Memantine experience so far....

[Focus Pokus]

Originally Posted by DJ21_89

I have been at 20 MG for almost a week now and in addition have taken absolutely no Adderall in the last few days. I can't say I'm noticing much of anything with the memantine alone besides the initial brain fog...if anything I feel more lethargic and depressed but maybe this is just due to the absence of Adderall in recent days. ...
Thanks!

DJ21- don't fret, be patient-- even one full week is not enough time at the 20mg level to settle into the beneficial effect zone--- at least in my humble opinion.

Also, taking the occasional Adderall holiday is a good idea to reset your tolerance somewhat; good for you for having the discipline--- but if you abruptly ceased Adderall/ cold turkey, then yes it will temporarily give you lethargy and depressed feelings; in fact I would say from my personal experience that the 'peak' of adderall-holiday blah's occurs from days 2-4 following complete cessation. Such is the reason that when I take a few days or a week break from Adderall, I've found it much better to step down, meaning I will go for instance from my usual IR
~35mg daily adderall total down to 25mg daily for (2) days in a row, then just 15mg daily for a couple days, then one or two days of zero adderall -- this sequence has worked for me on resetting Adderall tolerance; even before memantine has been in the picture at all. I'll bet the same adderall-holiday protocol will work at least as effectively for me now with the memantine... just I haven't felt the need to do a periodic addy reset yet.

Carth-- just to clarify you're at (2) weeks TOTAL time on memantine ?
If so, then IMHO it's too early for serious assessment. I didn't suffer the weight room passive thing you mentioned, but again be patient-- I'll bet that it's probably part of lingering side effects or manifestation of titration / acclimation to the memantine. I think that once I reached 20mg, it took me at least two weeks to feel as if I'd escaped entirely the dull background headache + other side fx such as the lethargic 'nap attack' feeling once or twice a day where I wanted to find a quiet spot in the Costco parking lot & recline in my car for a 15 minute power nap . But it eventually settled in nicely, and the side fx like diminished physical energy / mellowness disappeared also .

Going back to my fireplace analogy for lack of a better illustration---------- let the early stages build a little longer ....... I would say for me at (2) consecutive weeks at 20mg daily == you've thrown the first beefy piece of firewood on the blaze, but only the underside 20% of the log is glowing hot.... even once you arrive at 20mg/daily---(take a month or more to get to 20mg, at least it worked best for me that way) THEN give it another two weeks (steady, consistent dosing intervals!) before you start to hit a strong, sustained stride.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Focus Pokus

DJ21- don't fret, be patient-- even one full week is not enough time at the 20mg level to settle into the beneficial effect zone--- at least in my humble opinion.

Also, taking the occasional Adderall holiday is a good idea to reset your tolerance somewhat; good for you for having the discipline--- but if you abruptly ceased Adderall/ cold turkey, then yes it will temporarily give you lethargy and depressed feelings; in fact I would say from my personal experience that the 'peak' of adderall-holiday blah's occurs from days 2-4 following complete cessation. Such is the reason that when I take a few days or a week break from Adderall, I've found it much better to step down, meaning I will go for instance from my usual IR
~35mg daily adderall total down to 25mg daily for (2) days in a row, then just 15mg daily for a couple days, then one or two days of zero adderall -- this sequence has worked for me on resetting Adderall tolerance; even before memantine has been in the picture at all. I'll bet the same adderall-holiday protocol will work at least as effectively for me now with the memantine... just I haven't felt the need to do a periodic addy reset yet.

Carth-- just to clarify you're at (2) weeks TOTAL time on memantine ?
If so, then IMHO it's too early for serious assessment. I didn't suffer the weight room passive thing you mentioned, but again be patient-- I'll bet that it's probably part of lingering side effects or manifestation of titration / acclimation to the memantine. I think that once I reached 20mg, it took me at least two weeks to feel as if I'd escaped entirely the dull background headache + other side fx such as the lethargic 'nap attack' feeling once or twice a day where I wanted to find a quiet spot in the Costco parking lot & recline in my car for a 15 minute power nap . But it eventually settled in nicely, and the side fx like diminished physical energy / mellowness disappeared also .

Going back to my fireplace analogy for lack of a better illustration---------- let the early stages build a little longer ....... I would say for me at (2) consecutive weeks at 20mg daily == you've thrown the first beefy piece of firewood on the blaze, but only the underside 20% of the log is glowing hot.... even once you arrive at 20mg/daily---(take a month or more to get to 20mg, at least it worked best for me that way) THEN give it another two weeks (steady, consistent dosing intervals!) before you start to hit a strong, sustained stride.

I'm almost 3 weeks into the 20mgs dosage*

[kiosk]

Memantine Improves Cognition and Reduces
Alzheimer’s-Like Neuropathology in Transgenic Mice

[surferdude123]

Originally Posted by Focus Pokus

DJ21- don't fret, be patient-- even one full week is not enough time at the 20mg level to settle into the beneficial effect zone--- at least in my humble opinion.

Also, taking the occasional Adderall holiday is a good idea to reset your tolerance somewhat; good for you for having the discipline--- but if you abruptly ceased Adderall/ cold turkey, then yes it will temporarily give you lethargy and depressed feelings; in fact I would say from my personal experience that the 'peak' of adderall-holiday blah's occurs from days 2-4 following complete cessation. Such is the reason that when I take a few days or a week break from Adderall, I've found it much better to step down, meaning I will go for instance from my usual IR
~35mg daily adderall total down to 25mg daily for (2) days in a row, then just 15mg daily for a couple days, then one or two days of zero adderall -- this sequence has worked for me on resetting Adderall tolerance; even before memantine has been in the picture at all. I'll bet the same adderall-holiday protocol will work at least as effectively for me now with the memantine... just I haven't felt the need to do a periodic addy reset yet.

Carth-- just to clarify you're at (2) weeks TOTAL time on memantine ?
If so, then IMHO it's too early for serious assessment. I didn't suffer the weight room passive thing you mentioned, but again be patient-- I'll bet that it's probably part of lingering side effects or manifestation of titration / acclimation to the memantine. I think that once I reached 20mg, it took me at least two weeks to feel as if I'd escaped entirely the dull background headache + other side fx such as the lethargic 'nap attack' feeling once or twice a day where I wanted to find a quiet spot in the Costco parking lot & recline in my car for a 15 minute power nap . But it eventually settled in nicely, and the side fx like diminished physical energy / mellowness disappeared also .

Going back to my fireplace analogy for lack of a better illustration---------- let the early stages build a little longer ....... I would say for me at (2) consecutive weeks at 20mg daily == you've thrown the first beefy piece of firewood on the blaze, but only the underside 20% of the log is glowing hot.... even once you arrive at 20mg/daily---(take a month or more to get to 20mg, at least it worked best for me that way) THEN give it another two weeks (steady, consistent dosing intervals!) before you start to hit a strong, sustained stride.

Right on the money

Thanks for your wise words Focus !

[Rise Against]

So I'm finally getting the chance to try out Namenda! I got the starter pack and took my first 5mg today. Didn't notice much except that I was unusually lethargic, although that could've been from stopping my 60mg daily Adderall cold turkey. I'll be titrating up 5mg per week until I reach 20mg/day on week 4. I was wondering if I should discontinue the Adderall for the whole 4 weeks or if I could resume at a certain point, like week 2?

I hope memantine benefits me as much as it has everyone else!

[surferdude123]

take a 1-2 week break, then resume Adderall at 10mg dose and titrate up from there.

[aarondev]

Hi all,

Two Questions:

Tried seeing an NP today to ask about Namenda and she said there's been too small evidence for going on it in addition to the Adderall I'm taking. Is there a place you've found the medical evidence and perhaps brought it to your Dr to convince them? Or maybe a way you present your case for starting it?

Two

Am on Strattera and Adderall XR. If I were to start Memantine soon, would I need to stop BOTH? I've seen recommended (in post before mine) that you should stop the Adderall when starting the Memantine. Maybe I'm wrong but I thought that the early posts of this thread didn't mention this? How important is it to do this - would the Memantine still work if I didn't?

Thanks!

[Zos27]

Update.

Day 15: still on 10mg, but no pronounced effects from the memantine. I have 17 10mg pills left, so I just plan to finish them up 10mg at a time. I think I will be getting a script for wellbutrin next to see if I get any results from that. If I start noticing anything from the memantine Ill post another update!

[anonymouslyadd]

Very proud of your plunge into medical school!

[Jester]

Originally Posted by surferdude123

Recently, my Psychiatrist reluctantly prescribed me Namenda after I showed him the evidence of current clinical trials for Namenda in Adult ADHD.
5mg x 1 week
10mg x 1 week
now 20mg after 6 days from starting the 10mg.
What I've noticed.
Side Effects. Almost None.
1) mild brain "fog" initially, which went away on day 2.
2) mild increased urination, probably augmented by all the water I drink
Benefits so far.....

1) complete mental clarity. I am not talking about your very first time on Adderall clear, but absolute look at the green leaves and see green clear. It's great, unlike anything I've felt before.
2) Mood stabilizer. Feel calm, stable. Last night I worked an ER PM shift from 3pm - midnight, and I was just crisp and cut the entire time, treating patients, and was on the ball.
3) Improved Memory, more specifically working memory. Lumosity has this "tiles game" for the iPhone, and before starting Namenda, I could only make it to 10 tiles and that was struggling, but now I frequently make it to 11/12 tiles no problem. My recall and problem solving has also improved I feel.
4) Adderall tolerance. Recently just got over a viral infection, so while I'm sick I only take my SSRI, and no adderall, so I was on a 3 day "holiday" from Adderall, but since I've started Namenda, everyday I take Adderall is like the first day I took it, indicating the Namenda IS in fact superior to Magnesium for preventing tolerance - At least for me, and what I'm doing.

So current medication regimen is.
10mg Lexapro every morning.
20mg Namenda every morning
25mg Adderall XR every morning
5mg Dexedrine PRN (as necessary)

Multivitamins / Supplements include (all in the morning)
75mg CoQ 10
Vitamin B100 complex
1000mg Grape Seed Extract
400IU Vitamin E
1000IU Vitamin D
Omega Fish Oil Supplement

Your psychiatrist was reluctant for a good reason. Adderal is well known, well tested and safe. Memantine combined with Adderall is not. If you still have to take Adderall, the memantine obviously doesn't cut it. The combination of the 2 has unknown effects on your brain. All I know is that one potentiates the other so drug addicts often combine the 2.

Chemist advice, I wouldn't use them together. Discontinuing the medicine after years of use can completely wipe out your memory and could even plunge you into early alzeimer for what I know.

Your attitude is also very bizzare. You seem to be overly enthusiastic about taking 4 different drugs in the same day. I would personally be profoundly worried. The fact that you are a doctor probably affects your perception of drugs but as a drug maker I advise you against this kind of attitude because it can get you killed.

[ADHDTigger]

Umm Jester... have you read the entire thread?

Namenda has had good effect for many who take it. SurferDude has been on it for quite some time without negative effect.

Even though Adderall has a long history that is generally positive, many people- myself included- don't do well on it. The bottom line is that everyone is different.

[Carth]

I stopped this drug about 9 days ago. And I'm feeling much better. I'm feeling like a man once again. This drug clearly was not for me. Now I'm left with TONS of this stuff laying around.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by ADHDTigger

Umm Jester... have you read the entire thread?

Namenda has had good effect for many who take it. SurferDude has been on it for quite some time without negative effect.

Even though Adderall has a long history that is generally positive, many people- myself included- don't do well on it. The bottom line is that everyone is different.

I might be wrong who knows. I mean, I didn't do any research in my lab to prove anything. If you have reasons to believe that combining Adderall with memantine is safe, then do it. Your experimentation can be very useful to us.

[surferdude123]

Jester,

you're welcome to your opinion, I am not FORCING anyone to take memantine, this post started from my experience on it. If people are looking for alternative therapies other than mixing around with other potions etc, then memantine is an option.


*update as of Dec 21st 2010*

I am still taking it, without (Adderall) and getting tremendous benefit at 15mg once daily in the morning. I have tried twice daily, and that works well too to smoothen out the duration of effect. Will be formally titrating up to 20mg after christmas, and keep everyone posted.

**when I take Adderall or Dex along side my dose in the late morning or early afternoon, my memory, mental clarity and overall calmness just amazes me. I feel very fortunate to have found the courage to start on it.

Whether people on here, find it useful or not, it's like Strattera, some love it, some (like Carth) have found it's not for them, and that's fine, but given it's been around since the 1960s and has a proven safety profile, I am comfortable to remain on it, so long as it's doing what it's been doing since my first post in this thread.

[Carth]

No one ever said you were forcing anyone to take it brother. We are all just amazed on how well it worked for you. And for that, I wanted to try it out.

Never once did anyone say..."You made me do it! Damn you!!!" LOL