I hadn’t checked in to any previous ADD threads, but I’m ADD-PI, diagnosed at age 12, and have been on a number of drugs. Currently I’m taking Adderall XR 10 mg. I kind of hate the XR though, it lasts too long and causes insomnia, so at my next visit I want to ask for the standard release. Plus the XR is brand name only and costs 30 bucks, versus the 10 dollar standard amphetamine.
I do like the effects though. It helps focus my scattered thoughts and allows me to work at my job much better. I do get a bit of a manic feeling on the XR though, which is not as pronounced on the standard. I use it in conjunction with Lexapro and Abilify to treat depression/anxiety (and post-partum depression as well). It helps boost my mood and I think really makes the SSRI and anti-psychotic work just a bit better.
I notice I am far more productive on the combo than I am on just the other two, and things are a bit brighter and I’m less prone to depressive lows.
Oh and I see a psycho-pharmacologist for treatment. She’s a doll
I’ve gone through a couple of different meds so far. Started with Ritalin (20mg), was on that for a month to see how it worked for me. That one I didn’t like so much, it depressed my appetite and made me feel a little weird. It’d also wear off early afternoon and then I’d get really irritable. After that I switched to Adderall (20mg, generic d-amphetamine), that was better. I could feel the difference with the switch. I was little worried about doing amphetamines because I kinda feel wired all the time anyway, but I don’t get the speed affect, nothing like that. It’s more like it smooths out the rough edges of my brain or something. It also wore off sometime in the mid afternoon, but I didn’t get as noticeable drop when it wore off or the irritability. Right now I’m on Adderall XR (30mg) so that it’ll last all day, take one every morning. I did have to set an alarm on my phone so that I’d remember to take it every day, but so far so good. One thing it doesn’t seem to have affected as much is the fidgeting. I think I’m a bit less fidgety and I’m now able to sit through the weekly group meeting at work without just absolutely hating every minute, but I’m still fidgeting some.
I’ve never been a better living through chemistry kinda guy, I say as someone who has apparently been self-medicating my whole life with caffeine, nicotine, sugar, alcohol, etc. to try to compensate. I also like speed, not as in chemical speed, but as in OMG we’re going really fast. I ride a motorcycle, and I think better on that doing 90+ than I do sitting still on my couch… But anyway, I do think the Adderall is helping. I was a little disappointed that it didn’t just fix my brain, but my therapist tells me that there’s nothing that will fix my brain but the Adderall is supposed to make it easier for me to deal with it, that a list of tasks won’t seem so overwhelming and that I’ll actually be able to keep a to-do list for myself and make it work. So far I’d say that’s true, I don’t feel so overwhelmed looking at my project list at work, I’m actually finishing them completely, not just getting 90% done and abandoning the final details to work on something else. I’m also using some task list software that syncs between my computer and my phone and I’m finding that I’m actually able to keep track of stuff there and am able to get them done. I’m also able to remember to put tasks in the list so I won’t lose them, and I can look at the list and not feel overwhelmed even when a lot of the tasks are things that I don’t have to do today or tomorrow but there just there so that I don’t forget to do them when I get the chance. Before I probably would have stopped using it by now because looking at that list of tasks would have just been too much to deal with.
Sorry for posting to such an old thread, but it didn’t seem worth starting a new one. I just started taking Adderall just over a month ago and I have noticed a big difference with my ability to focus on things and finish tasks without getting distracted. I wish I’d been on this two years ago when I had to pack up my house in Ohio for the move to Massachusetts. I was so lost with such a big job and I got sidetracked all over the place, leaving things half-finished in my wake. I think I’d do a much better job with the Adderall. Even when I am multitasking, I’m able to hold it together and not forget where I am in one project while I’m working on another.
I take morphine and percocets on a daily basis for chronic pain. One big problem is that I am always tired and lack energy due to the effects of the pain meds. The doc just put me on Nuvigil and it really isn’t doing anything so our next medication to try is Addrerall.
When you take it does it wake you up and give you some energy. Based on your experience, do you think that it will help with fatigue? Are you taking if for fatigue? Does the effect last most of the day or is it just a brief effect?
I’m not taking it for fatigue, but I do find that I’m alert and motivated sooner than if I take nothing. I’m taking it for ADD. I take mine in the morning and then again at noon, so it lasts most of the day for me.
I’ve been using stimulants for years. It helps me with concentration and finishing tasks. (I have a diagnosis of ADHD).
I’ve used Adderall, Dexedrine and Concerta but have settled on Vyvanse. One dose in the morning and I’m good for the whole day and I don’t seem to get jittery on it.
I’ve noticed that like many such meds, it takes more and more to get the same effect. I will not increase the dose so I find I can skip a day or take half the dose for a day or two and I get better results for a few days after.
IANAD and do not advocate that anyone deviate from prescribed dosages without consulting your doc.
I ust started on Vyvanse as well. Much smoother and steadier than generic short-course Adderall. Shire is paying for it, which is great because I couldn’t afford it otherwise.
I was on Vyvanse until about a year ago. But I’ll get back to that in a moment.
I was diagnosed ADHD as a child (can’t remember what age), and took Ritalin from elementary school up until senior year of high school, and I did great (aside from appetite-suppression; I rarely if ever ate lunch at school). During senior year, I decided to go off of it to see how I would do. I got through college with a B+ average without any medication, but I definitely feel that I could have performed much better with it.
Then, I started work as an electrical engineer in 2006. It took me a year and a half, but I realized that in my current state, I was unable to deal with the incredible attention to detail that my job demanded. In late 2007, I went to a psychiatrist and was again diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed d-amphetamine.
Over the next several months, I went from a sub-par engineer who made frequent mistakes and took way too long to accomplish tasks to an excellent engineer who worked much faster and better than before. The medication was able to cut through haze that permeates my mind when faced with certain tasks. After a few months, I talked to my psychiatrist about an all-day solution, and he prescribed Vyvanse.
I used Vyvanse every work day for two years, but I found that it seemed to be affecting my mood; I tended to be very moody when I got home from work on most days. The psychiatrist chalked it up to normal fatigue, but during the summer of last year, I decided to perform a small experiment. The doctor had also prescribed the old d-amphetamine (5mg) to take on an as-needed basis (and NOT in conjunction with the Vyvanse). I asked him if I could go back to that instead for a bit, and he said that was fine, so I tried it for a month. When on the d-amphetamine, I noticed that I was significantly less moody when I got home from work, so I talked to him about going back to the d-amphetamine full time. I think it’s a little less effective, and makes me a bit more jittery, but I’ll take that to being a prick every night I get home.
Now, I use the d-amphetamine twice a day, as before, but I’ve been trying to work out a solution that doesn’t require me to use any medication. I’ve looked into diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, and the like, but I’ve found that my largest problem is motivation. It’s so hard to stick to these things and build up a routine. I’ve been thinking about getting an ADHD coach to get some perspective on management techniques and/or finding a new career that plays to my strengths.
I’ve recently doubled my medication dose to 20 mg amphetamine to get the same focus as the 10 mg used to provide. I think it’s due to an extended bout of depression and some auto-immune issues. Seriously, my brain has been taking hits from every direction, it feels like.
My only complaint is that if I forget to take the medication with plenty of food in my stomach, I spend the next four or five hours with throat clenching nausea.
I’ve been medicated for almost 7 years. The last 3 or 4 have not been anywhere near as successful as the first 3. I keep trying to find a window where I can stop medication entirely for a few months to let my body reset, but I haven’t found one yet. Granted, it’s so much less effective that it would seem going without entirely wouldn’t be that much different, but so far I find it is. It’s very frustrating. If I didn’t have such a severe case and I wasn’t so isolated in trying to deal with it, I could take a break. That’s what I recommend.
I’d only need to experience that once to never again forget to eat, in much the same way that one abortion prevented me from ever again forgetting to have sex without birth control. Physical pain and illness are very effective motivators for me to get me to remember things that I would otherwise be likely to space on.
