Hello I am new to the group, I found you guys looking up stuff about Adderall. I was just diagnosed with ADD almost 1 month ago, I am a 28 year old female. I always thought I had it and would tell people but they would just shrug it off. I was told in the past by family members and friends that I am bi-polar, but I could never get with that diagnosis. I have taken several depression medications which have never really worked for me and I would also stop taking them. The only thing that "helped" was Xanax to calm me down and at times help me focus.
A couple months ago I started googling ADD and I took a test online and scored a 70%!! It was so weird because I simply had EVERY symptom. Anyway I went to my PCP about a month ago and told her this and she gave me pretty much the same test in office and it was right on point. She gave me a prescription for Concerta extended release 54mg based on my weight. I started it on March 6th and felt "weird" for lack of better word right off the bat. I was having very strange weird dreams that seemed so real but they were not. I had insomnia and would just lay in bed for hours before falling asleep. The dreams did subside after 2-3 days. After that I did love the feeling it gave me during the day I felt so energized and was totally able to focus at work, i dont think i have gotten so much work accomplished the week i was on it EVER!! lol Now at the time i was having boyfriend problems which probably was not helping but the other downside to the Concerta was I felt it muted my personality. I was still the same me but I was not as talkative as before and i was totally paranoid about everything and would hyperfocus on something so much i would drive myself crazy. I actually felt "Crazy" for the 1st time ever on this pill. I would go from happy to sad to okay to angry all in a short time frame. I would normally take my pill around 5:30am so that it could wear off hopefully by bedtime.
On Wed the 10th i just didnt like the way i was feeling so i had decided to skip it that morning and see what happened... I went to Dunkin Donuts and got there about 6:30am, now I always order the same thing and i got to the driveup and my mind totally went blank i could barely order my food it was a very weird feeling. I freaked out and chalked it up to me skipping the Concerta so I took it right then and there! I got to work around 7:15am and everything was sort of ok until about 9am. I cant really describe how i felt but it was just different and not right. I was angry at my b/f as well at the time so i am not sure if that contributed to it, but i went outside to have a smoke and starting having flutters on the right side of my chest. I chalked it up to me smoking way too much over the past couple days then i came back to my desk and my heart just started beating really fast, it got worse and worse i felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, then i started having trouble breathing. I was also having some right eye twitches. I freaked out and ended up leaving work early. Called my doctor on the way home and could barely talk, i was having SOB and just couldnt think straight, my heart was racing i felt like i was having a heart attack. I thought maybe i was having an allergic reation to the medicine, she advised me to go to the ER. Went to the ER everything was fine I am pretty sure it was just a really bad panic attack, but nonetheless i told my doctor i did not want to take Concerta anymore. I LOVED how it actually got me to focus and gave me so much energy and i was able to complete so many tasks that i normally wouldnt, but I did not like the side effects. She told me that the dosage was probably too high and my body might have metabolised it too fast and that she had dosed it on my weight. I asked if there was anything else to try and she gave me a script for Adderall XR 10 mg stating she would start me low and see how it worked. I went to the pharmacy and of course my stupid insurance BCBS would not cover the generic version of Adderall XR only brand which was way too much money. She ended up switching it to what i guess is the generic Adderal IR 10 mg. The actual label says D-Amphetamine salt combo and i am to take 1 in the morning and 1 at 2pm.
I started taking them on March 14th. I didnt feel any sort of difference. I am not sure if i was used to the Concerta bc they started about 30 mins after taking and lasted the whole day. I don't feel the kick in with this at all and i dont feel it actually helps me focus in any way. I actually think it does the opposite. So i decided to up the dosage to 2 10mg tablets at about 6:50am and 2 10 mg tablets at 2pm. I still feel nothing. I see so many people having great results with Adderall, I am wondering why its not working for me. I am so scared to go back to the Concerta because of what happened. Should I give this generic adderall more time, or maybe my doctor needs to up the dosage? The only thing i notice is when coming down i get tired. I never feel the initial "up" feeling though. I am more alert but not able to focus at all. Any suggestions???? Sorry this turned out to be longer than i thought and i am actually at work so this shows how not focused i am on concerta i would have never typed this much while at work haha.
Thanks in advance for your comments!
If your meds aren't working tell your doctor. My son had a very negative