Strattera and Depression: What Users Say (Page 3)

• Rob...
• June 13, 2011

For ADHD "I have been using Strattera for about 10 months and had great success for the first 9. I felt great, very focused and able to get things done, and had no negative side effects except for a little bit of dry mouth for the first couple of weeks. About a month ago, I experienced a bout of depression until my doctor switched my prescription from 1 80 mg pill a day to 2 40 mg pills each day (once in the morning and once in the evening). After the switch, I was back to feeling great until last week when I had another bout of depression. This morning, I took 5 mg of Ritalin and snapped right out of my depressed mood. My doctor has suggested stopping Strattera and using Ritalin instead to try to determine if Strattera is the cause."

• Ger...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 13, 2022

For ADHD "Unfortunately, stimulants were ineffective for me as they didn't help improve focus, energy, or motivation (i.e., help me with impulse control, procrastination, or depression). Strattera helped quite a lot with focus, but nothing else. I started with 25 mg and gradually increased through 1 x 40 mg, 1 x 60 mg, and finally 2 x 40 mg. I think the split dose of 2 x 40 mg (one first thing, one late afternoon) was most effective. I chose to get my 80 mg that way, as with each dose increase, the side effects increased. I experienced pretty depressed moods first thing each day and had additional anger issues at times, but the biggest one was feeling cold all the time in my hands and feet. This, to my mind, the pretty nasty side effects coupled with the fact Strattera only helped with focus means I'm coming off of it. I'll assess how ADHD symptoms are when they inevitably return before deciding what to do next. Might push to see what adding Guanfacine into the mix with Strattera would be like..."

• Not...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 23, 2021

For ADHD "I mostly had an issue with lack of motivation, depression, and suicidal ideation due to this med. It also made me very tired. I was on the med for ten months. Here’s the timeline of my experience: 1. The first month, I had started at 40 mg. I had a whole range of side effects. Most of them went away. The only symptom that stayed was me being tired and unmotivated. I had depression and suicidal ideation, but it went away before the one-month mark. 2. Around the 2nd to 3rd month, a lot of my ADHD symptoms were under control, like hyperactivity and impulsiveness. It didn’t matter, though, because I was tired. I had to supplement with caffeine to get some energy. 3. Month 4, I tried 60 mg and had horrible depression and suicidal ideation. I went back down to 40 mg, and the depression subsided after a week or 2. 4. Month 9, I decided to get off Strattera (my current situation). Lots of depression and suicidal ideation again. Be careful."

• Not...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 23, 2021

For ADHD "I mostly had an issue with lack of motivation, depression, and suicidal ideation due to this med. It also made me very tired. I was on the med for ten months. Here’s the timeline of my experience: 1. The first month, I had started at 40 mg. I had a whole range of side effects. Most of them went away. The only symptom that stayed was me being tired and unmotivated. I had depression and suicidal ideation, but it went away before the one-month mark. 2. Around the 2nd to 3rd month, a lot of my ADHD symptoms were under control, like hyperactivity and impulsiveness. It didn’t matter, though, because I was tired. I had to supplement with caffeine to get some energy. 3. Month 4, I tried 60 mg and had horrible depression and suicidal ideation. I went back down to 40 mg, and the depression subsided after a week or 2. 4. Month 9, I decided to get off Strattera (my current situation). Lots of depression and suicidal ideation again. Be careful."

• liv...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 27, 2012

For ADHD "I have been on Strattera for 6 years. I take one 18 mg a day. When I take it, I don't feel like myself. I feel depressed. I feel tired all the time. So for me, I don't like it, but so far, they haven't found anything else that will work for me."

• Rai...
• August 2, 2011

For ADHD "I've been taking Strattera for half a month now. I am 34, and it seems to be doing a pretty good job of increasing my attention span. I have some, but not many signs of decreased sexual appetite, depression, or suicidal thoughts. I HAVE, however, noticed that I am biting my tongue on the right side of my mouth, and when I forget to take the medicine, this stops. It usually happens when I am concentrating, and while I was typing this review, I found myself doing it again. This is very strange, as I haven't heard about it. Also, when I get the shivers, I notice that they now linger at the top of my scalp. I am assuming this has something to do with increased blood flow in your brain or some such thing."

• Tpb...
• October 8, 2011

For ADHD "The negative side effects were too much to deal with. I couldn't handle the irritability, agitation, depression, decreased libido and penis size, constipation, chemical odor in my excessive sweating. I couldn't remain in a deep sleep at night, feelings of helplessness and insecurities only when using Strattera. Sadness, and I can understand how suicidal thoughts tend to develop on this medication. There was a slight increase in my concentration. After discontinuing abruptly, the most intense nightmares and sleepless nights followed. Good luck, I hope you're one of the fortunate ones that this medication worked for. I am a 30-year-old male."

• ICP...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 4, 2021

For ADHD "This medication did not really work for me at all. It gave me massive side effects such as worsened depression, as well as significantly reduced appetite. The benefits to ADHD were minimal and are far inferior to that of stimulants. I would not recommend this as a first-line treatment for ADHD, stimulants are just overall more effective and have fewer side effects."

• Anonymous
• November 13, 2015

For ADHD "I'm an 18-year-old female, and I started taking 80 mg Strattera for ADD, and honestly didn't see much to any improvement. I couldn't focus any better than I could before. I became so unmotivated I didn't even want to get out of bed anymore. It calmed me down definitely and relieved my anxiety 100%, but it made me so, for lack of a better word, depressed. And when I would forget to take it or couldn't get to the pharmacy to refill the prescription for a couple of days, I would get these massive headaches that hurt so bad I could've cried. Overall, I think it just didn't work for me."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 1, 2017

For ADHD "This medication sucks. I took 20 mg Adderall XR, which worked wonderfully for my ADHD, for a month, but had to get off of it because I have Tourette Syndrome, and Adderall aggravated my tics. My physician then put me on Strattera. It is extremely expensive since it is patented until May 2017, and I was given a sample 6-week starter titration pack (from 25 mg to 80 mg). I took a 25 mg capsule last night around 7 PM, and an hour later, I was nauseous and lost my appetite, and I experienced sexual dysfunction (it took over an hour to reach a burning, painful orgasm). The next day (today), I am constipated and depressed. I'd recommend clonidine or guanfacine before trying this garbage for ADHD."

• Ton...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 29, 2013

For ADHD "Makes me super depressed, unmotivated, and unable to enjoy anything. Does increase attention span at the cost of not wanting to do anything."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 8, 2017

For ADHD "For a little while, it did make my ADHD feel better, but all of a sudden, extreme depression hit me, and I was sleeping all of the time!"

• Car...
• February 28, 2017

For ADHD "I am a really happy person, and this drug made me depressed. I did not want to hang out with my friends, and I would randomly cry. Do not do it. It does not even help with your ADHD."

• cir...
• February 14, 2011

For ADHD "Worked for half a year, then I got paranoid, depression and ADHD started to show, and had really bad headaches."

• Ove...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 25, 2018

For ADHD "Felt depressed, tight chest symptoms, and nauseous. Did not focus any better."