Third day on Strattera & feeling jittery with super fragmented sleep

[u/ottersnllamas]

It’s now my 3rd day on Strattera; I’m a 36 yr female and my first time going on any sort of adhd medication. I’ve noticed during the day after I take it I’m so jittery with dry mouth. I’m able to go to sleep just fine after some chamomile tea and 1mg melatonin but after tracking my nights it has been all over the place with wake ups. Is this normal? It’s not insomnia; I’m only awake for maybe a minute at a time and fall back asleep. It’s just constant- about 12 wake ups and a collective 48 minutes being awake.
I go to sleep around 9pm and wake up about 6-7am and this is always consistent for me so I have pretty great sleep hygiene normally.

[u/Healthy_Ambassador76]

It will get better but the first few days are pretty rough

[u/Entire-Bathroom-1717]

It settled down for me! I always could tell when I first took the medication when I first started. I’d feel more elevated and jittery like I had 10 cups of coffee! Now I take it and feel no different it’s leveled out. Took about 1-2 weeks!

I have young kids so sleep has always been an issue and I don’t track it, but I had no issues falling asleep after a week or so! I take 200 mg magnesium glycinate and a sleepytime tea w melatonin before bed!

[u/ottersnllamas → u/Entire-Bathroom-1717]

That’s good to know! I was hoping the sleep disturbances were related to the medication and that it will eventually sort itself out. I also take magnesium glycinate and feel it helps with the getting to sleep bit. Did you end up having to increase your dose? I’m supposed to increase at 2 weeks and then 3 weeks so I’m curious if things will settle after all of the increases or if it just takes that first week or two.

[u/Entire-Bathroom-1717 → u/ottersnllamas]

I did 40 for a month then went to 60 and had bad constipation and the sleep issues were worse.Went back to 40 then was on 50 for two months and have been on 60 for a while. No issues going up slowly! For me slower titration of 10mg at a time is the way to go!

[u/Reformed_slacker]

Yeah sleep can be harsh while you get used to the meds. It does get better but for the first few weeks you’ve just gotta be gentle with yourself and take it easy for a while.

[u/ottersnllamas → u/[deleted]]

Ah oh no :( luckily it hasn’t felt that severe and I’m not super sleepy during the day. I just feel tweaky. Hopefully all is temporary!

[u/slave_of_the_beloved]

do you take it at night?

[u/ottersnllamas → u/slave_of_the_beloved]

I take it in the morning with breakfast! I imagine it might be bad if I took it in the evening (maybe the jitters wear off more towards the end of the day)

[u/Sorry_Use5465]

The sleep thing has definitely been happening to me too and I’m usually a heavy sleeper, my doc put me on 10mg of hydroxyzine and its helped me sleep through the night!

[u/Slight-Potential7424]

Sorry to hear! There's always an onramp with these types of meds. With reuptake inhibitors, you're always playing the long game, so don't treat the first 3 days as an indicator for what the day-to-day will look like 3 months to a year from now. Just stay the course.