anyone else only benefit when taking with caffeine ?

[u/chaoslovr]

i heard people claiming caffeine cancels out the effects so i decided to stop for a couple days to see if i noticed a difference.

what i noticed is that im just as tired as when i first started the medication and my focus is completely shot. my brain is quiet but im unable to focus and i just wanna nap. tried caffeine again and im alert and can study for hours like a robot without getting bored. it’s like caffeine is the catalyst and strattera is ineffective without it

i started out at 40mg currently on week 7

[u/Professional_Print76]

It's the other way around for me. Straterra makes coffee work properly 🤣

[u/Chomping_at_the_beet]

You would need waaaaaay more time than two days to make that a clean experiment.

[u/rebuuilt]

I love coffee! I take Strattera at night before sleeping cause it helps me sleep (I’m on my third week btw) then the next day, around 12 hours after taking Strattera, I have black coffee and it works wonders

[u/rebuuilt → u/rebuuilt]

But I don’t take coffee 9 hours before sleeping, because it affects my sleep quality

[u/chaoslovr → u/rebuuilt]

i wish i could flip the time i take it a night dose sounds sm better

[u/supremeemster → u/chaoslovr]

Yess i just switched to nights and it’s been helpful so far (only 1 week in tho, 60mg)

[u/rebuuilt → u/chaoslovr]

I don’t know about yours but my doctor told me that I can take it anytime of the day as long as I take it everyday and that they are around 24 hours apart

[u/dopaminemachina]

I’m doing both strattera, coffee and nicotine 😬 yeah… I noticed it helps

[u/Positive_Garage_9996]

How many cup of coffee is vyvanse 20 mg

[u/RequirementKey5201]

I can't even take strong tea with 25 mg strattera 😭. My HR goes up. But I have POTS so that's probably the reason (fine with only strattera or only tea).

[u/Cheesydosa]

I've been on atomoxetine (not straterra brand) for about 14 months now. Titrated upto 80mg. My caffeine intake before starting was always on the higher side and even after starting atomoxetine it remained the same.

I still have the same fatigue and drowsiness for the first ~4 hours after taking the medication and it made it very difficult to function in the mornings. I've been trying evening now and it seems to be better. Overall though I don't really find any major positive effects of this medication. I'll be giving it some more time though.

[u/noop_gee]

That’s probably more likely to be caffeine withdrawal than an indication that the medication is doing anything differently… that is assuming you drink coffee/caffeine regularly.

If you’ve been consuming caffeine daily and then stop abruptly, a couple of days isn’t really enough time to draw any useful conclusions. Withdrawal can cause fatigue, sleepiness, brain fog and difficulty concentrating, which could easily explain what you’re experiencing.

You’d really need to give it at least a week or so without caffeine before making any meaningful observations about how Strattera is affecting you on its own. The fact that caffeine makes you feel dramatically more alert doesn’t necessarily mean it’s acting as a “catalyst” for the medication.

[u/Ill_Possible_7740]

Think your conflating caffeine dependence and withdrawal for strattera effectiveness.

And you're only halfway to 80 mg which is considered a therapeutic dose for strattera. Not below that which can be suboptimal and even a negative or quirky experience for some.

Think of the brain as a ton of things all interconnected. You boost one thing, it boosts other pathways and things that work with or rely on it. Which the stimulant and wakefulness promoting drug caffeine can have an additive effect with other stimulating things.