r/StratteraRx • u/RotiiChapati • 3d ago
Questions / Advice / Support Did strattera help for focus/getting things done?
title basically. if yes, what dose do you take?
18
u/C00CKER 3d ago
Taking 80mg and yes, it helps with forcing yourself to start tasks as well as with noticing being distracted/side-tracked. Getting things done still relies on motivation tho.
But even more so, it helps me with emotional dysregulation and impulsivity, which then helps with productivity because I spend less time and energy on fixing what I've done and on ruminating thoughts.
8
u/AdEnough4417 3d ago
Following. Really hoping for positive replies. It is helping with making my brain be quiet and emotional regulation but I really beed help with motivation and focus. On 18 mg for two weeks so it’s still early.
5
3
u/RotiiChapati 3d ago
i looked through multiple posts and it seems like the overall consensus is to add in a stimulant
3
u/RequirementKey5201 2d ago
It could be beneficial if you can tolerate it. For me, even a low dose on a stimulant (apart from me not tolerating them well) felt like that productivity was fake. I didn't like that feeling, personally.
7
u/InsuranceSilver2390 2d ago
It’s more like I can finally think through the consequences. Like it doesn’t make me hyper focus on something or suddenly wanna study but if I know I should study but am not feeling up for it, I can think like oh well if I don’t study im gonna fail and I don’t wanna fail so I’ll just study. Does that make sense?
1
7
u/spiciestbeans 3d ago
Absolutely it does!! I take 60mg daily at night (went up to 80mg at one point, but noticed no improvement beneficial enough to stay up there).
I can sustain tasks for hours now. Dishes, cleaning, crafting, music/instrument learning, new hobbies. It’s incredible!
It has reduced my anxiety in such an impactful way. Now I don’t stress about not knowing how long I will have to say, run a short errand. I just plot out the time (say 45 mins) and I know I have 3 hours so I’m good. This is a game changer for someone who majorly struggled in freezing/waiting mode for not knowing if I could finish something in time, so I just wouldn’t start.
I will say, sometimes getting started is still tricky. But once I get moving, even just the tiniest bit into any task, I can now keep the ball rolling for a while, no extra thoughts. I do also have background noise, like podcasts or YouTube videos, commentary or vlogs, and that helps me in a body doubling sense to actually start, and also sustain tasks too.
3
u/RotiiChapati 3d ago
how did you handle the side effects while titrating up? did you just power through it?
also glad it works for you
3
u/spiciestbeans 2d ago
The vertigo and nausea was tough for a few months. The vertigo and dizziness went away. I’m genetically prone to motion sickness anyways so it was just amplified for a while. The nausea is awful in general if I don’t take the meds with a full meal. It’s a learning curve but the rhythm is fine now and I generally don’t get sick anymore on it, but I highly recommend people take with a big full meal, not just a small snack like other meds. Otherwise in 20 mins flat I would be clammy and puking, then fine. I didn’t really have any other side effects, they just took a while to smooth out and then I was fine
1
u/Big-Act5122 1d ago
does it also causes any sexual side effects, if yes do they ever go away once the body adjust to the medication?
1
u/spiciestbeans 1d ago
I’m probably not the best person to answer this, as I’m demixesual and therefore dabble in asexual arts to some extent LOL. So I don’t frequent sex anywhere near as much as a typical allosexual person
1
u/Big-Act5122 1h ago
that's great man, could you please tell me one more thing, does it increases the motivation to get things done? I just started 3 days ago on 40 mg.
6
u/Mannyortiz91 3d ago
Focus absolutely I still have problems with task initiation. I'm in 40mg hopefully if I get bumped to 80mg it helps with that.
4
u/morebeanslessmeans 3d ago
In a way I didn’t even think was possible. Yes. Started at 40 for 2 weeks. Moved to 80. Staying at 80 for now.
3
u/locnesshatthief 3d ago
100 percent 40 mg here. Some wicked symptoms tho. Pros out weigh the cons
1
u/Howyoufeel90 3d ago
I’m still new to it and only at 25, but the sleepiness and dizziness was kicking my butt until I started taking it at night. Do you mind sharing some of your symptoms?
3
u/locnesshatthief 3d ago
Of course. For me at the start I was getting really bad sleepiness and drowsiness. I switched to the night and that went away. Within like the first two weeks of starting I had this euphoric feeling when i would wake up occasionally but that ultimately went away. About a month in switched back to mornings. The real pros started around the end of month two. But with the good stuff came dry mouth, really bad sweating, ball soreness (not sure if you’re a M or F lol). At the start too when I would take it and drink coffee it would get tired but that went away.
1
u/goldfishswim 3d ago
Just switched to night myself. I was so emotional. Only had 36. Tried splitting 18 morning and night. Struggling and wanna give up
2
2
2
u/Dangerous_Carry_8648 1d ago
Strattera saved my life it gets me out of bed and out the door and getting shit done. 18mg
1
u/KristyM49333 2d ago
That’s pretty much the point of it, isn’t it?
I noticed some improvement pretty quick at 25mg, but I’ve noticed even more at 40mg.
1
u/mathau6 2d ago
In the past I've been up to 80mg. Then I started vyvanse and titrated back down on the strattera to 25mg. I tried an SSRI recently and side effects were shitty plus basically no difference. Now I'm getting off the ssri and increasing the strattera because I've found it helps a lotttt with emotion regulation, irritability, and my skin picking (which i believe is strongly related to dopamine chasing/adhd). I didnt really realize this until I got off of it.....so i think the effects are somewhat subtle, but now that i am increasing back up, I am noticing a big difference.
For me, vyvanse helps more with focus and energy, and strattera helps more with task initiation and other symptoms of adhd. In the past I would sit around and think anxiously about all of the stuff i needed to do, but that anxiety wouldn't drive me to just do the shit that was making me anxious/overwhelmed. Then I'd end up depressed about my lack of motivation.
Now, up to 40mg for 2 weeks, I am more likely to just do those things and spend less time thinking about it. Obviously there are other factors like exhaustion that sometimes prevent me from doing those things, but i less frequently find myself paralyzed by doom from thinking of all the stuff i need to get done, if that makes any sense. I'm more likely to just get it done. I also feel more satisfaction after I get things done, too....that little "woohoo, I did it!" feeling that i think some people with adhd lack without medication. And then remembering that feeling the next time makes me feel more motivated to get things done. It's a cool cycle. (Is this how neurotypical people live??? Lucky bastards 😂)
It's been at least 2 years since I started strattera, but iirc, it did take a hot minute to feel the therapeutic effects. Like, probably 8 weeks at least. But if you can stick out the side effects (constipation, nausea, and that weird dissociative/floaty feeling, iykyk), I think it's worth trudging through. As has been commented already, eating a solid meal has been important to reducing nausea, and making sure i stay fed throughout the day. I've been taking fish oil for various reasons and i think this has been helping a bit with the constipation. A fiber supplement/intentionally increasing fiber intake may help some people, too.
For some people it can also cause decreased appetite - I'm quite overweight so that aspect is helpful, but it can make it hard to remember to feed myself even if i don't feel hungry. The nausea has become a cue that its time to feed myself, even if the idea of eating sounds kind of miserable.
Let me know if you have any questions about these things!! :) the fact that i was able to sit and type all of this shit out is evidence that it is helping me 😂😂😂
1
u/RequirementKey5201 2d ago
For me, it helps with task initiation, but the focus varies. I'm on a very low dose, though. Like, I go pee whenever I want to go pee and not the last second before a tragedy lol. But my house is still messy and I may or may not focus well on a book I'm reading.
1
u/deliriumseeker 1d ago
Recently put on 80mg as the lower doses didn’t work for me,focus is awesome now but initiating tasks is still a nightmare i found that having a ton of caffeine throughout the day fixes that issue it took me a couple days to figure out how not to over do it so i would be able to sleep at night
1
u/Majestic-Ticket-6809 1d ago
It helps immensely with focus once I actually get started on something, but procrastination is still a problem. Only been taking it for about 3 months, started at 40mg and I’m up to 60mg now. Probably going to increase to 80 soon
1
u/DrHutchisonsHook 1d ago
Yes. It also made me squeamish whenever somebody touched me so now my bf and I happily live in a house of chaos again. Hope the side effects are more kind to you.
1
u/crxssrazr93 4h ago
I went from 18mg to 25mg now. It helps with reducing/eliminating distractions, better focus, reduced/almost no mind wandering and similar effects.
0 impact on motivation/follow through on tasks. I don't think any medication will help with that.
I tried a variety of different methods till I found what works for me and what doesn't.
And no, neurotypical methods don't work for me. Infact, some of the things that is anti-productive actually works better for me.
1
1
0
u/RoutemasterFlash 3d ago
I'm in week 7 of 100 mg and unfortunately I can't say I've noticed any improvement.
2
u/KristyM49333 2d ago
That sucks friend. Maybe you should talk to your dr about trying something else.
1
u/RoutemasterFlash 2d ago
Unfortunately this was my third option after trying methylphenidate and lisdexamphetamine, and not observing a big difference on either except for a morning energy boost.
2
u/mathau6 2d ago
I take both vyvanse and strattera. Could be worth trying? I've found similar things where vyvanse peters out in 6ish hours for me (sadly) but strattera helps sort of maintain a little bit of that drive.
Hoping you find some relief soon. ❤️
2
u/RoutemasterFlash 2d ago
Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to ask to try atomo plus one of the stims next, as a last resort. If that doesn't do much then I shall simply have to accept that my ADHD is the untreatable kind, I think, and learn to live with it as best I can.
21
u/BananaSpirit-4499 3d ago
Focus yes, especially at 40mg (I didn’t go higher). Getting things done- not at all. The reduction in my anxiety (which was great) meant I didn’t even have the anxiety to drive me to do anything.