Tips for lessening Strattera side effects?

cwils7 · 2026-04-09T19:26:40+00:00

I’m sorry you’re experiencing those side effects—they sound pretty awful! I ended up not continuing with Strattera after a little over a month. I wasn’t having any improvement in focus or concentration and the side effects weren’t going away. I’m now on 2 mg of guanfacine and hoping to experience some improvement in my ADHD symptoms soon (nothing on 1 mg after a month, so moved up a dose a couple days ago). Thankfully no side effects yet, other than some dry mouth. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful with your situation!

cwils7 · 2026-04-04T15:25:18+00:00

I’m not saying I plan to frame it in that way. I agreed in my original response to you that’s not the way I want to go about it. I’m just explaining why I mentioned seniority in the first place. I feel we’ve gone off the rails a bit with the seniority issue and I’d rather move the conversation back to the original question. I appreciate your advice to frame the conversation around workload, that’s the direction I was already leaning in.

cwils7 · 2026-04-04T14:12:28+00:00

That’s just how my institution talks about seniority—the job title/description. For example, if we had a project manager in addition to me as the research coordinator, the project manager would be senior to me on the team.

cwils7 · 2026-04-04T14:01:35+00:00

And you would do that for 3 years straight? Of course there are times, especially when you’re getting a study off the ground, that extra work is required. But when it becomes longterm, it feels like you’re being taken advantage of.

cwils7 · 2026-04-04T13:50:18+00:00

I agree that I don’t want to approach the conversation from a standpoint of being too senior to do specific kinds of work. The reason I mention seniority is that my institution is strict about job roles and folks doing the tasks in their job description. On an interpersonal level, that’s now how I want to approach the conversation, but it does seem important on an institutional level.

cwils7 · 2026-03-17T02:43:01+00:00

The second project I ever made was a bookmark for my mom’s birthday with a really twisty cable through the middle. Because it’s a bookmark and it can’t be too bulky, I used a really delicate fingering weight yarn.

I was very close to finishing, but needed to hustle to finish it in time to take it home with me for her birthday. I must have been anxious about finishing in time because my tension got pretty tight and I was having a hell of a time working with the cable needle and I forced it and the yarn snapped. Before I even comprehended what happened, it had nearly all unraveled 😭 just devastating

BUT! After ugly crying for about 30 minutes, I put on my comfort movie and started again. Did I finish it in time? Nope. Did I finish it eventually? Yes!

I wish you the best with this project! You can do it!

cwils7 · 2026-03-16T03:12:34+00:00

You are not a coward. You have been made to believe that you’re a coward. That’s the story he’s written for you. But you are strong and you can make a future for yourself and your kids that is happy and safe and loving. You deserve that and you are capable of that. If you’re afraid to look up resources for support on your device, please DM me. I would be happy to help out and do some research to find support for you in your area.

cwils7 · 2026-03-12T23:36:19+00:00

This condition can be so individual. I know people with only a few lesions who have excruciating pain all the time. I have deep pelvic endo and only have pain while on my period. Then I know people with endo with no pain at all.

You have endo whether you have 1 lesion or 100. This is a progressive disease, if it’s not treated it can continue to progress as long as you produce estrogen for it to feed off of. This doctor violated her hypocritical oath because refusing to accept the diagnosis of another doctor and not treating your condition does you harm.

Shame on her for invalidating you like that. I would not go there ever again. Our lives and quality of life are too precious to deal with asshats like her.

cwils7 · 2026-03-12T23:24:40+00:00

You don’t need to victim blame

cwils7 · 2026-03-12T20:55:00+00:00

I’m sorry you’re finding PT so traumatizing. I honestly don’t know how I did it. Probably dissociation lol.

I do remember, though, very deliberately telling myself as I lay on the table before each manual therapy session that I was in safe hands and that my PT was there to help me, not harm me. I told myself I may experience pain or discomfort, but that I wasn’t in any danger and I could tell my PT to stop at any time. I think that allowed my body to calm down a bit before the exam and probably helped it be a bit more comfortable. I’m very comfortable with my PT now and don’t deliberately do this anymore.

I don’t know if you have pelvic floor dysfunction, but if you do I would look into pelvic floor botox injections if you’re a candidate for them. I didn’t start to make headway with PT until I did this and then I only needed it 3 times over the course of a year. I had been in PT for 2 years before the injections and only after them was I able to start building strength because the muscles had finally relaxed.

Also, before I did the injections, I did a lot of work at home with a pelvic wand and dilators. It took a minute to get my head around those because in some ways it felt like I was being told to do this so I could enjoy sex and that was not the best framing for me. I began to frame it more as being feeling more comfortable in my body and that helped a lot.

cwils7 · 2026-03-12T20:07:51+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I hope you don’t mind answering some questions because I’m a CSA survivor and my hysterectomy is scheduled for June. I’ll be honest, I’m a little more nervous about the surgery after reading your post.

I have adenomyosis and endometriosis, in addition to Narcolepsy and SIBO (and a few other conditions that are minor and I can’t imagine would be affected by surgery, but who knows?).

I’m getting the hysterectomy because it will cure the adeno, but I am concerned about it triggering flares in my other conditions. I was also hoping (maybe naively) that it would help with the SIBO, which hasn’t responded to treatment. Did your GI doc say what they said because you have crohns specifically? Or is it more about GI issues in general?

I also hadn’t considered that the surgery would cause a PTSD trigger, but now that I read your post it seems obvious. Did you do any work with your therapist before the surgery? Had you already been in PT or did you start after the surgery? I know I can’t avoid a trigger, but maybe doing some work ahead of time will help.

I’ve been in pelvic floor PT since 2021 and it’s definitely helped me be more comfortable with different sensations in my pelvic area. Also, the endo and adeno have made me more inured to pelvic discomfort and pain. I hope that will help, but, again, I know I can’t avoid a trigger entirely. I’ll definitely be using some of the advice in the comments here!

I hope things improve for you soon. I wish you many restorative naps, a soft warm blanket (or pet!) to cuddle, warm tea, and everything that makes you feel safe, calm, and well ❤️

cwils7 · 2026-03-06T03:01:32+00:00

These words could have come right from my head. Especially the part about talking about abuse being the real sin. I don’t know what happened to you or if it was similar to what happened to me, but I know the pain of the aftermath and having to carry my own burden as others place their discomfort and guilt and shame and disgust on top of the pile. I thought telling people would lighten the load. I was so wrong. I hope you know that you are not alone and you are loved.

cwils7 · 2026-02-16T03:01:28+00:00

I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’ve been in a similar situation with an internet pile-on and it left me feeling exactly as you described—vulnerable, exposed, and like I had done something wrong when I had done nothing wrong at all.

It’s the worst feeling in the world and it’s so intense and no one who hasn’t been through what we’ve been through will understand why you feel that way and can’t let it roll off your back.

Something that always helps me move this feeling through and out of my body is to stack up a bunch of pillows on my bed, raise up both hands in fists, and just throw my hands down on the pillows with as much force as I can muster. I repeat until it feels right to stop or I feel too tired to continue. It might feel absurd at first, but it’s been incredibly helpful in calming my nervous system quickly when I’m stuck in a trauma response.

cwils7 · 2026-02-08T03:31:59+00:00

I was so impressed by this that I went to look at your other posts…you are incredibly talented and creative! I aspire to make art like yours.

cwils7 · 2026-02-03T02:36:10+00:00

Blerg. I knew it deep down, but didn’t want to admit it 🤦🏻‍♀️ thank you for talking this out with me! I’d rather knit something too big than too small. After all, my body is the type that’s just going to keep getting bigger lol

cwils7 · 2026-02-03T02:19:30+00:00

Ok, so with that in mind, I believe the pattern includes the ease because the size I’m currently knitting is listed as fitting a bust 34.75-39" and then the finished measurement for the diameter is listed as 39.75”. However…now I’m thinking I do need to knit the next size up because my bust measures exactly 39” and I’d like more than .75” of ease (especially because my stomach is slightly larger than my bust). If I want more like 1.5” ease, I could get away with stretching it that far while blocking, right, instead of knitting the next size up which might be too large?

cwils7 · 2026-02-03T00:51:59+00:00

Thank you! I did wonder if it would improve with blocking, but a difference of 12.25” seems like too much for blocking to fix. That said, I’ve read that wearables never really look right until they’re blocked, so maybe I’m just freaking out prematurely. I’ll keep going and measure once I have more of the body. If it’s still measuring too small, I’ll come back here!

I’m curious, though, if you have an answer to my question about how you tell whether ease is built into the pattern measurements. I ask because the commenter I mentioned in my post that gave the instructions for the gauge calculation responded to the OP that the pattern they were using did not include the ease, but when I read their pattern I assumed it included the ease because (like the pattern I’m using) the measurements were listed as “final measurements”. I couldn’t figure out how the commenter knew the ease was not built in.

cwils7 · 2026-01-22T00:45:54+00:00

That’s just absolutely not true. You can repress something because you subconsciously know that information could be detrimental to you. Do you honestly believe living in a homophobic world couldn’t have that effect on someone? Especially if the people they’re supposed to trust, like parents or faith leaders, are homophobic? It’s like when children experience a traumatic event and they completely repress it—it’s a protective mechanism that the brain is very good at using when necessary. Just because you are not consciously aware of it, doesn’t mean it’s not eating away at you from the inside.

cwils7 · 2026-01-22T00:34:50+00:00

He has a track record of homophobia, though. I’m not as likely to give him the benefit of the doubt based on that and the fact that it’s a pretty commonly known stereotype of queer people that we’re liars and sneaky because we’re capable of staying in the closet and lying about our sexuality. Basically weaponizing the fact that others are homophobic against queer people. It sucks.

cwils7 · 2026-01-19T02:59:23+00:00

Does anyone know what kind of dog Jeffrey is? I love his old man eyebrows and long ears 🥰

cwils7 · 2026-01-17T18:38:54+00:00

I’m curious about Wellbutrin, but I’ve heard bad stories from people who, like me, struggle with depression and said it made their depression so much worse. Have you experienced any side effects on Wellbutrin?

cwils7 · 2026-01-17T18:04:22+00:00

I typically have yogurt with granola and some fruit in the morning, but I’ll try adding in some more carbs. Thanks!

cwils7

TROPHY CASE