Take Him Off the Stimulants.
On Monday, Dylan took his Strattera – now up to 54mg and still not having any effect on his attention. Then he took what the doctor calls a “kicker” – 5mg of stimulant – the same one he took for years, until he became unreasonably moody and depressed.
So Strattera is an anti-depressant that is now being used to treat ADHD symptoms. I guess the doctor figured that it would take care of the depression caused by the stimulants.
The doctor figured wrong.
Two days in a row now, Dylan has come home moody and irritable. He hasn’t been like this in so long, I was stunned to think it could really be related to the medication.
But today when he called himself “basically a nobody” and then went upstairs and slammed his door – that’s when I realized that there is NO successful stimulant “kicker” in the world that is worth this.
I called the doctor 12 seconds after the door slam.
“I haven’t seen him like this since the last time he was on stimulants,” I told the doctor, via her secretary.
“Take him off the stimulants,” they told me.
So our trial is already over, faster than it really began. And I have no hope for the future.
Odd how the stimulants can make me depressed.