I am currently taking Strattera (80mg per day) and Adderall (4 20mg tablets per day) for my ADHD, predominantly inattentive type. I would like to know a couple of things...The first thing being that I am completely oblivious to people around me in terms of being social. For example, I want to socialize with people around me (when my meds have worn off at night -- and this especially applies to women I want to hit on and ask on dates -- but I really don't want to socialize. It's not that I'm afraid to, but I really do not care about women, which isn't normal. My sex drive is void. I'll see a woman give me the eye, and she'll smile, but I'll just keep a serious face and look the other way. When my meds wear off by bedtime, I'm always slapping myself in the face for not caring, even though I know deep down this really is not my fault.
I need advice on how to overcome this. If I stopped taking the Adderall and just took the Strattera during school (saving Adderall for only in times of serious need to study) would this help with my social skills? I know some of you might be saying, "Well, just try it for yourself." But I want to be sure that it works before I try it, as I want first-hand experiences to guide me (which is why I'm on here). I mean, is Strattera helpful for social skills (I heard it used to be an anti-depressant).
The other topic I have to discuss is stimulant withdrawal -- and I have double the problem, as I take two different meds for ADHD. When I take med vacations, I experience terrible, unbearable withdrawal symptoms. Indeed, I missed a couple of days of work without calling in (and was fired because of it from my previous one) and I even missed a couple of days of school. Is there anything I can do personally to help combat these horrible withdrawal symptoms: I experience eternal tiredness, I am constantly hungry, and get VERY, VERY DEPRESSED. Before I got diagnosed with ADHD, I was not depressed.
I can't go to school or work while taking a med vacation. I'll either oversleep or will intentionally not go because I feel too depressed. And I will feel afraid to talk to anyone. It would be better to sleep, but since I either work or go to school everyday, there's no way that I can just sleep for a couple of days straight. It seems impossible to take a med vacation now and still do routine activities.
Has anyone been prescribed or recommended anything by their doctors for this horrible withdrawal episode? Any advice or input would be appreciated...