Hi,
I have a few questions about your experiences with stimulant medications...

What are you taking and how long have you been on that medication? Are the results you are experiencing now different from when you first started the med?

How do you know you are on a high enough dosage of the med?

Have you ever been on too high a dose? How did you know...like what side effects did you get?


thanks
Jenn

Adderall XR - one 20mg pill every morning if I go to work/school; usually don't take anything on the weekends/when I can sleep in and just be 'lazy' all day;I've been taking it for a few months.

Results aren't different. The first day I felt 'euphoric' but subsequent days I felt normal.

How do I know I'm the right dosage? Good question. I was actually in such a hurry to go this morning (my car is in the shop, so I was getting a ride) that I forgot to take my meds :-X and I can definately feel it. I'm ADHD-PI/SCT and I feel like CRAP. I'm lethargic, can't really focus, everything is is 'slow-mo'/'brain in a fog' and I'm kinda tired.

You know you're on too high a dose because you'll start 'tweaking' - pounding heart beat, fidgeting or 'tics', extreme insomnia, extreme appetite loss, rambling/hyperactive, punding, etc. In extreme cases (i.e. taking an addict dosage for days on end) you'll eventually go into amphetamine psychosis (which is VERY scary). If you've ever seen the movie Requiem for a Dream (it's about drug abuse) there's a lady in there who's taking amphetamines to lose weight but she takes too much and goes into amphetamine psychosis and starts having hallucinations of her fridge trying to devour her!

I guess this is kind of a follow up question. I posted this on the sticky about "What are Specific Changes to Look for When Taking Medication?" Maybe I'll have better luck here??

My 16 yo daughter has AD/HD and has been on methylphenidate meds for about 8 years. We've never seen the kind of results that are described in the "What are Specific Changes" post at the top of this forum board. At most, we've seen an increase in focus, but nothing that has really helped with memory, mood, motivation, ability to awaken, persistence to task, follow through, etc. Are those expectations really realistic, from the experience of those of you taking medications? If so, can you offer any additional insight?

Thanks! :)

Stimulants aren't a 'miracle drug'. I've said this before and I'll say it again:

They won't MAKE you do anything. They won't make you focus, make you concentrate, make you feel motivated, make you pay attention.

They merely ALLOW you to do so. They remove the obstacle from the path, the lock from the door; YOU have to go down that road, YOU have to open that door. The drugs aren't going to do the work for you; they'll just make it less troublesome for you.

I told you I didn't take my meds today earlier; well, I just went home from lunch and took my pill about an hour ago. I can DEFINITELY feel the difference - my mind is 'relaxed' now and I'm alert.

Adderall (in my case) basically 'suspends' all of the ADHD stuff going on in my brain. All of the 'haziness'/'brain in a fog' that I feel and lethargy/tiredness dissapears; it ALLOWS me to go about my normal day and do what I need to do. But that's they key thing - I have to do what needs to be done.

ETA: Your daughter sounds like she has some other stuff besides typical ADHD symptons; I see in your post you mention that she has problems with:

mood, motivation, ability to awakenIf that is the case, then you may want to look into an NRI like Strattera/Wellbutrin. Strattera is an 'always in your system' drug (if you take it daily that is) and for me it REALLY helped me 'awaken'. I would actually wake up at like 5AM somedays feeling 'refreshed' and ready to go unlike I do on stimulants (which I take after I wake up; I always took Strattera at night time). It is also a 'mild' antidepressant (more of a 'mood stabilizer' IMHO) and I did notice those effects (although it made me feel kind of 'dull' at first:confused: ).

A simple explanation of the Titrate Up process for stimulant medications can be found HERE (http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34796). Hope that helps!

I guess this is kind of a follow up question. I posted this on the sticky about "What are Specific Changes to Look for When Taking Medication?" Maybe I'll have better luck here??

My 16 yo daughter has AD/HD and has been on methylphenidate meds for about 8 years. We've never seen the kind of results that are described in the "What are Specific Changes" post at the top of this forum board. At most, we've seen an increase in focus, but nothing that has really helped with memory, mood, motivation, ability to awaken, persistence to task, follow through, etc. Are those expectations really realistic, from the experience of those of you taking medications? If so, can you offer any additional insight?

Thanks! :)What, how much and how often is your daughter taking it - including weekends and holidays.

I posted a question about this about a month ago, but can't find it now. I think you'll be able to see it if you look at all my posts - since there haven't been very many. That gave a more detailed history of symptoms and meds. This is the Reader's Digest version.

DD has been on meds since 3rd grade. Things were pretty good in 8th grade, but in 9th she really started to tank. She was on 56 mg of Concerta and seemed kind of "out of it" - I'm assuming that the dose was probably too high. Sophomore year we switched to Daytrana and eventually she was on 30 mg. We added Straterra around Xmas time, hoping it would help with the emotional lability, eventually up to 60 mg a day (morning and night) but it didn't really help. She's been seeing a counselor most of Sophomore year for mild depression. Eventually we got in with a p-doc through the local children's hospital. He kept her on the 30 mg Daytrana and added Lexapro, originally at 5 mg, then up to 10 mg. That made her really lethargic - sleeping in school, etc. - so we slowly weaned her off of that. At the end of the school year, I read on-line that over time, Daytrana is metabolized more efficiently, so I think her dose ended up being too high.

During the summer we tried 20 mg of Focalin with 80 mg Straterra (40 mg both morning and night), plus Omega-3. THAT didn't help much, so we have taken a med holiday for about a month. Now we're trying to figure out what to do.

IDK, she doesn't seem depressed any more (plenty of energy for her small circle of friends), but has low self-esteem and tends to self-sabotoge. By that I mean, if I offer her money to go to Target to buy a pair of capri's b/c she says she doesn't want to wear clothes from Target. If I give her a permission slip for voice lessons at school (that she REQUESTED) so she can try out for Varsity choir, she'll deliberately hide the permission slip in her drawer rather than turn it in. (this happened twice).

She periodically says she wants to go to college, get a job, etc., but then reverts to negative, grumpy, behavior when we ask what classes she wants to take, if she's applied for a job, etc.

Don't know what's her personality and what's AD/HD and what's a negative side effect to a medication.

I'm happy to take any and all advice.

Forgot to mention, she has typically taken meds every day of the week.

has low self-esteem and tends to self-sabotoge. By that I mean, if I offer her money to go to Target to buy a pair of capri's b/c she says she doesn't want to wear clothes from Target. If I give her a permission slip for voice lessons at school (that she REQUESTED) so she can try out for Varsity choir, she'll deliberately hide the permission slip in her drawer rather than turn it in. (this happened twice).Did she have to audition? Too nervous or anxious when it came to trying out?

She periodically says she wants to go to college, get a job, etc., but then reverts to negative, grumpy, behavior when we ask what classes she wants to take, if she's applied for a job, etc.People with ADHD get overwhelmed by generalities; we need specifics. Her school counsellor should be helping her with course planning. Do you have strong opinions about what you think she should do re: job and / or college. It would be difficult for someone with low self-esteem to do these things. Sounds like she still needs support to do these things. Kids with ADHD are generally less mature than their peers - it's a developmental disorder. Some of us never really get "old".

nothing that has really helped with memory, mood, motivation, ability to awaken, persistence to task, follow through, etc. Are those expectations really realistic, from the experience of those of you taking medications? If so, can you offer any additional insight?These are symptoms of ADHD and can be symptoms of just plain old adolescence.

>She was on 56 mg of Concerta and seemed kind of "out of it" - I'm assuming that the dose was probably too high. Sophomore year we switched to Daytrana and eventually she was on 30 mg. We added Straterra around Xmas time, hoping it would help with the emotional lability, eventually up to 60 mg a day (morning and night) but it didn't really help.

That stands out to me. Strattera to me is an odd choice for such a problem IMO. An additional adrenergic stimulant, yes?

Lexapro. I don't want to encourage "too many meds", but I wonder if you might have gotten better effect from a different serotonin reuptake agent. Lexapro can be on the side of sedating, or activating. The tendency of the different SSRIs in this regard varies. Fluoxetine is pretty activating.

Switching the stimulant preparation of choice (from methylphenidate to an amphetamine)? Vyvanse?

I didn't mean to hijack the original question, but yes, I'm trying to decide whether we should try switching to Adderall XR or Vyvanse. But if they are all pretty much a wash for symptom relief, it may not be worth the hassle.

I'd like to know if anyone on stimulants has actually experienced relief of most of the classic symptoms (in other words, has anyone had experience with meds doing what they SUPPOSEDLY should do according to the sticky about "What Are Specific Changes to Look For . . ."