this is all very interesting to me because i'm on strattera and have some similar issues... ADD inattentive, disthymia, maybe PTSD (it's not been dx'ed, but a general anxiety disorder ... Is this a UK thing?
I take strattera and it works well to help keep me focused, but it's not really helping my anxiety issues, and I completely CANNOT tolerate stimulants, I have trouble drinking a coffee because it makes me so jittery. Even on the strattera I take an uncharacteristically low-dose. only 18 mg because I find that it really exacerbates my anxiety symptoms at higher doses.
I also tried both cymbalta and effexor, and didn't like the way either of them made me feel, cymbalta definitely being the better of the two, but still not quite working the way I'd like it. :p
well for me, i'm just not sure if there was a singular event or if the stress of living with an alcoholic parent, but I've not talked about that too much with my psych... OH!
I just realized it was my disjointed wording, i just meant is the DRUG a UK thing? I've not heard of it before...
dressingfordusk is from australia, so that may be why you've never heard of the med. i'm canadian and i don't know if we have that med available either.
I take Strattera and it is fantastic for mood issues (for me). I think I will have to add in a stimulant at some point but I have only been taking it 2 months, so I am trying to give it a fair shake. I had a HORRIBLE crazy reaction to both effexor and pristiq. Cymbalta withdrawl was one the worst experiences of my life. Strattera actually helped to clean up that mess. Of course every drug is different for every person, but I have had really good luck with strattera so far.
This is really, really encouraging - thank you. My Cymbalta withdrawal was honestly the worst med experience I've had to date, too (keeping in mind that Paxil put me in the hospital, it was worse than that), so I was incredibly nervous about going through something similar again. However, it's good to know that this or a similar drug have acted differently. :) Thanks so much.
Yeah Cymbalta is the devil. It was brutal. I have a kidney stone situation right now where I have had one surgery and have another next week. I am taking 10 prescriptions etc. Cymbalta withdrawl is 50 times worse. I think it's a bad drug and should be pulled. Straterra works well enough that I am not taking any other anti-depressants.I hope that it works well for you too.
Arrgh. Yeah, it made me hypomanic for a week during the withdrawal (apparently a rare side effect of said) when I have never been manic in my life, made me feel like I had frigging swine flu, and I swear to god that it slowed my brain down. I worked as a secretary at that point, and I forgot how to spell - I had to take time off. Horrible stuff. I'm so glad to find someone else who hates it, though - everyone I talk to says it had no side effects for them!
Strattera was great for my mood and hyperactive symptoms but not so great on my inattentive symptoms (which are the bulk of the problem). It didn't make them worse, the difference just wasn't very noticeable... like a very low dose of a stimulant actually. I've never tried Effexor or Cymbalta, but I've tried most of the SSRIs, and I found them to have a mind-numbing quality that Strattera doesn't have. It must be the serotonin uptake that causes the zombie quality of those meds.
I stopped taking it because of high blood pressure (a very rare side effect that may not have even been because of the med), and at this point I'm more likely to use a stimulant + whatever I'm given for my BP than Strattera. If I ever need an anti-depressant again, though, I know what I'll be trying first!
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I take strattera and it works well to help keep me focused, but it's not really helping my anxiety issues, and I completely CANNOT tolerate stimulants, I have trouble drinking a coffee because it makes me so jittery. Even on the strattera I take an uncharacteristically low-dose. only 18 mg because I find that it really exacerbates my anxiety symptoms at higher doses.
I also tried both cymbalta and effexor, and didn't like the way either of them made me feel, cymbalta definitely being the better of the two, but still not quite working the way I'd like it. :p
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I just realized it was my disjointed wording, i just meant is the DRUG a UK thing? I've not heard of it before...
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I stopped taking it because of high blood pressure (a very rare side effect that may not have even been because of the med), and at this point I'm more likely to use a stimulant + whatever I'm given for my BP than Strattera. If I ever need an anti-depressant again, though, I know what I'll be trying first!
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