I’m new and this is long..... | ADHD Information

Hi everyone I am new to this forum, but have read some of your posts and there seem to be a lot of people with good insight and experiences here. I need some advice. I was diagnosed ADD-Inattentive type when I was 7 yrs old, but was never put on meds because I always made good grades despite my disorganized thinking and behavior. My parents interpreted the inattentiveness to school not being enough of a challenge, so they had me IQ tested. I skipped a grade or two and entered the gifted program. But my racing thoughts, inability to complete a project, tendancy to hyper focus or not focus at all, and chronic procrastination out of fear of getting anything started remained static throughout my childhood and adolescence. It persists today.

At age 20 I started taking Adderall, but abused it resulting in a complete depressive crash, and me dropping out of school. Now I am thirty one, married with a 14 mth old and once again a full time college student. Although school is still pretty easy for me, the rest of life is not. Things like remembering doctor's appts, to return phone calls, when the movies are due back (you know adult stuff :) are real problems for me. A good example of this is bouncing checks or paying bills late when I have the money because I am so disorganized that I forget to deposit the money, or erroneously guess at how much I have in my checking account and bounce a check. Now pile 15 hrs of college and a baby and demanding husband on top of it and I feel like a total basketcase.

So I got back on Adderall. I took it for about two months, and did not abuse it, but had HORRIBLE side effects- my hands and joints hurt constantly, part of my face went numb, extreme muscle tension, anxiety and depression, and scalp sensitivity. I know that some of these side effects are common, but what about the other, less common ones? I went to my MD who did a physical exam, CBC blood count, and I even had an EKG and cardiac enzyme work up. Everything came back fine.

So I started Provigil, thinking that it would be okay. It was for a couple of days, and then all of the side effects that I had on Adderall came back, only this time they were worse! I am scared to death that I have done some perm damage to my Central Nervous System, or that I have an Aneurysm in my brain or something. Am I being irrational, or do I have cause to worry? It's worth mentioning that all of the side effects go away as soon as the drug is out of my system. I also never experienced any of these side effects (numbness, pain and burning in hands, hands and feet falling asleep, scalp tenderness) when I took stimulants before. My MD thinks I am nuts or have MS! What do you think? Provigil helps me so much cognitively, but could it be causing all of these symptoms?

Sorry about the length of the post, I am a bit tangential sometimes.

well you're doing the right thing by having a full medical exam.

There are a lot of other med options out there besides Adderral and Provigil. Provigil is not even first line ADHD med. You have first line meds you have not tried yet, any methylphedinate meds(like Concerta, Ritalin), Vyvnase, Strattera (which is non stimulant). There are also antidepressants like Wellbutrin or some tricyclic antidepressants like Desipramine and Norpramin or Nortyptiline. Lots and lots of options.

Who's prescribing for you? Is it a psychiatrist?

Some of the side effects you have described while on Adderall I have also had on Vyvanse (same mfg. also a stim.) Facial numbness or tingling, tension in neck and shoulders, extreme anxiety and depression. After giving Vyvanse 2 mos to reach my target dosage and wait out the "sides," I gave up and return to using Strattera. I'm also taking Omega 3s. Within a couple of days my anxiety and depression levels have become almost none existent and I have yet to reach my target dose of Strattera so I won't know for several weeks how my focus will be. But today I feel that's secondary to what I was feeling emotionally and physically before.

Don't rule out other stimulants, Ritalin worked well except personally it increased OCD tendencies. If your using a Psychiatrist for meds you can discuss your sides and they can best determine which direction to go from there.

Thanks for your reply. I have taken Wellbutrin before, but had a bad reaction to it, as well. It made me feel like I had a surplus of energy that I couldn't get rid of. I might just go the natural supplement route. Sometimes I wonder about some of the medications that they have us on. The doc is not even sure how Provigil works on the brain, and I have looked it up-even the creators have inconclusive evidence about the how's and why's of Provigil. I know that they are supposed to introduce a new drug, NuVigil, that is to be marketed at kids with ADHD. It's already been approved by the FDA, but won't hit shelves for a couple of years yet. It's a lot like Vyvanase is to Adderall. Adderall is a racematic mixture, meaning that both sides of the molecule are used in the drug. Provigil is racematic, as well. Vyvanase uses one side, the d amphetamine molecule, and Nuvigl uses one side of the l mondifinl molecule. I think the aim is for less cardiac side effects on both counts, which is beneficial to me because I take high blood pressure meds.If it makes you feel any better, I feel like that half the time, and I don't have ADHD!! Life is very, very challenging from an organizing standpoint. It used to be that our ancestors did the same thing every day of every week and didn't have piles and piles of paperwork and details to deal with. Once you add a kid to the mix -- watch out!

Oh, shoot, speaking of which -- I've gotta go tend to the flock here.

[QUOTE=Diane V]

well you're doing the right thing by having a full medical exam.

Who's prescribing for you? Is it a psychiast?

Yes, a psychiatrist is prescribing it. I was on EMSAM, which is a transdermal MAOI inhibitor, but I kept having these "hypertensive crisis" due to the med. It had a lot of interactions with other meds, and was so new that many pharamacies in my small town were not aware of all them. I am also being treated for depression, and take zoloft for that. The thing that worries me is the chronic pain that both stimulants seemed to almost immediately cause in my hands and in my head. My psychiatrist works out of a mental health facilty run by the state, and sees about twenty five patients a day. I a consisdered "high functioning" so I see her about every 90 days. Half the time I am more educated about the medication that I am taking than she is. I feel like if I had a bad reaction to not one but two stimulants, then it is likely that i will react poorly to a third. What do you think about that theory?

[QUOTE=4evryoung]

Don't rule out other stimulants, Ritalin worked well except personally it increased OCD tendencies. If your using a Psychiatrist for meds you can discuss your

Thanks for your reply. What are Omega 3's. Aren't they fish oil pills? I just started taking those, so hopefully I will see some results with them. Did you have pain in your hands when taking Adderall or Vyvanase? It is a bit worrying that my doctor mentioned MS, especially when I have never experienced any of these side effects before, and I have taken Adderall before. My psychiatrist doesn't seem concerned, but these side effects seem strange to me.

well, I think it's worth trying some other options, like one of the methyphediantes or Vyvanse like 4evryoung suggests. You could also ask about switching from Zoloft to Wellbutrin for the depression as Wellbutrin can help with focus. Strattera is another choice. I am not sure it could be taken with Zoloft though. Strattera is non stimulant, we are seeing decent success with it for my 13 year old who also cannot tolerate stimulant meds due to side effects.That is very possible. The only way to know is to find out which out-nerves is suffering pressure. It's very likely that what your suffering is magnified by the Adderall.what tests can I undergo to pinpoint damaged nerves? I suppose I should see a neurologist or a rheamatlologist.I had an MRI to id L5-S1 damage and could see where the disc was placing pressure on out-nerves that ran down my right leg. It made it nearly impossible for me to sit or drive and I didn't sleep for more than a 30 minute stretch for nearly 6 mos. Now I could exercise till the cows came home

I would wake after being in one position or whenever I moved. It was miserable, finally opted for surgery. It went great, then all I wanted to do was sleep, wouldn't get up and go to the gym! oh well. I just find it odd that stimulants cause all of this pain for me at thirty one when they caused no pain at twenty five. I am 5ft 7, and weigh about 160. I'm no waif, but healthy none the less. The only conclusion that I can come to is that I do indeed have nerve damage.Yes, Omega 3s are fish oil supplements. I'm taking these on advice from my Chiro in co-op w/ my Psych. I would seek advice about which to take as you know not all supplements are created equal.My chiropractor is the one who recommended them as well. He said that I had severe damage to nerve C1. I wonder if that is what is causing all of the side effects.It's not necessarily a nerve damage problem.

Some folks are highly sensitive to medication and medication combinations. And something taken at one time may stop working or cause a different reaction at another time.

With people that are highly med sensitive it can be a pretty big crapshoot. Obviously, stims are not for you--ADHD or not.

I can't take quite a number of meds and others I HAVE to take due to physical condition have to be dosed very differently than they are for "normies". Some I should take--I can't.

So you're going to have to be more patient than other folks and what works for you might be very strange to them. This is where a good researching psych can come to the rescue with unusual combos or off-label uses.