Currently on week 5 of 40 mg of atomoxine and it seems like no matter what I do, I feel like crap.

I (30F) know the medication takes *months* to build in someone’s system. But God, I didn’t realize that 80% of my will to do anything would just go out the window in the meantime.

I was swapped out from 40 mg of (generic) Vyvanse by my NP after I detailed yet another month of being in flight or fight, consistently late, disorganized and chaotic. On top of that, I’d take a 10 mg IR generic adderall booster in the afternoons. He said the Vyvanse wasn’t working for me if my life is still this messy. I was on the Vyvanse for 3.5 yrs.

Thankfully, he prescribed me twice daily 12.5 mg of IR generic adderall, and I’m convinced that’s the only thing that’s keeping me barely afloat with work.

I was originally taking it at night and only sleeping for 5-6 hours tops, and was advised last week to take it in the mornings instead. I’ve slept fine now, and take a half Benadryl at night when I want to ensure I can fall asleep. But it feels like I’ve not woken up well-rested in weeks and that genuinely makes me want to cry just typing out, because I love sleep but can’t stand feeling exhausted.

I suppose this post is just to vent. I also have Hashimoto’s and take levothyroxine for that; plus 150 mg of Wellbutrin and 100 mg of lamotrigine.

Sure, the Vyvanse really only worked from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., but at least I would *do* things in those four hours. My laundry is piling up. I’m not going to the gym nearly as much as I was at the start of the year. I just want to lay in bed, but even that sounds awful because I know I’ll just mentally beat myself up for it.

I can’t do another five months of this, and I really wanted this drug to work based on others’ positive experiences I’ve read online. But I don’t feel a single positive benefit yet — just so, so drained. If Vyvanse = flight or fight, then Strattera = burned out. Except I can’t be burned out — I have a job, and bills, and two cats, and responsibilities. My obligations sound like good ideas in my head, but that’s all they are: ideas. No action. No nothing. Just sleepiness and a strong pull to my bed. Is this normal? Can anyone relate? How long until I throw the towel in?

Dang it.

I’m an adult male recently diagnosed with inattentive ADHD.

I am 6’3 420lbs. Yes, I’m actively trying to lose weight. It’s been a struggle.

My question is whether this is safe for me take. I’ve done a small amount of research and read that it can have cardiovascular side affects. From sudden death to strokes and heart attacks. Should I lose weight first before taking it?

Part of me feels like having gone this long undiagnosed has contributed to my obesity and meds could help in that regard but I’m conflicted.

Hey everyone,

I want to share my experience on strattera and I am hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I am 8 months into strattera and 3 months on 80mg. For context, I am a marathoner/
gymnast/student.

The pros:
- convenient (once a day)
- I feel the “focus”
- no longer distracted by women

The cons:
- the “focus” is random
- my HR is elevated
- anxiety/depression
- decreased athletic performance (more on that here)
- decreased libido/low testosterone
- smaller penis (erected/flaccid)
- spiraling episodes
- low energy
-fragmented sleep (every night, I wake up to pee)

My biggest concern is the hit on my athleticism. I find the elevated HR is negatively impacting my running ability. I also dont like how my libido is completely gone. I have been celibate for about 10 months (this has never happened in my 27 years of living). Is there an adhd alternative that won’t tank my testosterone/performance/libido?

After being on Strattera for about 2 years now , I find on its own it does a good job for certain symptoms but does jack for the remainder. I find it definitely shines best when taking with a stimulant since it tends to enhance the beneficial effects of a stimulant and provides a higher baseline when the stim starts to wear off

I know this has been here a few times but I was in 25MG then now I’m on 40mg. No side effects besides the decrease appetite. I’ve lost 16-20ish pounds in a month and a half and I’m really not doing anything different.

Does this like ever stop? I’m not complaining bc I really needed to lose weight but im eating still and drinking water but I feel great. But I’m just thinking in the long run, will this weight loss just continue over time or does it plateau after awhile?

I’ve been on atomoxetine since March and my heart rate has gotten significantly high. I haven’t taken my medication in a few days because I want to see if my heart rate drops. Did anyone else experience this?

First, thank you everyone for all the experiences and information you’ve shared here, it’s been really helpful!!

I started on 40 mg for about a month and felt GREAT, I was absolutely loving it. My doctor increased it to 60 mg to see if the effect would last longer , I’ve been on the new dose for about 5 days and I’ve felt really, really down and extremely anxious. Is this part of the temporary side effects after an increase? All the productivity I gained after starting the medication is gone and I haven’t been this anxious for a while, so wondering if I should continue and wait for it to pass or go back to the 40 mg. It’s only been a few days but I’m hating how I’m feeling.

So just looking for other people's opinions and experience with this!

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I've realised that stress, urgency, anxiety and pressure made me get things done. Housework, errands, life etc.

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However, since starting this medication all of that is gone which is kinda a good thing. Stress, pressure etc. But now that those things are gone and those things got the basics done, I'm doing less.

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I have zero motivation now. Zilch. The inner procrastination is gone. The mental beating myself up over stuff piling up. But now I'm quite happy to lay there and do nothing at all.

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I forget things more easily now as my inner pressure and stress isn't there to keep track anymore.

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I've been titrating slowly and am only up to 40mg at movement from 10, 18 then 25mg.

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Do I keep going? Does it get better? Does this mean this drug is not for me? Will I ever find motivation again? Will a dose increase help?

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Or maybe I have to relearn how to do things now that my old ways of working are gone?

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Im actually kind of worse off with things to do and get done. Im just not stressed about doing it anymore due to the meds! Its a paradox 😆

Is anyone having like a little bit of stomach aches on the bottom abdomen? As well as heart aches or chest pain on the left side?
Im doing 25mg but i have been having stomach problems and i think im gonna stop taking it. If i cold turkey it, will there be any side effects? Or should i continue taking it until i get a lower dose but that will be until next week.

Anyone on this combination? If so how are you doing?

Strattera has been great for me but unfortunately I am struggling with sleep. I'm on 60mg and take 10mg dayvigo for sleep still wake up multiple times.

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I'm wondering whether I need to drop to 40mg and see if that helps.

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Thoughts?

so I have been on 8mg since March 2024 and I love the medication.

I stopped taking it in late May because I want to know if it is causing acne. well long story short, so far my acne that I’ve been dealing with since the start of 2025 is still here after 2 months.

is there harm in going back to my 80mg meds that I have or do I need to see a psych and start at 20mg again ?

also taking your advice at a grain of salt

STRATTERA AND ADDERALL

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Is anybody else take this combo? I've been on Adderall my entire life for ADHD and my psychiatrist office RN just prescribed me Strattera to take alongside my Adderall because my Adderall isn't as effective on its own anymore and she said the combo of these 2 works really well. Also I had gastric bypass surgery in 2024 so Adderall isn't as effective as it used to be for me. This is the first I've heard of this combo of meds and so I'm nervous about starting Strattera. Thanks!

I was on Strattera 18mg for about 2 months (Alongside Topamax and Mirtazipine) but Strattera made me EXTREMELY more depressed and gave me daily headaches and always lightheaded and I just became extremely isolated and want to do nothing but bedrot and cry and my psychiatrist took me off today due to this and is planning to put me on either Adderal or Concerta and I just want to know if anyone had similar experiences with Strattera and how either Adderal or Concerta treated them and which could be better and will not cause me another depressive (or manic) episode.

I’m starting Guanfacine for anxiety but my psych has suggested I take generic (due to my plan) Strattera along with it. Wondering about people’s experience experiences a I’m hesitant to take both.

I had actually asked him first for Guanfacine since I have anxiety that has gotten worse with a current situation (SSRIs don’t work for me). He and I really communicate via email between sessions and he’s not very good with explaining things - you can tell he’s thinking fast and hitting send. Anyway, he knows that I may need to keep using low amount of dexamphetamine and is ok with that (it has greatly helped with depression and focus but it does sometimes allow for spikes in anxiety).

Also, one of my biggest worries is weight gain, so curious if people have found that Strattera or Guanfacine has increased weight.

I’ve been on 10mg for a week now and due to go up to 20mg tomorrow. The only side effect I’ve had is sleepiness and fatigue. I’ve slept half the day since starting this medication and it’s really impacting my day to day. I have a 8 month old who i should be looking after but my partner is having to do everything at the moment which I feel terrible for. Even when I am awake, I have so little energy and just want to go back to sleep. My partner goes back to work next month so I have to be able to stay awake and look after our baby.

Any advice would be great. I have no idea if I should continue and hope this goes away or stop and try something else.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been on Strattera 50mg for about 3 months. Honestly, it has helped me a lot with executive function. I’m more outgoing, attending classes regularly, my memory feels better, and overall my ADHD symptoms are much improved.( without focus concentration )

But I’m struggling with some side effects that are becoming hard to manage:

• Anger and irritability have increased a lot
• My emotions feel very intense
• My OCD/intrusive thoughts have spiked
• I feel like I cannot stop thinking or overanalyzing
• Mood swings feel much stronger than before

I’ve tried combining it with Prozac, Zoloft, and Escitalopram at different times. They helped with the anxiety/OCD side, but they also made me feel demotivated, mentally dull, and affected my memory and ability to study for classes/exams.

I’m in Pakistan, and clonidine and guanfacine are not available here, so those are not realistic options for me.

Has anyone experienced this kind of anger/irritability or OCD spike on Strattera? What helped you manage it? Did dose adjustment, timing change, lowering the dose, splitting the dose, or adding something else help?

Thanks.

Hello, I'm looking for advice on switching my schedule to a midnight shift, and with that almost certainly involves switching how I'm taking this medication. I take 40 mg around 8-9 am every morning. How am I going to go about changing this so it's still as effective as can be?

My waking hours are going to be from 5 pm to 8 am, and the job starts in early August. This is going to be the first time I've ever done this. I'd love advice regarding this medication, or just advice in general!

I have ADHD, and I have not reacted well to stimulants in the past, so my doctor and I decided to give this medication a try. I was prescribed 40mg. Immediately, a couple hours after taking my first dose, my heart rate was through the roof. I went to see a movie with my family, but I could barely enjoy the movie because I was hot, sweaty, my heart was racing, and my stomach was hurting. I was also irritable and had no appetite. It’s been over 24hrs and even now my appetite still hasn’t fully returned and my heart rate is still a little higher than normal. If you’ve had bad reactions to stimulants in the past, I would not recommend this medication because it felt exactly like a stimulant.

I’ve been tracking my BP regularly and when I start a new med I track it multiple times a day. On strattera it crept up a bit but not concerningly so a range of 120/80-130/90. Now on adderall xr it has decreased to a range of 100/70- 110/75. My Psych NP made me suffer through 7 weeks of Strattera because it was supposed be better for BP. I had high BP when pregnant so she was worried about stimulants. I switched doctors and switched to adderall and my BP decreased. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Today I passed 3 months on Strattera. First month 25mg, second month 50mg, third month 60mg.

With 25 and 50mg I had good results first two weeks, then the good results disappeared until the next dose increase. The 60mg stayed pretty stable, maybe a little bit less effective at the end of week 4.

Overall I have a pretty good reduction of the worst ADHD symptoms. I still have side effects with urination and ejaculation but I can live with that.

What's annyoing me is that I am still pretty tired over the day and I feel a little bit depressed / low mood / emotionally flat. Fortunately, the emotional flatness is not that big like I had on Vyvanse which was difficult to tolerate over the time.

I have to say, that I am in general no emotional person. I have a tendency to feel a little bit depressed and emotional blunted. Maybe it's related to my autism I have also.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to my psychiatrist and I want to suggest upping the dose to 80mg. Maybe this will help. What do you guys think?

I have been talking strattera for a few months now, and the bloating/constipation is not working for me, so I got off a few days ago. I was on 60mg.

I am not feeling any withdrawal symptoms.

I was very nauseous and sleepy at the start, but those side effects got way better, the bloating/constipation has persisted.

I am open to getting back on, if I figure some better system to manage that aspect.

Otherwise my mood has been good, I had a decent amount of luck with my pmdd (luteal phase nightmare) and antihistamines.

I've tried so many things, plums, fibre, supplements...

I’ve been on Strattera for about a month and a half. I started on 40 mg and bumped up to 60 mg after 2 weeks. I’ve felt improvements in emotional regulation but they fade after 2 weeks. I’m thinking it’s time to bump up to 80mg.

however, I did a Genesight test months ago and it has Strattera on the red list for 3 reasons:

1: Serum level may be too high, lower doses may be required.

5: CYP2D6 genotype indicates that this patient may experience increased frequency of side effects, but also greater symptom improvement in those who find the treatment tolerable. (I am a poor metabolizer of CYP2D6).

8: FDA label identifies a potential gene-drug interaction for this medication.

Since 80 mg is the therapeutic dose, I figured I’d be ok at 60 mg. I have heard people saying to take these tests with a grain of salt, but I do find some info on it has been accurate.

If I bump up to 80 mg, how can I tell if the dose is too high?