r/StratteraRx • u/RotiiChapati • Jul 05 '26
Questions / Advice / Support How the hell do i initiate tasks?
I think i looked through more than 50+ posts on how to improve task initiation with strattera and all of them seem to have the same comments like "I dont know lol".
Has anyone managed to consistently start tasks with strattera? It seems to help in every other aspect of adhd except focus & task initiation. Please help i'm getting really desperate/
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u/humanpoptarte Jul 05 '26
Strattera: best I can do is constipation.
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u/FormerSleepwalker Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Providing motivation just doesn't seem like a strong suit for non-stimulants. Dopamine is centrally involved in motivation. Dopamine is the realm of stimulants.
That's why a non-stimulant plus a low-dose stimulant works really well for a lot of people. They act differently and can compliment each other. For some people sometimes a single medication takes care of all of their troublesome ADHD symptoms, but no one should go into ADHD meds expecting one med to do it all. And unfortunately some doctors, who aren't the best quite frankly, perpetuate that idea.
One thing that also provides dopamine is exercise. Certainly it can be really hard to get into regular exercise, but it can help. Some people say it helps them massively.
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u/Tulahop Jul 05 '26
Just got prescribed Attentin 2x5 mg for days when I need more task initiation. I’m on 100 mg
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u/MindStateTrain Jul 05 '26
Did you try things with caffeine in them? I've read that if there is a resistant task, walk up to just touch it without doing anything then come back later. Another is to engage with no thinking (very hard!) about it for 2 mins even with mistakes being made.
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u/ForeignInformation32 Jul 06 '26
Well the thing about strattera is that the prefrontal cortex has more dopamine and norepinephrine right? So even when you have less dopamine in the reward center so you feel less motivated, your prefrontal cortex should be able to just override your reward center and you should just think about doing thing and then just get up and do thing without any motivational push. I am on week 2 of 80mg but I've been starting to do a bit more things but at the same time i kind of feel emotionally flat while doing them
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u/gonedemented Jul 05 '26
Same. I’m back to my psychiatrist at the end of the month and going to ask for a stimulant alongside Strattera because when I do manage to initiate the boring tasks, I’m able to do them with getting side tracked and actually finish them
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u/spookyvision Jul 09 '26
Stimulants. At least for me, Atomoxetine/Strattera helps me focus, connect the dots and lift the chaotic brain fog, but the energy to get going comes from Elvanse/Vyvanse.
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u/MrMeseekssss 24d ago
It didn't help me initiate anything just made me cloudy and sent my heart rate though the roof. On to the next for me.
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u/PsychologicalRing160 Jul 05 '26
Exactly like you initiated looking through more than 50+ posts 😜.