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Well, awesome. I have a new boss - and right out of the gate I got the 'you're too disorganized, and you need to work on shifting gears to different tasks faster.' talk - like NEARLY EVERY OTHER TIME I'VE BEEN AT A JOB IN MY ENTIRE WORKING ADULT LIFE. Annoying. However, unlike those other times, I responded by putting a call into my employee/employer rep to discuss why I am this way, and no, really - I'm trying to work to the best of my abilities here. I also put a call into my doc, because apparently the only way I'm going to become a productive, working member of  society is being constantly cracked out on speed. And apparently my current dose of Adderall isn't enough. So, that's my situation, and also a question. Since ADHD is apparently a problem no matter what the hell I do, when do I tell employers this? My last employer was one of the few where I didn't have this criticism - and that's because she had things documented and organized within an inch of her life, which left mo mysteries or surprises on my job. Current boss? It's very 'seat of the pants'. And I don't do well in that, despite my best efforts. So, I'm at a loss here.  (Oh, update: Had a good talk with my rep, and he knows my difficulties with stuff like this. I also got it clarified that this was a 'hey - just a heads up that we've noticed this, see what you can do about it' and not a 'if you mess up again, you're fired'. He also agreed that next time around? I get placed at a contract where the work is more organized and delineated. So overall, I'm satisfied with how that discussion went. And I do have an appt. in a couple of weeks to tweak the drug stuff.) Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 03:19 on May 6, 2010 |
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May 6, 2010 00:23
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extraneousXTs posted:In the future, after you get leveled out and in a routine: See what your doctors and the school registrar can do about dropping or remedying those class grades from that semester. Write a letter to the school's president if you need to and explain that there were extenuating medical circumstances, what they were and what you've accomplished since then and your fears about grad school. At least make the effort so you can say you've tried if you really honestly do want to go to grad school. I know this was a month ago and we've moved on to like 10 other topics by now, (  ) but I just want to comment and perhaps provide a little bit of encouragement. I agree with XTs here. I am a late-diagnosed (at age 27) ADHDer (have posted in this thread previously). I graduated from high school in 1999, had no real idea what I wanted to do afterwards and spent a long time screwing around in college, transferred universities and got a degree that I didn't really care about with a very mediocre GPA (around 3.0 cumulative). Then I decided I wanted to go to vet school (high standards for admission) and afterwards my grades got better but still not good. Finally after my diagnosis, I got my poo poo together but let me tell you, after 2 bachelors degrees and like 200 credits, that cumulative GPA just isn't going to budge. I've been medicated for about a year and a half, and have done quite well in a thesis based MS (that I sort of lucked into...your stats don't need to be AWESOME for an MS/MA, and there are ways to fund yourself if you're very determined). Anyway, I applied to vet school for the second time this past year, and I wrote a good statement explaining (but not making excuses for) my past performance and talking about how I've changed the way I approach things and understand how to study effectively and stuff, with concrete examples and a 3.91 graduate GPA to back it up. I was accepted to my first choice with a GPA far below the class average (though other aspects of my application were well above). I guess the point of that ramble is that if you really really do want to go to grad school and are willing to put a lot of work in, you can still do it. Sekhmet fucked around with this message at 02:18 on May 6, 2010 |
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May 6, 2010 02:16
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Hey thread! I've been diagnosed with ADHD and have been prescribed multiple medications from 4th to 9th grade. I stopped and haven't had anything since. Is this bad? Is this why I'm unemployed? I hated how the pills made me act. 
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May 9, 2010 04:33
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maXilla posted:Hey thread! I've been diagnosed with ADHD and have been prescribed multiple medications from 4th to 9th grade. I stopped and haven't had anything since. Is this bad? Is this why I'm unemployed? I hated how the pills made me act. Lots of people are able to discontinue medication when they get older
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May 9, 2010 17:31
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Sekhmet posted:I know this was a month ago and we've moved on to like 10 other topics by now, ( Thanks for the encouragement! I am trying to get the grades from the semester I dropped out excused for medical reasons since I was on anti-depressants that fixed my anxiety, but not my ADHD. It was a disastrous part of my life, not just in school and I'm hoping they will take that into account. I know that significantly raising my GPA will not be possible in the short time I have left in undergrad, but I am hoping that the good grades I've gotten in the past 2 years while not medicated plus the Awesome work I am doing now that I am correctly medicated will be enough evidence that I can compete on a graduate level. I also met with my favorite professor and he basically said he would help me with anything I needed, even when I'm not in his class. I think I'm going to take a year and spend it working in the Caribbean (my area of study), learning Spanish, French and whatever Creole languages I can before going to grad school. So, yeah, I am banking on: working crazy hard + explanation of past behavior = grad school, but we'll see what happens...
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May 9, 2010 21:13
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taylor posted:Lots of people are able to discontinue medication when they get older Those people are lucky. 
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May 10, 2010 08:37
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I'm a 21 year old male, and I think I may have some form of ADD. As a kid, I had a lot of problems with depression that were mostly because of a bit of a lovely home situation, but I stopped taking my anti-depressants around when I was twelve or so. They made me feel like I had no emotions. I eventually got over the depression, but I have depressive episodes every so often when life is stressful or particularly crappy for whatever reason. I've always been a bit of a weird kid. I've had a tendency to just start talking about absolutely nothing, or to burst out at random times. In elementary school, I would "go to the bathroom" at least once or twice per day, and I'd always just use that time to wander around the halls a bit before I went back to class. I hated sitting still for long periods of time in my classes. I never did my homework, but I was able to perform well on tests and demonstrate to my teachers that I understood the material. In High School, I continued not doing homework and performing well in quizzes. I was the kid who would raise his hand and try to bring the class off-course to talk about something else, no matter the subject. My first two years, I mostly hosed around, but my last two years, I decided to try hard, but even when I tried, I could never manage to do my homework and projects were a nightmare. I continued to take multiple "bathroom breaks" to wander around, I couldn't listen in lecture for more than a little bit of time, and any sound in a classroom would always distract me. If someone was talking across a room, I'd hear their conversation over the teacher. If someone next to me was texting on their phone, I'd hear the annoying tap of their fingers, and then suddenly I'd be thinking about something completely unrelated to class. In social situations, I've always been kind of a tweaker, I guess you could say. I sometimes say completely stupid statements that make no sense, I get offended easily over dumb things, and I get agitated if I have to be in one place waiting for a long time. I can't stand watching television or movies with friends, since that usually entails sitting still for long periods of time. I always need to be doing something, and that something can't ever be relaxing. I've always had a problem relaxing, or staying in one place for an extended period of time. The only time I've ever been able to sit still and be dedicated was my brief stint as a stupid raiding WoW nerd, and even then, I would always quit a little bit into developing my character because I can't do long-term projects. When developing a project for school or work, I suck at starting it. I always get caught up in the details. For example, today I needed to make a presentation for a class that was due at midnight. It was an easy presentation, nothing to worry about - just basically pasting a lot of information into a powerpoint. I opened Powerpoint, and I couldn't figure out how to start. I decided to clarify the assignment, so I went online and checked the assignment, and then I popped back to powerpoint, and I just sort of stared. I couldn't think of where to begin. I did eventually end up finishing the project, but it took all day, and it took me an hour to make one concluding slide with name and groups information on it because I kept putting it off... And I still haven't done a bibliography for another one of my classes that was due a week ago. It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that I have no idea where to start it. I've used Adderall before, without a prescription, and I've had the same effects as every other college student has. I've also noticed, though, that I don't fidget endlessly in class, when I go to lecture I don't lose focus because of the odd noise, nor do I zone out and think about unrelated material, and I don't feel especially "cracked out" like my peers describe. My thoughts are a lot clearer, and I don't feel like I have to be doing something all the drat time. Half of me thinks I'm dumb, but recently I've been considering the possibility of perhaps being an undiagnosed ADD case. I've decided that I'm going to see my University Doctor about this, since I figure they'd have experience diagnosing cases of ADD.
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May 10, 2010 09:38
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Edit: Misread
hello internet fucked around with this message at 18:31 on May 11, 2010 |
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May 11, 2010 17:31
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quote:
Pretty sure he was describing the effects he has when taking adderall.
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May 11, 2010 18:25
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JERFit posted:Pretty sure he was describing the effects he has when taking adderall. Yes I have ADD you see
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May 11, 2010 18:31
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Danger Mahoney posted:Vyvanse vs. Adderall vs. Concerta vs. Focalin vs. Ritalin vs. Straterra vs. Wellbutrin. I was diagnosed at 7 years old. I've tried all kinds of stuff, but Straterra has been fantastic for me. Ritalin was too much of a stimulant and hosed up my appetite and my sleep patterns. Straterra makes me focused and makes me feel relaxed. When I don't take my meds I'm very anxious, and sometimes fall into disorganized hypomanic states, staying up until 3am writing down ideas and thoughts. Ironically that's where my best ideas come from  .I also can't pay attention for poo poo without medication, so much so that I end up not doing anything for hours, switching from task to task for no particular reason. Yeah, it's kind of frustrating.
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May 11, 2010 18:55
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Ha. An ADD thread. Got diagnosed in second grade. That would be... graduated 2003...so like 92 or 93? It happened because I was absolutely terrible in kindergarten and first grade. Is there a way to say I'm intelligent without being an rear end? I was a bright kid, and with what we found out was a pretty severe case of ADD, I was bored. It got me kicked out of the Houston ISD's version of the gifted kids program in first grade. Half the time I flat out refused to cooperate with the teachers because I knew I could. In kindergarten I could read pretty well, and I'd sit there stonily ignoring everyone when they'd go through those "The...dog...ran...down...the.street...run...dog...run!" books because it bored me. Also, in kindergarten once my teacher decided to drag me to the principles office. Her nails dug into my arm enough that I felt justified in punching her. Pretty sure that contributed to the kicking out, but they let me go into first and it was worse. I was the only kid in class who got the dreaded "U" in conduct. I think the rest of the kids actually behaved better so that they couldn't be associated with or compared to me. Second grade, I got a battery of psychological and other tests and admitted to a Catholic school. Joys. They started feeding me Ritalin that year, nurse brought me my pills during recess, and I basically turned into something of a Robotic Eunuch. Complete flatline through the next four years, I've actually heard more than one person say that they never saw me crack a smile while I was on the stuff. Public school for sixth grade. They let me back into that gifted program and I told my parents I wanted off ritalin. I ended up one of fifty white kids in an otherwise ethnic school, that was a pretty bad year. I hadn't hit my growth spurts yet, I was severely outnumbered, and I didn't know anyone. Learning to cope without the pills and learning to defend myself while keeping perfect grades took alot out of me. Something had to give, and in the end I put on about sixty pounds in the space of a year. Depression eating and such. Spent the next two years feeling fat and getting rid of it however I could, grades stayed perfect at the new school I'd transferred to. I coasted on schoolwork. I could never motivate myself to do more than the minimum effort required to finish something. But my minimum effort got me A's, so my parents assumed all was well. High school went pretty well, all things considered. I played football, I got laid, I made more A's, only football required any significant effort on my part. The trends of procrastination grew as it almost became a game to see how late I could do things and still pull off an A. Getting excused from one class to go to the library to do a project in 15 minutes for another class later that day became a common event. Teachers didn't really ask questions, they just let me do whatever I wanted so long as I wasn't loving poo poo up. I established many such patterns which I'm still fighting tooth and nail to make a positive dent in to this day. College was a clusterfuck to start and still kind of is. My parents have both told me in different ways that they're dead inside because of what I put them through. They started working on selling the house I mostly grew up in as soon as I moved out because of "all the bad memories". I got married something like a year back and am still trying to reconcile the confused mess of disorganization that I am with the concept of "Husband and someday father". I am not an adult in any real sense yet. Getting there, but at 25 I'd say I'm pretty far behind. I could get a proscription for adderol or something similar in a heartbeat with ten minutes of life descriptions and my medical history, but I don't have insurance and probably still would not get one if I did. I've been told that something is wrong with me by most of the people I've ever had to consider as role models, and honestly there's some part of myself that just can't take admitting that the problem is severe enough that I need pills to deal with it.
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May 11, 2010 19:27
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Questions! I was directed here from this thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2986167 Basically I had a seizure, found a brain tumor, removed it, did the radiation & chemo and now they are finally starting to work on my focus and staying awake. Because of seizures, we're having to take this real slow. I started on 10mg adderall twice daily. The first couple days it was awesome, then went to not soo much. Part of the problem was that I could not remember to take the 2nd dose. Now I'm 15mg adderall XL (of course, all this is generic). I really cannot tell a difference since I started taking the XL version. My therapist did note that my word finding ability and speech had noticeable deteriorated today. The current thought is to move up to 20mg XL a day but with it pointed out that my word & speech issues are worse I believe we need to try something else. Has anyone had any issues with word/speech with any of the drugs? Have you noticed it makes a difference how/when you take them? I have been taking all my pills at one time in the morning, would splitting the adderall out and taking early/after help? Just looking for any tips you have.
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May 13, 2010 04:33
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On Monday I got officially diagnosed with ADD. I had been talking with a school psychologist and we had decided ADD was the likely problem since the middle of March. No psychiatrists were available for an appointment until this Monday though, and I swear going a month and a half being convinced I have this problem but not being able to do anything significant to help it was horrible. The payoff is that I did get prescribed 10mg Adderall XR, and today(2nd day taking it) was amazing. It really wasn't as noticeable as I expected, meaning that I basically felt like myself. I was kind of expecting an "in your face" feeling that forced me to study/be productive. What I got was probably better though, it basically felt like a constant level of energy that I was able to use however I wanted. Normally sitting down and studying for several hours is nearly impossible no matter how important I know it is. Today I just decided that I needed to study(which I did, badly) and instead of deciding it was too much work and doing jack poo poo, I got up went to the library and studied for a good 4 or 5 hours with only a couple reasonable breaks. If I could repeat today every day I would be unbelievably happy. My only concern is that reading other people's experiences, a decent number of people seem to have the effects kind of dull out after taking medicine for a while. Should I be worried about this happening and if so what type of strategies are most helpful in avoiding this?(ie skipping days where I know I don't need to be as productive)
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May 13, 2010 05:58
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My ADHD was diagnosed in 1st grade. I was always a little hellion in and out of school. Progressively as I hit puberty it got a little worse, but then it calmed down around age 14-15. Referring to the anger/temper/lash out hellion mode I was always in. From 15+ on to present day I've had and still have a lot of OCD like tendencies, my attention span is so short that even the slightest thought of something off-topic can distract me enough to miss whole paragraphs of words in conversations (well this is a slight exaggeration..I pick up on enough words to say a confident "yeah" after someone finishes talking..). I always have a lot of energy and am constantly moving..even when sitting/laying..even if I'm physically exhausted. The list goes on, and I've learned to live with it. Mostly due to always being terrible at remembering to take my medication..which I think might also be related to a slight short-term memory loss I get..which is why I'm about to respond to a quote previously stated in this thread: ImTheWiener posted:It's so weird to me to finally realize how different my thought process is from other students. Other kids don't get exhausted from paying attention during lecture? Some people could sit down and work on something boring for more than three hours? Other students don't have to sit down and make deliberate plans on how to keep their house clean, or else it doesn't get done? Some people who don't get their work done actually never intended to get it done? So weird! This hit right at home with me..especially the planning habits for everyday things like cleaning, etc. Whether it's from a short attention span or from a slight lapse in short-term memory..I have issues like these all the time, lol. Have any of you 20+ people w/ ADHD/ADD that take medication noticed a big enough difference in the aforementioned symptoms to merit taking the medication? I haven't been on meds since I was in 8th grade or so, and I'm now 23 (in June). I've learned to manage my life around it, but there is so much I think I could amount to w/ the help and I'm wondering if the medication is a drastic enough improvement nowadays. (For reference I last took medication at around the time Stratera(sp?) was first making it's debut.)
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May 13, 2010 06:48
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Obscurity posted:Have any of you 20+ people w/ ADHD/ADD that take medication noticed a big enough difference in the aforementioned symptoms to merit taking the medication? I haven't been on meds since I was in 8th grade or so, and I'm now 23 (in June). If you have disrupting symptoms and you can see the house of cards, that you've built through managing/working around ADHD, having the potential to really leave you hosed if it gets hit from the wrong angle then find a good doctor who will run you through medications until you find the right fit. I can't just say: "Ho hum nothing to do for classes today, no need to take my speed.", or it's back to living in a disorganized timewarp where nothing gets done and at the end of the day I am exhausted but cannot sleep from the tugging urge to do something, who knows what. (I'm on instant release Adderall, 10mg/3x daily, remember doses thanks to alarms  )Medication is the difference between having my poo poo together and not having it together in all parts of life (personal/professional/academic). That's one of the things which makes ADHD what it is. Pervasive disruption across multiple domains, not just situational poor stress/time management at work or school. [e/n]Just juggling things won't get you by in the long run unless you live a blessed life. The past 6-months have been incredibly stressful (family meltdown) and I can't imagine surviving them if I was not medicated, no matter how well I thought I was doing on managing life through the little coping habits and rituals adopted to imitate a functional life, there would have been no way those strategies could have compensated. During a crisis rituals and cobbled together coping techniques are butterfly nets compared to a safety net provided by addressing the problems with your brain chemistry.[e/n] ymmv~
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May 13, 2010 07:47
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Nannypea posted:Questions! I was directed here from this thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2986167 Glad you found us!  You know, it's interesting you mentioned the word retrieval issues. Turns out that I get that when stressed. However, I don't have any issues with seizures or brain tumors, just ADHD, auditory processing disorders, possible learning disabilities involving math (and I'm in Software Engineering, so I'm around math all the time  ), and depression. For a decade, I've been on Wellbutrin SR or XL. It controlled my depression sortof, and my ADHD sort of. Then my insurance started being butts about the entire 'taking the name brand' thing (as the generic didn't work), so my doc and I took me off of it. Then, I started Adderall XL (5 mg) late last year. It's been revolutionary in that it controls both my ADHD and depression better. However, I've been noticing that, when stressed, my word retrieval is just poo poo. Yesterday was a particularly horrendous day at work (thanks, boss!), and when I went to get my lunch at the Indian deli, I was reduced to describing what I wanted by shape and color, despite the names of the items being right there - so I had 'liquid' (soup), 'flat things that look like plates' (papadum) and 'triangles! triangles!' (samosas) for lunch. Ordering was helped by frantic pointing as I tried to order before my brain completely shut down. I've always chalked it up to the ADHD 'breaking through'. I had no idea that the meds could make that worse. Welp, either way, I see the doc next Tuesday to get the meds adjusted. I may get more. I don't get the sensation that the drug at my current dose is wearing off; I think that it may have not been enough to begin with. (I also lightened my load a bit; working full time + taking a night class really hasn't been agreeing with me, and has been leaving me extremely stressed. So I put off the schooling until summer, if I choose to continue with it. At least I got a full refund on the tuition. This may also help my ADHD issues.) Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 08:02 on May 13, 2010 |
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May 13, 2010 07:55
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Qu Appelle posted:good informative stuff NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!  I just wrote this really long informative reply and lost it!  I'm already late for showering/getting ready for my Doctor's appointment so it will have to wait until later. Basically it said never mind brain tumor/seizures because I had major ADHD prior to find all that out. I've been trying to figure out when it started but have no clue. And that I went from one end to the other on the ADHD scale, before surgery I did everything all the time now I do nothing. So I will leave you with this: http://tanga.com/deals/current/tshirt  Click here for the full 552x700 image. Nannypea fucked around with this message at 14:52 on May 13, 2010 |
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May 13, 2010 14:50
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I think I need those shirts. Like, yesterday. And glad that the info helped!
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May 13, 2010 16:17
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Ugh, helloooo thread. Was diagnosed with ADD a long rear end time ago and was put on Ritalin (after seeing like 7 doctors, just to make sure that was the right thing to do) during elementary school, which helped BIG TIME. Got off of it after a while and only really had problems when it was time to read stuff for school. Reading on my own time is no problem at all, quite enjoyable actually. I thought all was going to be well until... I decided to go back to school. I really enjoy the fact that I make things work without medication (and have always tried to minimize the amount of medication I take in general), but the idea of jumping back on the remedial math and science wagon without "help" seems like it's going to be hell. Math was pretty much the only thing outside of assigned reading that brought the ADD out big time during high school. Before, in my younger years, I would zone out all the drat time. I already have a good idea of what to expect, since my first BA was full of nothing but procrastination and last-minute half rear end work. To make it even worse, I wasn't even dealing with math/science back then! I'm not sure why I have such a huge stigma against medication in general, but I guess I just see everyone popping pills for every little thing (Adderall aided studying included) these days and that puts me off a bit. I've been studying low level math on my own (LOL Algebra I) and I can already see the concentration die out as soon as I hit a hurdle that can't be solved in a few minutes. I guess this all boils down to me facing the reality of maybe actually needing pills for the first time in a long time. I thought I was over this. Good times :/ moflika fucked around with this message at 07:21 on May 14, 2010 |
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May 14, 2010 07:19
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Ugh, finally diagnosed with ADD about 4 months ago (I'm 34). The specialist said that it was very severe and must be crippling. He was right. I've been on 60 mg of adderall daily since then (I know that's a lot), and holy poo poo I have a completely new lease on life. my job performance has skyrocketed. I can read and comprehend. I can easily do simple stuff like clean up. I don't eat when I'm not hungry. I have excellent impulse control. I can carry on a conversation for more than 3 seconds and listen to what the other person is saying and process it. Somehow I managed to graduate near the top of my class from a very good college, get a Ph.D., and get tenure without this poo poo being diagnosed. My reaction to this rebirth is sort of mixed; obviously I'm filled with hope for the future, but god drat I'm pissed about all the things that have been SO MOTHER loving HARD for decades but didn't have to be. All the fights, poor grades (mostly in humanities), failed relationships, avoiding work at my job, gambling (good thing I'm good at it!), overeating, messiness, flakiness, and irresistible attraction to risk with no thought to consequences just didn't have to be. I now have *none* of those qualities. THANK YOU DRUGS AND DOCTOR WHO FINALLY loving FIGURED THIS poo poo OUT AFTER YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS OF PEOPLE GETTING IT WRONG.
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May 14, 2010 19:43
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Humper posted:THANK YOU DRUGS AND DOCTOR WHO FINALLY loving FIGURED THIS poo poo OUT AFTER YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS OF PEOPLE GETTING IT WRONG. Isn't it a relief? I'm on a much smaller dose, but I'm being bumped up to 10 MG Adderall XR a day now. As the ADHD isn't being fully controlled on the 5 MG. Here's hoping for good things. Also? My doctor likes that, when I can't describe something in words, I can describe it in pictures. Particularly watercolor. As an art freak, he just loves this. If I ever become a famous artist, he'll have a private collection! This is what happens when I try to do math (or anything logical, really), and/or when I get overwhelmed:  (I did a rush job on the painting, I wanted to get it done before my doctor's appt so I could show him. But, I still think it gets the point across. Which is that the pretty pastoral scene gets all blurry and 'staticky', and when the brain just grinds to a halt, the red seeps in. The top line going down is cognitive ability, and the bottom line going up is frustration.) Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 07:54 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 07:36
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I've begun taking 10mg Adderall XR daily and it's definitely helped me a lot so far, over the month I've taken it. For once, I feel I'm able to reach my full potential and the barriers I need to cross to do things are so greatly reduced. I've also found conversations much more pleasant now that I can actually pay attention to what people are saying without getting bored. But I worry that it's started to deaden my emotions. I've never been very emotional in the first place but now I'm starting to feel even more quieted when it comes to strong emotions. It's nice to not feel terrible and stabbed with self-doubt so often, but it's not so nice to do things that should be entertaining and deriving an impression of it equivalent to an academic pursuit. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the Adderall, but I can see I wouldn't be alone if it was. So I'm kind of frightened - it's made such a difference and I wouldn't want to give up all the benefits, but on the other hand I do appreciate actually emotionally reacting to things and don't want to lose that. I'm considering going off it, and I'm also considering asking about Wellbutrin if I do. Any comments from anyone who's been on both?
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May 22, 2010 02:21
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Hi. I just got back from a roadtrip down to a two day black metal  festival, so this may not be the most coherent of posts, but I have experience with both drugs. When I was prescribed for Wellbutrin, it was for depression. What I liked about Wellbutrin: Out of all the anti-depressants I tried, it was the one I could tolerate the most. It didn't make me feel 'drugged', and it didn't have any really bad side effects for me. It controlled the Depression and ADHD, sort of, enough so that I could function on a sort of OK level. What I didn't like about the Wellbutrin: It made all foods taste blunted (if that makes sense); that with the lack of appetite meant that I lost a bunch of weight, and not in a healthy way. So I was constantly underweight, which also gave me some problems with being chilled, getting constant colds, etc. Also, maybe it was the drug, or the not eating or both - but it also made me feel constantly anxious - which also hampered my life. Made me feel too paralyzed to really do anything. I finally got off of it when my insurance stopped paying for the name brand, and the generic made me ill with side effects. I like the Adderall better now. The depression is barely an issue these days, and it controls the ADHD much better. In fact, when I switch from Wellbutrin to Adderall, I *gained* a fair bit of weight, because food tasted good again. It doesn't control the ADHD 100%, and sometimes I don't like feeling how 'revved up' I feel on it, but that's partially my fault, I've been drinking tea on it. I just got my dose raised to 10 MG a day, so I'll see how that goes for the next few weeks or so.
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May 24, 2010 02:01
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I use both Adderall XR and Adderall IR (Instant Release) and I definitely like the IR better. Although it lasts a shorter amount of time, it works much better than the XR does. Bleusman, I had the problem of feeling completely stoic while on XR but never had those issues on the IR. Have you tried the IR?
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May 24, 2010 04:26
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This is like week 8 on Wellbutrin for me, so take this as a 'trip report.' I suspect that I have ADHD and depression, because Wellbutrin has kind of changed the bad parts into my life into not-so-bad parts. My mood, normally very 'spiky', has evened out without making me feel dead. I still have moods, I still have emotions, but now little things no longer make me shoot into outer space on my rage rockets. I can focus a little better, have better follow through. It's not the immediate personality change I suspect adderall provides, but it has definitely put my average mood closer to the median if you know what I mean. I'm pretty happy.
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May 24, 2010 05:11
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Obscurity posted:
Seriously, these people can give you a strong understanding of how severe these problems are and how much medication can help you. Obscurity posted:The list goes on, and I've learned to live with it. Mostly due to always being terrible at remembering to take my medication..which I think might also be related to a slight short-term memory loss I get..which is why I'm about to respond to a quote previously stated in this thread: Obscurity posted:Have any of you 20+ people w/ ADHD/ADD that take medication noticed a big enough difference in the aforementioned symptoms to merit taking the medication? I haven't been on meds since I was in 8th grade or so, and I'm now 23 (in June). 1. YES. Right now I am taking a break from a Calc II and Physics study evening. I have an A in both courses right now. It is inconceivable to me that I would even be able to take notes on a single problem in calc without concerta, much less deal with a 4 hour long summer class. 2. Talk to a psychiatrist about this stuff. He or she will know what is up and what is new with ADD medications, and if and when you don't respond all that well to the first n medications, the psychiatrist will help you find the n+1 medication that will change your life. 3. Don't talk to this thread about this. Talk to the psychiatrist. People's reactions to specific drugs are very different. I work well with ritalin and subsequently concerta. You do not have my brain chemistry, so that means nothing to you. Except maybe that you can get pills that last 12 hours 4. Don't let your primary doctor handle this. He or she is a great MD, I'm sure, but they lack the experience to properly treat you. Technically, they could perform open heart surgery on you, but you'd get a referal to a heart surgeon because the surgeon has more experience. Same thing is true. 5. A psychologist can be of huge help also. If you can even find a psychiatrist who does therapy these days (rare) it's way more expensive. They will help with diagnosis. The coping tools they can show you will make a huge difference.
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May 31, 2010 04:18
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Well, this is annoying. A couple of weeks ago, I get my Adderall XR raised to a whopping 10 mg a day. You think that'd be good, right? It is, in a way - when it's in my system, I can feel that it works quite well. However, when it wears off? Oh, this is when the horrors begin. Turns out that it triggers my depression something fierce. And this isn't just Dysthimia, but full on 'the world sucks, I am horrible, I have no friends, all I want to do is cry' depression. Every night this happens. And last weekend? The holiday weekend that I had been looking forward to? It was completely horrible. The one consolation is that I *know* that it's the chemicals in my brain doing this, but it still feels bad. The other frustrating thing about all of this is that I felt like I was making some progress in my life, getting things going again. I managed to take a couple of programming courses in the past 6 months, and I have some plans to take further courses. But now, if I can't think, because the drug in question makes me sick? What's the point? What other stimulants are out there? (And the other bad thing is that I get laid off this month, and there goes my insurance, until my COBRA kicks in.) (At least I put a call into my doctor's office tonight to let him know that this is going on, and what to do now.) (And apologies if you read this twice; I'm also posting this in the Main Psych Megathread).
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Jun 4, 2010 02:39
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It seems lots of people are having issues with the Adderall XR. I tried the 10mg as well and could not tell I was taking it. Back from the Dr this morning. I'm doing 15mg Adderall (regular) twice daily. It works great in the morning but in the afternoon I can take one and go to sleep! For now I'm going to try 15mg in AM and 20mg in the Afternoon. Hopefully that will help. Also seeing the neurologist for the first time in months next week. She could make recommendations as well or take me off it completely. The radiation oncologist was suggesting medications until she realized I had started with Adderall and was happy I had started something. I had been on a combo of Wellbutrin and Lexapro prior to my seizure. I found that the Wellbutrin/lexapro combo made a big difference.
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Jun 4, 2010 03:29
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Nannypea posted:It seems lots of people are having issues with the Adderall XR. I tried the 10mg as well and could not tell I was taking it. Thanks. I decided to try staggering the Adderall a bit - so I just opened the capsule and ate half right now (where I'm still in my pyjamas). The rest I'll take in the afternoon. Hopefully, when I hit the 'crash', it'll be bedtime and I'll be already asleep. ...And the doctor called back. Apparently, my massive whopper of a dose here is causing Amphetamine Withdrawal Syndrome when it wears off, and my brain and body are screaming "DRUGS! I NEED MY DRUUUUUUUUUUUUUGS!". His quote: "This is bad." Pleasant! So, it's back down to 5mg for me. And I'm to call him back in a week or two with an update. Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Jun 4, 2010 |
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Jun 4, 2010 16:19
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I was reading this thread, thinking that I fit the symptoms of ADD so I made an appointment to get checked out. However, at the appointment the therapist however gave me an initial diagnosis of "dysthymia". So I guess you shouldn't try to diagnose yourself if you think you have ADD or something and should get a professional opinion.
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Jun 5, 2010 18:39
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Qu Appelle posted:I decided to try staggering the Adderall a bit - so I just opened the capsule and ate half right now (where I'm still in my pyjamas). The rest I'll take in the afternoon. Hopefully, when I hit the 'crash', it'll be bedtime and I'll be already asleep. From what I understand, if you're going to take a partial XR capsule, you should crush up the beads. Some of the beads have a time-released coating and some of them don't, and when you take just half of the pill you don't know what sort of instant/delayed ratio you'll be taking. Smashing them (with a lighter or something inside a folded piece of paper) supposedly makes all of them instant-release by removing that coating.
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Jun 6, 2010 16:15
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satin666 posted:From what I understand, if you're going to take a partial XR capsule, you should crush up the beads. Some of the beads have a time-released coating and some of them don't, and when you take just half of the pill you don't know what sort of instant/delayed ratio you'll be taking. Smashing them (with a lighter or something inside a folded piece of paper) supposedly makes all of them instant-release by removing that coating. Yeah - and I found that when I did that half-capsule thing? Oh, that day wasn't well regulated at all. I don't want to deal with that on a day-to-day basis. So I called the doc back, and told him that I could exchange the prescriptions I have for 10 MG Adderall and pick up ones for 5 MG instead.
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Jun 6, 2010 21:59
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OniKun posted:OniKun posted:I sometimes say completely stupid statements that make no sense, I get offended easily over dumb things, and I get agitated if I have to be in one place waiting for a long time. I can't stand watching television or movies with friends, since that usually entails sitting still for long periods of time Like a lot of other posters in this thread I had trouble starting projects and things of the like. I have no idea where to start. I think of every possibility and I need to get things 100% figured out and be sure I want to do that before I proceed. Describing things for me is next to impossible but when I do I need to add in every little detail... just like this post. I'm impatient, mostly with other people because I feel they're so drat slow and that I can do it faster and more efficiently. Like I said I always leave things until the last minute. Except at work, when I'm asked to do something I try to do it ASAP. Laundry is a bitch, It's so easy but I'm to lazy to bring myself to do it. Same with going out with my buddies. Thinking of all the work I have to do, take a shower, fix my hair, (I have long hair and it needs to be perfect, this is due to my very low self-esteem and self consciousness, maybe a little bit of OCD kind of. Some things need to be perfect to me.)I'm paranoid in the fact that people are always judging me, my hair, voice, clothes etc. and that because of all this they don't really like me. Although these people always tell me how great I am and that I'm a great guy, one of their best friends. It's hard to believe but when I hear it it makes me happy  .When I was 15 or so and still on Prozac I smoked a little bit of weed, twice a week or so. It was great, the more I smoked the better. Now I'm 18 and have been off the meds for 2 years maybe and smoking pot has become a lot less fun. 80% of the time I would become uncomfortable and feel nauseous. I didn't get bad trips with paranoia like other people sometimes do. Since I randomly stopped enjoying weed I quit and tried to figure out what was causing it. I considered my anxiety and ADD was coming back and the drug would cause it do be worse for the time I was high. Pitpit fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 04:40
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So I was recently diagnosed. I was started on a 30mg time release of Biphentin, which is actually quite nice. It's helped, but after about two weeks it just feels like a low dose of coffee, and fades off after about 4-5 hours. How does one know when it's time to up their dose? What's the kinda norm for adults? (I'm a female, 23 average build, but usually have a high tolerance towards drugs).
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Jun 10, 2010 05:20
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Went to my family physician, told him I had been taking 36mg of Concerta for about 2 weeks and told him how it has completely changed my life. No bad side effects, plenty of good effects. Told him I was incredibly happy with it and it felt like it slowed me down, made me relax, and was exactly what I was looking for. I was getting this Concerta from a friend, and after trying 18mg for 2 days and feeling little but not enough, I was able to try 36mg for a couple weeks. It changed my life. So after telling this all to my doctor he is just like "ok let me go grab some straterra samples for you" I don't want straterra you stupid gently caress, I want the drug that's changed my life that I'm sick of buying under the table. I'm obviously not some druggy or I'd be asking for tons of adderall. Why do I have to try some poo poo drug which wasn't even initially created to treat ADHD and takes 4-6 weeks to start working when I've improved my life a ridiculous amount by taking a small dose of a drug that is almost impossible to abuse. gently caress your stupid rear end and I wish you'd listen to your goddamn patients. loving human being rear end.
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Jun 11, 2010 18:29
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zacfinchum posted:Went to my family physician, told him I had been taking 36mg of Concerta for about 2 weeks and told him how it has completely changed my life. No bad side effects, plenty of good effects. Told him I was incredibly happy with it and it felt like it slowed me down, made me relax, and was exactly what I was looking for. My doctor tried to pawn off straterra on me when I was younger and it was literally the worst thing I have ever taken. I couldn't eat for 4 days nor could I piss.
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Jun 16, 2010 20:40
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The details are killing me right now. Let me chronicle the way I paid for a ticket. May 09' I get pulled over for speeding, they bring a drug dog and find a piece in my car. I get a ticket. Nov 09' The ticket's due. But I don't have the money for it sooo... March 10' Thanks to the tax return, I can pay the ticket! I get a mail order and then... It sits in my car. The glovebox, specifically. May 10' I bring it into the house. June 10' I wake up in a panic that I haven't paid the loving ticket, and I finally get my envelope, my pen, everything. But wait. Who do I have to make the check out to? Cue me worrying/putting it into the back of my mind for a week. I finally sent it out 2 days ago. Paying that ticket should have been super easy. But no, I needed to know for sure every little detail that needed to be there. I hyper focused on it, got completely anxious and worked up over it and in the process, did nothing actually productive with it till a few days ago. This whole obsessive 'I must know every detail' works for me when I'm working though. I'm a paid fundraiser, and when people ask me what's going on with their group, I need to know it. Because of this, I read updates constantly and make sure I thoroughly understand what's up with the issue. Most of the other people I work with are interested in the issues, but they don't go overboard like I do. I'll say this though, if you're a super social person with ADHD, phone jobs can be great. I get enough changes in my routine that I can focus and even enjoy myself. Seriously though, even though I'm medicated, 20 mgs of Adderall a day, I wish I just had blinkers sometimes so that I could just get stuff done without hyperfocusing on it. Xanax helps, especially when I'm getting super anxious, but I hate how things that should be so minor get so huge.
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Jun 17, 2010 09:02
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Effexxor posted:The details are killing me right now. Let me chronicle the way I paid for a ticket. This sounds like me when I try to pay bills.
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Jun 17, 2010 14:07
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hello internet posted:My doctor tried to pawn off straterra on me when I was younger and it was literally the worst thing I have ever taken. I couldn't eat for 4 days nor could I piss. I also have the issue where I need too many details to get things done on time. If I have a question at work, I will do everything I can to find the answer myself before I ask, and by the time I'm done I don't want to ask because I feel like my boss will wonder what the hell I was doing in the meantime. Or if I have to answer someone, I will gather so many details that it takes forever, and cuts into the time I need to spend on other things. But in that case at least people appreciate my thoroughness, I guess. The communication at my company really sucks, so I'm always guessing at what people really mean, and always paranoid that I'm going to guess wrong and look like an idiot. I'm having a ton of trouble at work right now, like I'll estimate something, but miss some detail that ends up being huge, and instead of reporting it to my boss, I just work on my own time to make up for it. So I'm constantly scrambling. And I can't take medication right now, not that it ever had the best effect anyway.
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Jun 17, 2010 14:45
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