Posted by paulk on April 7, 2003, at 16:48:06
In reply to Re: Add Meds - thanks, posted by PuraVida on April 7, 2003, at 15:57:12
> PS Strattera isn't a stim - as you know - it works like Prozac, but targets Dopamine instead of Seretonin. I'm already on Effexor which is also supposed to help, but it seems to have just helped the depression so far.
Atomoxetine (Straterra) CAN be thought of as a stimulant. What needs to be understood is that stimulation is the result of neurotransmitters levels in the brain – dopamine and norephranephrine. Amphetamines work by enabling the release of both transmitters with Dexadrine being more selective for dopamine.
Ritalin works by increasing norephranephrine by a nonunderstood process.
Atomoxetine (Straterra), Webutin, and Reboxitine work by blocking the reuptake – that is the reabsorption of the transmitter into the end of the sending nureon. This results in higher brain levels.
To say that Atomoxetine (Straterra) is not a transmitter is more of a political or marketing statement, as the FDA didn’t classify it with the other stimulants allowing it to be prescribed under more relaxed constraints.
Atomoxetine (Straterra) also has a slight seritonin reuptake effect (like the Prozac like drugs).
What seems the most important thing to know about Atomoxetine, is that the dosage can vary quite a lot from one person to the other. Too high a dose seems to cause sleepiness, and for me makes things worse instead of better. If I get the correct dose adjusted it seems to work well. The biggest problem I have is that in the evening, when it is waning in its effects, I get REALY hungry and am gaining weight. I’m going to try splitting the dose to twice a day or slowly increasing the dosage.
BTW I first noticed it's effects on day 2.
poster:paulk
thread:133458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030407/msgs/217091.html