As i totaly expected since i started on dex ive become more depressed. I expected this and my phyciatrist (the only people in australia able to perscribe dex) also warned me. He said in time it will fade, but that dosent make it easyer to deal with. I have alot to regret and alot of things at the moment are very uncertain for me. I used to be able to push these things out of my head but now i find i cant and dwell on the alot. im getting real bad cravings, mostly at night when my dose starts to ware off and im tierd. I guess thats a side affect of the life i have led and i also expected this. The problem is i become irritable, aggressive, my concentration becomes fuzzy and all the rest of it. Mybey its all in my head, i dont realy know. My anxiaty and paranoya are also worse, I know im not on an overly high dose, i think ive just about naild that, i think ill know for sure in a few days what a good round figure is for me. I just not sure what to do. I would rather avoid somthing like valium if i can but im kind of lost, ive never been able to deal with serious depression very well, usualy just getting more wasted. Does anyone have any advice or anything.

I will have saved up anough money to see my phyciatrist again soon, im hoping befor the end of january and i plan to discuss with him also.

Wow.. that sucks. I didn't even know it was a problem. I got a huge lift almost right away.
Cheers! Ian

my phyciatrist said somthing to the affect of:
As you become more aware of things and start to concentrate more you may get depressed because youll be like 'god, is that how i used to be'. I also have alot of things happening at the moment, deadlines im late for, trying to find a job, social issues, alot of family stuff and he warned me that these may affect me more because ill like be more aware of them. As for the cravings i get i expected these, i only stoped self medicating just under 7months ago and thing were very out of control, I had been kicked out of college, my relationship with my family was at an all time low and alot of stuff like that. Im just strugling to deal with everything now, the affects are worth the down side i guess but its doing my nut in all the same. I just wonderd if anyone had any coping sugestions or anything i guess.

If you're able to afford it, and the doc thinks it's a good idea, maybe an antidepressant would be a good idea. Something like Wellbutrin could even contribute toward treating the ADD, not only giving you a 24 hour solution, but maybe allowing you to cut back on the dex.

If it's mostly you noticing your life is out of control, then there are tons of suggestions on the forums here for that. Personally, the thing that has made the most difference for me has been a PDA. I don't know about in Australia, but in the US, you can find a basic model for under $100 new.

I also had a striking **anti**-depressant effect on dexedrine.
The effect was felt within 15 mins of taking the first half of one tablet ie .. just 2.5 mg.

Dexedrine was initially and is still now used as an anti-depressant -- and so it's peculiar that depression is turning out to be a common effect of the medication.

If you search around the Internet you'll find the use by SmithKline French (in the early 60's) of dexedrine as an anti-depressant, and also the use of dexedrine now, in treating depression, in cases where other (less controversial) drugs are not effective, or where immediate mood change is required.

From memory, I seem to remember seeing the use of Dex as an anti-D in HIV and cancer cases where the moods of sufferers have dropped to suicidal levels.

Did get almost uncontrollably anxious on 1/2 a tablet of ritalin though - in fact so anxious -- that I had to go out and run, until the drug had worn off.
A horrible experience that I will never repeat.
Must stress though - that this was out and out anxiety --- and not depression.

SB.

i'm sorry you are having such difficulty. i don't know if this is a possibility, but i find that lexapro is a great treatment for both anxiety attacks and depression. interestingly, since i started my adhd meds (adderall xr) i have taken less and less of it because the need isn't there. i will say that if you just stopped self-medicating recently, and depending on the level of self-medicating you were doing, your body very likely needs some time to just adjust. you are also going through tremendous psychological change, so try to be patient....

things are slightly better at the moment. Ive been trying to find ways to keep my mind occupied during the evenings. Im going to blame my parents in part for this as well, their not going out of their way to be unsupportive but their not exactly trying to make my life easyer eather. Im going to ask my doc about it and see what he thinks. Thanks for the addvice and support people.

resurection of old skool post begins:

Intrestingly, my doctor has decided to perscribe me diomazopan or somthing, i cant remember the name, essentialy its a cheep form of valium (anyone remember the name, i havent sorted the script yet and its at home so i cant just go look coz im not). Its to help my anxiaty, wich at times is intense paranoya. The decision was taken mainly to help me cope with my upcoming (re)entry to college and its only a short script. Just wondering if anyone else has any expiriance / advice regarding the combination of these drugs and hw best to approach this.

Dude, Shinobi, that totally bites. Couldn't tell ya. Haven't heard of the med. Can't remember if I've been on valium; Ativan, and Xanax, yes.

As you know, I don't know much about dex. But my doc told me that Xanax will pretty much cross out dex, and that he doesn't want me to take it unless it's absolutely necessary and 2 or 3 in the morning and I still can't fall asleep. So I'm thinkin' that valium, like Xanax will "dumb down" the effectiveness of the dex, due to its tranquilizing properties, simply going on logic. Of course, I'm not a pharmacologist.

This whole dex thing has been a roller-coaster ride. I'm not hungry during the day, but then at night when the dex wears off (and of course as the human metabolism slows considerably) I get hungry, and I can't sleep at night, but then I sleep until 10 or 11 in the morning, whereupon I take the dex again and it starts all over. Concurrent sense of unable-to-sit-still-ness and drive, and at the same time a complete lack of motivation to actually do the stuff for my new school term, which has just started up. This defies logic. Well, it does to me, anyway.

Chrys

have you tried altering when you take your meds, possably shifiting the times might help, I have a similar problem with my eating but it seems to be leveling. I spoke to the doc yesterday (and got my scrip) and he said that usualy your appetite goes mental and weight decreases and after a while it usualy stabalises as the body addjusts. The main reason he gave me valium (or some strange derivative) was because my anxiaty has increased and I [re]start college soon wich is sure to make me anxous. I also mentiond to him about a semi panic attack ive had. Ive only had 2 though. Once when i was rock climbing at night. I go to an indor climbing place most thurs nights and last thurs about 9pmish my meds were wareing off and i started to get anxious and panic because i was fliping about making a fool out of myself basicaly. I spent ages concentrating on keeping my breathing under control and in the end i got changed said goodbye and left. Did make a tit out of myself though, but nothing majour. and then the next day (after i saw the doc) i had another attack when i was in town, i hadnt picked up any meds that morning (thaught i already had some in my wallet) and when it came to lunch time and i went to take my meds i found i only had half what my dose is. I took that and had to work realy hard to stop myself flipping out completly. This is most likly a mental insecurity of a sort i guess but ill sus it out as i go. The only thing I must remember is never take valium and then continue to climb, the feerless affect it has could well hurt me ore those around me, im gona have to write that on the inside of my wallet to remember.

I think the only panic attacks I've had were related entirely in some way to my history of sexual abuse and assault. Man, that sucked. But therapy helped, and now I don't have that, or the nightmares, near as much.

But yeah, I know what you mean about school. I'm just finishing up my winter break; last term was definitely stressful, because I was applying to grad schools and junk and was just freaking out and being neurotic all the time. And there was a crazy, insanely stressful family thing that I was told would cause problems for ANYONE, and then my neuropsych actually did have to see me on a more "psych" level than a "neuro" level (like usual) because I had a bit of a mini-nervous breakdown. Xanax-palooza, it was. And rest. We just told my profs I was having seizure activity so they wouldn't know I was psychiatrically messed up.

So I figured that'd totally go away this term since I got into grad school and everything's cool now, right? But guess what? No. I'm not a nervous wreck, but I have absolutely no motivation to study and work. Logically, maybe it's just because my psyche is saying "Eh, it's your last term, you got into grad school, just screw off." I don't know. Maybe it's because I got a C last term and was (yeah, I know, I'm a nerd) rather devastated about it.

Mark my words: I will put money on the fact that this term will probably be a term of half-@ssedness and general apathy. Possibly that, combined with anxiety about getting everything (toddler, school, housework, volunteer work, preparation for grad school, selling my house...) done at the same time.
Who knows. I think this term is going to be more like the other terms (the terms besides last term, "the wild semester of crisis and madness" as someone referred to it.
I feel for you. I procrastinated on going to school at all after my suicide attempt in my late teens. Then I went to school. Then I dropped out. Then I lounged around a bit, got knocked up, worked for a while, started school up again (online, since I am--or was, before Preschool--a stay-at-home mommy, completely in charge of my child's welfare) and then got married. I was still *******' breastfeeding when I started school again. I was trying to type and hold a kid's mouth up to my nipple concurrently. Not an easy task, you can imagine!
You'll make it. It'll seem impossible, but you'll make it if you do like I did and "kick your own ***" to get it done.
Good luck. Word of advice? Don't tell your profs about your junk that's wrong, even if it seems like it's a good idea and they'll handle it well. You never know how they'll react and that'll just make you more anxious...a couple of profs found out I can be midly neurotic and I have a history of anxiety disorder, and even online, believe it or not, I could sense that there was some weirdness about it. They're cool with the epilepsy and memory problems--hell, we blame that on brain damage. But psych? You know how it is. You never know how some people will react.

Chrys