Posted by JayDee on November 3, 2004, at 11:14:27
In reply to Strattera compared to Ritalin Well.., posted by thinkfast on November 3, 2004, at 7:06:04
Strattera increases dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, IIRC, because the reuptake of DA is controlled there by the NA enzyme. Most of DA related social anxiety is belived to lie in lowered levels of dopamine and receptors in the striatum and (probably) the nucleus accumbens. Strattera does not increase DA levels in either area(stims do). Also the striatum is involved in executive functioning which is probably why Strattera is not as effective as stimulants. The DA effect in the nucleus accumbens is probably partly responsible for the calming effect, too.
Strat has more side effects as wellgood things about strattera:
-no crash
-anti-anxiety(not social), calming effect (probably neglegable if you're already on an AD)
-long lasting
-non addictive(not + as far as im concerned, but for lazy docs it is)
-Strat causes no anxiety, where WB and stims doIt can, i Belive exasperate the fear circuit, though. For example when I was on the strat... If i was strongly startled by somthing(not scary, just somthing to make me jump) I would find my feet/hands shaking for several mins afterwards. But i was somewhat prone to this in the beforehand, strat just made it worse.
for me it made my excessive daytime sleepieness even worse, but it was better then nothing.
poster:JayDee
thread:410963
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041103/msgs/411057.html