I don't think the meds are working. I've switched 3 times in a year! Should I just accept this and take an easier lower paying job? Anyone out there been able to keep a career with this! Everyone thinks I'm a ditz. And I drift off when people are talking to me they're like did you catch that? I know what they're thinking! I have no self esteem left. I feel like my friends are family are sick of hearing me talk about this. :(

I'm sorry things are rough on you. It's too bad that none of the meds you've tried has been working. That must be a real disapointment.:(

I haven't even started a career. I've been a student for years and not accomplishing much the last few of them when I've studied at university.

Would you consider trying yet another med?

If you should take an easier job depends on, I think, why you would do it. Because you would feel better, it would be a relief to you, etc might be good reasons. Because you feel like others think you should although you want to stay on your present job might be a not so good reason. Of course they might be intermixed making it not so clear cut and difficult to decide.

Self esteem...sometimes I feel like there's no point in even trying cause I'll eventually screw up anyways.

Talk to us here on the forums! We won't be sick and tired of it. Granted you probably do want to be able to talk to your friends and family about it, but when you feel they're not listening, or not understanding, or don't want to hear more about it there will be people here who are listening, who understands and who wants to hear more about it.

I know how you feel honey28, I went through that in one job inparticular and found out it was the job more than me. It was a high stress competitive environment, which was not the right fit for me. Maybe it's the job more than you. Are you working in a high stress environment? What is your field of work?

In my case, I used to think that a rigid detail oriented environment was the best fit for me and the reality was it was not at all. This was before I was actually diagnosed with ADD. I thought these environments were what I needed to keep me organized and focused...boy was I ever wrong. They only exasperated my symptoms and I too lost my self esteem and felt I was in over my head. On the inside I knew I was smart (probably moreso than most of my coworkers), but I just couldn't get focused like everyone else to prove it, so I felt like a loser.

Then, I did some soul searching and found that I was choosing jobs based on my deficits instead of looking for ones that were actually a good fit based on my strengths.

Maybe if you take a look at your career choices and why you made them, it will help provide some answers. Ask yourself why you chose to pursue the job you are in...was your decision based on your deficits instead of your strengths?

I hope you find this helpful. Don't beat yourself up :( there is an answer out there for you.

Hey do not give up yet. I read your
post where you list what 3 drugs you
used .I used Wellbutrin 500mg useless. I used adrafinil which is
said to be like Provigil useless. I
have not used Stretera but its
a noradrenline re-uptake inhibitor
.Wellbutrin also has this effect
(and on dopamine). In other words
it maybe no better than Wellbutrin.
None of those drugs are stimulants.
Try a stimulant and write us back.

hey honey, i cant say that i've tried any of the meds u have taken but i had the same issues that u did with work and school but school was the big issue. daydreaming, and sleeping through lectures in the nursing program was highly frowned upon and resulted in me failing and having to start over. however after i was diagnosed, i was put on 30mg adderall xr and everything did a total 180, i made twice as much money at work (i was waitressing at the time) because i wasnt screwing up orders or getting distracted, and when i got back in the nsg program i was getting A's, and even got a recommendation letter from the hardest, least-liked professor, not to mention i lost some weight which was a major boost for my confidence. so like i said, i don't know the drugs u have tried personally, but i've heard from others who have tried them, that they didnt like them, so hopefully if u have no circumstances preventing u from trying stimulants, i'd highly recommend the adderall, unless u hate a hypermotivated feeling :D

(yeah i know im full of run on sentences in this post, and its probably wayyyy too long but hey, thats the price of stimulants haha) ;)

Thanks guys you've all been very understanding. I don't think Wellbutrin is working. I haven't tried Adderall, Christy, because I hear its a very addictive drug. Although I think I'm addicted to Wellbutrin also even though I'm not seeing the results I want I'm so scared of not taking any meds at all. Anyway thanks for the support. I really appreciate it.

Hello honey, I believe stimulant meds at proper therapuetic levels are not addictive, unless the person abuses them. Many respond well to Adderal, not me, but lots of people do :).

Good luck to you,
Crazy (whose meds do not hypermotivate her worth a doodle)

Yeah abuser take the largest dose they can. Inject it or snort it to get a
fast "rush". Stay up for many days
at a time doing drugs.

I was on Wellbutrin a few years ago to quit smoking and for depression...it did work by getting rid of the depression, but not enough to help me get my ADD under control (didn't know I was ADD then). I have to say, I am on Adderall and it is working well. I don't feel the need to take more than the 30mgs per day and I go off on weekends sometimes. Good luck, but don't discount the stims for ADD.

if you are hyperactive like myself, you'll want to not want to take it when you are like I get (i.e. mr. jokester giggly... obnoxious)

That's the funny thing about ADD. I think a lot of us actually often forget to take a dose here or there. They even make watches to help remind you of your doses! :D Before I was diagnosed, in my very early twenties, I was "self-medicating" :o. Not that I was aware of this. It was literally the day I was diagnosed that I stopped using anything illegal. My brain finally got what it needed to function properly. And then I seriously had the hardest time remembering to take my meds. :rolleyes: So, I know it is scary to hear that you might need a stimulant, but it really isn't as bad as you think. And the first week you start taking it you will feel like a different person. I was finally able to finish college,(after being there for six years) and get a great job, and stay on task, and actually get my point across at meetings. I was able to "live up to my potential"...that comment I kept seeing on my report cards year after year in school, finally happening. Anyway, Ritalin changed my life. :soapbox: Okay, I'll get down now. :D

honey, i was diagnosed with ADD inatentive type when i was about 13. now i'm 21 and last year i was diagnosed with narcolepsy (full sleep study, def. narcoleptic) we are not sure if i actually have ADD or if the ADD-like symtoms were just the onset of my narcolepsy, either way ADD and narcolepsy have the same treatments, almost to the T. all the stimuants are FDA approved for narcolepsy, the only things that are not ar stratera, wellbutrin and providgil is not approved for ADD, i have tried concerta, adderal, dexadrine, strattera, wellbutrin and providgil.

ill tel you (just for me) strattera did NOTHING, wellbutrin did not hekp my deppression or ADD symtooms/nercolepsy. providgil did nothing for ADD but did heklp my sleepyness. (granite, very little)

the only medicine that really worked was adderal XR and the dexedrine (dextro-amphetamines) and guess what i have an addictive personality, i'm a hooked smoker and i was addicted to heroin (who am i kidding with the "was")

but i will tell you getting off the adderal and dexidinrine was NO PROBLEM at all. got right off with only a little tiredness and hunger for about a week. honey like the other guys said. when you really need these drugs and dont take them to get high, the percent of a addiction is very low. just works that ADD people have a very low chance of becomming addicted to the medicine. so if that career is important to you and treatng your ADD is also. do not cut out the most effective treatment choice because sombody told you that peopl ewho dont need ampheteimes get addicted and abuse them. talk to a a doc. that deals with ADD he will tell you that people with ADD dont have the same addiction to amphetimines that other people will.

for us this is medicine, not illicit drugs. remember that