Strattera(ADHD med) making me feel like crap

[John Spartan]

Hey guys, college graduate here headed to law school in the fall.

I've always thought I had ADD, but was able to get through high school with a GPA in the mid 2's(crappy), and through college with a 3.3, without putting in much effort. I know that I will not be able to do the same thing i n law school so I wanted to get this taken care of now. I was hoping to get either Ritalin or Adderall because I hear that stimulants are really the only medication that can treat ADHD effectively.


FYI, I only have the inattentive part of ADHD, I am not hyperactive at all. I'm just really disorganized, really inattentive, get distracted easily and I find it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything for more than 15 minutes.

So the shrink I went to gave me 28 days worth of Strattera and wants to see me back in 3 weeks. Strattera is, according to Wikipedia, the only non-stimulant med approved by the FDA for ADHD. Bad news is, I've been on it for 4 days, and now it hurts when I pee, it completely killed my sex drive(I can't get it up anymore), and it makes me so freakin drowsy that I have to take it at night right before bed.

I feel like this doctor isn't going to believe me when I tell him that this stuff is going on when I go back, and is just gonna think I'm a liar. I really wanna try anything else, I don't care what it is. I could try Adderall, or Concerta, or Ritalin, or Dexedrine, or Desoxyn, I don't care. I just want something that can actually treat ADHD, because studies showed that Strattera is not as effective as any of those. Of course, Strattera is also the only one of those that isn't a controlled substance which is probably why he gave it to me.

If I tell them all this stuff is going on I know that he won't have me stay on it, but what else can I do? I feel like it is helping me concentrate a bit better but I can't deal with the painful urination and the dead sex drive and drowsiness.

Thanks guys.

[edfurlong]

Tell him what you want to try and if he says no tell him to go [censored] himself and find another doctor.

[kipin]

Um just talk to your doctor and get on something else?

[John Spartan]

[ QUOTE ]
Tell him what you want to try and if he says no tell him to go [censored] himself and find another doctor.

[/ QUOTE ]

i feel like this guy is not going to be willing to prescribe me stimulants. i feel like if i call around to other psychiatrists and ask if they would be willing that they'd just label me a drug seeking addict or something.

but i'm not. i just don't want to waste hundreds of dollars visiting different psychiatrists to find out if they'd be willing. my insurance doesn't cover psychiatric visits but it does cover prescription drugs.

any suggestions?

[John Spartan]

[ QUOTE ]
Um just talk to your doctor and get on something else?

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah im gonna go back in 3 weeks and tell him id like to try something else. he did say i'm ADD after all. i wonder though if the painful urination means i should stop it right now?

[kipin]

Are you sure you don't have some other thing going on? Like a urinary tract infection or an STD?

Perhaps you should stop just for a few days to see if the painful urination goes away.

[John Spartan]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you sure you don't have some other thing going on? Like a urinary tract infection or an STD?

Perhaps you should stop just for a few days to see if the painful urination goes away.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm pretty sure it's due to this because i looked on health websites and it's listed as a side effect for the drug, painful urination. so is the erectile dysfunction because this drug was originallyd esigned to be an anti depressants and the last anti depressant i was on in HS did the same thig to me. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[pergesu]

Medication isn't supposed to make you feel like [censored]. People have different reactions to certain medications, that's why there's always a number of different drugs you can use to treat a given condition. Straterra isn't working for you. Tell your doctor that and he'll prescribe something else. That's his job.

[John Spartan]

[ QUOTE ]
Medication isn't supposed to make you feel like [censored]. People have different reactions to certain medications, that's why there's always a number of different drugs you can use to treat a given condition. Straterra isn't working for you. Tell your doctor that and he'll prescribe something else. That's his job.

[/ QUOTE ]

pergesu thanks for your response bud.

you really give me help. i just think he is going to be lame and be like no you don't need a stimulant. he might even go so far as to prescribe something like Paxil off-label for ADHD just to avoid giving me one.

i really don't understand his logic though.s timulants are supposed to be the first treatment for ADHD. they've been around for decades.

if he's not willing then do you guys think i should just start calling doctors?

[delta k]

I used Strattera for about 3 weeks.

-It gave me a bad headache

-Upset stomach

-Didn't help with symptoms (masked them with others I guess)

-I couldn't bust on some boobies one night [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] very depressing

I'd get off that stuff.