Stimulants Holiday | ADHD Information
I am 42yrs old and have been diagnosed with ADD 1 month ago. I was prescribed Adderall XR 20mg...and 30 min after I felt better than ever. My Dr. recommended that I take a 2 days weekly holiday from Adderall in order to avoid building tolerance and having to escalate dosis. When I first tried this I felt extremely depressed. My Dr. thought I had an underlying depression and gave me Effexor...one day on the med was horrible, he then gave me Cimbalta...even worse!!! So we decided that I would not take the adderall holiday for a while. Two weeks after I started being "tired" of adderall (feeling a little kind of edgy). So my Dr. gave me celexa. I took it this morning for the first time. Again all the side effects...plus I felt like going back to ADD territory. I would really like to have some advice on this or to hear about people who have experienced the same. What can I do? Will this effect of celexa disapear? Should I decrease Adderall and or Celexa?
Help please!!!!!!!!
Yes I have heard of them. My sense is that the Amen clinics are a bit too commercial versus clinical. For example the brain imaging is (in my opinion) not necessary at this point (for anyone) and is a way for the clinic to charge a hefty fee.
Clinical research is just at the point that they can show that children with ADD do have noticible differences in brain scans than children without ADD. However, this type of research is still new AND there is not diagnostic criteria established for brain scan imaging (by either the FDA, NIMH or professional medical organizations).
My personal opinion is the brain scan imaging is a definite future enhancement to diagnosing, however, I am hesistant to trust someone using this without following diagnosing guidelines from a unbiased source. The Amen clinic wants to use this because they make money from it so their motivation is a bit suspect to me.
A professional who is experienced and follows the APA (Amer. Psychairtric Assoc.) diagnosing guidelines will be able to help you just as well, but without the extra cost. In addition to referrals from hospitals you could also try the directory on www.CHADD.org
MaxDad
I agree with Maxdad. I would work more mainstream if possible. The research tools used may eventially be useful for better matching meds with individuals and pinpointing complecated diagnosis. Absolutely no offense to your Dr. but he seems like an idiot. Depression is the side effect of going off of it. As the first thing, it was entirely too early for you to go on holiday and secondly, what may be making you edgy is caffiene intake. Am I right? You should drink very little or avoid altogether for effectiveness.
Thank you for your help Maxdad, I really appreciate. I am currently in Orange County, California. I am considering taking an appointment with Dr. Amen Clinic. Have you heard of them? Would tou have somebody else to recommend around here?
ArtichoThe time frame that covers all of the med tweaks you describe is highly concerning. Anti-D's need to be taken for at least 6 weeks before effectiveness can be determined (Effexor & Cymbalta). And, Adderall is dose dependant meaning that doses should be slowly increased or decreased to determine the true beneficial dose. It was 2 months before my final dose was determined by my doctor.
My experience with "tolerance" is that it doesn't kick in for a long time -- at least a year. And that most who claim that they are building up a tolerance are actually having other issues that can effect the med benefit (such as declining amt of sleep, poor nutrition, etc).
It is painfully obvious that your doctor is not aware of best practices regarding prescribing meds that affect brain function. The nuances to these kinds of meds are known only by those who specialize. I am lucky in that my community has a ADD-only practice consisting of multiple MD's, PHD's and therapists who do nothing but ADD treatment so I feel confident that they know what they're doing.
The best thing you can do is to see someone else ASAP. I suggest you find a Pyschiartrist who is experienced in ADD or see if your community has ADD specialists -- a good place to start is to contact a large hospital to see what they have or ask for referrals.
I'm also wondering how you were diagnosed by your doctor. There are very specific criteria in place for diagnosing ADD. It's not a 15-minute doctor visit kind of thing. If you were not properly diagnosed then there's a good chance that something was missed like other conditions in addition to ADD, what sub-types of ADD you may have ... or even if you are truly ADD versus other disorders.
See someone else ... and soon.
Best of luck to you.
MaxDad
Maxdad39016.9910416667thank you for your answer. After how long do you think it would be a good idea to start going on adderall holiday?
