Shown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by yeltom on September 2, 2003, at 23:16:17
I have been taking 18 mg of Strattera (for depression) with my 60 mg of Prozac for about 4 months. After the first couple of weeks of coming up on strattera, it made me feel a bit like superman. I could run longer, and my hangovers were less debilitating, among other things (I know I shouldn't be drinking). I never got fully over the constipation side-effect, however, and eventually I didn't feel like superman anymore. Recently I've been especially anxious. I figured Strattera wasn't helping and I was getting sick of the constipation, so I asked my doc if it was okay to go off. He said yes and didn't recommend tapering off, probably because the official word is that it does not cause withdrawal. I wish I hadn't listened to him, as I've experienced withdrawal from other drugs that aren't supposed to cause it (eg trazodone). Indeed, I've felt like I've had the flu since about two days after I stopped. I've been achey and fatigued, and my stomach has been a mess. My feeling is that just about anything can cause withdrawal and that doctors should recommend tapering even if the official word is that there is no withdrawal. Didn't they use to think that SSRIs didn't cause withdrawal? I would like to hear from other people who may have experienced Straterra poop-out and/or withdrawal. What was your withdrawal like, and how long did it last? THanks
Posted by Bob on September 4, 2003, at 3:41:21
In reply to Strattera poop-out/withdrawal , posted by yeltom on September 2, 2003, at 23:16:17
I wish I hadn't listened to him, as I've experienced withdrawal from other drugs that aren't supposed to cause it (eg trazodone). Indeed, I've felt like I've had the flu since about two days after I stopped. I've been achey and fatigued, and my stomach has been a mess. My feeling is that just about anything can cause withdrawal and that doctors should recommend tapering even if the official word is that there is no withdrawal. Didn't they use to think that SSRIs didn't cause withdrawal? I would like to hear from other people who may have experienced Straterra poop-out and/or withdrawal. What was your withdrawal like, and how long did it last? THanks
I read your post and thought that it could have been me talking. Doctors have NEVER taken the withdrawal from these meds seriously. I have taken approximately 30 different psychotropic meds, and have experienced some sort of withdrawal effect on every... single... one. Granted some of the drugs are quite tame, while the discontinuation on others is practically life threatening (Effexor comes to mind), or so it seems. Don't be surprised at all that the discontinuation of Strattera has been a pain in the ass for you (it's essentially a SNRI). Also don't be surprised that the doctor doesn't know about it. My theory is that many people don't have withdrawal effects (you'd be surprised at the resilient systems some people have). The drug companies seize on this, as it makes there drug seem much less inconvenient and they then market it as "well tolerated" with "no significant withdrawal". As long as people with discontinuation problems are in the minority, that's the way it comes across. People also like to engage in semantics when it comes to stopping these drugs by insisting that they aren't habit forming and the compounds are not addictive. These terms are very carefully defined. Yes, one probably never craves these drugs, but many are "punished" when they stop them.
Posted by yeltom on September 4, 2003, at 13:10:54
In reply to Re: Strattera poop-out/withdrawal » yeltom, posted by Bob on September 4, 2003, at 3:41:21
Good points. I wonder why doctors are so clueless. I guess because they've never experienced the effects of the drugs themselves. Another thing they seem clueless about is how long it can take to taper UP to a therapeutic dose. It doesn't make sense to them that someone would have a problem on x mg if they have other patients who are on 10x mg. What they fail to understand is that it can be much harder to go from 0 to x than from x to 10x.
> I wish I hadn't listened to him, as I've experienced withdrawal from other drugs that aren't supposed to cause it (eg trazodone). Indeed, I've felt like I've had the flu since about two days after I stopped. I've been achey and fatigued, and my stomach has been a mess. My feeling is that just about anything can cause withdrawal and that doctors should recommend tapering even if the official word is that there is no withdrawal. Didn't they use to think that SSRIs didn't cause withdrawal? I would like to hear from other people who may have experienced Straterra poop-out and/or withdrawal. What was your withdrawal like, and how long did it last? THanks
>
> I read your post and thought that it could have been me talking. Doctors have NEVER taken the withdrawal from these meds seriously. I have taken approximately 30 different psychotropic meds, and have experienced some sort of withdrawal effect on every... single... one. Granted some of the drugs are quite tame, while the discontinuation on others is practically life threatening (Effexor comes to mind), or so it seems. Don't be surprised at all that the discontinuation of Strattera has been a pain in the ass for you (it's essentially a SNRI). Also don't be surprised that the doctor doesn't know about it. My theory is that many people don't have withdrawal effects (you'd be surprised at the resilient systems some people have). The drug companies seize on this, as it makes there drug seem much less inconvenient and they then market it as "well tolerated" with "no significant withdrawal". As long as people with discontinuation problems are in the minority, that's the way it comes across. People also like to engage in semantics when it comes to stopping these drugs by insisting that they aren't habit forming and the compounds are not addictive. These terms are very carefully defined. Yes, one probably never craves these drugs, but many are "punished" when they stop them.
>
>
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.