It can take time to find the med or med combo that fits your needs. Some people have gone a year before finding the right med, so be patient. You could try other forms of methylphenidate like focalin or even a different delivery method than ritalin LA (metadate or concerta).
Focalin is only the dex isomer of methylphenidate and is thought to have fewer side effects for some. It does not affect weight for my youngest like concerta did.
The diferent delivery forms of methylphenidate can be quite different for a person. For example, ritalin LA basically gives you 2 doses of med separated by a few hours. This can cause the med levels to be up and down and cause extra symptoms. Concerta has an immediate release, followed by a smooth release for the remainder of the time.
Sometimes a med can increase anxiety so you have to watch for that.
There are other amphetamine forms that can be tried as well. Since you saw improvement of symptoms with adderall, it may be that vyvanase would work for you.
Then there are other meds used for ADHD as 2nd and 3rd line treatments.
There is a lot of trial and error because everyone is different. A psychiatrist that is well versed in med management can be effective at guiding you through this period. You might try keeping a diary with times and doses of meds and times and symptoms of positive and negative effects. This can help sort out the issues and direct you and the doc toward more effective treatment. Good luck on this difficult journey.
Here's my my thoughts on your question JT... We seem to have a number of things in common. We both take adderall, and we both have issues with irritability at home with family members.
One of the greatest benefits I found from the adderall was it improved my patience greatly, which, in turn, greatly diminished my irritability. In retrospect, it seemed as if I came home from work "pre-loaded" to be irritable. Over time, that became very wearing on the relationship between my wife and me, and on my two daughters my impatience gradually over time put space between them and me. Now things are much improved between me and my wife; unfortunately the mending between me and my two adult daughters will take more time, but it's happening. Thanks to adderall and educating myself. So, I think you done right to work on your relationships at home...they are, after all, what matters the most!
When I first started on Adderall (first regular, then settled on XR) my body experienced an array of side effects, which included heart racing, dizziness on occaision, etc... thankfully, all the heart stuff disappeared--I now exercise like always without medrelated side effects. I don't know how long you've been taking it, but if it's been a few weeks, there's certainly still time for things to settle down. It took my body a couple months to acclimate insofar as heartrate went.
My doc and I settled on a daily dose of 40 mg of adderall. I need that amount for concentration at work, meetings, situations where I really need to apply myself. But I don't need (nor want) that much if all I'm looking for is peace and patience at home...then 10 to 20 mg/day is all I need. I find I'm much less prone to the occasional anxiety surge I sometimes experience using the higher adderall dose.
keep up the good work....
My issue is that I am not having the kind of results with my short term Ritalin as I used to 2 months ago. My doctor's reaction is that my body would not become immune to the medication that fast, but i dont know. I mean, i get tired now, REALLY hungry.... and less focused. She also said that I may not have ADHD if this is my reaction to the med. I think this is crap because she has known for me for 6 years and SHE diagnosed me with it a long time ago. It is only recently I decided to go on medication for it. I keep wanting to try Adderral or Concerta, but she thinks it will increase my heart rate and anxiety too much. Should I try to re-approach her about this? Or should I try the Ritalin SR..../