Posted by jrbecker on January 13, 2003, at 13:29:36
In reply to Re: Straterra updates - RAR, posted by BekkaH on January 13, 2003, at 7:22:13
Although there already seems to be a lot of positive feedback for Straterra, it seems some are already having some problems on it as well.
My psychiatrist is on the Lilly advisory board for this med and she told me a few things to keep in mind in starting this drug:
1) Strattera does not work right away like a stimulant. Just like in starting an AD, be patient. It takes a full 5-6 days to feel the full noradrenergic effects in the CNS.
2) A lot of the side effects, especially involved with the peripheral nervous system, including dry eyes, heart rate increase, sweating, tiredness, and the like, start to fade at around a week. It can take anywhere from 10-30 days to subside. In most cases, the SEs are minimized by this period.
3) It takes some time to reach biochemical efficacy for affecting the noradrenergic activity in the forebrain. Peak NE brain levels aren't reached usually at the starting dose. And so your starting dose won't probably be the effective dose you will need a few weeks down the line.
So all in all, it takes some patience on two fronts: waiting for the effectiveness to kick in about a week, and secondly, waiting for the side effects to subside slowly in the days thereafter.
If there is no effect after a week and the side effects are tolerable, then consider a dosage increase.
I'm starting at a low dose of 18mg today. I'll keep you posted on how it's going.JB
poster:jrbecker
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030113/msgs/135685.html