Tomorrow I have an appt. with my MD (Psych) I have been seeing him for 9 months or so having moved from a large urban centre to a small town. The first psych I saw when I got to this small down decided that maybe I was not ADHD and as Adderall was taken off the market he though he would have me try life without meds (he did not do any test or anything, just decided like that) and took me off meds for 6 months - that was like life in hell - all the time I continued to teach but was off the wall and my fellow teachers knew what was going on but admitted that I was hard to work with (imagine the poor student!!) So I changed Drs and the new guy thought that I may be BiPolar and gave me meds that drove me to such aggrivation my father, a retired physician, could not believe how beside myself I was when I visited. Last Jan the Dr agreed to try out Adderall and I have been fine up to about June and now it is like they have worn of by 2 in the afternoon and I would like to be able to get things done after that but am all over the place and an really getting aggrivated with myself. So tomorrow I have to see the Doc and would like to tell him how I am feeling out of control come the afternoon and at night I am not sleeping because my mind is just going but nothing constructive is happening - I am taking a Spec Ed course and am having a devil of a time reading the material - can do it on the weekend if I do it withing 5 hours of taking the meds - the weekend is not long enough for the amount of reading I have to do. So, what should I do? I am so worried he will take away the meds that keep my day normal from 7am to 2 pm. Do I keep quiet or have others experienced the meds losing potentcy by early afternoon? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Kateri
I have been trying different meds at different doses almost every month or so and my doc hasnt even questioned any drug abuse with me so I am sure you will be in the clear talking to your doctor. of course that depends on the doc also.... but I was having the same problem b/c I work from 6:00-2:30 every day and I always felt reallty tired and beat after work. I talked to my doc about it so now I take an additional dose right when I get off work. If I take it too late in the day then it makes it hard to sleep but at I am getting a lot done. The main reason I need it is because I am taking a full time college schedule after work so I need all the focus I can get!! So far it is working great.That is really encouraging. I have an insane teaching day, have a teen and am taking a Special Education course - it is suffering terribly right now because I could not write a paper after 2pm even if you locked me in a room with no windows, doors or - well, my mind would have to be absent because that in itself is a window. I guess honesty is the best policy here. Thanks for the support - you cannot imagine.
Kateri
I have had similar problems with my drs. I right now am between psycs. and My family physican is just writing my same old meds to hold me over. I also live in a small area and feel the care is less than optimal. So starting next month I will be driving 1 1/2 hours to see a social worker/nursepracticinar that specializes in ADHD. (found out about her through a friend) Hopefully That will help. I truly live with pit in my stomach fear that I will have to go back to living with out meds. So times with a less than friendly anti-med pearson posts on this sight it remainds me of how differently people feel about ADHD meds that say heart meds, cancer drugs...or hey even anti0depressants. Hope you the best. Definitely, letting the Adderall wear off at any part of the day does not work for me. There seems to be a backlash of agitation/irritability.Kateri, I too hope that your dr. listens to you and trusts you...just from your description it certainly sounds to me like the medication is simply wearing off before you need it to. If you are taking the regular Adderall, then switching to the extended release (xr) might do the trick for you. When I told my dr. that one 20 mg. xr in the morning was only lasting 6 hours and not getting me through the day, he changed the script to 2 per day and that's worked out all right for me.
good luck and let us know how you make out!