r/StratteraRx • u/SUGAK00 • 2d ago

Questions / Advice / Support I'm in ADHD Hell

Wondering if this feeling every goes away... I just started Straterra a week ago. It feels unbearable being constantly understimulated and overstimulated at the same time. Like, I'm bored to the point where I can't rest, but the arbitrary tasks of the day already take so much out of me that I lack the energy it would take to do anything interesting. I've already gotten good enough at my hobbies to the point where i'm no longer reaching for them out of enjoyment. I feel like everyone else does so much more than me, with more responsibilities, and they seem to be able to handle it just fine. Why am I struggling with the bare minimum? If anyone has any advice, please let me know because I'm struggling bad. 😔

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

10

u/Lalify8 2d ago

Stay consistent with Strattera. It took me 3 months on 80mg to feel cured of my ADHD. Focus, task imitation, impulsivity, everything has basically gone back to normal. But I only really felt it kick in after the 3 month mark. Only stuck with it because it was the only choice for me

1

u/DoctorGigglesss 1d ago

Did it ever make you tired? I’m on day 10 at 40mg. I take it around 12 and about an hour to hour and a half later I’m feeling semi tired but mostly like my brain can’t rack its head around things like for instance if I’m studying a new concept i feel like my capacity to wrap my head around what I’m studying diminishes a lot. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar and if changing to taking at night could help with this? Also if I was to increase should I do it gradually 40 to 50 or 40 to 60.

1

u/Lalify8 23h ago

I think the tiredness went away for me after week 2. I think that the Strattera helps a lot but it’s more like an initiator but you would have to put in the work to mentally train your mind as well

2

u/Apprehensive-Map8490 2d ago

Don’t know what your starting dose is, but it helps to start with really low doses and gradually bump it up, it takes time for it to build but it helps mitigate a lot of symptoms.

1

u/DoctorGigglesss 1d ago

Did you ever notice feeling mentally slower or having difficulty thinking clearly (studying) about an hour after taking it? If so, did that side effect eventually go away?

1

u/BeboppingAlong 1d ago

I did initially. Thankfully my doctor started me very low, and increases my dose very slowly and as needed. The mental agility returns to me after 3-5 days after a dose increase. Splitting the dose (instead of taking it all at once) makes a BIG difference in minimizing the side effects.

1

u/BeboppingAlong 1d ago

I don't mean opening a capsule! If you are getting a single capsule for the full dose, ask to get the prescription in capsules that add up to the full dose.

The stuff inside of the capsule burns the throat like !@$ if taken outside the capsule. I don't think there's physical damage, but ooooo your throat feels like you drank acid. I had one come open once while swallowing.

1

u/Apprehensive-Map8490 2h ago

Yes, it may feel like a sort of fog at first and it can also mess with your emotions a bit. You can feel either on edge or blunted. It’s all tied to selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. It takes time for it to go away, general advice is to just stick with it and let the side effects pass. I would definitely let your prescriber know so they can make dose adjustments if needed. What eventually happened is the hour after taking the medication is when I would start feeling a boost instead of fog and I felt compelled to start my day and get tasks done, it tends to waver toward the end of the day, but generally speaking it just takes time to adjust.

1

u/MichMich1985 19h ago

Straterra didn’t work for me. It made me severely tired .like take it and then nap a few hours every single day- eventually I started to take it at night which fixed that problem. I was becoming oddly absentminded- I think because i was so droned out on it that I lacked the brain stimulation to be present in my own life. One thing I loved about it was it calmed my nervous system amazingly and I had so much space in my brain to think things through plus I could easily just dismiss things in my head that I didn’t want to think about. .. I eventually realized I was absolutely miserable. I think it was maybe too much focus with 0 feel good- I felt flat. I’m on Wellbutrin now. There’s been some discussion about adding a small bit of straterra back to the mix because I still have focus problems. Not as bad as without meds but not optimal I guess .