Well I am on Day 5 of Ritalin and I'm still not sure how things are going.

Today I think I'm feeling rebound effects with some anxiety and irritability. Nothing really serious but I could really use some time with a little less stimulation to see if that helps reduce the effect at all.

What I am finding, or I think I'm finding, is that it is harder to handle many things coming at me at one time. A normal moment of my day usually includes My 3 year old doing something he shouldn't be doing, my baby yelling, and my husband on the phone with me having a panic attack on the bridge into New York City. Thats a lot to handle for anyone. But today it just about sent me into the abyss.

So I am wondering. Do stimulant meds make it harder to multitask? I have a hard time keeping my attention on any one thing (outside of hyperfocus) but I can usually spread my attention over several things. In fact with two young kids its essential that I be able to handle a fair amount of activity going on around me. Anyone have any thoughts on this???

On monday night I took my meds so that they would be working during an evening college course I am taking. I was not able to focus on the professor any better than usual but I did a good job of focusing on making notes on something unrelated during class! And my handwriting even seemed a little more legible.

I'm giving this a few more days and am in the process of finding a Dr that will offer more than an attitude and an RX.

most people with ADD suffer from anxiety. Stimulants make this worse. I started out my ADD treatment just using stimulants. This was bad i noticed that i could concentrate real good, but my anxiety was terrible. I wouldnt go out anymore or do some of the stuff i used to love doing. So i started coming here to get advice from other ADD people. I decided i needed to ask my Dr about taking anxiety/anti-depressants. I take lexapro with adderall. I started out only taking 5mg (adderall) 3 times a day. The 5mg helped a little, but now i am seeing the true benefits by taking my lexapro with my adderall. I take just a small amount of lexapro (5mg/day) and adderall (20mg/3 times a day). I used to take ritalin but was not happy about the effects. ritalin has stages. 1st hr you feel energy, 2nd hr you can concentrate, 3rd hr you can hardly wait to take the next pill (rebound). Adderall is way better, but i would take lexapro with it. Ritalin didnt cause too much anxiety, but adderall did. I like adderall because there isnt a rollercoaster ride (stages of ritalin). Hope this helps

craig

I am not sure if this is related, but I have heard it mentioned that Dopamine in relatively high levels can make a person focus in more on a single thing (hyperfocus), and this would certainly seem to have an effect on multitasking. Maybe your dose is simply too high?

It may also be a good idea to try one of the amphetamine stimulants, as they seem to have a more "sharp, flexibilising" effect than Ritalin.