oh wow! you guys are all WONDERFUL! thanks sooo much for the support, i honestly needed that!
yes my dr. was telling me to stop the med because i should not have that kind of "reaction" to it, not that it was a side effect, she said it is a "reaction" to it that should not be there.
she said i should be all calm and mellow and focusing, etc..if i am strung out feeling, hyper, talking too much, which i was, then it means i do not need it.
so i was awake, and i mean wide awake till 1:30 this a.m...i was in such a goooood mooooood! i woke up at 7:00 and i felt kind of hung over feeling, lol..no longer had that happy gooooood moooood feeling but i wanted it back!
so i ignored my dr. and took it anyways and now i feel just nice and good inside. i do not yes have that hyper feeling but i feel soooo happy inside and outside and it shows too.
not sure what else to expect though, but i did give myself a long over due manicure and pedicure with lotion and watched MTV during the whole thing and never even flinched then gave my whole house a real quick once over then out the door and to the library and here i am!
ok...as for being diagnosed...i actually diagnosed myself and talked to my dr. about it and begged her to let me do a trial of adderall xr to see if it helped with anything and she somewhat reluctantly agreed but was more willing to try me with strattera but i said "no"!
now i am going to see a dr. who does diagnosis just to make positive sure, but i've been reading books almost non stop and doing internet searches and i have alll theeee classic symptoms that i cannot believe otherwise would be true.
i also do have an underlying dysthymia/anxiety disorder. i have been told over the years i had OCD, bi-polar, depression, possibly even borderline personality disorder but because i do not have the major anger outbursts they discounted but for tha reason only.
so next week i will find out for sure and in the mean time i have been keeping an on going log of why i think i have it and the things that have come up to prove it!
thanks again everybody! so far today no side effects and monday i will be seeing the psych dr. and bringing all my paper work and let him see what he says..and also i am going to see a dr. who specialized in add diagnoses.
i am seeing this other dr. on monday cause i've had an appt. with him for a month now for this very thing! but he has seen me over the years and he is the one who thinks i have these other things, so i want to see what he has to say now!
i have been on 10 mgs of adderall xr now for day three today. side effects are an inner anxiety state that lasts for about two hours and is proceeded with a headache that comes and goes.
when it wears off early evening i only feel head/brain zaps, fidgeting and restless like normal. dr. said if adderall is making me feel jittery inside that that means i am NOT add and to stop meds immediately.
is this true? i have so many classic symptoms of it that i find it too hard to believe!! i put too much faith and hope into this med and money too, to help me hold down a job, clean house, cook, what ever i can do that i cannot get motivated to do now..
i'm totally bumming..any suggestions on this med?
That's not always the case. You can definately have ADD and not respond well to Adderall.
Your doctor obviously doesn't know much about ADHD and is basing his opinion on an outdated theory that stimulants slow down ADHD minds so if meds work your adhd if they don't your not. Of course that theory doesn't hold up, there are tons of folks with adhd that have a bad reaction to one stimulant like adderall but switch to another stimulant like Ritalin and have no problems at all. There are also folks that just don't respond to stimulants at all and have to search for a different medicationall together.
My question is were you ever even officially diagnosed with ADHD (blood workup, physical exam, and behavoir testing) or did this doctor just give you medication. If you weren't tested then yeah it's very possible that it's not ADD and there is another underlying health problem causing the symptoms. In that case no amount of ADHD medication will help.
My other concern is that you've only been on it for 3 days and the doctor is ready to give up. Adderall is effective right away (it doesn't have to build up in your body like straterra) but your body still has to adjust to the change. Most people experience side effects for about two weeks when first starting on the medication. After that initial adjustment many report that the side effects disappeared and that is when they really started seeing how much the meds were helping.
I've taken Adderall for the past 4 years and can tell you for the first two weeks I had a lot of stomach pains, no appetite and diahrea. After my body adjusted I never had another problem. The most important thing is figuring out what you feel comfortable with and gauging how bad the side effects are. You'll most likely experience some kind of side effect with most of the meds you try in the beginning but if the side effects are worse then the symptoms your trying to treat then it's time to look for different medication.
If I was you I'd look for a new doctor too. Finding someone knowledgable about ADHD is the most important part when starting out. A lot of people make the mistake of going to there family doctor to treat ADHD. While family Doc's are great for the flu and other common health problems most aren't that knowledgable about ADHD.
I had terrible side effects with addreal my doctor switched me to 10mg of ritalin 3 times a day and I've been cruising along for years. Don't give up after one try of medicine.[QUOTE=megawatthalo]I had terrible side effects with addreal my doctor switched me to 10mg of ritalin 3 times a day and I've been cruising along for years. Don't give up after one try of medicine.[/QUOTE]
I was on the Ritalin 3 times a day when my Dr. said there is a longer acting Ritalin it's called Ritalin LA taken once a day I think It's wonderful no more highs and lows or forgetting to take your meds with you. for me it lasts about 12-14 hours. Just thought you might not be aware it's available I didn't till 2 months ago
This stimulants didnt work for me either. The side effects of paranoia and mood crashing prevented me from taking advantage of any of the positive effects.
There is a vital link between mood, focus, and congnition. Even if you have ADD and you treat it with stimulants, if you don't feel good the positive effects of the stimulants will be cancelled out.
For many of us with ADD who have co-morbid depression or who are bi-polar, it is just as important to confront our emotional imbalances as it is to confront our cognitive difficulties. For us, it is important to supplement a mood brightener with a cognitive enhancer.
ADD is a complicated and difficult illness to diagnose because the adult patient is usually in heavy denial, and appears normal in the Dr.'s office. It's rather easy for us to pass for a "normal" person because we have learned to hide our symptoms.
Bottom line, your doctor is an idiot.
OpenYourEyes38332.4181365741I'd look for a new doctor!!! Thats just me.