Depression and Concerta question

[steve02084]

Hello, my name is Steve. I am a 20 year old college student and I just recently started taking Concerta. My doctor is pretty much a quack, because when I told him I thought I had ADD about 3 months ago, he pretty much handed me a perscription for Adderall without doing any tests or referring me to a nuerologist. However now I am 100% sure I have ADD after taking the meds. I started taking that and it worked great. I was able to get all my work done and it helped tremendously. After awhile I started getting worried about some of the side effects, and told him I wanted to try something else. I switched to Concerta 54 mg and now I just feel tired alot. I have never really been that happy all the time, and have had depressive episodes. Lately I have been thinking alot about certain things and I often feel depressed. I even felt this way on the Adderall. I'm wondering now if I should tell the doctor, who is kind of shady, if I should start taking anti-depressants. I have started to take SAM-e which is a supplement which is suppose to improve moods. I only started taking it, so I don't know if it's helping yet. The other thing is that I'm under my parents health insurance and I would have to let them know that I am taking these AD's. I have never really been that close with my parents and could never talk to them about stuff like that. Depression has never been in our family, so I don't know how they would react. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

[Chadwick]

I'd be careful before saying such things about your doctor. He may have insight that you don't realize he has. I think it's pretty safe at least in the short and medium term to prescribe amphetamine and methylphenidate medication, it's very unlikely to be harmful in that scope, so even a quick decision to try it is not necessarily ill-advised. Which side effects were you worried about?

Recalling my experience, methylphenidate, the active chemical in Concerta, did nothing for my low-grade depression and anxiety, whereas Adderall (amphetamine) did help a bit.

Before you resort to more exotic supplements like SAMe and so on, be sure your foundation is in line, i.e. a very healthy diet with high amounts of vitamins, minerals (especially magnesium citrate), and healthy omega 3 fats (particularly EPA & DHA, I don't recommend ALA (which comes from flax seed oil)). Don't forget several fruit a day, lots of vegetables, etc. After I changed my diet, my crying spells, extreme social anxiety, and generalized depression improved markedly. But unfortunately, my ADHD only improved very slightly, which is why now I take dextroamphetamine with good effect.

[Misery]

Well, if you feel the doctor is a screwball, then I'd try to go to someone else. Getting testing wouldn't hurt either. Problem is, it's not uncommon for people to have depression and/or anxiety with ADD. The issue is whether they're caused by the ADD or simply two seperate issues. A lot of people with ADD also take an antidepressant, so of course this might just be the right thing for you. Unfortunately, you may just have dysthymic disorder or something else and not have ADD at all. ADs take a while to exert their therapeutic affects, so you'd need to try them perhaps without any stimulants to see how it goes.

I'd recommend seeing someone who actually tests for psychological/psychiatric disorders though, and go from there. Only a good diagnostician can determine what you might have going on.

[Scattered]

I agree with Misery. You need to feel you can trust your doctor. You need to be careful about taking supplements with your medication without letting your doctor know. Some of them can interact in dangerous ways with your medication or lower its effectiveness.

Good Luck!
Scattered

[nzkiwi]

boy, I wish people would be short and to the point. It makes it hard to read these posts when they are so long. Perhaps it is just my a.d.d. talking. LOL.