mydriasis and Strattera for ADHD

alphafe · Oct 21, 2004

My daughter's pediatric practice deals with A LOT of ADD/ADHD (there's a surprise!) and they have been v. disappointed with Strattera. My daughter takes 54 mg. of Concerta and does beautifully with it.

Stevie · Oct 21, 2004

My daughter's pediatric practice deals with A LOT of ADD/ADHD (there's a surprise!) and they have been v. disappointed with Strattera. My daughter takes 54 mg. of Concerta and does beautifully with it.

I have been told this by a child psychiatrist as well, Stratterra has rare success stories. Based on it's neurotransmittor effects, it has a reputation for affecting sleep quality one way or another, which is why some parents give it at night and others give the Strattera in the am. I was also informed that one child on Strattera developed gastric symtpoms so badly that his parents brought him to the ED. Apparantly this medication is hard on the stomach, it should be taken with food, which last I checked, was not in the information packet that comes with it.

I hope your doctor and you can work something out that would be better for your son. Concerta seems to be very effective for lots of ADD/ADHD children. It is a stimulant though, and as such requires thought as to if this is the right way to go for your child.

I'm no expert, but see alot as I work in child and adult psych. I hope this helps.

Stevie

RedSox33RN · Oct 21, 2004

My son was on Strattera for all of his 4th grade year. He HATED it. It made him tired and upset his stomach, no matter what we did.

He doesn't have hyperactivity, just ADD, so we stopped it this summer, and started using other techniques for schoolwork. They are working beautifully, and although he has the occasional lapse, our efforts work much better than the Strattera.

I'd never noticed his pupils while he was on it though. I have heard good things about Concerta, and have a friend whose son is on it, doing very well. The thing I initially liked about the Strattera, and I guess is the same with Concerta, is because it's not built-up to therapeutic levels, it doesn't have to be taken over a weekend or during vacations. My friend says she can see a big difference when her son doesn't have it during vacation. Honestly, though, I never saw a difference, except he felt better when he didn't take it.

I do notice it's not being advertised very much anymore. It was VERY heavily advertised a couple years ago.

avery · Oct 21, 2004

My son was on Strattera for all of his 4th grade year. He HATED it. It made him tired and upset his stomach, no matter what we did.
He doesn't have hyperactivity, just ADD, so we stopped it this summer, and started using other techniques for schoolwork. They are working beautifully, and although he has the occasional lapse, our efforts work much better than the Strattera.
I'd never noticed his pupils while he was on it though. I have heard good things about Concerta, and have a friend whose son is on it, doing very well. The thing I initially liked about the Strattera, and I guess is the same with Concerta, is because it's not built-up to therapeutic levels, it doesn't have to be taken over a weekend or during vacations. My friend says she can see a big difference when her son doesn't have it during vacation. Honestly, though, I never saw a difference, except he felt better when he didn't take it.
I do notice it's not being advertised very much anymore. It was VERY heavily advertised a couple years ago.

Hi! My son has been on Straterra 25mg for about 5 months now. He was previously on Concerta 36mg and this seemed for work for about a year. My son does have hyperactivity and with concerta, he started to become flat and did not seem to be as happy about things as he should be. The straterra is working very well for this, it doesn't seem to make him seem so flat.

I am thinking that there is no perfect drug in this class and we all know that different drugs affect each person individually.

My son does wake up at six a.m. sometimes but this is after nine hours of sleep so I don't think I can attribute this to the medicine.

Oh, he is eight.

Avery

TracyB,RN, RN · Oct 24, 2004

My daughter (15) is on Adderall XR & has the same issue...her psychiatrist & family doc aren't concerned about it. I only have her take it on school days. MAN, what a difference it has made for her. We have gone from low C's & D's, to A's & B's.

akcarmean, LPN · Oct 24, 2004

MY daughter was on Strattra and it didn't work for her. She was placed on Adderall XR and is doing better. We just moved to a new school and she has to make new friends and this school just has partitions instead of regular class rooms and that makes it hard for her to concentrate. She is having a rough time adjusting. But beside the outside influences in school; she does great at home it controls her impulstivity, concentration, ability to remember what she is doing, and helps to get her to do her homework and chores at home. My psychiastrists said that new studies show that Strattra works better in adults and doesn't have much effect for children. Hope this helps. I have 2 children with ADHD, depression. My oldest also has GERD, asthma, allergies to everything. Even my 16mths old has allergies, and never slows down. I understand a lot about ADHD and we have been through several medications over the years. I find that I like the Adderall XR. HOpe this helps.

jenac · Oct 24, 2004

This has been a long running battle with meds for us. He started with the Ritalin in the 1st grade, tried the Adderal, herbs/ interventions and Concerta, -now the Strattera (8th grade). Of all-I felt the Concerta did the best, but after several years, he was all of 80 lbs. soaking wet, which upset him alot. We've switched to the Strattera manily due to the non-stimulant effect. It is formulated to build to a therapeutic level to supposidly maintain throughtout a 24 hr. period- but I haven't seen that yet. After two months- he has gained atleast 25 lbs, but it definatley doesnt seem to be working so well. He is still VERY impulsive and forgetful. His moods do seem to be happier-but than he has always had extreme emotions- Really happy/ Really mad at the drop of a hat. He's stuggling in school, has gone from B's to failing certain classes. At this point- I'm not overly thrilled with the Strattera. I do realize that the dosing may need adjusted (he's still on a low dose for his weight)-and maybe a higher dose would work. He does complain about not sleeping well at night (we first gave it at night, have since switched to morning) and now the mydriasis. To be honest- I'd rather he have the Concerta, atleast it seemed to help him.

I do plan on calling the Dr. on Monday- we need to do something.

Thank you for all your replys. I appreciate it.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Oct 24, 2004

Anyone with experience with Strattera...my 13 year old is displaying constant dilation of both pupils. Aside from the fact that this drug really seems to have no effect on his impulsitivity and hyperactivity- how concerned should I be with this particular AR? Any long term affects from this? I am planning on calling his Dr today but any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

My 15 year old suffers from depression/anxiety and ADD. No hyperactivity. He takes Strattera and does very well with it. He has gone from D's and F's to B's and C's. :) No noticeable side effects. He wasn't sleeping at night until he started taking it. If he forgets it he'll call me to bring it to him at school because he said he just can't concentrate without it. He put himself on a diet after starting on Strattera and lost 45 lbs and has kept it off for over a year. He doesn't take it on the weekends. He is also on Lexapro 10 mg. He just started on the Lexapro 3 weeks ago. He was crying everyday and not wanting to go to school, constant worrying about "everything", headaches....things are going much better with him for the past 10 days or so. I 've also started him in counseling. OMG I wouldn't be 15 y/o again for all the tea in china! Been there, Done that, no thanks!