Alternatives to adderall

[sweden]

Hope this is the right forum. I am 38yo male. Living in Sweden. I was diagnosed with adhd 15 years ago. Then I started taking ritalin and while it helped a bit it also seemed to space me out and give me bad headaches. I stopped taking it after a couple of months. A few years later I decided to try another doc and he gave me adderall. This worked much better for me with very few sides. I was happy with it. Due to several reason including a move from US to Sweden I stopped treatment. Now with a new language a new challenging job and kids etc I have decided to start treatment again. The doc gave me concerta 18mg. I was like nodoc this stuff gives me bad sides and he said try it many who dont like ritalin like concerta. Well its only my first day back on meds but I already feel a bit spaced out and my head is pounding. Not horribly but it does hurt.
Doc tells me adderall is not available in this part of Sweden. I am unsure what other options I should research before my next visit. I my town if you need medical treatment you call the nurse. She takes down all info and tells you a date usually 3-4 days later to come see the doc. Then the doc talks to you and forwards your info to whatever specialins you need to see in another town usually. You go see the second doc in my case a psychiatrist. Then he evaluated me gave his diagnosis and made another appointment in my town for the local specialist which in fact there are none in my town. So in about a week he will contact me with a time and place to meet with my new primary doc for adhd. Anything I should be doing in the mean time?

[PedroDaGr8]

Stimulant ADHD meds usually fall in to two categories:

Amphetamines: Adderall, Dexedrine, Desoxyn, Vyvanse (See note below), etc.

Methylphenidates: Ritalin, Concerta, Focalin, etc.


There are only a few non-stimulant ADHD meds:
Straterra, Wellbutrin and I think one other.

Vyvanse is dextroamphetamine (the single stereoisomer) bound to L-tyrosine IIRC. This allows it to both be long lasting (it has to be metabolized to work) and anti-abuse (once again it has to be metabolized to work, so it can't be snorted). A lot of docs like this due to its low abuse potential.

[plindboe]

Hi neighbor.

I live in Denmark and I can imagine that the medicines available might be similar. We don't have Adderall here either, or most of the other amphetamines. The only amphetamine drug available in Denmark is Dexedrine (i.e. dextro-amphetamine). Since Adderall helped you, while the two methylphenidate drugs didn't help much, perhaps Dexedrine is worth a try.

I'm considering this drug myself. But I was warned on an ADHD forum that doctors immediately suspect that one asks for the drug to get high, so it can be a difficult task. I guess there's still alot of prejudice, even among the professionals. Seems we're still a bit behind here in Scandinavia regarding ADHD acceptance and treatment.

I suggest, while you wait for the next doctor appointment, that you research what medicines are avilable in Sweden. I'm sure there's some swedish ADHD organization where you can ask for help. So try to find their web page and see if they have a message board for starters.

Strattera, a non-stimulant, is also worth looking into. I believe it's helping me out, although the effect is rather undramatic. Luckily I can take both Strattera and methylphenidate at the same time without problem, so it's not like one has to give up stimulants if one wants to go on Strattera (of course your doctor might have another opinion).

Peter

[ginniebean]

I got terrible headaches and a similar reaction to concerta, I've found dexedrine much easier to take.

[sweden]

Hi. I wanted to take a few weeks to try concerta and see what my reaction was to it. Day one was fine and although it is the smallest dose at 18mg it kicked in rather hard but not bad and it was fine until about 3 hours later when it started with the headaches again. Now I have come to know that I dont get severe headaches everytime but almost every day I have a lingering headache and several days during the week they get quite severe. Not debilitating but extremely uncomfortable still.

I also seem to be experiencing more mood swings. Not sure if they are related to my discomfort or not though. I also have stomach issues every day usually solved by a couple trips to the toilet but sometimes the linger all day long.
Also the time release nature of concerta seems to not suit me well as just when the medecine seems to be almost good then the next boost comes and its just uncomfortable for me.

I seem to be more focused in general but far from laser sharp. Thoughts still wander and staying on task although better is still not near what I think it should be. I also feel what I would describe as very restless almost like butterflies are in my stomach and chest a lot.

So the new psychiatrist sent me the sheet with the 1-5 where 1 is not much and 5 is severe and theres approx 15 questions where you rate yourself from 1 to 5. I took this test at the last psych and the answers were a very honest 4s and 5s for virtually every answer. I have to fill this new sheet out as soon as my wife can help me translate it. I am not great with the technical translations.

I am very frustrated as my contract at work is over so I work only when they call me. I am still very bad at Swedish and having problems at school where I go once a week to study Swedish. We also have a 2 year old boy and a 1 week old baby girl so not working is not an option. But I must learn Swedish or at least be advancing in my studies or I will never find a job.

I am only providing backgroud here not trying to air all my problems in any way. So I really am frustrated at this point. I know what works for me but asking for it if its not available is useless. I dont care what they think about me at this point, I just need help now. I assume they will try me on every combo that they can and save the treatment I feel I need for last.

Well only time will tell. Can anyone help me locate a webpage for local information or regional info in Sweden for my options? I have googled myself to death and am coming up short. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[sweden]

After almost 5 months of concerta, ritalin, and modiodal(modanifil), I have finally been given a prescription of dextro amphetamine. I get the 5mg x 100 to start this month.
Let me just say that this is so much better with much less sides as any of the above products. I am beside myself as to why on earth the doc would ever hesitate to prescribe dex over any ritalin product. The modiodal on the other hand might be better for some but the ritalin and its relatives seems so much more like a drug than dex ever can.
No more headaches except for the occasional end of day so far. Granted its only my 3rd day on this new med but so far I am really liking it. The ritalin made me tired and on edge especially moody as well. It gave terrible headaches. Terrible stomach issues. And last but not least actually made me less focused. I mean it was like I couldnt concentrate on anything. Very foggy in my head.
One other thing I noticed is dex does not feel anything like a drug to me. I would be quite surprised if anyone actually took them for recreation. But taken for my adhd related issues it works great. I am slightly dissapointed that it seems to make me quite relaxed instead of making me motivated to gogogo. Also it seems to allow me to decide if I want to focus or if I want to chill and think about anything or nothing. Well my posts might not make sense but believe me when I tell you the difference so far is worth the 5 months it took me to go through every other med. If only this was a front line med and not a last resort one.

I started by taking 1 x 5mg at 8am and 1x 5mg at 12pm. This was good but I felt it wasnt perfect. Day 2 8am 12pm and 4pm 15 mg that day. I did start to notice after last dose I started to get a little anxiety. What can I do about this? I might have a little anxiety in the early afternoon as well but it is worse in late afternoon. While not horrible it is still something that I dont like.

[ADHDTigger]

The anxiety may subside after you are fully titrated up and have been on a regular dose for a couple of weeks. It may be a side or it could just be that you are anxious- maybe body monitoring too closely. It happens.

Titrate more slowly. If adding 5 mg daily to reach desired dosing is having a poor effect, try adding the 5 mg every two days or three days. You are not looking for a "gogogo" effect, more a quietly motivated sense; "I have this task to do, I will do it now".

[melohh]

Try Adderllin.
It is an herbal alternative to adderall. It contains ingredients like caffeine, guarana, vitamin b3 and b12, bitter orange, and yohimbe bark extract.

[m1trLG2]

I just switched from Adderall XR to Ritalin SR because of insurance and feel exactly like what you are saying. I could sleep 24 hours a day and feel like the world is so foggy. It doesn't help me focus at all. It just deadens my awareness completly. I can't focus on anything it's just like nothing is there. I feel totally drugged and just blah. I am starting to feel depressed too. I am usually a really up beat happy person and now I feel like sitting in a corner drooling and not doing anything. Does anyone know if Dextradine has an XR?

This Ritalin is not going to work out. Sadly I have a month of it left. :-(

Originally Posted by sweden

After almost 5 months of concerta, ritalin, and modiodal(modanifil), I have finally been given a prescription of dextro amphetamine. I get the 5mg x 100 to start this month.
Let me just say that this is so much better with much less sides as any of the above products. I am beside myself as to why on earth the doc would ever hesitate to prescribe dex over any ritalin product. The modiodal on the other hand might be better for some but the ritalin and its relatives seems so much more like a drug than dex ever can.
No more headaches except for the occasional end of day so far. Granted its only my 3rd day on this new med but so far I am really liking it. The ritalin made me tired and on edge especially moody as well. It gave terrible headaches. Terrible stomach issues. And last but not least actually made me less focused. I mean it was like I couldnt concentrate on anything. Very foggy in my head.
One other thing I noticed is dex does not feel anything like a drug to me. I would be quite surprised if anyone actually took them for recreation. But taken for my adhd related issues it works great. I am slightly dissapointed that it seems to make me quite relaxed instead of making me motivated to gogogo. Also it seems to allow me to decide if I want to focus or if I want to chill and think about anything or nothing. Well my posts might not make sense but believe me when I tell you the difference so far is worth the 5 months it took me to go through every other med. If only this was a front line med and not a last resort one.

I started by taking 1 x 5mg at 8am and 1x 5mg at 12pm. This was good but I felt it wasnt perfect. Day 2 8am 12pm and 4pm 15 mg that day. I did start to notice after last dose I started to get a little anxiety. What can I do about this? I might have a little anxiety in the early afternoon as well but it is worse in late afternoon. While not horrible it is still something that I dont like.