Concerta v.s. Adderall v.s. Dexidrine | ADHD Information

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and was diagnosed ADHD at age 7, I was on ritilin from then till age 13. I stoped on my own at that time.

Now, at age 34 I'm taking Concerta, 27mg. I went back on meds because my ADHD has been a constaint battle and lately I've been loosing bad. Work + School + Family + Side Business + Hiking + Biking = *snap!* one week and I went to see my Doctor.

Now, I know that Concerta is Methylphenidate, which is Ritilin, but with a better time release mechanism. So I'm not really on anything new.

When I was a kid there was no Adderall, and I've heard that it is quite effective. My friend is on Dexidrine and he says that's the one that works best for him...

Could some of you here give me your opinion of these three meds, pluses, minuses, side effects, etc...

I have my first followup visit in a week and I'm thinking about asking to try Adderall.

I can't speak personally about Adderall (though many adults here are on it with good results) I can however talk about dexedrine. 

I've been on dexedrine for a year and a half now.  It's worked marvellously - keeping my focus and removing the fog.  Very few side effects and most left at around the 3 month mark. 

I have been able to keep it down to 20mg doses (quite low) a day and will continue to through taking med vacations that keep my system from becoming used to the meds.

If you don't feel confident in your doctor's ability to prescribe something that should work then follow that instinct and ask for a second opinion.  That's totally called for and any decent doctor will allow you and actually encourage you to.  If they seem to be worried about the prospect of you getting other opinions I'd be worried.

Thanks for the advice, I like my Dr. He's highly regarded around here and seems to have my best intrests in mind. This is the first stimulant that he's prescribed and I think he may be nervous about giving me them because I was a bit too honest with him concerning my history of "self medicating" as he puts it. I have read in a number of places that ADD/ADHDers sometimes end up self medicating as a result of the disorder. Personally, I've never had an addiction to anything except cigarettes, which I was able to quit cold turkey once I decided I wanted to. I'm definately NOT looking to get high off my ADD meds, in fact taking these drugs are something that I have tried to avoid for most of my life.

I've noticed some improvment in my attentiveness and ability to stay on task with the Concerta, but the MPH feeling is the same as it ever was with Ritilin, toward the end of the day I enter a kind of slump and loose motivation, I'm still able to hold attention better than without the Concerta but I just don't want to actually DO anything after about 3PM... I take my daily dose at around 7:30 AM.

Another thing I don't like about the Concerta is the fact that it's an extended release, so if I take it in the AM, I'm stuck with it all day. With an IR med, I could decide in the afternoon if I want to continue the effects for the day or not.

My approach to the Dr. I think will be that I want to be able to moderate my dose, take a half dose on days where I feel that I can get away with it, like when I decide to leave work early. I only want the effect of the medication when I need to focus and perform my job or get school work done.

I've heard some good things about (the brand name) Adderall, and Dexidrine here so I think I will ask to switch to one of those, I have never tried either so I'm not too concerned with which one at this point.

Again, thanks for the advice, right now I'm just reading as much as I can so I'm ready to talk with the Dr. next week.
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Hi everyone.. just found this message board and I am so pleased to see it!! I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child (a VERY long time ago) before it was really well known... the ONLY med back then was Ritilin and it was harsh!! Because everyone in my life- (my friends, children, job) believed that I didn't care enough about them to pay attention, I decided to seek treatment. I was afraid to try anything because I remember "the crash" from childhood... My how things have changed. My Doctor started me on concerta... I had great focus for work, but felt angry, short-fused and had a very dull headache for the duration. He switched me to Adderall XR. It's only been two days, so who knows how long this will last but it seems like a miracle for me. I am taking 20mg and like I have seen on some message boards, it does seem to wear off much sooner than it is supposed to- not sure what to do about it... but overall, it's wonderful. No headache-( keeping my fingers crossed) No grouchiness- in fact the opposite. It's so nice to see what other people are experiencing. I would love to hear more stories about your experiences with different meds for ADHD.

Thanks!!!