Hello all. I am getting really frustrated to the point where I want to just give up on everything. My doctor told me today that he was stopping any kind of stimulant medication (in the most recent case, Adderall) and changing my treatment plan to the following: 60mg of Cymbalta + 5mg of Abilify per day. I was previously on 60mg of Cymbalta and 4-5 20mg tablets of Adderall per day. My doctor says that because of my family history of having depression and being bipolar, that this might be the key to my lack of attention. But as I've told him redundantly, everytime he has modified my medications, they have worked solidly for 2 weeks and then I slowly build up a tolerance; then ultimately awful side-effects start to kick in, such as depression and shifting of moods. I was never depressed or even prone to mood shifting before I started these meds. Couldn't these just be side-effects?

With all due respect to my doctor, I'm just curious as to how taking me off of stimulants entirely will help my ADHD considering that all the stimulants I've ever tried have worked at least for 2 weeks. Why not switch to different stimulants every 2 weeks to keep this stability? Or, is there some danger in doing this? I'm just confused. The stimulants I've tried (MetaDate CD, Ritalin, and Adderall) were the best things that have ever helped me in terms of my attention -- even if the effects only lasted for a couple of weeks.

HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED OR AT LEAST HEARD OF PEOPLE'S ADHD IMPROVING BY CONTROLLING DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR DISORDER WITH CYMBALTA AND ABILIFY (OR EVEN OTHER KINDS OF COMBINATIONS OF MEDS NON-RELATED TO TYPICAL ADHD STIMULANTS) WITHOUT ADHD STIMULANTS?

The reason I ask is because I can't start Abilify for another couple of days due to my financial situation. No samples given either. I really need some advice. Thank you very much...

It sounds like the doctor is questioning the adhd diagnosis. I hope he is not dropping the adderall altogether, if he does you'll probably sleep for a week.:eyebrow:
The symptoms you describe could be side effects, they could be side effects to the adderall. The dosage of adderall that you take is on the high side. I would not want to be reliant on 4-5 20mg adderall a day. I sure you'll get things sorted out.:)