I was diagnosed ADHD at 16 and had been on Dexedrine up until this February.
When I turned 25, United Healthcare dropped me and I had to fight to get coverage back for my pre-existing illnesses.

I was off of Dexedrine for over a month and ever since then it has not worked again. I am trying Ritalin with disappointing results. I am trying everything else from zinc suppliments to caffeine pills and I cannot get my ADHD to go away. My thinking is just so incredibly clouded that I can barely drive myself places.

Does anyone has a clue as to what is going on here? I am truly desperate!

Thanks all,

Lance

There is no logical reason for this to happen, as far as I know - dexedrine works pretty much instantly, without the need to build up a dosage. Is it the same dosage of dexedrine? The same brand? Has anything else changed in your life? How are you determining that it isn't working - you must have some indication that you are taking a drug - or is it as if you didn't take anything at all? What did your doctor say about this?

Bad dose maybe? The dose got jacked and replaced with a counterfeit, it got heated (heat destroys the effects) it's a bad generic. Must be a logical reason. You simply can't be immune to Dexedrine anymore then you can be immune to alcohol.

My only advice would be to just calm down and be patient to let the effect return. It sounds like you are kind of desperate & that never helps things. Try some meditation or something & look for the effect gently without craving it.

Well, I stopped drinking Coke's and then even diet Coke's. So now I have no caffeine intake. I also started taking Rogaine for mild hair loss. I was wondering if the chemicals in Rogaine products could cause a reaction. A few days ago I just stopped taking the Ritalin and I feel much better. I am going back to the doctor the 22nd so I will see what he thinks of it all.

I can't think of a logical reason for the Dexedrine just to stop working either. It is really funny. I didn't think about the batch being off or totally bad. I took the orange triangle type for years. Maybe I will request those only. I do think that there is a difference amongst the generic and brand names in this medication.

Thanks and keep thinking about the problem here.

Lance

I took the orange triangle type for years. Maybe I will request those only. I do think that there is a difference amongst the generic and brand names in this medication.



There is a big difference between the generic and the brand name. Read the "generic dex thread"

STICK WITH THE ORANGE TRIANGLE TYPES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a Norepinephrine inhibitor, like reboxetine. .5 mg of ritalin does the same thing as 10mgs, the effects last twice as long, and there is hardly a crash. Selective Norepinephrine Inhibitors increase Dopamine, Serotonin and Norepinephrine. Reboxetine is the European version of Strattera, but with only one side effect (sexual-ouch). It is totally screwed up that the FDA approved that poison (for me) it calls a treatment for my ADD, and rejected Reboxetine. Reboxetine has been on the market in Europe and other parts of the world for 5+ years, and there it has been shown to be nothing but completely safe and well tolerated. Oh well, enough of my rant.

I took adderall for 7 years. Towards the end I was just hating it. It was not working as well as it did at first.

That's the nature of stimulant drugs, they wear off fast. If you really got 10 years of benefit out of the same medication then my hat's off to you because that's great and very rare. I took ritalin every day for 6 straight years, I missed a dose maybe once or twice but that was it and I still was being affected by it, but barely, and I mean barely.

You could switch to adderall which has 2 more components to it that dexedrine does not. But you should find it to work well.

I like to take weekends off from my medications so that I can keep the tolerance down.

Good Luck,

Scott

Thanks for the replies.

I am on the Dexedrine tablets as in the past. I am still having dissappointing results in comparison to the years before. I feel fortunate to have had so many years of great experience on Dexedirine; however, I am having a hard time getting anything close to "normal" thinking. Mentally, I am unpredicatable and unhappy. I only wish that I didn't have to take medications! Those who have never experienced medical and mental problems take life for granted. They abuse drugs and their bodies.........it makes me kind of bitter. I have to be thankful for what I have and who I am. If I didn't, I would just give up.

It is really puzzling. I take Dexedrine for 10 years straight. Get cut off of my insurance for 1 1/2 months. Back on the same dose with little to no effects. It just doesn't work anymore. It isn't a "feeling" or "expectation" or the medicine - it just stopped working. I have NEVER felt the same since. I have tried several different doses and times taking the dose. Several different medications with even worse results.

If any person reading this knows of an "ADD/ADDHD center" in the country that is on the cutting edge, please advise me. I would like to have brain scans and blood screens for several days in a row if it would help solve the problem. I stay in my "fog". I have described it as a fog over the "front" part of my brain. I don't know how to explain that statement other than "that is how I feel".

True, when I first took Dexedrine life was great. The best. It stayed like this for many years. I never really "came down" like others have written on the board. The medication just worked, period. Now, I have a hard time just driving myself places due to the lack of processing power in my mind. It isn't a lack of attention but rather "processing power". I explain it to people as if my brain were a computer and 40% of my CPU has been eliminated. It is as if I am "slow" and not as intelligent as I really am. I have about 126 IQ and it seems like I am Forrest Gump now. Really, it is that bad. It just takes me SOOOOOO much longer to think and process information now.

Anybody have thoughts or comments? PLEASE, PLEASE type them out. It may just be the missing piece of the puzzle over here. Never know.

Thanks and good luck to all,

Lance:faint:

Those who have never experienced medical and mental problems take life for granted. They abuse drugs and their bodies.........it makes me kind of bitter. I have to be thankful for what I have and who I am. If I didn't, I would just give up.

AMEN to that!!!

I'm sorry you are going through this! It seems like it has been this way for a while now. I wish I could help, but I can only think of a couple of suggestions...

1) Have you tried taking a drug holiday - I mean no meds at all for, say, 6 - 10 weeks (under doctor's guidance of course!)?

2) Have you considered that you might be depressed. Some forms of depression (often what they call 'atypical' depression) can mimic AD(H)D? Perhaps if your depression worsened that may be why it seems as though the dexedrine isn't working anymore. This is totally just a thought - one from left field - but I thought I'd put it out there.

BEST of luck to you!

Thanks for the reply. Not sure, maybe I need to get more active and do some things. Need to get excercise and out of the house more. I haven't tried being off of all medications for that long. I have gone quite a while though.

Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and it will all be gone. Yeah, thats it. :)

Lance

Nauss,

Don't lose hope -- you would benefit from a partner to work with you in life to help you with your ADHD, someone who can be your CEO and give you helpful direction. How about some intense cardiovascular exercise for a start my friend? 5 days a week, 30 minutes, as high an intensity as you can comfortably do. Fish oil, especially EPA rich (1-2 g of EPA/day), might be of some help longer-term, not acutely.

Additionally, a dopamine receptor agonist such as Trivastal might be right up your alley:

http://www.servier.com/pro/Neurosciences/trivastal/trivastal.asp

There tend to be less positive results with other dopamine receptor agonists, which is why I have settled on this one as what I wish to try just as soon as I can get my hands on it. Unfortuantely it is more difficult to acquire than I would like.

Best of luck to you.