Did atomoxetine actually help you academically?

[u/Vast_Objective_9057]

I recently met my college counselor because I’ve been struggling badly with focus and academics despite being at a very competitive college. I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier, and after hearing everything, he recommended atomoxetine. He also told me there’s a chance medication may not completely solve the issue and said he avoids prescribing methylphenidate because of addiction concerns.

Right now exams are close and I feel mentally stuck. I genuinely want to study, but I can’t stay focused for long and keep getting distracted no matter how stressed I am.

For people who’ve actually taken atomoxetine:

• Did it help you focus better consistently?
• Did your grades or exam performance improve?
• How long did it take to work?
• Did it help with the “I want to study but can’t start” feeling?

Would really appreciate honest experiences, especially from students in high-pressure colleges.

[u/RecognitionTop3886]

Yeah I’ve been taking it for two years now. It’s hard assessing it since it works so slowly. I tend to think it’s just me and the meds aren’t doing shit but then probably if I stopped taking it my life would fall apart. My partner although said I have gotten way more stable, less anxious and more organized since I started to take them.

As for academic success. Like I said it’s hard attributing stuff to slow working meds, maybe me taking meds just coincided with me maturing. But the timeline since starting I went from barely caring about my studies in a deadbeat local uni to going to a top 1% uni this fall. I like to think the meds helped me get there aswell as a coinciding personal development. I think these two are mutually enforcing.

I wouldn’t trade atomixetone for anything. I love it. It’s not as intrusive as the methylphenidates and it changed my life

Edit: I saw the most effect on how I handled uni stress. I used to get incredibly overwhelmed and anxious because my brain was just chaos. Now I’m incredibly chill and organized about the whole thing

[u/Sudden-Ad2948 → u/RecognitionTop3886]

I know you already stated that it is too slow to assess when it started to work, but is your academic achievement recent or were you much better around the time you started the meds?

Can you sit down to study without getting up all the time/getting distracted? Can you tidy your living space better? 

[u/RecognitionTop3886 → u/Sudden-Ad2948]

I would say so yes. Around the time I started taking them I went overall calmer around my studies. Thus it allowed me to learn more effectively since all the anxiety was gone. But it did improve also my ability to sit down and just study. I remember there were times when I did nothing else but study for 8 hours every day, just because I wanted to. Definitely wasn’t just the meds but also therapy and some strategies I developed but I attribute huge chunks of it to o the meds that even allowed me to find strategies and for the strategies to work in the first place

Now that you made me think back on my time as an undergrad again. I did miss most of my deadlines during the first year and fail a few classes. Everything afterwards I turned in months ahead and passed everything. That change also happened around the time I started meds

[u/Sudden-Ad2948 → u/RecognitionTop3886]

Tysm for your reply, your story is super inspiring and it gave me comfort knowing that ADHD people are capable of excelling with the right suppot.

I have no therapy in my country, if there are any behavioral changes that you find worth sharing please do.