I know tons about psychiatric care because I’ve had medications and therapy on and off, but mostly on, since I was 16. My dad and my brother both have depression, anxiety, and ADHD; my mom has OCD; and I have all of the above, lucky me - not. So I have lots of experience with any of the medications to treat all of the conditions listed above. Also, I worked in high school and college as a psychiatric medical assistant. I find brain chemistry fascinating so I read nitty-gritty, detailed medical papers about brain chemistry. I am happy to share with you any knowledge I have in this matter.
Norepinephrine is a chemical stimulant in our brains, similar to epinephrine, dopamine, oxytocin, glutamate, and endorphins.
Other brain chemicals, such as GABA, oxytocin, and serotonin are calming brain chemicals that help a person connect lovingly and to allow themselves to be loved by others.
NDRIs like Atomoxetine and Duloxetine work by blocking the transport of norepinephrine and dopamine to dissipate back into the brain cells that released them, as they normally do. In turn, a greater number of the stimulating chemicals remains available in the brain. People with ADHD, as I’m sure you’ve experienced yourself in life, need to live on the edge and be maximally stimulated as much as possible, or, we simply cannot pay attention. Us ADHDs were born with inadequate quantities of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in our brains. That’s why we are so often prone to thrill-seek and to novelty-seek: because thrills increase our levels of norepinephrine and dopamine to a normal level, which is what it takes for us to be at the same level as normal non-ADHDs in terms of feeling stimulated enough to get anything accomplished.
An NDRI like Cymbalta (Duloxetine) or Strattera (Atomoxetine) instructs your brain to keep as much norepinephrine and/or dopamine activated and present and circulating in your brain cells as it can, with the end goal that we will become more like normal people and have healthy levels of our stimulating chemicals instead of deficient levels.
Think of a round room with one door. Pretend all of our stimulating chemicals come in for a visit on their way out of the brain. They stay briefly and they want to leave quickly. But NDRIs mean that door was one-way trap door only, and the chemicals are trapped, so your body can use them to get more benefit from of them, so to speak.
So then there is your brain, extra-full of stimulant. It has extra norepinephrine/dopamine in it, and anything that is a stimulant like coffee, caffeine, chocolate, etc. can increase urination because it increases stimulation, as does norepinephrine. So that’s why you may urinate more frequently.
Strattera is one of my all-time favorite ADHD medications. I had to switch to weird Cymbalta (Duloxetine) for pain relief, because for reasons unknown to the medical community, Cymbalta also provides back pain relief, which I definitely need. Nobody in the medical community knows why Cymbalta provides pain relief, but I can definitely attest that does.
Thanks to your post, I just realized that since I’ve recently started taking real pain meds, maybe I can get off Cymbalta and back on my fave instead: Strattera!
Don’t be surprised if you don’t feel Strattera helping you for 4-6 weeks (though I’ve always noticed in a few days - maybe I’m extra sensitive to it; I don’t know). But it’s very nice when it starts working. It’s always on board in a longterm way like an antidepressant, so once it’s in your system, it’s more reliable than Adderall/Ritalin. It doesn’t cause headaches like Adderall. Strattera is just this smooth, mellow, bright ability to concentrate effortlessly, devoid of intensity. It will help you wake up in the morning
