My 6 year old son has been on Strattera for a little over a week now and he is getting more and more hyper everyday. He is on 18 mg and takes his med in the morning. Has anyone else noticed this?
Thanks in advance!

Hi, the med strattera takes about 5 weeks to build up a theraputic dose in the blood stream so right now you may be seeing your sons natural hyperactivity. If after the 5-6 week mark there is still no improvement then the medication is probably not going to be helpful. How much does your son weigh? Will they be upping his strattera dose?

I encourage you to look into some natural alternatives such as beCalmd. There are many good ones out there, I just tend to recommend beCalmd the most because I have had personal success with the product and have also spoke to many who it has helped greatly. beCalmd can take anywhere from one week to two months to see an improvement but it is well worth it.

In the mean time have your son participate in more physical activities to get his extra energy out. NON-COMPETITIVE ONLY!! Things like jogging, swimming, hacky sack, jumping jacks, jump rope, aroebics, air boxing. You can check out instructional videos on any of these from your library. After he has worked out enough to be tired (make sure he drinks plenty of water!) try a 5-10 minute "meditation" sesion. It doesnt need to be real meditation. You can call it something else like "quiet time" "think time" etc. During these few minutes after his workout just allow him to sit in a dimly lit, quiet room. Tell him this is his time to relax and just sit and think. Give him paper, crayons, pencils. Tell him that if he feels like it he can use these materials to record his thoughts.. meaning, if he's thinking of a pet dog he would then draw a pic of his pet dog. Each week increase the length of the "quiet time" after exercise by about 3 minutes.

If he needs some backround noise try one of those natural sound tapes of waterfalls, rain, the jungle, or other relaxing music. (Mozart is always good) It is important that there are NO WORDS in the music you/he chooses.

Try this method, it works good for soooo many kids. Dont expect too much at first, but dont become discouraged either. Eventually you should see results in more control over activity level and the ability to stay in "quiet times" for a lengthier period of time.

Good Luck http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif Oh, another thing Omega 3 fish oil is good for everyone, very healthy!! and it has been proven helpful for ADHD kids, both beCalmd and Omega 3 would be safe to give along with strattera.

"I see myself as an intelligent, sensitive human, with a soul of a clown which forces me to blow it at the most important moments."
--Jim Morrison

I agree about the becalm'd and omega fish oils these two supplements have helped my child tremendously he has anxiety in addition to add and the supplements work better then paxil for his anxieties. We just added a low dose of concerta to help with the add component and it has been wonderful. Straterra also made my son more hyper after 10 weeks

Thank you both for the great advice, I will definetly think about what you have said when talking to his Dr this week.
Amy