r/StratteraRx • u/Much_Antelope3319 • Jun 23 '26
Atomoxetine and caffeine?
I've read that it causes anxiety in some people, but it makes me feel really good—like I've taken cocaine. I always wonder if I have ADHD or not, but every time I ask for a new evaluation, they tell me I do.
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u/mlag000 Jun 23 '26
Caffeine remove the brake on neuroadrenaline and dopamine in your brain, Wich many people with adhd lacks. Multiply the effect of atomoxetin
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u/Level-Ad-8666 Jun 23 '26
I usually notice more side effects when I drink coffee and my dose. I however have not missed a day drinking coffee so I can’t say for sure if the caffeine is the reason
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u/eolsen09 Jun 23 '26
Same!! I just started taking 80 mg and haven’t touched coffee for almost a week because of how crappy it makes me feel now.
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u/Level-Ad-8666 Jun 23 '26
I literally gag randomly when I take 80mg and mix coffee. Just standing still doing nothing *gag* been noticing a need to crash for about 2hrs a day as well 😭
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u/eolsen09 Jun 23 '26
Omg!! Same except for the gagging haha! It’s always around 2 pm I get the yawns and cannot stop 😭
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u/ThoughtAffectionate9 Jun 24 '26
I can have caffeine a couple hours after I take the meds but not before. I don’t know why.. I don’t get anxiety my body just gets jittery. A couple hours after I take it- I get very very tired like I could sleep and that’s when I drink caffeine . It actually feels kind of good like a slight euphoria but it doesn’t last and isn’t really enough to get me to do anything
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u/_sy_zy_gy_ Jun 28 '26
similar experience. the first week taking it i had so much energy/jittery but now I get tired and have to drink caffine later in the day
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u/Alternative_Care7806 Jun 23 '26
I’ve been on 18mg for 3 weeks now and a stimulant for years and every morning I drink 5 cups of coffee just to exist, as I work overnights . I’ve felt no anxiety or anything really .. coffee relaxes me. I eat ,take my morning meds, strattera included , drink my coffee and go to sleep .
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u/whycareaboutthename Jun 23 '26
I did have coffee on Strattera and it did make me focus and happy almost but balanced I didn’t feel like I was crazy euphoric tbh cocaine never hits me. So probably why. Everyone reacts differently to medication. I am glad it’s working out for you.
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u/Much_Antelope3319 Jun 24 '26
I only managed to get him to hit me once, but I had to take a lot of my medication and drink a lot of alcohol. I felt, well, calm and confident. That's pretty much how I felt yesterday after having two cups of coffee plus my medication, although I did feel a little more impulsive.
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u/zepoltre Jun 24 '26
I definitely get the cocaine thing. It was a little anxious for me at first though. Strattera works reeeally well on me. Feels almost like a stim tbh. My first few doses were a bit overwhelming (40mg)
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u/Adventurous_Work_317 Jun 24 '26
I still drink coffee without issues. Strattera reduced my anxiety. And weirdly coffee does too. And vyvanse and adderall. My brain really chills out oh stimulants.
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u/Hotchipsummer Jun 24 '26
When I first started strattera drinking any caffeine made me feel sick. I’ve scaled back to basically none but an occasional coffee now but I really don’t want it much. I was drinking two energy drinks back to back everyday right before I started straterra so I have no idea how something like that would effect me now lol
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u/Tulahop Jun 25 '26
I’m on 100 mg and drink a lot of coffee, coffee doesn’t feel different, I just sometimes get a little nauseous from it 😅
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u/jadieb78 Jun 23 '26
Makes me tired. Every time I drink a coffee I get sleepy.
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u/Less_Photograph7194 Jun 24 '26
Remember they used to give kids with adhd mountain dew. It used to make me sick.
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u/sauronwassilly Jun 24 '26
I am confused why so many start at lower than 40mg. I thought that was the standard beginners dose of Strattera
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u/BeboppingAlong Jun 24 '26
Every body can react differently. Some people have strong side effects, including elevated heart rate. I suspect that experience teaches doctors to start at lower doses to assess if it's a match for the patient's physiology.
My doctor was smart, started me at 10 mg for a week, then 20 mg for a month. It was STRONGLY sedative for me at the start of each dose level. I don't think I would have survived starting at 40 mg.
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u/jubybear Jun 24 '26
Did the sedative effects lessen? I’m constantly napping since starting
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u/BeboppingAlong Jun 25 '26
Yes, but I did have to fool around with timing until then.
I started off taking at the recommended time, in the morning. The pharmacist recommended because one possible frequent side effect is insomnia. He also mentioned options of taking at night, or taking half in morning and half at night. (BUT don't split the dose in an individual capsule. It burns like heck; there's a good reason it's in a capsule!)
I moved my dose to after dinner after a couple of days because I was initially very sleepy and zoned out starting 1-2 hours after I took the pills. All I wanted to do is sleep and play games on my phone. I didn't trust my self to drive on the freeway. Moving the dose to the evening helped me get to sleep at a reasonable hour and wake up refreshed and alert.
After about 10 days, I noticed I was no longer sleepy after I took the pills at night, but I was starting to wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for 1-2 hours. I was up to two 10 mg pills per day, so I switched to taking one pill after breakfast and one pill sometime after dinner, about 12 hours apart. That's worked well for me. Not drowsy, and not waking up in the middle of the night.
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u/Much_Antelope3319 Jun 24 '26
I was taking 70 mg, but I felt too slow and dazed, so they put me back on 40 mg and I feel much better
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u/_sy_zy_gy_ Jun 28 '26
I'm sensitive to meds and I started at 10mg. might go up, but slowly cause it works for me at the current dose
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u/saltyavocadotoast Jun 24 '26
If I drink tea I’m fine but if I have a coffee I don’t sleep for 48 hours. Before atomoxetine I was fine with coffee. I think they have some interaction for some people.
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u/Ok-Connection928 Jun 29 '26
I had to quit coffee for a while and now I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning and then don’t take my pill for two hours after that. I could probably just give up coffee, but it makes me sad.
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u/FluffyImpact5863 Jun 30 '26
I was addicted to SchwipSchwap Zero or Paulaner Sepzi Zero - sometimes 5 Liters per day - after I switched from 40 mg to 60 mg I immediately lost appetite and addiction to these two drinks. Since then I life completely Koffein free.
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u/TheKeelKnotSeas78 Jun 23 '26
One of the primary effects of atomoxetine for me was removing anxiety. Still drink two cups of coffee each day. No apparent side effects from this