Strattera

Ummm yeah so I just wrote a whole freakin' essay on my ADD and specifically my recent experience with Strattera... and figured after going to all that effort I should post it here too...
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I figured that I should maybe chime in with a positve report on Strattera... seeing as how it seems to be universally negative results that have been posted.

I've been on strattera (60mg/day I'm 140ish lbs) for about a year and a half now and loving it. well as much as is possible anyway. but definitly likeing it.

Quick run down of my ADD history:
All the classic symptoms through school (temper, day dreaming, never completing anything ever etc) but since I could read for hours on end and really didn't have anything that would be mistaken for a hyperactive disposition, was never diagnosed despite a couple of occasions when they tried to figure out my temper (diagnosis at the time was "your friends are jerks")
Anyway was finally dianosed in second year of uni... and went right on to Dexedrine... which despite a brief trial of ritalin has always been my favorite... my dosages varied (5-80mg/day) depending on any number of things but I usually tried to keep it at a minimum (5-20mg/day) or on an "as needed" basis... my biggest compaint was always that it left me completely crashed in the evenings... absolutly useless for everything and anything...

by comparison Straterra does have maddening sideffects and requires a much stricter adherence to taking it at the same time every day.. but that's to be expected with something that is more akin to the antidepressants (SSRIs) than the CNSs...

Nausea: particularly when I started the nausea was really bad when i took it first thing in the morning. I tried taking before bed but was not able to rest well (was tossing and turning all night) so I switched back to the morning.. but only after I've eaten and that's resolved virtually all of the nausea issue.
The only other time that nausea has been an issue is when I've been doing physical activity.. this hasn't been a problem recently but for the first few months going rock climbing etc would put my into a nauseaus fetal position pretty quickly. Regardless of the cause ofthe nausea LOTS of water always helped.

Drowsiness: I cannot (should not) drive in the morning after taking Strattera. about half an hour after taking it, it becomes impossible to keep my eyes open. Fortunatly I ride the train into work so don't often have to deal with this... I'm pretty sure that taking it with coffee/energy drink (god I love B vits and amino acids) might help solve it... interestingly a 10-15 minute walk after taking it also seems to solve this... as does a nap of course.. but I still need to figure out the exact parameters

Constipation: this was an issue for a while.. I'd have to wait and take the staraterra late every once in a while to allow my body time to figure things out in the morning. doesn't seem to be so much of an issue now. but fiber is good.

The "peeing" thing: sometime it take a whole lot of work/thought to pee. and sometimes it feels absoloutly amazing when I do... I havn't figured this one out yet... just gotta remember to keep well hydrated.

"Sexual side effects": I think my Libido is if anything more active on this stuff than normal, but... keeping a full erection takes alot more effort and is easily lost... that I can deal with.. for now anyway since Sara is in Russia. I also find that more often when I ejaculate, it doesn't quite get all of the cum all the way out. it takes a bit of attention/kneading/pernerium pressure to completely "clear the pipes." If I forget to do this and then pee sometime afterwards it hurts... rather alot. I think that there is something going on with my PC muscle or something related that's wonky on Straterra. I find that the risk of this scenario rises with the length of time that I've been aroused prior to ejaculation and that's probably the worst part about it. Anyway on the plus side it seems to be getting less frequent with "practice"
...and it's giving me an excuse to practice tantra (which I never had the attention/patience for prior to strattera) I'm still a bit to impatient to have gotten ver far with that tho

Others: Ocassional headaches... but I actually think that they might have more to do with my energy drink habit and caffeine withdrawal since they're a relativly new occurance..
I also usually get headaches by sometime around noon if I for get to take the straterra... which is actually a helpful reminder!

BUT!!! despite all of these hurdles... wow.. I mean seriously straterra is great for me. it lets me get on with doing stuff that needs to be done but doesn't string me out... I never get the random motor mouth thing that I used to... and look! I can write coherant post (I think) without wandering away!!!! It is very different than the Rit or Dex experience but over all it makes me feel like a normal person.. I get a bit distracted sometimes.. (work) but when some thing needs to be done I can do it! at the same time I don't feel like I've lost any of the spontenaity/quirkyness/genius or anything else that I've always really liked about ADD

Oh I should also say that a couple of months ago I went with out it for a month (tried both going without any drugs and going back to my remaining stock of the dexedrine) it was a classic case of "oh my meds are going to run out soon! oh and i'm out of refills.. damn need to set up a doctors apointment some time" for a month and then the following month with no meds of course it was even more challenging to get my shit together (to make the one damned phone call) anyway the point is that during that month I got crazy behind at work and got nothing done outside of work and had crazy flashbacks to the out of control roller coaster that used to be day to day life... it wasn't much fun...

I'd be interested in hearing about anyone else who has stuck it out with strattara.... it's been my experience that it's gets better and with less sideffects th longer you stay with it.

ummm wow that really is long... didn't mean for it to go on like that! oops

Anti-game activist Jack Thompson under investigation

Anti-game activist Jack Thompson under investigation
w00t!

Penny Arcade donates $10,000 in Jack’s name to charity - Joystiq - www.joystiq.com

Ah it's sure been fun watching this play out over the last few days

Re: Re: Quiz (there was probably a FW: in there too)

Blah, Blah Blah you know the pre-amble so here it is a silly quiz that will tell you all kinds of largely irrelevant things... my distraction for the day. (Well obviously not the only one, this is me after all but..) and yes if you do feel like sending it back with your answers that would be interesting... but I couldn't care less if you send it to anyone else.

And just to make this actually meaningful... Sara* and I have got or Xmas/New Years plans figured out, so for those who are interested we'll be in fernie from the 22nd of Dec until the 30th and then in the Peg from the 31st 'till the 8th before moving on to montreal for some as yet indeterminate period of time.

And yes I recognize that I have not written to many/most of you in.... um possibly ever? My appologies, I do intend to remedy that but I hope you are well in the mean time. :)

and now I should really get back to work
Rob


    1. Time of starting? 12:52
    2. Were you named after anyone? Maybe... kinda... sorta... I guess so... see there one that's my cousin so I don't know if that counts and then there's another one that's a photographer... but I think I just kinda have the same name.


    3. Do you wish on stars? Ocasionally


    4. When did you last cry? Properly cry? I dunno.. I was pretty broken up when I had to leave Sara in toronto after that first sumer... but I was trying to get 9hrs home at the time so I wasn't at liberty to cry... and probably wouldn't have anyway


    5. Do you like your hand writing? Yes, it's cryptographic

    6. What is your favourite meat? Buffalo is pretty good, I like duck but recently I'd have to say tuna... as long as it's not cooked.

    7. What is the most embarrassing CD on your shelf? depends entirely on who's looking... but I tend not to get embarassed since alot of the music in my collection (notice I don't say my music) was aquired in the precess of burning cds for others (this was before anyone had them and also when most people didn't have broadband so I actually got them on zip disks... wow that was back in the day)

    8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Well if I were another person then probably.. if I were another me however... probably not so much... we'd both be way too lazy to keep anything going on... we would share lost of interests tho which might make it easier. But I'm usually content on my own so reaching out doesn't happen... yeah it's a personal weakness that's compounded by moving relativly often.

    9. Are you a daredevil? Yes I have minimal judgement. But I'm a lazy daredevil which is how I got to be 26.


    10. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? Not that I'm aware of... but my memory is notoriously transient/intermitant... So it's entirely possible that I've forgotten A. that I've ever done it, B. that it was a secret, C. that I'd ever heard it in the first place

    11. How do you release anger? In my childhood. Now I am one with the Tao... or possibly just self-flagilation... unless I'm tired and/or hungry in which case I'll be snappy as all hell to anyone close to me but that's not really anger that's just me being a jerk.

    12. Where is your second home? Oh shit tough question... ummm if you mean in day to day life then it's downtown chicago where I live halftime. If the question is where my heart is then it's where ever Sara has gotten to now (right now I think that means Irutusk) 'cause she's so rarely here. But if the question is "where I'd rather be" then it oscilates with the seasons between Fernie BC and Can. Sheild. Of course camp is the place where I feel at home as soon as I arrive. Winnipeg makes a strong case as a second home since I (think that I) will always have (a) place(s) to stay... K that was too much thought.. perhaps just where ever I'm not.


    13. Do you trust others easily? often but not always

    14. What was your favourite toy as a child? I was all about the HeMan and the Transformers, then later, I was all about the ninja turtles. I was also a Construx(sp?) kid rather than lego.

    15. What class in school/uni do you think is totally useless? anything that is badly taught <rant about damnable research profs who are forced to teach but don't want to and haven't got a clue how to do it, as well as teachers that don't understand kids, and just general incompetence>


    16. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Why, whatever do you mean?

    17. Have you ever been in a mosh pit? Not actually a proper mosh pit... I tend to like to have more room to dance, but sometimes some of the parties, particularly in Toronto, that I've been to got pretty mosh-y

    18. What do you look for in a guy/girl? I've never really thought about it... a connection I guess.

    19. Would you do a bungee jump? done it twice, but I'd love to go sky-diving

    20. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? rarely

    21. What's your favourite ice cream flavour? vanilla generally because liqueurs work so well with it... but I prefer gellato

    22. What are your favourite colours? additive or subtractive colours? crayola or oil paints (or acrylics) (or markers)? I am a fan of Pantone M12**

    23. What is your least favourite thing? the relentless march of time

    24. How many people do you have a crush on right now? no crushes I've got who I want and I want who I've got... that's not to say more might not be better

    25. What do you miss most right now? Sara. and 4 month summer vacations


    26. What colour underwear are you wearing? green

    53. Halfway time? 13:34-9:00 (ummm yeah there was lunch and then a meeting and then going home and sg and sleep and then coming back to work

    27. What are you listening to right now? morning office chatter


    28. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? burnt sienna

    29. What is the weather like right now? foggy but not that cold... they give everything here in °F so beyond that I don't really know

    30. Last person you talked to on the phone? My Mom


    31. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? usually that they are there


    32. Do you like the person who sent you this? damnstraight.. i'm just a bit annoy that he's threatening to be in england for new years

    34. Favourite drink? tea and other infusions

    35. Favourite alcoholic drink? depends... I'm a fan of Pinot noirs... micro-brewed beers... most everything else... my favorite drink to take to a cock-luck*** party is a Slow Comfortable Screw, technically Slo gin, Southern Comfort and orange juice but I like to add vodka

    37. Eye colour? "grey" but actually blue-green with ratios that change depending on my mood and clothing

    38. Wear contacts? No

    39. Siblings? 2 brothers and sister all younger and in that order

    40. Favorite month? well it used to be setpember 'cause I was always so fit after working at camp all summer... but now... don't really have one... except for the one that I get to see sara of course.

    41. Favourite food? Sushi... always has been

    42. Last movie you watched? Serenity


    43. Favourite day of the year? New Years is good because I usually get to see most of my winnipeg friends, but no particular favorite beyond that

    44. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out? it's been a long time...

    45. Scary movies or happy endings?  Neither... but happy endings are better

    46. Summer or winter? It's all so relative depending on your hemisphere... but Summer is good

    47. Hugs or kisses? Yes

    48. Do you want your friends to write back? honestly I'm pretty ambivilant... I'd hate to encourage anyone to waste as much time as I have on this

    49. Who is most likely to respond? Kerri-lynn cause she's already got it filled out (even tho I'm not sure that this is actually a kerri that I know)

    50. Who is least likely to respond? my blog (which I bcc'd this to) because it's not a person, (and which I'm not linking to because it's boring)

    51. What book/magazine are you reading at the moment? the Tao of Pooh, Ctrl-Alt-Del Vol 1, The Economist (last weeks), Maximum PC from 2 months ago, various erotica anthologies

    52. Time of finishing: 9:23 wow the second half was way faster...

* If you don't know who this Sara character is then you and I might need to sit down and have a chat. find out more about where the hell she is at http://avatarofcunning.blogspot.com/
** No I have no idea what or even if this is proper antone designation. If it were it would be metalic.
*** it's a potluck with cocktails. Not whatever else you were thinking... dirty dirty you.

セクシーな猿

Sweet!