I've known I have ADD for many, many years. I'm a 33 year old male.

I finally went and was officially diagnosed about 3 or so months ago. I started on 2 10MG pills per day (the blue pills). The experience was amazing. I felt like a machine at work, instead of staring at my computer screen with a blank expression like I had done in the past. I was getting all kinds of work done...the stuff that I'd normall put in a pile for "later".

I then switched to 20MG of the XR per day (one capsule in the morning @ approx. 8:30 AM). This worked well at first, and then I noticed I'd "hit a wall" at around 2:30 PM. So, I started taking an additional 10MG pill in the late afternoon on days when I would work late.

So now here I am. 20MG XR in the morning and 10MG IR on some afternoons. I get to work after taking my 20MG XR, and all is very good until around noon. By 1:00 every day for the past couple of weeks I become literally stuck staring at the screen. It's almost like I can't stop staring even if I try. I literally can't get anything done. Sometimes I'll stay late to get things done that I missed during the day. Suddenly it's 7:30 PM and I haven't done anything except stare at the screen and make an occassional Google search of some trivial piece of information like the name of some random childhood friend who pops into my head at that moment. I seriously feel like a Zombie. But then I'll get a second wind later in the evening, after dinner (usually eat around 7:30).

Has anyone experienced this? I feel literally brain dead and unable to react or act on anything in the afternoon. Could it be that I'm not eating enough? Could it be just the medication?? Anyone?

What is ritalin like? Would trying ritalin, or perhaps ritalin in the afternoon, be a good idea?

Thanks for any feedback.

This is really bumming me out because I have to do well in my job.

XR is extended release, formulated to throughout the timeframe. I take 20mg XR when I get up at 4:30 am and I'm usually good until mid-afternoon, and brain dead in the evening. So I take 10mg around 1 or 2, if I remember and I'm good to go. You're using up your energy. I can get totally catatonic. huh?
You have to eat, drink water and take breaks.
Try eating a yogurt or some trail mix. Nut mixes really help me. water, water, drink. Multi-vitamins, just in case... I've taken handfuls of discrete vitamins and minerals for years but I have mixed emotions about it and would not endorse it. Search around these posts. Be caregul cuz there's some inaccurate and out of context quoting flying about.

What you describe is essentially how I am without meds. I alternate between staring at my computer, making halfhearted attempts to do work, and goofing off/puttering until about 10pm, when my engine kicks in and I crank out the work.

I am on Ritalin, and it helps me a lot with getting stuff done when there is no immediate deadline to push me. I also work a lot slower on it (compared to my deadline rushes). Generally I use the Ritalin to do boring things like paperwork, and do work when I ought to be working but don't have an immediate deadline. Still go au natural for the heavy lifting, though. :)

Sounds like you're due for an increase.

I had steady increases for the first 4 months or so.

I've also found that, now that I've been on Adderall XR for 6 months, my "off" time is very noticable!

I don't get "stuck", but I do get other symptoms that seem more severe than pre-medication.

ahhh, youth...Uminchu...to be young again.

I guess I'll always be outta sync

"Try eating a yogurt or some trail mix. Nut mixes really help me. water, water, drink. Multi-vitamins, just in case... I've taken handfuls of discrete vitamins and minerals for years but I have mixed emotions about it and would not endorse it. Search around these posts. Be caregul cuz there's some inaccurate and out of context quoting flying about."

Thanks. I will attempt to eat smaller, healthy things during the day. What are "discrete vitamins"?

Hi RushHour,

A few questions for you:

Is your current "stuck staring at the screen" experience the same type of experience you had before going on the meds?

Is it more of a "zombie-ish, no energy, can't move, can't think, can't do anything at all" OR more of an "I'm hyper-focused (overfocused) on one thing and can't shift attention away" type of feeling?

Before you try switching meds, you might try backing down on your dose. Maybe your dose is too high and causing overfocus problems?

Or you could vary the timing of your doses: like, take the 20mg XR in the morning, and take the 10mg IR at noon instead of later in the afternoon.

Or you could try taking 10mg IR in the early a.m., another 10mg IR at noon, another 10 in late afternoon, etc.

Another thing is, how's your diet? What do you eat on a typical workday, and when? How much caffiene do you consume? And are you getting enough good sleep?

Those things make a difference for me.

ahhh, youth...Uminchu...to be young again.Unfortunately, not so young any more. That's why I needed meds -- the old bod wasn't holding up under the strain of 2-3 all-nighters per week... :)

I don't get "stuck", but I do get other symptoms that seem more severe than pre-medication.Barbyma I'm so glad you posted that part. I have the same problem and it drives me crazy!!

Discrete vitamins - like ala carte, individual pills. My theory was to flood my body with a particular element, let it absorb what I needed and flush the rest. But you can't do that with every vitamin and mineral everyday because there are toxic limits and some of the elements stick around in your system longer than others.
Plus, the purity and strength of many of those products, is unpredictable and not regulated.

For me, it was like "today I feel like taking these." Plus I'd read the contents of say, a new fat, carb, starch blocker and buy the individual ingredients and try and see which element in the contents was the definitive component that did the blocking...many years and trials later, I've come to the conclusion that there are a lot of bogus products and claims out there. Creatine is still a wonder to me.
So, a good multi-vitamin every coupla days, at least, just to be safe, is what I do now. But I still do a variety of this or that sometimes. Like Co-Q10 or DHEA.

I can build myself up to working 15 hour days without a glitch, for weeks on end, as long as I refuel.
I have to work myself up to that. I also have a wonderful husband that picks up the slack at home. He thinks I'm absolutely normal and should just build a bridge over my depression, mania and ADD.
He has supported my divergencies, I am a lucky girl.

I turn into a zombie when I have to do something that I don't really want to do. The old mental block. I also zone out when overstimulated. I remember times, like cramming for a test all night and walking into the exam and forgetting absolutely everything.
Come to think of it, ritalin did make me zone out after too much work and not enough fuel. Adderal has been much better for me and allows real depth of focus - what I call hyper-focus.

I had a phone interview last week for a media architect's position. 2 guys on a speaker phone. They pressed me, I could feel that they doubted my credibility, and I couldn't get past that, I forgot everything.
OK, so tell us about mpeg headers - name one. I can just about decode mpeg headers by hand and I couldn't even remember a single name of one...