Stratterra/Sustained elevated Heart rate/after stopping med - ADD / ADHD Message Board

pamperedglitter · 10-30-2004, 02:47 PM

I am 41 y/o female who took straterra for 9 days. Quit taking it because it caused my heart to race/palpations. After stopping 1 week later I went to ER because my heart rate was 152. I have had a complete cardiac workup, my heart is healthy, but the heart rate is elevated. To make a long story short, My resting heart rate never went down. Now I have to take a beta-blocker to make my heart rate slow down. I have no history of heart problems. I am concerned that this medicine has caused permament damage to my heart.

4 weeks ago at my son's soccar game, one of the 6 y/o complained of shortness of breath and chest pain. The child has been on Strattera for 3 months. He has been off the strattera but his resting heart rate is sustained in the 130's. He wore a holster cardiac monitor for 24 hrs and at one point his heart rate was 212.

I am concerned more children may be experiencing cardiac problems and not be aware of it.
Does anyone else have similiar stories?
I am looking into obtaining a lawyer to get more restrictions on this medicine. It is horrible that a 6 year old will have cardiac problems. This medicine is targeted at children and I don't feel the company knows the full extent of this medicines side effects.

pamperedglitter · 10-30-2004, 03:23 PM

If anyone has children/themselves on Strattera , Just monitor your heart rate.

See what your heart rate is resting, when you aren't doing any exercise. Normal heart rate is 60-80 beats per minute. Check your heart rate when you do exercise. A child's heart rate may go up to 100- 125-130. But I would be concerned if a childs heart rate went higher than 140-150. If your resting heart rate is higher than 130, you need to contact your doctor.

If you stop taking Strattera, monitor your heart rate to see if it is a normal rate.

I hope others do not have this problem. But I do feel there is something wrong with this medicine.

Jennita · 10-30-2004, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamperedglitter

I am 41 y/o female who took straterra for 9 days. Quit taking it because it caused my heart to race/palpations. After stopping 1 week later I went to ER because my heart rate was 152. I have had a complete cardiac workup, my heart is healthy, but the heart rate is elevated. To make a long story short, My resting heart rate never went down. Now I have to take a beta-blocker to make my heart rate slow down. I have no history of heart problems. I am concerned that this medicine has caused permament damage to my heart.

4 weeks ago at my son's soccar game, one of the 6 y/o complained of shortness of breath and chest pain. The child has been on Strattera for 3 months. He has been off the strattera but his resting heart rate is sustained in the 130's. He wore a holster cardiac monitor for 24 hrs and at one point his heart rate was 212.

I am concerned more children may be experiencing cardiac problems and not be aware of it.
Does anyone else have similiar stories?
I am looking into obtaining a lawyer to get more restrictions on this medicine. It is horrible that a 6 year old will have cardiac problems. This medicine is targeted at children and I don't feel the company knows the full extent of this medicines side effects.

Strattera is a norepinphrine re-uptake inhibitor. Norepinphrine is basically adrenaline, which explains increased heartrate.

I don't know that 9 days would cause permanent damage, but I know that drugs will have some lasting effects that fade with time as the brain/nervous system regains it's proper function. Those beta blockers are fine for now, but those must also be tapered down later carefully as things smooth out.

It is a shame young children may have to go through this sort of health crisis when these drugs are not tested for long term use.

pamperedglitter · 10-30-2004, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jennita

Strattera is a norepinphrine re-uptake inhibitor. Norepinphrine is basically adrenaline, which explains increased heartrate.

I don't know that 9 days would cause permanent damage, but I know that drugs will have some lasting effects that fade with time as the brain/nervous system regains it's proper function. Those beta blockers are fine for now, but those must also be tapered down later carefully as things smooth out.

It is a shame young children may have to go through this sort of health crisis when these drugs are not tested for long term use.

Yes, norepinephrine will increase your heart rate, but it should return to a normal rate when the drug is out of your system. This has not occured with this medicine. In the clinical trials it did state some had sustained elevated heart rate. But this rate increase is unacceptable.

The beta blockers are needed to prevent cardiac enlargement from the heart being overworked. It has been since March 2004, that I have had to be on it. I have tried to stop it for one day to see what my heart rate is, and the next day it would be in the 120's just walking around.

Jennita · 10-30-2004, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamperedglitter

Yes, norepinephrine will increase your heart rate, but it should return to a normal rate when the drug is out of your system. This has not occured with this medicine. In the clinical trials it did state some had sustained elevated heart rate. But this rate increase is unacceptable.

The beta blockers are needed to prevent cardiac enlargement from the heart being overworked. It has been since March 2004, that I have had to be on it. I have tried to stop it for one day to see what my heart rate is, and the next day it would be in the 120's just walking around.

I think the way alot of meds work is that the body does become dependant. THat's why the one day your heart rate was up....you can't just up and quit certain meds. I would say if you want to stop the beta blocker, it must be very slowly.

Yes, I've heard the "drug is out of your system so all should be well", but truthfully, I think drugs that target the brain leave their mark and that it takes awhile for real recovery to begin.

I got off benzos(Ativan) myself, and had elevated heart rate as a result as a withdrawal symptom. Mind you, the only reason I was on them was a reaction to codiene given to me for a cold..I had no idea what any of these types of "brain" drugs were.

I did find out eventually, but not intil I developed huge tolerance and terrible symptoms. Now I have some leftover sleep difficulites but still seeing improvement in that area. All other symptoms have basically disappeared.

The elevated heart rate went on for quite awhile, I'd say several weeks, and then re-appeared every once in awhile. This all was very confusing to someone like me who regularly exercised and had excellent heart rate/blood pressure before. So I knew it was temporary because of the benzos and tried alot of calcium and chammomile tea which seemed to calm it down a bit while I was recovering.

I'm not a doctor nor can I say you may have seen it calm down on it's own with some time just because mine did, so I can't say if you should quit the beta blockers. But if you do try, you will have to taper them off slowly since they have been calming your heartrate down and your body probably will need to re-learn that if it can.

It did go on it's own.