Does Strattera cause severe mood swings even in small doses?

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Strattera/Valproic Acid mood stabilizer combination prescribed for son

My 7 year old son definitely experiences agitation and moodiness while on Strattera. He was prescribed from the very beginning, Valproic Acid as a mood stabilizer. Unfortunatly, his feeding disorder made it almost impossible to get any significant dose of this medication into him orally. Our compounding pharmacy makes the mood stabilizer Valproic Acid he takes in conjunction with Strattera into a suppository and I noticed a much improved boy after only 5 days! His strattera is compounded into a transdermal gel by the same compounding pharmacy.
He has been on Strattera/Valproic acid combo for almost a year and we are convinced we are seeing much improvement in his behavior. And for the record, he was on Strattera solo for about a month when we just flat could not get the Valproic Acid syrup into him at all. And it was an ugly sight!  

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I have just left a message for my son's doctor to discuss this very topic. He has been on 40 mg of Strattera since September and I have noticed over the last month or so that his frustration level has elevated dramatically. He is usually a very compassionate and loving boy and has recently began throwing fits, mouthing off, slamming doors, etc. I am not convinced at this point that it is the Strattera, but it is the only thing that I can come up with at this point.  

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Yes, as a mother of a 16 year old who has been taking Strattera for about 1 year, the mood swings, anger and irritability became worse on her reduced dose of 40 mg. She was previously on 80 mg. We have taken her off of Strattera and the withdrawal was horrible requiring hospitalization. Now that she is 5 days post stopping the Strattera her behavior, moods, attitude are wonderful. She is pleasant, polite, happy, (and hyper). I will never allow my daughter to take Strattera again and intend to notify the FDA of the extent of the mood swings, irritability and anger this drug causes. Good luck to you. While Ritalin is not long acting, my research shows that it is the safest drug out there and has been used for about 50 years. The long term effects of Strattera, Concerta, Adderal and other newer meds are not known. I hope to keep my daughter off all of these medications and work on other ways for her to expend her energy.  

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My son, 12 years old, has been on Strattera for a little past 5 months. He started with 30 days of 25 mg. and then increased to 40 mg per day thereafere. He battled the most prevalent of side effects, such as headache, nausea, insomnia and now doesn't experience those. We did switch his time of medication from morning to night to help him with the sleepiness during the day and the insomnia at night. However, During the past month, we all have noticed his mood swings being more intense. He slams doors and gets overwelmed very easily to the point of tears, and feelings of "not wanting to be here anymore" His grades in school have not improved, either. He has complained of feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest due to the pace and intensity as well. He also in the past week or so has become more aggressive in his "playing" behavior. Hitting friends hard, throwing things at people and being unwilling to stop when asked to. I am so alarmed with these newly seen symptoms that we have an appointment with his doctor today to discuss weining him off the Strattera. I would rather find other ways to help him deal with his ADHD than to risk further damaging his mental health with side effects from this drug. I have been researching alternative methods of treatment such as beCALM'd, Flavay, and ATTEND. These are natural dietary supplements of nutrients/vitamins and so forth. They have no side effects and can also nuture his health in other ways such as better circulation, antioxidant, collegen building, tissue rebuilding. So in response to your question, if you consider 40 mg to be a small dose, then YES I believe his mood swings are being caused by Strattera. He was not like this before starting this medication.  

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Reading the posts on this question I see that Strattera has paradoxical effects in different people. Several people have suffered mood swings and irritation.
My experience has been the opposite. I am calmer, more even-tempered. No big anxiety spikes. No flare-ups of anger. Less intensity overall.
I'm sure I am more focused and less ditzy, better able to give sustained attention to a task. But curiously I also find that when I do get stuff mixed up (lose things, do things backwards, walk off without my cellphone, etc.) I now can sort of laugh it off like a normal person. In my accustomed state (non-Strattera) these experiences could trigger feelings of great distress and anxiety.  

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Yes, strattera does cause "new" unwanted mood changes. I am 24 and have recently started taking strattera (40mg) and have noticed a change in my mood. I do seem to be more irritable and feel sleepy after an hour or so after the dose. Anyway, here is my exp with ADHD medicine. Ritalin was no good, the "crashing" effect was so bad i discontinued use. Aderrall "feels" just like strattera during the first hour. Feelings of energy and feeling more calm. But with adderall, there is no "sleepy" feeling, no "irritable" feeling, no mood change at all, and the "crash" feeling is very easy. They say Strattera is "non-stimulant" but at least with the "stimulants" there is no adverse side-effects that would make you want to discontinue use. I have recently stopped taking Aderrall to try Strattera, and im thinking of going back to Adderrall. I like it a lot better. Although I feel it is still necessary to take something like Lexapro along with it. That's probably the only good thing Strattera has to offer, is that it is an SNRI. Strattera in my opinion, is just another one of those anti-depressants.  

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At 41 years old, I have been prescribed Strattera (60 mg) to treat Adult ADD. Into my third week on on the medication, I have weathered the awful nausea, but have accomplished more projects (actually COMPLETED them) than the last six months combined! My husband, however, insists he sees a change in my mood. The only thing I notice is that I don't seem to laugh as much as I did before. Could it be that I was too busy and focused to find humor in things lately... or could the drug be the cause?
Anyone have similar symptoms?  

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In my experience with Strattera, I find it to be a rediculous drug to treat ADD and/or ADHD. I've been on Strattera now for about a week and it makes me cry for no reason, makes me more irritable with little things that people do than before (when I didn't care), it somewhat makes me concentrate in school, but barely, and my angry level gets so intense that I have to leave the room and go to my room and be alone to settle down. Today I am going to my doctor for a follow up and I'm going to have to tell her that I can't stay on this, and from reading others information, I hope she doesn't try to increase the dosage because if I'm on 18mg as of right now and it makes me feel this way, I can only imagine what 20, 30, 40, and so on would make me feel like. Thanks...  

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My 8 year old daughter is currently taking 30mg of strattera. She has started participating more at school and seems happier and more relaxed in social situations. She does however have melt downs at home over homework, especially math. My quiet child is all of a sudden very frustrated that school is hard for her and for the first time verbally expressing it, as opposed to shutting down and crying about headaches and stomach aches. The strattera has caused mood swings, but only in regards to school.
We did try concerta and adderall, but it made her depressed.  

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My answer to this question 'does s. cause severe mood swings? has to be yes. Definitely, at least for me. I began taking strattera for depression/adhd around march of 2005. I had to back off the orig. dose the doctor prescribed because of sleeping and irritability issues but i kept with it because it helped me concentrate. I kept attributing evening irritability to the fact that i was taking so long to get to the maximum dose possible, yet as i increased dosage i still continued to have these problems and they only increased in fact, to the point that i was having episodes that made me think i was bipolar. My mood swings were so severe and so constant these last six weeks i began to think i was going to go crazy. At this point i was still in denial about strattera actually causing the problem for me (i was blaming it on perimenopause by this time). But the last straw came this month after suffering a third SEVERE SEVERE SEVERE depressive episode. It was so bad i actually had what i might call a brief psychotic episode also. I went off cold turkey three days ago. (not a good idea i realize but we were out of town and the depression was so severe i felt suicidal. I thought i'd chance the withdrawal in the hopes that it couldn't be any worse.) I had heart palpitations and was shaky, weepy, and mildly depressed for a day or so but it seems that every hour gets better. I don't feel that weird, horrific depression AT ALL. At the moment i feel like a regular normal human being again. Reasonably calm and plain old normal. Very pleasant. I will definitely not go back on strattera. not to say that it can't help other people, but boy oh boy BE HONEST with your doctor about side effects. I was not, because i wanted to concentrate so badly (and i liked the initial weight loss) and i was afraid she'd take me off the strattera if i admitted to the side effects i was having). I hope i have grown up from this experience and if i ever think i do need medication again i will not do it without continued counseling and lots of honesty with myself and the doctor.  

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In order to offer a more objective response:
For the typical patient, Strattera will not cause mood swings. If you find you or your child are having extreme mood swings on Strattera, you might want to revisit your psychiatrist to be evaluated for a bipolar disorder. It has been well-documented that stimulants and even the non-stimulant, Strattera, will make bipolar worse, with rapid cycling of moods.
Bipolar disorder and ADHD share a lot of the same symptoms, so a misdiagnosis is easy. Even my own doctor said "We'll treat you for ADHD first and if the treatment doesn't work, then it is possible you have bipolar." Since Strattera is working marvelously for me, we have been able to rule out bipolar for me.
Finally, if you have been prescribed Strattera for depression, get a second opinion. Strattera was initially meant to be a new antidepressant, but CLINICAL TRIALS showed it had NO effect on depression so the FDA would not approve it to treat depression. It did show an effect on ADHD, though, which is why it was remarketed for ADHD and approved by the FDA for ADHD.
So basically if you are using Strattera for depression, you are being told to use it in a non-FDA-approved away, so get a second opinion.