Possible physiological reasons stimulants don't work for me

[soulman]

Hi all. Long story short: I was fairly recently diagnosed with ADHD-I, and I probably have SCT, at least that set of symptoms fits me the best. Low energy, low motivation etc. I have tried everything. Ritalin, Concerta, amphetamines (not Adderall as it's not available here), Strattera, modafinil (Provigil), Wellbutrin. None of it works. Neither do caffeine or nicotine.

Exactly what I've tried and how and for how long etc. etc. is NOT what I want to discuss here, but rather I'm hoping that someone who frequents these boards has enough knowledge to theorize WHY no stimulant stimulates me. I feel there must be some physiological factor standing in the way of them doing their job, and I'd like to know what that is.

The only possible things I can think of is some kind of insufficient thyroid function (not detected or otherwise confirmed as of yet), or maybe something to do with the adrenal glands. Some prerequisite for the stimulants to fulfill their function must be deficient in my body/brain!

Of course I will ask doctors about this, but the amount of research done by members of this site might still help explain it...

Anyone?

[StoicNate]

Usually ADHD meds will calm you down so you can think clearer and better.
They usually aren't supposed to make you feel hyper or anything like that.

[soulman]

Originally Posted by StoicNate

Usually ADHD meds will calm you down so you can think clearer and better.
They usually aren't supposed to make you feel hyper or anything like that.

If you have Primarily Inattentive ADD then you don't need calming down. Besides, "thinking clearer and better" is a form of stimulation and one of the effects I've been hoping for, to no avail.

[StoicNate]

I have both inattentive and sometimes hyper. I don't need calming down either at least for now.

Maybe you should be on the medications that didn't give you many side effects for a longer time than 10 days.

[soulman]

I would appreciate if people could stick to answering my actual question. That's why I said "Exactly what I've tried and how and for how long etc. etc. is NOT what I want to discuss here..."

[StoicNate]

If you want advice that can really help you, then go to a doctor to get a full check up and talk to him about it.

Most of the people on here are people with ADHD, not medical doctors.

[soulman]

I fully realize that, but people who actually have the condition have often collected a lot more diverse information on the subject than many doctors.

[StoicNate]

But sometimes ordinary people with ADHD that don't know your medical history might not know why YOU are having these problems.

Maybe you have Thyroid problems? Who knows?
Have you had a blood test done to see if your Thyroid is ok?
Maybe your Testosterone levels are too low? Have you had that checked out?

There are a lot of things to check out to make sure everything is working ok.

[soulman]

I was hoping someone with knowledge on the subject could give me some possibilities, based on knowledge of human physiology, biology, chemical conversion, pathways etc., not an analysis of ME in particular. I've seen lots of discussions on how and why the drugs work (hence my post), but never on why they might NOT work.

[selita]

There are many reasons they might not work. ADHD meds mainly tweak levels of neurotransmitters in your brain. Different ones affect different neurotransmitters. For most ADHDers, it's a matter of finding which drug creates the right balance. (Dopamine, norepinephrine, nicotine, glutamate, serotonin, & others.)

However, sometimes the neurotransmitters are...
-Extremely unbalanced, so it takes a lot of meds to fix them
-Close to normal, so it's easy to go overboard with meds, making problems worse
-Totally normal, and something else is going wrong
-Messed up, but differently than we think.

What else might be going wrong? A non-exhaustive list:
-Lack of sleep, sleep disorders of any kind (sleep apnea, sleep phase delay syndrome, bad habits, uncomfortable bed)
-Dietary deficiencies/poor absorption/poor synthesis, etc., of several different vitamins (B#?), several different minerals (Fe?, Mg?), fatty acids (EPA?, DHA?), or amino acids
-unbalanced diet, generally
-lack of exercise
-learned maladaptive behaviour, poor coping skills, poor study skills
-physical brain injury, or inborn organic brain differences, possibly undetected
-silent illnesses, such as a thyroid imbalance, chronic fatigue syndrome
-lead poisoning
-chemical sensitivity
-trauma, PTSD, abuse, history of abuse
-stress, chronic stress

I'm sure a lot of supposed, earnestly diagnosed cases stem from these or other causes. It's tough to check every possibility. Take a close look at your family history. For example I know my grandmother has a serious case of ADHD and a mild case of OCD. She never would have been diagnosed when she was younger, and meds would be too dangerous now, but it's obvious if you know her and anything about ADHD.

Medicine does help a lot of people, but if it doesn't, you need to look for other answers. Perhaps lack of motivation comes from lack of interest in what you're doing, for instance. Cognitive-behavioural training, or career coaching, or something similar might do more good.

[tired1823]

THEY DON"T WORK FOR ME EITHER over time!!!!! AAAh.. i will come back to this thread. (hyper.. good old caffiene) i don't know.. i'm on a journey about why stimulants sucked for me. i'm exploring the reasons and considering that maybe it's because i have
i-add and the situations I was in and everything. they made me anti social and careless and not conscientious and paranoid. especially xr. I WANT TO TALK TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY. (hyper not mad) but who am I kidding... i'll be back to this thread, hopefully.

[tired1823]

wow... and by hyper.. i mean.. hyper in my mind.. if you could see me right now you would not describe me as hyper at all. I havent moved in like an hour, it's more like a slug.

here's an article that might help you about stimulants and I-add... from what I know.. I-add has less research and info.. and stims don't always work the way they do for hyperactive/impulsive... you know what we don't have. (except that i decided to be hyper now.. usually i'm not)

*I really don't know about the quality of the evidence of this website* I just resorted to it after not finding much where the quality sights were conserned. I would look at this as a perspective, because on this website I have found facts that were conflicting to other facts I read. But.. I liked the article because all of the negative symptoms they describe from stimulants I experienced. So for me, that aspect of the article was true.
http://www.primarilyinattentiveadd.c...treatment.html

[Brob2]

Originally Posted by soulman

I'm hoping that someone who frequents these boards has enough knowledge to theorize WHY no stimulant stimulates me. I feel there must be some physiological factor standing in the way of them doing their job, and I'd like to know what that is.

I am afraid the answer to your question is not yet known. According to Ratey, somewhere around 10-15% of ADHD patients are unresponsive to current meds, and the reason for this is essentially unknown much as the exact process by which these drugs do work for others is not known.

My psych. Doc told me that in his experience, patients who had tried but were unaffected by smoking marijuana will not show a response to stimulants, so clearly the physiological effect is similar. I too am not treatable with meds for ADHD.

[kiosk]

pretty simple...stims wont work if you have some hormone disorder such as hypopituarism...(iehypothryroid, or hypoadrenal or both)....get a hormone blood work panel done to rule it out....good luck

[soulman]

I got checked for hypothyroidism and my TSH is low, so that's fine. So much for that possibility... :/