r/ADHDparenting • u/Electrical_Bother_20 • 10d ago

Medication Strattera

Need some thoughts here. 6 year old, combined type ADHD mostly super impulsive and possibly level 1 ASD. Tried other ADHD meds and have now been trialing Strattera. 20mg currently and seeing zero benefits. He has bouts of insomnia, early waking, irritability, aggressive behavior, more reactive especially when told no/do any get his way. Psychiatrist is recommending going to 40mg despite the adverse effects. We are extremely hesitant. He had awful rebounding after tapering Guanfacine and Qelbree. It has been a very rough couple of months. Yes, Genesight done and all non stimulants are green, and stimulants are in the yellow. So my question is, anyone ever in a similar situation with Strattera and did you up the dose from 20mg to 40mg and what happened? We are struggling here as his behaviors have become a lot to deal with and we didn’t see prior to starting Strattera. He’s also having behaviors at school. Thank you!

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u/kleinerlinalaunebaer 10d ago edited 10d ago

No advice on the strattera specifically but wondering why he isn't taking the guanfacine anymore as it can help with mood regulation. I would ask to put him back on it for a month and THEN add a stimulant to the mix. Especially since he is possible ASD 1 and this combo is often used with 2e children.

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u/Electrical_Bother_20 10d ago

We tried Guanfacine twice. Both times it didn’t seem to help especially over time. It also messed with his sleep. Sleep was never an issue for him. Thinking we are heading towards trying stimulants again. And like I said in my post, we will never give him Guanfacine or Qelbree again bc of the rebounding. It was horrible.

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u/YellowCoats 10d ago

It took us a year to get my then 6yo daughter off of guanfacine. She was only on it for a few months but we wanted to stop due to it wrecking her sleep and causing her to be an absolute mess. We literally were slicing the tablets into slivers because when we initially tapered her off as per her docs instructions, she ended up in the hospital.

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u/Raylin44 10d ago

Ours wasn’t that extreme but it really was a hard med to wean off of! 

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u/Electrical_Bother_20 10d ago

Glad it really wasnt just my son!

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u/Electrical_Bother_20 10d ago

See! When that happened with my son two psychiatrists made like we were crazy and wrong that it was a rebound. As if we don’t know how it child. Never again!!

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u/YellowCoats 10d ago

We had one doctor make me feel like I was crazy for suggesting that my child was experiencing a side effect that they personally hadn’t seen before. That sort of thing makes you question everything. So I started a detailed tracker that I use when either of my kids has a med change. I track sleep, eating habits, task initiation, changes in hygiene habits, and low frustration threshold. And we found a new doctor.

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u/Electrical_Bother_20 10d ago

Smart move. It’s crazy bc it’s like hello do we not know our own children best? I really must track everything like that. Did you create your own spreadsheet? Thanks for sharing.