How many meds have you tried? | ADHD Information

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So far Dexedrine seems to be working for me, which is great! This is the first one I was prescribed and I am taking 10mgs twice a day.

I'm just curious though, is it normal to find the right med right away? If you didn't find the right one right away, how many others did you try before you found the one that worked? All I'm wondering is if the Dexedrine is something that will work for me for awhile and then not work. Does that make sense?

TIA! :D

Just for the record, when I was a kid was on Ritalin took me off it when "I grew out of it..." yea right.  Finally get to a doctor that actually listened to me, explained that I had taken Ritalin when I was a kid, put me on Adderall and I've been fine.  First shot on this medication and it worked, same with the Ritalin when I was a kid...so yes, it can happen.  I was concerned like you and my Dr. said "Don't borrow trouble you don't have, keeps you hyperfocused on failure, and that is one of the things that we are working on to keep from happening..."  Been on Adderall for over 6 months now and life is great...you have to deal with this lovely little cross wired brain on so many levels...mind, body and soul...or like I told my mom, it's not just the pill, this is like a 3 diamentional jigsaw puzzle...and it all takes time. 

Good luck with your meds...

 

I went from Ritalin (too many side effects) to Metadate (which is similar to Ritalin XR but cheaper on my insurance... again, too many side effects)... now I'm on Strattera.  Side effects seem to be much less pronounced, and I think it's more effective as a mood stabilizer.No it's not normal that I know of... since people react differently to every medication, the chances aren't that great...

I've been on lets see... *counts fingers* ... 8.
Adderall is the first med I have tried. I did have to correct my dosage. My Dr. put me on 20mg 2 times a day to start off! That turned my life upside down for about a week. I felt strung out, just stared into space or played around on the net, the last day I took it I was VERY depressed. I have been down and I'm sure at times "clinically depressed" but not for long and never this extreme. I quit taking them immediately... went back to my Dr., almost cancelled the appt. because I didn't think I had the courage to try anything else for fear of anther bad reaction. Told him what had happened. I suggested that it was maybe too high of a dose. He said that everyone of his patients starts out at that dose and they do great.... I have been reading all over this message board that people are on 5-10-15mg and had been on it for a while... So, the ultimate decision was to start @ 5mg and work my way up... I  started yesterday and have had a great response! At work I had to find some numbers that didn't work out  between two loans...each page was full of numbers...normally that would have taken me a LLLLOOOONNNG time and probably would have  even had to get help from my broker...but guess what!! I found it in about a minute! The funny/sad thing is I even went into it just knowing I wasn't going to be able to find the problem... but I did!! HOORRAY for me!!

So, I kinda got off the subject....

But you get my point right?
It took me three years of trying unlimited combinations. I was lucky to get accepted in a medical research program. For 6 months they changed my meds darn near weekly until we found the breakfast of champions.Too many to count.  Not counting the herbs, homeopathic remedies, diet changes, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and whatever is left.  No wonder my child hates to see me reading . I am on 60mg Strattera and have been for over six weeks. I have improved in some areas like motivation and desire to read and learn, but still have trouble listening in a conversation, rambling at the mouth, forgetful, and sometimes down right confused. I also feel jittery at some points during the day and am more of a workaholic than I was before I was on the med. I just want to feel normal. It did take the muddy feeling away that I felt, but I'm not happy with the way I still feel. I don't want to go back to the doc (shrink) I saw either. Didn't like him. I was considering going to a neurologist instead of a shrink. Anyone want to comment? Feedback very appreciated.

What haven't I tried! I think they experemented on me to get to the right combo! Anti-depressents-lost count! All were samples. They either didn't work, or had some very undesireable side effect.

Now they are very close. Adderall 20 mg three times a day, Klonipin 3 times a day for anxiety, Ambian for sleep. So far not bad. But still a conflict over my headache meds. Was taking Fioricet,6 a day for 5 yrs. now they want me off! It's the only thing that works! Headaches and ADD, not a good combo Hell! Meds are frustrating!

I am on the fourth med in three monts.  Just started adderall yesterday because my doctor did not feel that the straterra that I had been on for the past 6 weeks was effective enough.  I did notice an overall improvement in my mood on straterra but the motivation and procrastination issues were still pretty well unresolved.  I do hope that this works since it has been a long three months trying to get this sorted out.  Ritalin and dexidrine both had way too many side effects for me even though the benifits were much more noticible than what I exprienced with straterra.  Hmmmm, it would be nice if this was more cut and dry.

Of the few other people that I know that are being treated for ad/hd none have had the perfect med on the first shot.  Guess it is the luck of the draw. And you are one of the lucky ones.

I am taking adderall and I have been feeling so irratable and non-content in the afternoon and evening. I feel all "cracked out zombie like" in the morning and then feel awful by  4 in the afternoon. I am on day 9. Do you think it is not working for me. My doctor upped my dosage after day 6 because she thought that may be the problem. I am still feeling this way I now take 15mg 2 times a day, once in the morning and then again 4 hours later. I do not want her to put me on anti depressants(WEIGHT GAIN) I am happy with the fact that I have lost 5lbs of the 35 that anti depressents had already put on me, but I also dont want to take something that I maybe having an adverse reaction to. Is this normal when you begin this med?? Anyone know??? Am I not giving it a chance or do you think maybe the dose is too high instead of too low?? Is this just something that people on Adderall deal with?? I cannot imagine living this way day in and day out. I am just worn out. Help anyone????

I've tried so many meds over the years before finally finding the right one.

The worst point was when I was misdiagnosed with depression. The string of anti-depressants the doctors put me on almost killed me. I have sworn off all anti-depressants now way too dangerous from now on it's good old fashioned stimulants.

Finally I found Adderall and it has been a life savor. Wish I would have gotten this from the start. It makes me practically normal and I couldn't be happier about it.

 

Interesting, I was misdiagnosed with depression too.

Thanks for the promising report on the adderall, I am going to give it a shot and hope for the best.

that's interesting that your dr. thought six weeks was enough time to give strattera a try.  Mine and my son's said you needed to use it for 3 months before you really know if it is working.

I have never tried stimulants myself, I was afraid they would make my problems with obsessiveness and compulsiveness worse, as well as intensify my sleep problems. 

There is a book called Healing ADD by Daniel G Amen in which he talks about not needing to just experiment with drugs until you find the right one.  He said you can have a good idea what to try by the features of your ADD.  (for example, he warned against stimulants for those with sleep problems or compulsiveness)

Thanks mom.

I did read Dr. Amen's book but I must have missed that part.  Not too surprising given the fact that I have ADD and all.

I only started switching over to adderall on Thursday.  Right now I am still taking half as much strattera as I was and a small amount of adderall each morning.  My husband was quite surprised when I told him that the doctor changed my med.  He must have been seeing things that I was not.

Anyway, after only a couple of days at the lower dose of strattera I am seeing that it may have been doing more for me than I thought.  I guess that could happen with meds that take time to build up in your system.

Next week when I go back to the doctor I am going to ask him about giving the strattera another chance.  I do have some obsessive/compulsive tendencies and for the most part the thought of stimulants are not all that appealing to me.

Thanks for your reply.  I am finding that I am getting more benificial information from message boards than from the two doctors that I have seen so far.  Something to be said for first hand experiance.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to locat doctors that might be more knowledgable about ADD I would appreciate it.  I have tried calling several organizations, including CHADD and other ADD organizations but pretty much find dead ends.  Also, I did ask my doctor before I started with him if he was well versed in ADD.  I am not going to write him off yet since I have only had a few visits with him but I would like to know how to go about exploring my options.