Strattera and Mood Swings Strattera 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.
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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.