Hi, I am new to the board, new to the diagnosis of ADD and new to
Ritalin. I am 28 female and on my first month of Ritalin. My doctor
initialy gave me my dosage in 5mg and instructed me to increase in 5mg
increments till I reached the desired effect level. Up until I hit
20mg i felt nothing. Then at 20 mg I did not experience the desired
effect of concentration and stability. Infact i felt nothing but
ancyness, and increase in my chattiness ( a nice way of putting it).
My doctor has since increased me to 30mg for the next month (2x daily)
and nothing has improved nor changed. I simply feel like every
molecule in my body is jumping - i am ancy - and i jump from thought to
thought even more so now and i am often more forgetful. Has anyone had
this reaction before? Will the positive effects of Ritalin emerge
after a longer period of treatment? Anyone's input would be very
welcomed.
Thanks in advance -
Roya
Roya,
My only experience is through my son and other kids,
but your experience doesn't sound like it's the right
med for you. The symptoms you describe are exactly
what my son's first pdoc said happened if you give
Ritalin to someone who doesn't need it.
If you aren't satisfied that your doc is understanding
your discomfort, I suggest looking for a second
opinion. I refused to return to my son's first pdoc
when his response to my son's various problems
was to add more and more different meds on top of
one another. We got a new doc (at Children's
Hospital in Boston) who gradually took him off
everything except 2 meds, and he was enormously
better. I am now going to push for a switch back to a
previous med, because I am convinced this new one
(Strattera) does not work as well for him as Concerta
did.
There are many different meds that can be used for
ADD, Ritalin is simply one of them. If it (a stimulant)
isn't working correctly, get the doc to try one of the
other types.
Good luck.May I ask what ADHD symptoms you have? Did you have problems with speech growing up? I brought up speech problems because I am doing my own little investigation between the difference of ADHD, ADD and SID... it has nothing to do with you, I apologize if it confused you. I believe my son has SID and not ADHD.
From what I have read in your post, you sound exactly like me! Do you have to read something over and over to understand it? When you look back on your math classes as a child, do you remember learning better when the teacher showed you something one on one? Does repetition help you remember things? Are things that you learn easily forgotten?
There are many ways of learning and understanding things, but for some reason, we are only given one way to learn things in school. If we can't learn that way... there is something wrong with us and we need to use medications or go to special classes. This is something that I have learned in the past few months since my son was diagnosed with ADHD. Although ADHD and ADD is very real, some people are put in this category unnecessarily.
Maybe ask your doctor to refer you to an Occupational Therapist that can give you the tools to help you receive information and process it with the way YOU know how to. This is something that I will be looking into for myself very soon.
Cindy38137.9360185185Cindy, Growing up I don't believe I had a problem with speech per
se, however I am not sure exactly what you mean by speech
problems. For example, I did not studder nor did I have a lisp,
but around adolescents I did have a problem with talking too
fast. As far as other ADD symptons, I never quite seemed be there
in the classroom as a child - no matter how hard I tried to focus or
understand, it wasn't connecting. My most vivid memory was in 1st
or 2nd grade when we were learning addition (well today I can look back
and tell you it was addition). However, back then all I remember
was pages with numbers stacked on top of them with little t(s) next to
them. Well, as an adult, or the other kids in my class that was
obviously addition - but I didn't get it. It was like I missed
the day or month (whatever) that they taught us math. So I would
randomly just put numbers below each problem, and I consistently failed
every assingment and every test. Consequently, I have always been
behind in math and never done very well. My childhood was full of
similar incidents of me trying so hard to focus, but no matter -
everything went in one ear and out the other. I truly believe
that saying was coined for a person afflicted with ADD. Now, I am
not stupid and have amazingly enough mangaged to get around my
affliction - I guess because I didn't know I had it for so long.
I graduated highschool a B student, graduated college a B student and
barely graduated law school period. I am at the end of my rope,
and my life long con game has caught up with me. I bullsh*ted my
way through highschool and college - law school was a tougher nut to
crack. And finally, I have yet to pass the bar exam - four
years after graduating law school. And thus cannot practice as an
attorney. It was at this point that I became diagnosed. It
is a bitter sweet victory because the medication I am taking has yet to
alieve my concentration and focus problems. I have lowered my
dosage from 30 to 20 mg, and I am not as ancy any more - and I think I
am getting used to it, but that clarity has yet to be bestowed on
me. Thank you for caring enough to ask me questions and even
reading my post.
Roya
