Posted by yeltom on May 4, 2003, at 12:17:47
In reply to Re: new to Strattera what to expect yeltom, posted by Gale Fox on May 4, 2003, at 6:36:49
I'm not exactly sure what the reason for his belief is, but when an ssri poops out, there are a bunch of things you can do before giving up on ssris together: increase the dosage (which I'm sure you've tried), change the ssri (just because lex and pax didn't work doesn't necessarily mean none of them will), or add a medicine that "augments" the ssri. My doctor has just had very good luck adding strattera to ssris when either the ssri is pooping out or the person has no energy, drive, etc. on the ssri. I believe that ssris can poop out not only because they stop working on serotonin but also because they put norepinephrine and/or dopamine out of balance. That's why you would add wellbutrin or strattera, but my doctor thinks strattera is far superior. My point is that if ssri's worked for you at one point and the norepinephrine boosters are not working right now, you shouldn't forget about your serotonin. THere are also non-ssris that work on serotonin: trazodone, serzone, clomiprimine. Good luck.
> I'm hesitant to go back and try the Paxil, since it didn't seem to be working any longer. My doctor suggested trying something besides an SSRI since both Paxil & Lexapro didn't seem to make a difference. I'm curious why your doctor thinks SSRIs work better with Strattera - is this based on clinical observation, or something he/she knows about the chemistry of the meds?
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> > My doctor feels strattera in conjunction with an ssri works much better than wellbutrin and an ssri. You still haven't tried paxil and strattera together, right? Lexapro made me nauseous and didn't work. Have you tried any other ssris? I found celexa particularly easy to tolerate and low on sexual side effects. Seems weird that I would like celexa and not lexapro, but I'm not the only one. In any case, if paxil helped, makes sense to stay on an ssri and add strattera, IMHO
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> > > Thanks for the biotene info.
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> > > I dropped Paxil because it pooped out. We tried upping the dosage, then added Wellbutrin, which made some improvement, but not enough. Tried Lexapro, no improvment. Now working Strattera ...
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> > > > I found biotene at my local pharmacy, I don't think it's hard to find. If it is, I would search for it on the internet and mail order it. Might be cheaper that way too. Why did you need to replace the paxil? Maybe you need a bit of an ssri with with your strattera (snri). Norepinephrine boosting does not help all depression. I'm assuming the paxil either pooped out or caused sexual side effects/ If the former, strattera might help in conjunction. If the latter, then you could still reduce your paxil and add strattera. Or use another ssri; paxil supposed to be the worst for sex
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> > > > > I've also been on Strattera 3 months, but am having poor results. I've been searching for eight-nine months for a med (or meds) to replace Paxil, which successfully controlled my depression for 6-7 years.
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> > > > > I was taking 150 mg Wellbutrin a day when I started Strattera late in January, with 150 mg trazadone a day so I could sleep through the night. And was having to live with an exacerbation of a mild tremor I had before starting Wellbutrin. My doctor started me at 40 mg Strattera, but I had to go down to 25 because Strattera increased the tremor and insomnia. I saw improvement after 3-4 weeks, then we withdrew the Wellbutrin and I got worse over 3 weeks. We've been upping the dosage for another 3 weeks now and I'm at 60 mg Strattera, 250 mg trazadone, and seeing no improvement. I'm going to be seeking a second opinion and am starting to wonder about electroshock since I've been doing this dance for 8-9 months no& am getting nowhere. Also, I didn't work at all from September to March, and am now working 10-15 hours a week, so my financial situation is bad. I'm very discouraged. I'm not suicidal, but I'm starting to use phrases like I can't live like this any longer.
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> > > > > Oh yes, I have major dry mouth and bad breath from the Strattera as well. Where did you find the biotene toothpaste?
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> > > > > Comments, suggestions are welcome.
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> > > > > gale
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poster:yeltom
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030429/msgs/224237.html