Adderall vs ritalin

[raen]

I have asked my doctor to switch to Adderall, just because I wanted to try it as something different. I find that the Adderall makes me so focused and organized. The ritalin does, but its more like extra coffee and I get jittery- I'm stuck doing 20 things at once. The Adderall does not make me jittery and I can super concentrate. I'm not doing so many things at once and I can prioritize what needs to be done. I have actually been able to concentrate and read. Reading has always been difficult for me because I cannot focus and I get ansy. Also, I'm able to speak more fluently and listen easier. Of course, the ritalin helped me tremendously with listening and speaking without getting stuck for words.
Today I organized the junk that I have neglected for months. The negative effects of the Adderall is dry mouth and lack of appetite, although I could use to lose a few pounds. I have to say, overall I am very pleased. Without the meds I'm a mess of course. I always have the lost look. Its very exciting to be able to do things that I have always had trouble with. Now I do them with ease

[bmacey]

This is all very new to me. I was just diagnoses 2 weeks ago. It is ironic that I was diagnosed with this. I had always said it wasn't even a real condition. After the doctors tested me and said I was in the top 10%. I guess on 1 of the test I scored 100 it went up to 115. I am not really sure what all this means. I wasn't really paying attention to him, he had already lost me at that point. Even with the diagnosis, I wasn't convinced. The Primary wanted to put me on Ritalin 10mg twice per day and my psychologist wanted me at 20mg 4 times per day. I tired the 10mg twice per day. The only thing I notices was a little dry mouth. I talked to the psychologist and he suggested I tried 15mg 3 times per day. I did try that and had some success. I didn't interrupt people when they were talking or at least tried not to. I also realized when I wasn't listening to people and sometime would be able to refocus on the conversation, but not always. There were a few other unique changes. I was grocery shopping and I noticed there was music in the background, I had never noticed it before. I was even able to listen to the music and shop at the same time. I didn't really see the results that I needed to see in order to take medication for the rest of my life. I talked to my psychologist. He suggested I move to 20mg 3 times per day. I did that, but didn't like how I felt. I actually felt medicated, ;like I had a few beers and had a slight buzz. I went back to 15mg. After about 10 days I started to feel nervous and jittery. I have always been fidgety, but now it is even bothering me. I use to be able to satisfy it by playing with a pen or the change in my pocket. Now my hands are moving and my legs are bouncing. I felt like I drank a couple gallons of coffee. I was also feeling depressed and wondering why I was even bothering. When I fist started with the meds I was extremely optimistic until the meds were wearing off. That is when I would get the negative thought,s but now it has become constant.

I went to my primary to get another prescription. I was about to run out, because I didn't go with his recommendation. I told him where I was at. The successes and the shortcomings. I was a little surprised when he decided to switch me to Aderall. I was surprised, because I had mentioned earlier that I didn't think the Ritalin was doing much and both doctors told me it was. They said I was just having a hard time reflecting. He wanted me to take 15mg twice per day.

The next morning I took Aderall 15mg in the morning. I had an appointment later with my psychologist. My psychologist specializes in ADHD and also has it. He was surprised with the change also. When I told him the dosage, he kind of rolled his eyes. He told me what I should be taking and how often. I didn't really notice and noticeable with the first dose other than a dry mouth. I was still fidgety. The psychologist noticed my legs and asked if I was drinking coffee (Like he told me not to). I told him I've been having 1 cup in the morning. He told me I can not do that! What's one more thing to give up? He told me at what intervals I should be taking the meds and at what does. He couldn't tell me to do it, but suggest it. At my lunch time dose I took 1 and 1/2 pills (22.5 mg). Again I still had dry mouth, but not noticing anything major. I am still day dreaming a lot, but I am day dreaming about all this ADHD stuff. It has been kind of consuming me since I found out about it. I also haven't had a lot I needed to concentrate on. When I got to my 3rd dose for the day 22.5mg, It was time fro dinner. I was cooking. I realized when I would take something and use it, when I was done with it I put it away. Usually when I cook or anything else. I will take something out use it, leave it there and then take something else out. I would end up with a huge mess. The next thing I noticed is I went in my bedroom to change out of my work clothes. I noticed my closet was a mess. I completely cleaned my closet. Then I noticed a mess on my dresser. I was trying not to look at it and just ignore it, my eyes kept going back there. I had to clean. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I had the same reaction with many other items. I was even putting the toilet seat back down. I always hated being a slob and never understood why I was. I kind of get it now, I would just ignore the mess I couldn't focus on it. That is why it didn't seem to bother me.I don't understand why the meds help me make the right decision and I couldn't do it before.

The biggest Breakthrough I had was. While I was cleaning, I noticed a stack of greeting card that had fallen behind my dresser. I pulled them out and arranged them. I decided to read them again. The were fathers day cards from my kids and wife. While I was reading them I realized the words were not just characters on paper, but they had meaning. I have never been able to put words together where I could feel what I was reading. I could never understand greeting cards. I never understood why people would make such a big deal out of them. I always just opened them read the words and pretended I cared. When I would watch other people read them. I just thought they were phony's. I read the cards, some were store bought and some were made by the kids. Now I am sitting on my bed with tears running down my face. I was so touched by the cards. I was also feeling guilty that my family put so much thought into these cards and it meant nothing to me at the time. I was also feeling guilty about when I gave my wife cards, I just bought a card to buy a card. My wife and I stopped exchanging cards years ago, because I said it was a waste of money. I called my wife in the room and told her what happened and I apologized to her for us not exchanging cards anymore. Once I started telling her, I started crying. I am 44 years old. I can count how many times I've cried on 1 hand. I really feel like I have short changed my family over the years. I feel guilty, but I went to bed excited about the next day and what was to come. I haven't felt like that since I was a kid on Christmas eve.

So I guess those were my experiences with the 2 medications. It doesn't mean Aderall is better than Ritalin. It means Aderall appears to be better to me than Ritalin. Now I am just going to work with my psychologist to get the dose dialed in.

[chsguy88]

I have been on about everything for my ADHD, they are all listed in my signature. I lost my insurance coverage for a few months so I just started back on medication, and to try and save some money I asked to be switched to generics. My doctor decided to put me on Ritalin, and a very low dose at that since I was nervous about starting back on stimulants since I tend to have bad anxiety.

Anyways, I was prescribed ritalin 5mg, 2x a day. Although this is an extremly low dose, I couldnt take the ritalin.... It made the back of my head hurt like hell and the pain was also in my neck. Also, in class EVERYONE noticed; they said I had very 'spacey' eyes, looked out of it, and that I was just not myself. And the medication wore out for me extremly fast, about 3 hours... The weird thing is, instead of making me more awake, it caused me to be tired and I would yawn constantly. It calmed me down a lot, which is good for my hyperactivity, but it almost made my focus a lot worse; it was as if i were walking around in a daze. Everyone was asking if I was okay, and someone even advised me to call my doctor to talk to him about my weird/abnormal behavior.

So I went to see my doctor today, 3 days after the classroom story from above, and I told him about it and he said the comedown on ritalin is one of the worst and headaches are commonly reported. I was wondering if the whole daze thing was just due to such a small dose or what, but he said since I got headaches and whatnot we would switch to something I knew worked. Anyways, I'm back on my AdderallXR 40mg in the am, and adderallIR 20mg in the afternoon, and its amazing! All the random noise in my head is now gone leaving only what I want to think about, I can focus, my hyperactivity is gone, i have motivation, and so on and so forth.

From someone who has been on
methylphenidate type drugs : ritalin, focalin, focalinXR and
amphetamine type drugs: Adderall, AdderallXR, vyvanse

I clearly do best on the adderallXR & adderallIR combo.... and props to shire, now the XR is generic!

And on the adderall, I can CHOOSE to focus, be quiet, stay in my seat, etc.... as far as my short time on ritalin did, i was CLEARLY a different person until that **** wore off... On the Adderall XR and IR; I'm myself still but have the choice to hyperfocus on a project, focus in class, stay quiet, not fidget, stay calm, etc.

Ill stop this post soon since im rambling, but I just want to try and make sure everyone understands my points since they are probally not typed in one continuous thought....

so in closing:
Ritalin made me calm, tired, in a fog, gave me spacey eyes, made me look like i was a drug addict with huge pupils, but didnt help my focus at all...... It changed who I was completely, and everyone noticed.

Adderall IR & XR leave me feeling like myself, less hyper, less impulsive.... but the difference is; in my opinion, adderall type drugs dont change who you personality wise, but let you control your brain to the point where you can block out distractions, be calm, and focus on what you need to do. Its the best med that's worked for me out of all of them, with ritalin being the worst in my expierence. Well strattera was the worst, mainly just bcause it didnt work at all for adhd... so i dont even count that.

Hope i made sense, and feel free to email me if u have any questions or whatnot. GOODLUCK


chsguy88@gmail.com

[andyum]

Originally Posted by chsguy88

so in closing:
Ritalin made me calm, tired, in a fog, gave me spacey eyes, made me look like i was a drug addict with huge pupils, but didnt help my focus at all...... It changed who I was completely, and everyone noticed.

Adderall IR & XR leave me feeling like myself, less hyper, less impulsive.... but the difference is; in my opinion, adderall type drugs dont change who you personality wise, but let you control your brain to the point where you can block out distractions, be calm, and focus on what you need to do. Its the best med that's worked for me out of all of them, with ritalin being the worst in my expierence. Well strattera was the worst, mainly just bcause it didnt work at all for adhd... so i dont even count that.

Hope i made sense, and feel free to email me if u have any questions or whatnot. GOODLUCK


chsguy88@gmail.com

My response to Adderall vs. Ritalin is almost exactly opposite as you. It was Adderall that I felt made me spacey and changed who I was (my wife noticed it). Ritalin makes me less hyper and, thus, able to focus more.

We do all, indeed, respond differently. Guess you never know until you try several meds to find the one right for you.