Hi all,

I was recently diagnosed with ADD, and before that, I was taking 100mg of Zoloft for depression. When I was diagnosed, I was put on Dex and have been taking 20 mg's a day...along with the Zoloft.

The med's worked fantastically...I felt like a new person in that I felt clearer in my mind, more organised (almost to the point of being OCD) and could tolerate crowds much better and conversations for much longer, etc.

Anyhow, the last two weeks I've gone right down...I feel tired, faint (and fainted last week after kneeling down and then standing up...my blood pressure is slightly lower than normal...but I've never fainted in my life), foggy brained, depressed, anxious, etc. Could the combination of these two drugs have anything to do with my mood change? Or is it just that the Dex isn't working for me now (I was on it for three weeks before I went down two weeks ago)? O perhaps it is something unrelated to the meds? I've had comprehensive blood tests done...and they came back clear...and the doc thought it might be the med's...but he told me he didn't know anything about Dex...because he doesn't prescribe it.

When I did begin to go down...I put it down to sever pms (I've always had pms...but the symptoms weren't that extreme), a virus (although I never came down with anything)...etc.

Hope this makes sense...and your advice would be great...also I'm seeing my psychiatirist on Thursday...

Susan

hows your eating. I got a bit weird on dex because of appetite suppression, after a while my body readjusted and i started eating more again. I oftern get light headed due to lo0w blood pressure anyway but the lack of food worsend this quite a bit.

After two weeks on Adderall, I felt so faint and dizzy one day that I had to leave work and go home to lie down. I felt so ill that I almost went to the hospital emergency room. The incident scared the hell out of me and I stopped taking Adderall because of it.

My blood pressure runs on the low side and I wonder if stimulants have a peculiar effect on people who tend toward low blood pressure.

Of interest, I tried mega doses of fish oil and while on that supplement I also experienced dizziness when getting up from a kneeling position. (The dizziness was nothing, however, compared to what I experienced on Adderall).

Even though my blood pressure runs on the low side, I have never experienced dizziness or lightheadedness except on Adderall and while supplementing with mega doses of fish oil.

Thanks for your replies...I have a strong suspicion that it is diet related. It didn't occur to me that I've not been craving sugar or coffee as I normally would while taking Dex, and that I might be experiencing sugar withdrawal symptoms. Perhaps the combination of low blood pressure and sugar withdrawal can compound the experience?! :eek:

Susan

hmm, i think dex increases blood pressure if i remember correctly, could be wrong thgouh. My first be would be diet. Make sure you eat a balanced diet and keep a level weight, i lost like 10kg in six weeks when i started, possably more, cant remember.

Thanks Shinobi...I'm making a concerted effort to watch my diet. I saw my psychiatrist yesterday and we spoke about food allergies/intollerances as well. He said that some ADHDers have problems with food...I suspect dairy, wheat, gluten...I'm going to try to make a slow, gradual change...don't think I could go cold turkey!! :eek:

He wants to give me a try on Efexor and see if that helps...I'm incredibly nervous about...but I'll wait and see how it goes...if it helps with anxiety it will be worth it...I hope!! :rolleyes:

Susan:)

best of luck sorting it out. Sadly i've been weened off my anxiaty meds (lorazopam) because its habbit forming.

My mom is ADD and she has loads of dietry problems. Wheet, glueten, dairy, everything. Also a vegitarian which doesnt help and her liver is semi packed up as well. Duno if that helps at all.

Zoloft is metabolized on Cytochrome P450 "2D6". So is Dexedrine.

Therefore, they can build each others levels up.

It can increase the side effects. (Personally, i find that it increase the Muscle tension that Dex causes.)

Talk to you Doctor or Pharmacise (or both) about "P450 2D6".

duh, .... "increases" the muscle tension that Dex causes.

(FWIW, i take Zoloft, Dexedrine & Wellbutrin.)

shinobi...can your mother recommend any good books on food allergies/intollerances with recipies...I was at Borders last night looking at some, but wasn't sure which one to purchase.

queen...that would explain the severe muscle tension in my neck and shoulders...expecially at the base of my neck on my shoulders and near my shoulder blades. I've always had tension headache...and sore neck/shoulders...but never as bad at this. thanks for the info.

Susan

Been on adderall since February of this year. Like you MTMT my blood pressure tends to be low. I haven't noticed any change in my blood pressure since taking adderall. When my blood pressure does become high it's a signal that i am in pain or that I have an infection. Have you talked to your doctor?

No, I didn't talk to my doctor. I just stopped taking Adderall - that was three weeks ago. I felt fine physically as soon as I dropped the drug. What was freaky about the dizziness episode is that I was on an extremely low dose of Adderall - 2.5 mg, two or three times a day (even at that low dose, it did help me focus and accomplish more).

Since I gave up on Adderall, my concentration and motivation level have been terrible and I really do need something to help me focus. So, just today, I decided to gingerly give Adderall another try. I felt a wee bit dizzy at points today - nothing terrible. I'm going to monitor myself very closely, make sure I eat every couple of hours (although I'm fine going without eating for long stretches when I'm not on medication) and see if I can make Adderall work because, in general, I found it to have fewer physical side effects than Strattera.

However, if I get overwhelming dizziness again, I'm going to stop the drug immediately and just know that the drug is not for me.

Dizziness is listed in the medical literature as a side effect for Adderall - perhaps some people like me are more susceptible to that side effect.

joudge, I'll ask my mom for you (wish me luck in remembering though, i forget alot). With all the food alergies she has she is bound to have some good recomendations. Every so oftern though she ends up on an ultra drastic diet of supliments and pulp food stuff to clear her liver and that. Like a detox diet but more drastic.