naturally as soon as we picked up my wife, I was told on by the kids - now our relationship was hitting all new lows. (She was screaming you hit my son on my BIRTHDAY!!!)

(4th week on Strattera) This week my biological son for some reason only known to him, started tormenting my 6 year old step son. This not only got me angry, but sent my wife straight into new levels of frustration, where she was using foul language and telling me that I was very close to being homeless. After dinner one night my wife and I got up and went to watch a little TV while the kids finished their dinner. Not five minutes later, my 6 year old came running into the room with spaghetti all over his face. My son had gotten out of his chair and on the way to rinsing off his plate, he grabbed the back of the 6 year olds head and pushed it into his full plate of spaghetti, thinking it was funny. I could feel my anger growing (again the sane side of me was saying they're just kids being kids) so I yelled at him to go to his room and explained that he would be in there for the rest of the night. My wife lost it at this point (as anyone would) and ran up the stares after him and sent him back down to me yelling all the while at the top of her voice to "TAKE CARE OF IT" - she inserted several words I wont repeat within the process. My medically induced mind is telling me that she wants me to spank him, but somewhere inside me was yelling please don't hurt him (my anger was growing again). I slowly took two steps towards him and he turned to walk away from me, I stopped his escape by pushing him into the nearest wall (which he dented with his shoulder), I grabbed his shoulder and slowly pushed him to the ground, where I then held his head to the carpet and yelled at him to recognize that this is what he was doing to his little brother (left no marks or bruises). The absolute fear in his eyes woke me up and I immediately let him up and sent him back to his room. At this point my wife has completely lost it and runs up the stars after him, telling him she never meant for that to happen - I just sat back down in the chair thinking "God please let me wake up". (5th week on Strattera) - I QUIT TAKING IT My wife calls my kids school and tells them what happened (at this point she's scared for the kids and wants me to get help), so the counties local Social Service office sends personnel to do a report (which their STILL writing today) and has me sign something stating that I would never touch my kids in anger again (which I signed immediately). Then they found out through my wife and kids what happened when I punched my 6 year old. At that point they requested an interview with me at the local Sheriffs office, because one of there investigator needed to speak with me and had a few questions about what happened. I told them what had happened and was promptly placed under arrest, read my rights, snuggly fitted in the investigators hand-cuffs, handed two counts of "Assault on a Child" and placed in a cell.

Now that I'm off Strattera I beg for forgiveness and promise to make things better. But can anyone tell me how to take fear out of loved ones that lived with a grown man who was under the control of Medically Induced Anger. Even now after loosing my two kids (I was highly recommended to relinquish my parental responsibilities to my ex-wife), being forced to drop all coaching and volunteer responsibilities (my arrest was in the local papers), social services told my wife that if I was still living in the home with the remaining two children that they would charge her with Criminal Child Neglect and place her kids in Foster Care. Now I'm homeless and looking at a going to court next week, possibly to do more jail time and a conviction that will void the rest of my life.

"God - please let me wake up"

Strattera only needs 4 weeks to destroy your life … I'm the proof

U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) PHONE: General info on Strattera and other drugs: 1 (888) 463-6332 or 1 (888) INFO - FDA Report problems with Strattera: 1 (800) 332-1088 WEB: General info on Strattera: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2002/ANS01177.HTML Report problems with Strattera: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

• My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 5. He is 15yr old now, and had been doing really well on Adderall. But because he has a circulation problem they took him off of Adderall and put him on Strattera. Now he has to take 50mg of Zoloft along with the Strattera, because of the extreme mood swings. Before the Zoloft, he had even gone to the extreme of cutting his wrist with a razor blade, and broke his bedroom door with his head, fist and feet. He is doing alot better now, and feels that the Zoloft really helps him feel normal again.

• My 12 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years ago and I have been pressured by many people to put him on a medication. After I was looked down upon and treated as a neglectful mother, I finally decided to give Strattera a try. I was told by a specific mental health facility that it is extremely rare to have side effects. The only side effect that I was told to watch out for was maybe a loss off appetite. My son was started off on 20 mg and after a few weeks the dosage was raised to 40 mg. I began to see extreme mood swings in my son. He began to express that he wanted to harm other people and wanted to harm himself. In his outbursts, he put numerous holes in the walls of our home. The last frightening incident, he pounded his head on the wall repeatedly until a huge hole was made. He then ran into the kitchen and attempted to open the drawer that contained sharp knives but I was able to block him from opening it. While holding him and trying to reach for our telephone to call 911, he grabbed a butter knife from another drawer and began sawing at his wrist! I ended up pinning him down by our front door while I called 911. I had to restrain him until they showed up to help. He was Baker Acted and they placed him into a nearby mental health facility. The following day, I received a phone call from the facility. They wanted my verbal consent to continue giving him Strattera! I expressed my concerns about continuing it and I mentioned how I had seen a commercial for Strattera and one of the side effects was mood swings. They once again reassured me that it would be best to continue giving it to him. I gave my consent reluctantly. Shortly after my son came home, I noticed his mood swings were still happening. I decided to just stop giving him the medication. I was so afraid that he would harm himself again and the next time he might have been successful. It was the BEST thing I could have ever done! It has been a couple of months and he is doing great! Never again will I be manipulated into giving any of my children any kind of similar medication.

• At 41 years old, I have been prescribed Strattera (60 mg) to treat Adult ADD. Into my third week on on the medication, I have weathered the awful nausea, but have accomplished more projects (actually COMPLETED them) than the last six months combined! My husband, however, insists he sees a change in my mood. The only thing I notice is that I don't seem to laugh as much as I did before. Could it be that I was too busy and focused to find humor in things lately... or could the drug be the cause?

• I was a big believer in this medication but I have become so angry and mean and downright unbearable to family and friends tonight I flushed it down the toilet I am so glad I found this site at least I know I'm not alone

• My 13 year old daughter has been on Strattera for about a year and a half. She is also on Wellbutrin and Depakote. She couldn't tolerate stimulants and became angry and very moody and mean on them. Finally she is able to focus and control her depression with the Strattera. She is on only 20 mg in the am and we just put her on 10 mg at lunchtime to help her in the afternoon with homework. I wonder if people who are able to tolerate stimulants can't tolerate Strattera and visa versa. After reading everyone's stories, though, I will keep an eye out for more moodiness. It's frightening how we give our children medication to be able to deal with school.

• I'm a 28 year old female that stopped taking Strattera a few months ago. I started taking it again 2 days ago. Not only had I been completely unfocused, disorganized and seeing evidence of risk-taking behavior, but I have DEFINITELY been irritable and bouncing off the walls. I have major mood swings WITHOUT Strattera. Strattera has been a God send for me!! It relaxes me instantly!

• I'm 17 yrs. old and I've been on Strattera for about 6-7 days now, and I've been a completely different person. I've become more irritated with every little thing that comes around me. No matter who or what it is, I get mad for no reason. And I was never really like this before Strattera. Of course before, I did get irritated with things, but not to the point where I wanted to hurt someone or something. Strattera should not be an ADD or ADHD treatment drug, because it does NOT help at all. I feel as the only thing it helped with is school work. I'm more quieter at school, but sometimes, I have these outburst and sayings that I wouldn't say. And get this, I'm only on 18mg and my doctor wants to increase it more when I go back for a checkup. Thanks for listening and have a nice day. :)

• I am 19 years old and I was put on Straterra about 3 months ago. I have to say that my first time taking it was a nightmare. It made me moody, I couldn't stand to talk to anyone, I didn't want to see my boyfriend, and i cried over nothing. I was diagnosed with ADD because my doctor asked me to repeat back a paragraph and I could only remember a handful of details. I went to him because I was in a car accident where I had hit my head and I "believed" I was having memory problems. The doctor told em otherwise. I do not believe I have ADD and Straterra was a mistake. I forced myself to take them but stopped after 4 days. This is a horrible drug!!!

• I wanted to relay the experience of using Strattera with our 11 year old son. He started on Strattera in April 2004 and it took approximately 4-6 weeks to ramp up to the recommended dosage. During that time, he was beginning to experience some side effects, ie, trouble urinating, sleeplessness, agitation, lack of appetite, stomach upset. As with any drug, if you can make it through the first 2 weeks, then some of the side effects should subside. Unfortunately, for our son, they didn't. Not only was the Strattera ineffective in controlling his ADHD symptoms, he totally lost impulse control. He was becoming angry and unapproachable. Any question or demand would set him off. It gradually progressed to the point where he was just angry all the time and expressed feelings of wanting to hurt somebody. His behavior was becoming a little more reckless. He was lying all the time. He didn't understand what was happening. This was not our son and even though we repeatedly told the doctor about it, it was dismissed as an anger management issue. We even charted his moods and they clearly shifted into a full rage within an hour of taking a Strattera dose - every time. After 4 months of torture, and literally feeling as though our son was slipping into some sort of "mania", we (not the doctor) took him off the Strattera and things immediately started to get better. (We respected the opinions of our doctor because he was the "expert" and had more experience in dealing with patients and their experiences; however, parents know their children and if your gut is telling you that something is wrong - follow it!) This "mania" went on for about a week-10 days and then the symptoms subsided and were gone. We have our son back.

• I am 32 years old and I was prescribed Strattera 3 months ago. Prior to taking the strattera I'd suffered from depression and anxiety. I couldn't focus at work, I was horribly disorganized and my stress level was through the roof. I had been on Paxil for almost 12 months and the side effects of that were unbearable so I tapered of and quit taking it. Prior to the Paxil I was taking Lexapro which seemed to work for about 3 months and then even with an increase in dosage, my anxiety and lack of focus was still prevalent.

At any rate, after years of being treated for depression and anxiety my doctor brought up ADHD. We discussed it and I agreed to give Straterra a shot. After the first month I thought I'd found the cure. I felt focused and determined. My anxiety seemed to dissipate substantially.

Somewhere along the line, not too long after the first month, I started noticing sudden mood swings. Since then it seems to have gotten worse. I can go from being perfectly happy and content to utterly miserable in a flash. It happened to me last weekend at a wedding. I was having a great time at the reception and then all of the sudden I wanted to leave. I started a horrible argument with my girlfriend when we left and I still don't know why I did. I've never been one to start arguments.

Last night it happened again. It's just such a sudden thing that I start to feel enraged for no particular reason. I can feel my heart racing. It's like I go through these spells of anger or rage and after it passes I feel extremely depressed. I'm believe I'd be better off just dealing with anxiety, lack of focus, and depression from a cognitive approach versus using medications.

• Yes...It did take me awhile to realize this, but I am at the point that I a pretty sure it does. I honestly admit that I am an emotional person, but I truly think Strattera has raised my emotional level. I am 20 years old and in college with a full load. I have been on Strattera for almost 9 months and for the most part I have seen results. I can see results in the classroom when needing to keep foccused (this is something I had the most difficulty with) but I have been extremely emotional. At first I thought it might just be when I am close to my period, but it is all the time. I will get frustrated with small things like preparation for tests and exams and I very easily break down and start crying. When I think I am ok and I have contained myself, something else small will set me off and once again I start crying. I have also noticed that I have a lot less patience with people. I usually have a lot of patience with most people and it really takes a lot for me to get irritable, but for the past few months I have noticed that I lose patience very very easily. This bothers me so much because this is not my personality...I thought that I was a very patience person, but I have not felt like that lately. I want to stay on Strattera because it has helped my focus and keep organized, but I cannot handle being overly emotional. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please E-mail me if you do.

• My son had significant mood swings before using Strattera. Last week he told me that he thanks God for Strattera because he feels more in control. I think his mood is better on the medication. He is now tops in his class at a very competitive school. He wakes me up early to study his spelling words on Friday morning. His teacher says he is doing well socially. I want the people who are reading the responses to know the other side and am shocked at the stories indicating a rage response to the use of the drug.

• My 4 year old daughter has been on Strattera for almost a year. She was diagnosed shortly after her 4th birthday with severe ADHD/ODD. The therapist she was seeing actually told me that he had rarely seen a girl of her age with such severe symptoms. In the beginning we thought it was a miracle. The FIRST DAY we noticed a difference. A small difference, but still... She was following simple 2 step directions and not bouncing off walls. Over the course of the year, she has occasionally had these tantrums that we considered "breakthrough", but were terribly violent. My normally sweet, cuddly girl intentionally tries to hurt me! She kicks, bites, scratches. After one episode I walked away with bruises all over my arms and legs and both sides of my lip swollen and bleeding. I was never told that strattera could be the cause. We have increased her medication to 25mg, and in hindsight I realize that with every dosage increase the tantrums have gotten more frequent and severe. This week I had to put her in a cold shower to make her stop! It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever had to do, but nothing else was working. Until reading this tonight I thought I was failing her miserably in behavior control. Now I know that we are not alone in this. She will not take another dose.

• In our experience, by all means, yes!!! Our 7 year old son has been on several different meds for treatment of his adhd for the past 2 years. We started with Adderall, Ritalin LA and Focalin, but didn't like the side effects of weight loss and irritability. Our son's neurologist suggested we try Strattera, and this past summer, we gave it a shot. It turned out to be a horrible experience. Our son became extremely aggressive (which he never was before). Once school started, we had to give him a stimulant (Focalin) with the Strattera, in order for him to function and be able to focus. The last straw for me came when he got itchy skin and a horrible rash all over his body. I thought it was eczema, then I read the FDA's new warning about possible liver damage and signs of itchiness. We stopped giving him Strattera and believe it or not, the rash went away, and he's been a much happier and social kid. He's currently taking Concerta.

• Strattera causes no mood swings for me. Before I was on the strattera I was moody, irritable, impatient, aggressive & angry. Since being on the strattera it has calmed me down ALOT.

• This story is a tragedy. I was married for 21 years to a great guy have two small children. And on December 11th my husband took his life. I blame this on STRATERRA. My husband was put on this one month previous noticed irrational behavior severe mood swings, the doctor increased it. That is when a normal argument turned into a rage one like I have never experienced with him he was verbally out of control with me and the children. I feared he would become physical, so I left the house with my children. Later that night my husband committed suicide. My husband was the best father you could have ever asked for. We just bought a new house. No one can ever explain to me how a man who just 2 months ago told me this was the happiest he had ever been go and do this. I have sought the advise of a attorney because I blame this medication totally.

• My 8 year old son was diagnosed with ADD when he was six. It was hard for me to accept this method of treatment. I tried all other treatment options nothing worked. He began to go down hill fast. So at the end of first grade we did a blind Ritalin trial for six weeks. His teacher said it was like night and day. At the end of the year I told her what we did. So this confirmed my nightmare. I was so excited to try the non- stimulant Strattera because I always felt horrible giving my little boy a drug linked to meth. But he has been on Strattera since September and has been slowly evloving into a boy I don't know. He was so happy and giggly and funny. His dosed was increased to two 18mg pills a day in December. Since then he has been to the office at least once a week. He no longer is giggling instead he has started being mean and spiteful. I am so glad I found this web site. I called the doctor and they said these changes were not related to the dose increase! How could they not see that is. But what do I do now? I know I will be flushing the Strattera tonight. Should I go back to the Ritalin? When he was on it he got straight A's in school.

• I have been on Straterra for a month and I am the "witch from hell". I have had 2-3 episodes where I flew into a rage over nothing and actually punched my boyfriend. He has left me stating he cannot deal with the rage any longer. This is the worst feeling in the world and I want my old life back. I am going off of the medication. wish me luck!

• I have been on Strattera 25mg for 2.5 months. I love how it makes me able to concentrate. Within the first week, I noticed that I could actually read a book without my mood racing 60mph about 30 different things. I would only read about 5 pages in 1 hour before mostly because I would space out. Despite that fact my comprehension was exceptionally high. I can now read about 60-70 pages in an hour. I have advanced college math placement from elementary algebra to college calculus ( that's about 8 classes) within about 2 weeks after taking the drug. Needless to say, I love that. I am a 19 year old female, and I have had extreme mood swings. Especially when menstruating - like I have graphically pictured smashing someone's face in with a fire extinguisher, and fantasized suicide when arguing with my mom. I am not the type of person to ever think about committing suicide and like to think I wouldn't hurt a fly. I am also taking Zoloft, and I begged the doctor to take me off it because I thought the problems were coming from that. After reading this, I doubt it. I have nightmares almost every night, and went from sleeping like a log to waking up 5-6 times per night. I have become an over productive perfectionist, but I must admit- I sort of enjoy it. I am not sure if its worth it or not - but its still my miracle drug. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have good self control though.

• I have a 7 year old son who was diagnosed ADHD at 4 yrs old. He is pretty severe. Cannot function with out meds. Have tried Adderall XR for 3 years - worked well until he built up tolerance. Switched to Concerta for almost a year and has built up a tolerance as well. He has incredible liver function. We have tried to do drug holidays but because of severity of ADHD they have been totally unsuccessful. He asks for his meds again because he feels so totally out of control. He is a very sweet and caring child who gives up his last toy to make another child happy (this happened again recently at the park). He is also brilliant, he has been playing chess since 3 yrs old. He now plays online. We are currently trying another holiday. Day 3 and we are not doing well at all. I am terrified of the stimulants but don't know what else to do. They have side effects like insomnia (we can be awake for 2-3 days at a time) and no appetite and slow growth. He is 45 inches tall and weighs only 43 pounds. We have gone back and forth on other meds to counter act the insomnia and anxiety and tics. All gets worse every time we have to up the dose of stimulants. We have tried Tenex, melatonin, and now Remeron. I am having a real problem with having to add more, add more. It seems like the more we treat, the MORE we treat. I am so frustrated because after using stimulants in kids since the 1930's NO ONE has ever done a LONG term study on the true physical and emotional effects of stimulants use in kids. There are studies that show they permanently alter the levels of chemicals in the brain (dopamine for certain). When these chemicals are altered they effect things like immediate gratification. As an adult this can lead to sexual dysfunction and drug abuse. I know they say that treating with stimulants can decrease the chances of drug abuse but how can they say this without actually doing a LONG term study? I have questioned all of the pharmaceutical companies who make stimulants about this and not one of them has an answer. This claim has only been a "finding" not a proven study. I know that there are a lot of adults who were treated with stimulants as kids and are fine now, but what about the ones who aren't? Which now leads me to Straterra. The initial studies done on Straterra were biased. Eli Lilly did not do a well, controlled, objective study that was over seen by a third party that would not gain from the production of this drug. Their results were not "altered" but were released in a manipulated manner. They didn't lie, but instead told 1/2 truths. They aggressively campaigned to doctors to prescribe it. I have tried Straterra for my son shortly after it became available. It appeared to be the answer for everyone. Within 2 weeks, I was covered in bruises from him and he was totally nuts. He went from loving, to raging, to crying and very sad. I never thought that my little boy would say he wants to die. That's when we took him off. He was only on it 3 weeks. He also needed up in the DR because it caused such severe constipation that his colon was getting blocked. He then had to endure the treatment for that! After reading the previous posts, I have noticed something very common. Most of you have been on stimulants before the Straterra. Most who have had success were not on stimulants prior. Straterra alters the re-uptake of Norepinephrine in the brain (it keeps it in the blood stream longer). Norepinehrine is a precursor to adrenaline. It has the same effect as adrenaline. What happens when we get a boost of adrenaline? Our heart races, we get incredible strength and energy and we lose our response to fear and pain. Adrenaline is our body's defense mechanism that comes into affect when we are in extreme danger or pain. When you take Straterra, you are basically pushing a prolonged dose of adrenaline into the body. At the same time, the dopamine level in the brain is too low and now cannot counter act the norepinephrine. Both of these things are working against the brain and causing the angry, violent reactions. This is all known by Ely Lilly and the FDA, so why don't they tell us? It is our responsibility to hold the FDA and drug companies accountable. This is all basic chemical biology. As the public and consumers we have the right to receive all findings and studies about any drug on the market. We only have to ask. Under the Freedom of Information Act, they cannot say no. Educate yourselves. Do a little digging. What you find will enlighten you and quite possibly scare the hell out of you.
• As with any new drug there are side effects and kinks that need to be ironed out. It seems that all of you who were previously taking Adderall or Ritalin before beginning Straterra experienced extreme moodiness. Could this be a side effect from switching from a stimulant to a non-stimulant drug? Since each drug effects the body differently, it makes me think it may take the body a while to adapt to the non-stimulant. I just began taking Straterra and have felt relief! Is is so amazing what I am capable of while this medication is "leveling" me out. I am so excited to feel normal again but now I am very scared of the side effects I may experience in a few weeks. I think Straterra used with a combination of a healthful diet and exercise could be beneficial. Does anyone have anything positive to say about this drug?

• My 14 year old son is on Strattera and it is the best thing that has happened to me and my family. Ben has been on 5 different medications for ADD and the Strattera is the only one that did not bring him down too low that he didn't want to do anything. All the others had some improvement but with the Strattera, Ben's teachers say he is a different child. He participates in activities and does his work without being asked. He will tell you for himself that he does not like taking medicine but he knows he needs the Strattera to help him throughout his day. The only side effect we notice that happen more often than the others is the dreams. He tells me they are so real as if he is awake but can't do or say anything. He has never had a bad dream while taking the Strattera. He does drop a few pounds each school season while on Strattera. He has occasional headaches but not often. Ben will tell you he feels as though he is wanted now. His life has changed on the Strattera and he has built up his self-esteem to where he knows he is important again. I thank God everyday for my children and I thank him for bring us to this bridge. Patti

• I am so happy that your son has found something to help him. I know how he feels. Atleast you are a good enough parent to find a way to help your child. my parents never did anything for me....it was "all in my head" and I had to go all the way through school without any meds. It was so hard. I love Straterra and like your son the only side effect I have had are very vivid dreams. It feels like I am dreaming before I even close my eyes. They are not bad dreams....it is just me in everyday situations and it feels so real.

• My boyfriend age 41 needed an ADD medication. He had all the classic symptoms of ADD and yes it has helped in some areas like focusing on important things like bills, finishing his house projects, work, conversations, less impulsive etc., BUT now there are mood swings or irritability. He is now short with me and blaming me for his irritability where there was none before. It is definitely ruining our relationship. I believe it is the STRATTERA because this is when the irritability has started where it hadn't before. It is sad because it has good points to it and bad points to it. I am beginning to wonder which personality is the genuine one? The ADD personality? or the Strattera personality? My question is who is the real person here. The ADD one or the Strattera one? Does anyone have an answer to this?? Is there any recommendation on this? Is there another drug that is better than this one out there?

• Strattera is working well for me but i notice myself having zero patience or tolerance for anyone, and occasionally even the smallest thing will send me into this silent rage where i am so pissed that i have to walk and breathe for a few minutes to calm down. like i said this is occasionally but i never know when it is going to happen.

• This has all been very informative to read. I have 7 year old identical twin boys, who were said to be ADD and put on Strattera. Neither of them have ever been impulsive or defiant in any way, until they started Strattera. At first, things were going great. they were on 25mg in the morning, with very few side effects. After 3 months, they both seemed to become increasing irritable and moody at home. Dr. decided to put them on 36mg, 18 in the am and 18 mg in pm. Now everything is crazy. They are both like time bombs, crying constantly, extremely moody. It's like walking on pins and needles with them, trying not to upset them and make them go off. I'm seriously considering stopping Strattera and seeing what happens. We need our happy, loving boys back. The Dr. who prescribed this was not even sure they had ADD. He also stated that they could be developmentally behind. Any thoughts or opinions out there on what to do?

• 29 year old male who was on Strattera for 3 months. Had to stop taking it at the request of my wife and parents. I was completely out of control. I wish I had read about other peoples experiences with this prior to trying it on myself. I will not take another prescribed ADHD medicine ever.

My 9 year old son started Strattera on August 1st after having no response to the stimulant medications. He is ADHD, ODD and Dyslexic (all mild). On the low dosage of 20mg and 25mg, he responded well to the Strattera and had no side effects except for decreased appetite. His poor social skills improved, as well as his impulsivity, his grades became all A's, he dropped 2/3 of his tutoring, and his defiance and non-compliance were much better. Everything changed two weeks after the October 15th dosage increase to 30mg. He became over-emotional, cried over the smallest things, and became depressed and started talking about being unhappy and wanting to kill himself. It scared my husband and I to see our son so despondent, when he is typically a happy kid. The doctor had my son stop Strattera cold-turkey, and about 6 days later he returned to normal after most of the Strattera left his system. We plan to restart and re-try the Strattera again, this time sticking to the low dosage of 20 or 25mg, which was very successful. I think Strattera was a good drug for my son when he uses a low dosage.

Answer 3

Strattera/Valproic Acid mood stabilizer combination prescribed for sonMy 7 year old son definitely experiences agitation and moodiness while on Strattera. He was prescribed from the very beginning, Valproic Acid as a mood stabilizer. Unfortunatly, his feeding disorder made it almost impossible to get any significant dose of this medication into him orally. Our compounding pharmacy makes the mood stabilizer Valproic Acid he takes in conjunction with Strattera into a suppository and I noticed a much improved boy after only 5 days! His strattera is compounded into a transdermal gel by the same compounding pharmacy.

He has been on Strattera/Valproic acid combo for almost a year and we are convinced we are seeing much improvement in his behavior. And for the record, he was on Strattera solo for about a month when we just flat could not get the Valproic Acid syrup into him at all. And it was an ugly sight!

I have just left a message for my son's doctor to discuss this very topic. He has been on 40 mg of Strattera since September and I have noticed over the last month or so that his frustration level has elevated dramatically. He is usually a very compassionate and loving boy and has recently began throwing fits, mouthing off, slamming doors, etc. I am not convinced at this point that it is the Strattera, but it is the only thing that I can come up with at this point.

Yes, as a mother of a 16 year old who has been taking Strattera for about 1 year, the mood swings, anger and irritability became worse on her reduced dose of 40 mg. She was previously on 80 mg. We have taken her off of Strattera and the withdrawal was horrible requiring hospitalization. Now that she is 5 days post stopping the Strattera her behavior, moods, attitude are wonderful. She is pleasant, polite, happy, (and hyper). I will never allow my daughter to take Strattera again and intend to notify the FDA of the extent of the mood swings, irritability and anger this drug causes. Good luck to you. While Ritalin is not long acting, my research shows that it is the safest drug out there and has been used for about 50 years. The long term effects of Strattera, Concerta, Adderal and other newer meds are not known. I hope to keep my daughter off all of these medications and work on other ways for her to expend her energy.

My son, 12 years old, has been on Strattera for a little past 5 months. He started with 30 days of 25 mg. and then increased to 40 mg per day thereafere. He battled the most prevalent of side effects, such as headache, nausea, insomnia and now doesn't experience those. We did switch his time of medication from morning to night to help him with the sleepiness during the day and the insomnia at night. However, During the past month, we all have noticed his mood swings being more intense. He slams doors and gets overwelmed very easily to the point of tears, and feelings of "not wanting to be here anymore" His grades in school have not improved, either. He has complained of feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest due to the pace and intensity as well. He also in the past week or so has become more aggressive in his "playing" behavior. Hitting friends hard, throwing things at people and being unwilling to stop when asked to. I am so alarmed with these newly seen symptoms that we have an appointment with his doctor today to discuss weining him off the Strattera. I would rather find other ways to help him deal with his ADHD than to risk further damaging his mental health with side effects from this drug. I have been researching alternative methods of treatment such as beCALM'd, Flavay, and ATTEND. These are natural dietary supplements of nutrients/vitamins and so forth. They have no side effects and can also nuture his health in other ways such as better circulation, antioxidant, collegen building, tissue rebuilding. So in response to your question, if you consider 40 mg to be a small dose, then YES I believe his mood swings are being caused by Strattera. He was not like this before starting this medication.

Reading the posts on this question I see that Strattera has paradoxical effects in different people. Several people have suffered mood swings and irritation.

My experience has been the opposite. I am calmer, more even-tempered. No big anxiety spikes. No flare-ups of anger. Less intensity overall.

I'm sure I am more focused and less ditzy, better able to give sustained attention to a task. But curiously I also find that when I do get stuff mixed up (lose things, do things backwards, walk off without my cellphone, etc.) I now can sort of laugh it off like a normal person. In my accustomed state (non-Strattera) these experiences could trigger feelings of great distress and anxiety.

Yes, strattera does cause "new" unwanted mood changes. I am 24 and have recently started taking strattera (40mg) and have noticed a change in my mood. I do seem to be more irritable and feel sleepy after an hour or so after the dose. Anyway, here is my exp with ADHD medicine. Ritalin was no good, the "crashing" effect was so bad i discontinued use. Aderrall "feels" just like strattera during the first hour. Feelings of energy and feeling more calm. But with adderall, there is no "sleepy" feeling, no "irritable" feeling, no mood change at all, and the "crash" feeling is very easy. They say Strattera is "non-stimulant" but at least with the "stimulants" there is no adverse side-effects that would make you want to discontinue use. I have recently stopped taking Aderrall to try Strattera, and im thinking of going back to Adderrall. I like it a lot better. Although I feel it is still necessary to take something like Lexapro along with it. That's probably the only good thing Strattera has to offer, is that it is an SNRI. Strattera in my opinion, is just another one of those anti-depressants.

At 41 years old, I have been prescribed Strattera (60 mg) to treat Adult ADD. Into my third week on on the medication, I have weathered the awful nausea, but have accomplished more projects (actually COMPLETED them) than the last six months combined! My husband, however, insists he sees a change in my mood. The only thing I notice is that I don't seem to laugh as much as I did before. Could it be that I was too busy and focused to find humor in things lately... or could the drug be the cause?

Anyone have similar symptoms?

In my experience with Strattera, I find it to be a rediculous drug to treat ADD and/or ADHD. I've been on Strattera now for about a week and it makes me cry for no reason, makes me more irritable with little things that people do than before (when I didn't care), it somewhat makes me concentrate in school, but barely, and my angry level gets so intense that I have to leave the room and go to my room and be alone to settle down. Today I am going to my doctor for a follow up and I'm going to have to tell her that I can't stay on this, and from reading others information, I hope she doesn't try to increase the dosage because if I'm on 18mg as of right now and it makes me feel this way, I can only imagine what 20, 30, 40, and so on would make me feel like. Thanks...

My 8 year old daughter is currently taking 30mg of strattera. She has started participating more at school and seems happier and more relaxed in social situations. She does however have melt downs at home over homework, especially math. My quiet child is all of a sudden very frustrated that school is hard for her and for the first time verbally expressing it, as opposed to shutting down and crying about headaches and stomach aches. The strattera has caused mood swings, but only in regards to school.

We did try concerta and adderall, but it made her depressed.

My to this question 'does s. cause severe mood swings? has to be yes. Definitely, at least for me. I began taking strattera for depression/adhd around march of 2005. I had to back off the orig. dose the doctor prescribed because of sleeping and irritability issues but i kept with it because it helped me concentrate. I kept attributing evening irritability to the fact that i was taking so long to get to the maximum dose possible, yet as i increased dosage i still continued to have these problems and they only increased in fact, to the point that i was having episodes that made me think i was bipolar. My mood swings were so severe and so constant these last six weeks i began to think i was going to go crazy. At this point i was still in denial about strattera actually causing the problem for me (i was blaming it on perimenopause by this time). But the last straw came this month after suffering a third SEVERE SEVERE SEVERE depressive episode. It was so bad i actually had what i might call a brief psychotic episode also. I went off cold turkey three days ago. (not a good idea i realize but we were out of town and the depression was so severe i felt suicidal. I thought i'd chance the withdrawal in the hopes that it couldn't be any worse.) I had heart palpitations and was shaky, weepy, and mildly depressed for a day or so but it seems that every hour gets better. I don't feel that weird, horrific depression AT ALL. At the moment i feel like a regular normal human being again. Reasonably calm and plain old normal. Very pleasant. I will definitely not go back on strattera. not to say that it can't help other people, but boy oh boy BE HONEST with your doctor about side effects. I was not, because i wanted to concentrate so badly (and i liked the initial weight loss) and i was afraid she'd take me off the strattera if i admitted to the side effects i was having). I hope i have grown up from this experience and if i ever think i do need medication again i will not do it without continued counseling and lots of honesty with myself and the doctor.

In order to offer a more objective response:

For the typical patient, Strattera will not cause mood swings. If you find you or your child are having extreme mood swings on Strattera, you might want to revisit your psychiatrist to be evaluated for a bipolar disorder. It has been well-documented that stimulants and even the non-stimulant, Strattera, will make bipolar worse, with rapid cycling of moods.

Bipolar disorder and ADHD share a lot of the same symptoms, so a misdiagnosis is easy. Even my own doctor said "We'll treat you for ADHD first and if the treatment doesn't work, then it is possible you have bipolar." Since Strattera is working marvelously for me, we have been able to rule out bipolar for me.

Finally, if you have been prescribed Strattera for depression, get a second opinion. Strattera was initially meant to be a new antidepressant, but CLINICAL TRIALS showed it had NO effect on depression so the FDA would not approve it to treat depression. It did show an effect on ADHD, though, which is why it was remarketed for ADHD and approved by the FDA for ADHD.

So basically if you are using Strattera for depression, you are being told to use it in a non-FDA-approved away, so get a second opinion.

Answer 4

Basically, Strattera is a Norepinepherine Reuptake Inhibitor. This class of drug is also used to TREAT depression, Strattera wasn't proven as effective as placebo but did however relieve symptoms of ADHD. If you read on wikipedia, it says that it is actually a good addition to your normal medication. For example, I take prisitq, an SNRI (effexor basically). With normal dosages, I would say strattera would be of your benefit.

have been on strattera for several months and have had no depression until just lately, . went off strattera and was just fine. as soon as i started back on it, i noticed how my mood took a definite dip.

Yes...definitely.

I have been on Strattera for 6 months, and if I go on too high a dose now, it makes me feel horrible - I become lethargic, depressed, I don't want to be around anyone, and I feel like I weigh 1000 lbs (serious gravity issues). As soon as I lower my dose again, these feelings are GONE! Those on Strattera should be warned to watch for this.

Answer 5

i don't know about getting mood swings but i am really hyper right now and i have also stoped taking lexapro

Answer 6

This drug is dangerous, and should be pulled from the shelves.

It has helped alot of people, and has hurt alot of people.

Answer 7

Yes because you get a high from Adderall. It puts you in a good mood when your at your high and your in a bad mood when u have your low. it happens to me everyday

Answer 8

Yes; in some cases Strattera can cause mood swings. Consult your physician immediately and discontinue use.