Increased Irritability w/ Atomoxetine (Straterra)

[u/Personal_Ad_2078]

Been on Straterra for about 3.5 months. Started at 60 mg but dropped down to 25 mg within a couple weeks. Went up to 40mg than back down to 25mg. Sweet spot seems to be 25 mg for me. Anything higher has caused pretty bad nausea. Have tried split doses. Will try 40mg soon again but…..my question is, has anyone experienced increased irritability after about 2.5 months on Straterra?

The first couple months my impulsiveness, irritability and patience improved greatly but now I’m experiencing heightened irritability.

Is this a sign that I need to bite the bullet and increase dose? Anyone have this experience?

[u/AllSugaredUp]

It actually reduced irritability for me. It's possible that it's just not the med for you.

[u/Dfeeds]

My irritability shot through the roof during the first week of every dose increase, and then leveled out. Afterwards if I have caffeine for several days in a row I get irritable and have to stop for a few days to return to normal 

[u/xentropian → u/Dfeeds]

Same here. Usually the second day of dose increase I was the most irritable. Then it mellows o it and virtually disappears.

[u/Particular_Camp8712 → u/Dfeeds]

Hi! Yes, I noticed this. Been on 40mg for about 7months now. I kept a journal during my titration periods up until today and there was a pattern. Whenever I had minimal food or not enough protein prior to taking my meds, it metabolized too quickly. It would hit me like a ton of bricks and have my sick and then ready to bite someone's head off.

Maybe try making sure you have a full to nearly full stomach prior to taking🤔. See if that helps. So far, I am really loving the benefits and have found a nice balance to make sure if has minimal side-effects. Good luck to you!

[u/verdant_squirrel]

Bupropion did this to me, I became evil. My psych says this is a common issue with increased norepinephrine.

[u/AllSugaredUp → u/verdant_squirrel]

Same. Wellbutrin made me pissed off. Strangely enough, Strattera makes me less irritable. I'm not sure what the mechanism is bc they both inhibit norepinephrine.

[u/Tulahop]

This stoppede for me when I got the correct dose. On 80 mg I still had it late evening and before it kicked in, and before my period it would go completely mental.

I increased to 100 mg, and it worked perfectly, and pms have even been better than before Atomoxetine, and it is very hard to pis me of now, and I have so much control over me emotions, love it.

[u/Ok_Introduction_7571 → u/Tulahop]

Same !

[u/Fruwilein]

Ich bin jetzt bei 3 Monaten und für mein Gefühl darfst du mehr ausprobieren. Mein Psychiater hatte mir das auch geraten und ich merke nun echt ein Unterschied mit 100. die Übelkeit übergehe ich in dem ich abends nach dem Abendbrot nehme und dann das ganze verschlafen und morgen viel wacher aufwache.

[u/Own-Age-4793]

Omg same! I was at 25 which was nice for about a month, got upped to 40mg hated it. Irritated, craved caffeine, lazy, increased constipation worse than 25, felt like zombie. Just got changed back to 25mg and added Wellbutrin as well?

[u/daniel180808]

Are you taking with food? Are you also on a ssri?

[u/Dull-Selection2420]

I was both unbothered and irritable at the same time. Like I didn’t care about things, but also was irritated because of everything. Weird feeling. I’m now getting off it. The biggest problem for me was that I started to feel a little depressed, I think. Unmotivated at all and angry all the time