HI

I am getting assessed for ADHD/ADD in June and believe I definately need medication.
After reading in this forum about the different medications - I am pretty terrified regarding the side effects especially with Ritalin. :eek:
My question is - does anyone in this forum who are taking medication, suffer any side effects associated with the medication?
Or is there a low rate of people who do suffer the side effects.
Thanks for your time.
BTW this forum is excellent. :)

Paul -- after having been on many meds....including Strattera.....the only one I'm on is Wellbutrin....and for me it basically has no side effects...(except loss of apptetite for awhile).....the rest of them did. For me, the Strattera gave me cramps that made me feel like I have was having urinary tract infections, increased my sex drive to a level I was uncomfortable with, gave me weird sensations in my mouth, made me want to sleep all day and stay up all night....many of the stimulants made me want to stay up all night.

There have actually been some very good posts related to this topic.

Medications Poll: http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=289&highlight=side+effects

Other posts that discuss side effects:
http://www.addforums.com/forums/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=15820&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending&pagenumber=1

I DO remember Paul....I wonder how he's doing.....

On Ritalin sometimes I get headaches and jitters. The headaches usually happen I I've taken my last dose of the day. I'm suppose to take 20mg then 20mg 3.5 hours later then 10mg 3.5 hours after that. When I take that last 10mg I can almost guarantee getting a migraine. The "speed jitters" is something I would expect to get with any amph.

Also, I'm on Zoloft. I get upset stomach, diminished sexual function, anxiety, dizziness at times, and even the hershey squirts.

The Ritalin LA is short to start working and drops off like a cliff for me. It increases my appetite. Makes my sense of humor go away. I have lost my silly streaks! The medication is not a steady release and a bit harsh. My biggest complaint would be that it does not last long and it has allot of peaks and valleys. I get supreme headaches after the drop off "crash". No problems with sleep or anything like that but I only take it 1 time in the morning [7am - 30mg's] and it does not last all day as it claims. Maybe 6hours at max for me. It is great for my ADHD! I would say the side effects would go away for me if I had a different type of Ritalin - becuase I feel that my body just metabolizes it too quickly. We are all different though. I hope this helps.

P.S. the finacial side effects will be devistating to my pocket as I have just found out my insurance will only cover5% that is not much!