Ok, I am really confused about meds and I am hoping that a few of you seasoned vet med takers can give me some insight.....

I know that meds are useful, they serve a purpose, and can be quite helpful, but I also don't want to think that they will be the answer to all my problems either. I guess I am just always cautious about going too far in one direction or the other.

Honestly, I do not feel any difference at all taking the Wellbutrin or the Concerta. I am always wondering if I am expecting too much from the meds. I just don't know what a reasonable expectation is for meds.
I have read so many different things that seem to kind of contradict each other. One person talks about how great their meds are and how much they have helped them and I've read a fairly long list of things that ADD meds should be helping with. And then other people will say there is no such thing as a magic pill, and that meds don't work alone, that they aren't the cure-all, that we need to do things to help ourselves as well....well I guess I just dont know what that means exactly. What should I be doing?

What I had in mind was that I would get on meds, ones that actually work for me and that then I could work on the other stuff, starting with the stuff that is not helped by the meds. One big thing for me is focus, I can't focus long enough to read a book, so I thought "after i get on meds and get some focus I can start reading and find out what else I need to do." Does that sound reasonable or is it just crazy? If there is something more I need to do in addition to the meds in order to have some focus, I just don't know what it is. HELP, I am just so confused!

What dose wellbutrin and concerta ? Both of those ought to take effect right away, but will take a few weeks to reach peak effectiveness.

If you are looking for a major change, forget it. What you can expect is to simply feel less scattered, more focused and less hyper and have less impulsivity.

If you ar ehaving no improvement at all from the stimulants, perhaps you need to revise the dose? Talk to your doctor....

Also, some people like to take meds with orange juice... Don't do that. Take your ADHD meds with a glass of water, and avoid acidic foods or drinks. The reason is that acidic things like orange juice will reduce your uptake of the stimulant medications, and you might not get much benefit if that happens. Also avoid taking vitamin C with your concerta...for the same reasons.

For most people, meds help. There is a small percentage of people for whom the medicatoins simply don't work. Chances are that some combination of medication will work for you. It's important that you work with your doctor if you want to get the right suite of meds going for you. It can take some time. Hang in there!

There are other things that also help.

First of all, educate yourself. Learn to use google and find out what informatoin and resources exist on the internet.

Read up on ADHD, and if you have comorbid conditions, read up on those too. Start by finding and reading the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Then find all you can about your condition by reading the information you find on the internet. It helps, and it will empower you to make better decisions about the treatment of your adhd.

Secondly, take good care of yourself. Eat right, and get plenty of sleep. Get lots of fresh air and exercise. Those things will help make ADHD a little more bearable.

Me :D

What dose wellbutrin and concerta ? Both of those ought to take effect right away, but will take a few weeks to reach peak effectiveness.

If you are looking for a major change, forget it. What you can expect is to simply feel less scattered, more focused and less hyper and have less impulsivity.

If you ar ehaving no improvement at all from the stimulants, perhaps you need to revise the dose? Talk to your doctor....

Also, some people like to take meds with orange juice... Don't do that. Take your ADHD meds with a glass of water, and avoid acidic foods or drinks. The reason is that acidic things like orange juice will reduce your uptake of the stimulant medications, and you might not get much benefit if that happens. Also avoid taking vitamin C with your concerta...for the same reasons.

For most people, meds help. There is a small percentage of people for whom the medicatoins simply don't work. Chances are that some combination of medication will work for you. It's important that you work with your doctor if you want to get the right suite of meds going for you. It can take some time. Hang in there!

There are other things that also help.

First of all, educate yourself. Learn to use google and find out what informatoin and resources exist on the internet.

Read up on ADHD, and if you have comorbid conditions, read up on those too. Start by finding and reading the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Then find all you can about your condition by reading the information you find on the internet. It helps, and it will empower you to make better decisions about the treatment of your adhd.

Secondly, take good care of yourself. Eat right, and get plenty of sleep. Get lots of fresh air and exercise. Those things will help make ADHD a little more bearable.

Me :DThanks Speedo.
I am taking 300 mg of Wellbutrin XL every morning. I have been taking 36 mg of Concerta every morning. I have been taking the Wellbutrin for a few months now and have really never felt any different. The Concerta I've been taking for 4 weeks, and the same thing, I don't feel any different. I have taken 2 Concerta and still not felt a thing. I started with Ritalin before the Concerta and the first time I took 10mg I felt good, it was a good day, I got a lot done. But no matter how much more I have taken since then, it's not doing anything for me.

I am predominently inattentive, so I am not hyper, the total opposite actually. So I was hoping for a little energy, the pdoc did say that I should feel a little boost.

I have done research online but have not been able to find the answers I am looking for. All I find are lists of things that are supposed to happen, or likely to happen. But what I am trying to find out is... am I not doing something I should be, or is this just a case of tolerance? None of the websites I've found say anything that I should be doing in addition to taking the meds. But I am always reading stuff in posts here that say we can't rely totally on the meds, we need to do work too, the meds aren't going to do everything. I guess I just want clearification on that, what exactly does that mean? Like I said, I am just afraid that I am expecting too much from the meds and that I should be doing something I'm not.

I don't think I have comorbid conditions, I have had some depression and anxiety, but I never considered them to be very bad. Maybe I need to rethink that. I am working with a therapist and I know we have talked about my anxiety quite a few times. The depression was never very bad until after I got my ADD diagnosis, and then I was also dealing with a lot of emotional things in therapy. So I have just had a lot on my plate lately all of these things at once has been very overwhelming. That is getting better. I will look into anxiety.

My eating and sleep patterns are not something I had not considered. With all this stuff going on my eating and sleeping have not been what they should. So my health right now is probably not the best. I am getting too close to being underweight, that makes me nervous.

Thanks Speedo, you've given me lots to think about and lots of homework (thanks a lot! LOL)

AP, I find with meds, organizing and remembering things is a LOT better..I still struggle to read a book, or watch a movie, but if I try within 30 mins of taking some meds, I am a lot better :-)

I have found that I used to put soooo much effort mentally into staying on track, and writing rosters and lists etc, that now, when the meds wear off, I have *forgotten* how to act to make me appear *non-adhd*
before, I did a pretty good job, but it was hard work, and it was constant , but now, since the meds do most of the work for me, I am a total space cadet when they were off..

Another thing to keep in mind is that some people do better on regular release Ritalin than any of the extended / slow release versions of methylphendiate.