I was diagnosed with ADD about 18 months ago. I am on my second ADD doctor and my 5th ADD medication. I have tried Wellbutrin, Adderall XR, Ritalin SR, Daytrana, and now Vyvanse.

I am so sick of this. I am just trying to keep from being distracted while studying.

I am back in school and I had tried to get the medication thing sorted before I started but that didn’t happen. I never thought it would take this long. This is insane.

Both my doctors I found through CHADD contacts and they are doctors specifically for ADD. I keep ADD stuff off insurance so this is costing me a small fortune. Please help.

I am at a loss I don’t know what to do next. Should I try yet a 6th medication and if so which one?

My story: Kindergarten teacher noticed I was different and had me tested for a learning disability. They only came up with that I process information slowly and at the time ADD was called “minimal brain dysfunction.” I was tested again in junior high, high school, junior college, and university. They always came up with the same thing that I process info slowly.

In high school I caused a lot of problems. Sneaking out of the house as a freshman in high school to go to 21 and over night clubs, drugs, cutting school, running away from home, etc. Parents sent me to a shrink.

In 2004 I was laid off from a dot com job and spent 18 months traveling alone through Africa and Asia. Upon my re-entry into the default world I was having a hard time adjusting. Was not sure what I wanted to do and when I went on interviews my self-confidence was shot down. Friends of 10+ years dropped me stating they “needed a break.” Funny but I thought 18 months was long enough.

I was spiraling down into a deep black hole. Went from shrink to shrink with no luck. Finally I decided to track down the shrink that my parents sent me to in high school. She had moved to Boston and I tracked her down over the internet. After 20 minutes with her on the phone she said she thought I had ADD. Piecing together my adolescent misbehavior, the fact I spent 18 months as a solo female traveler in 3rd world counties, and other pieces of my past she thought I had ADD.

So I read “Driven to Distraction” which described me to a “T”, made an appt with an ADD doctor, and was diagnosed. That was the easy part.

Please help. Now what should I do?

Some have speculated that inattention is related to working memory problems.
Working memory has a relationship with D2 dopamine receptors which might explain some efficacy in the use of ADHD meds like you have tried in treating it. Maybe an additional drug like a D2 agonist would give better results. Other
classes of medications are known to improve working memory to. The OTC
supplement huperzine-A for example might improve some types of working
memory.

Also the effectiviness of the drugs you have taken is much lower when you have untreated secondary issues like depression.

So, what was your experience with the medications that you took? Strattera might be a good option, although it doesn't work for a lot of people. It did help me a lot, but your mileage may vary.

Also be aware that you have to get used to these medications and give them a lot of time to work. You might not like the feeling of their primary action, but it may in fact be what you're lacking. Have you experienced a quieting of your thoughts? Less impulsiveness? These would make you feel weird, but they're actually therapeutic. You must still have feelings, but you should be able to think and act on them with more clarity and calmness.

You state that early life Testing found you are "only" slow at info Processing.

That isn't to be minimized!! :S

Lots of people here have Processing LDs or things that 'act like' Processing Disorders...

re: 'working memory'

WM issues are part of Executive Dysfunction too

You may wish to look up "visuospatial sketchpad" (visual memory) and "phonological loop" (listening memory)

http://www.ncld.org/content/view/865/391/

QueensU: so how can this stuff be treated? seems like the medications are all the same: stimulants. It's nice to be aware of the specifics of one's disabilities, but what can one really do about it?

theta: which D2 agonists are out there?

QueensU: so how can this stuff be treated? seems like the medications are all the same: stimulants. It's nice to be aware of the specifics of one's disabilities, but what can one really do about it?

theta: which D2 agonists are out there?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromocriptine

I've used bromocriptine but I hate the side effects of ergot derivatives too much to notice any usefulness(dry nose and headaches for me).


RLS drugs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramipexole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ropinirole

It maybe likely that D2 agonists have no long term efficacy for anything. Due to rapid D2 receptor down-regulation. For example I think there is a study using
D2 agonist to treat social anxiety disorder.

: Depress Anxiety. 2000;11(1):45-7.
Links
Treatment of social phobia with the dopamine agonist pergolide.
Villarreal G, Johnson MR, Rubey R, Lydiard RB, Ballanger JC.

PMID: 10723636 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Have no idea what the study concluded but a serach online reveals people who tried a D2 agonist for their social anxiety and it worked for about 1 to 2 months.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergolide

Pergolide was removed from the market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piribedil

Here is one more.

My first doctor would throw a drug at me and then have me call her the next day (yes the next day) to let her know how it is working. Also I think she started me on way too high doses.

So I have a new doctor but he seems over attentive. He does not make any changes unless he sees me in his office which means another 165 bucks. Over attentive seems like a good thing but when I didn't think Vyvanse was working and we had another follow up appointment to switch he wanted me to try upping the dosage. I asked him what I will do if that didn't work and he told me to try it and to call him in 5 days. When I called him he wanted me to come in yet again. I am very busy. I go to school full time and I work full time. I would leave messages of 3 hour blocks of when he could call. He would confirm that he would call in that window and never did. It happened twice. I have to spoken to him since before X-mas. This guy was recommended by several people at CHADD meetings. I just switched to him in Sept.

Sorry for my long rant. I think I need yet another new doctor.

So Vyvanse is the only ADHD drug I have been on for a semi long period of time. I don't really notice much although I am not a very observant person. I do notice that I am not hungry which is GREAT since I put on about 15 lbs since I start taking Paxil about 18 months ago. And Paxil makes me think about food ALL the time.

Anyway that is about it. I don't really notice anything else.

I think I just need a really good doctor. Anyone know any in the SF Bay Area? From Burlingame to Palo Alto? I don't trust CHADD recomendations anymore.

I think I just need a really good doctor.

I was a chemistry major and biology minor in college and I knew all the pre-med students to a degree. They range from a large number who were never going to medical school,a lot of sociopaths and a small number (only one comes to mind) generally nice person that is likely a doctor today. But even
he maybe strapped down with debt and a spend thrift wife that is effecting how he does business.

I've read elsewhere on this board that neurologists are sometimes far more helpful than psychiatrists. Some even have specialities in ADD/HD