Ritalin and its generic counterparts failed for me

Right now im on 30mg Adderall Xr and i only feel slightly more focused, i also sometimes substitue 15mg Adderall IR in the morn and again in the afternoon, this works slightly better than XR, but still no benefits worth mentioning.

I have also been on 300mg wellbutrin for about 1.5weeks now, i have noticed the effect of smoking cessation, as i want to smoke less. My mood is still easily frustrated etc... Its kinda intresting because i was prescribed the wellbutrin and my doc said most people have trouble sleeping when they first start it(150mg, let alone 300!), i didnt even have to take the ambien cr(15tabs) he prescribed me, i actually slept better than i normall do....weird

The next meds i want to try are either dexedrine or strattera. We'll see


Too bad they can't just give you a sample pack of each med to try out LOL!;)

So what meds are you guys on, and is it workin?

Ritalin failed for me too. That doesn't mean that ritalin will fail everyone. I never tried wellbutrin and I don't think I ever will becuase of the seizure risk. Sleeping problems are common with wellbutrin because of it's mild stimulatory effects, but I'm glad the switch is working for you. Dexadrine is a modified form of adderall I belive and strattera I had major mood swings with. Metadate CD and Ritalin LA gave me tics which I guess it common with ADHD meds since they all say not to use in Tic disorders, (I don't have any luckally). Right now I'm on Zoloft 100mg, Risperdal 0.5mg, and Ambien CR 12.5mg. I'm wanting to take a stimulant too, but so far none have worked for me so I don't know what to do next. Mom and I both notice my attention problems and I don't understand why mom doesn't agree that I should try another stimulant medication. She thinks I want to have an ADHD dx but I know that's not totally possible since I allready carry a dx of Asperger's Disorder. I hope some of this is helpful and good luck...

Andy...

Currently on Adderall XR 15mg. It's a low dose, but if I go higher, I seem to have trouble sleeping. I've seen some reports that inattentives often respond best to lower doses.

For the most part it helps, boosts my concentration immensely. It doesn't address all my symptoms though.

Methylphenidate worked for me also. Adderall may work slightly better, but it's hard to tell for sure.

UnleashTheHound: If methylphenidate worked why did you switch to adderall?

UnleashTheHound: If methylphenidate worked why did you switch to adderall?Basically after reading so many posts about the wonders of Adderall, and how horrible Concerta/Ritalin were by comparison, I wanted to try it to see if it worked better.

I can't say I see a huge difference between them. I just never bothered to switch back, but that doesn't mean I never will.

I see...

hmmm, im taking 20mg of IR twice a day with no ill effects, sometimes i space out, but i can pull myself out of it.

i wonder if would even be worth whilre trying a low dose.

I have an appt with my pdoc next friday, i think im going to ask him about strattera and dexedrine.

I took Strattera for several months. It was my first ADD med (at age 53). It worked some for a short while - then did nothing. I switched to Ritalin for several months, and that was much better, but I wasn't sure it was all it could be. I then switched to Adderall XR (20mg in the morning, 20 mg mid-day if I remember (the fact that I skip most mid-day doses means to me that I don't really need them)). The Adderall is good enough that I'll stick with it for quite a while. I find that it vastly improves my ability to focus. Once a month or so I forget the morning dose and I REALLY notice the difference.

Focus is improved, but there is a whole laundry list of other things which don't seem improved: time management, task switching, choosing the item I will focus on, setting priorities and sticking to them, etc. This list is what people generally seem to talk about under the general heading of "executive function". From what I read in these forums my experience is not uncommon: Great improvement in focus, little or no improvement in executive function.

I'm about midway through a program of going after the executive dysfunction with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I think it's going to be really worth it. Learning fairly concrete tools to think my way around the exec dysfunction hurdles.

But one of my really favorite parts about the adderall is that now I can REALLY enjoy my coffee. I figure that if I'm already taking speed, and it's doing me well, then what harm is a little caffeine on top? I didn't realize I had any coffee guilt at all until it was gone. Almost as freeing as taking off my watch a few months ago. Once I read that we didn't have any time sense worth a s**t I figured "what the heck".

I know I need a low dose stimulant because I zone out more frequently because of the risperdal but I don't want to make my sleep probs worse...

Focus is improved, but there is a whole laundry list of other things which don't seem improved: time management, task switching, choosing the item I will focus on, setting priorities and sticking to them, etc. This list is what people generally seem to talk about under the general heading of "executive function". From what I read in these forums my experience is not uncommon: Great improvement in focus, little or no improvement in executive function.
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this is EXACTLY the effects adderall has on me.

so basically im looking for a med or combo of meds perhaps, that will improve both.

um im not inattentive or male, idk why i'm in here lol, but i have the same problem about the adderall and the jus helping with focusing bit. did anyone happen to find that methylphenidate helped in the areas that adderall didn't cover? like "executive function"? :crosses fingers: ..im not sure what is more important to me, focusing or executive function... hmmm

methylphenidate and amphetamine (ritalin and adderall) have about the same effect for me, but adderall is a bit more so. I like it better. neither touches executive dysfunction (for me).