Ask me about childhood and adult ADD.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about childhood and adult ADD.

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I had no idea that the manufacturer used to reccommend an initial dose that high. I might actually change my stance on Strattera (had severe nausea/vomiting when I was given it as a kid) and ask my neurologist about it at my next appointment. I really need some sweet, sweet :catdrugs:

to function like a normal person now that I'm no longer able to coast through life.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2012 03:13

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 08:27

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

bad posts ahead!!! posted:

So the Strattera seems to have helped a tiny bit but that's pretty much gone. It's made me a lot more suicidal, hurts my stomach and gets me upset and irritated about things more easily, I don't know why. A friend gave me one of her Adderall pills to see if it would help, and I nearly cried because for the first time in my life my thoughts stopped racing/looping and I could actually think and do things.

I don't really want to be the first one to bring up a stim to the psych because I don't know how she will take my asking (never going to mention that I got that pill, tbh) How did you tell your doctors you needed something better?

Tell your psych that the Strattera is making your suicidal thoughts worse and isn't helping the ADHD and that you'd like to try a different option without directly bringing up stimulants. ...Though given that one of Strattera's more common side effects is depression I don't know why she gave you it in the first place, assuming she was aware of your suicidal thoughts.

edit: My experience with Strattera was basically "oh I am literally incapable of giving a gently caress, I guess I'll just stare at this wall for three hours". :v:

It didn't even have the decency to work.

Like Clockwork fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Dec 7, 2013

# ¿ Dec 7, 2013 01:10

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

On a scale of "worse than useless" to "just like brand", how aggressively lovely are Concerta generics? I can't afford the brand and all the generic my pharmacy has seems to do is trigger 3+ days of horrific migraine if I accidentally drink anything caffeinated the same day I take a dose. :|

# ¿ Apr 19, 2014 07:55

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I find that taking it with food helps with any nausea (my anti-anxiety meds are murder on an empty stomach and Strattera was less horrible if I took it with food), but I don't know what you're taking so I don't know if you can take your meds with food or not.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 19:35

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Sub Rosa posted:

I, too, keep forgetting to take my meds.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice for dealing with getting overwhelmed by things? I'm mostly thinking of being mentally paralyzed because I don't understand what I need to do, as a note. (I'm flailing my way through programming and tried of progress screeching to a halt because of my inability to deal.)

# ¿ Jul 8, 2014 01:21

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I found that Concerta helped the mental hyperactivity a lot, and it definitely helped the most out of all the meds I've tried to date; Strattera I mostly just remember making me very sick both times I tried it, generic ER methylphenidate was worthless, and Intuniv didn't work in any fashion at the doses I tried.

...I miss my Concerta script. Being able to think was amazing. :sigh:

# ¿ Aug 26, 2014 04:33

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Guanfacine is Intuniv, yeah? I don't think it would extend the effects of the Vyvnase so much as act as a longer-acting treatment on its own. I'm not familiar with how it would interact with other ADHD meds, though, so take this post with a grain of salt.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2014 03:22

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Yeah, it worked for me too after a few weeks (even at the lowest dose), but the side effects were so nasty (aggravated depression, nausea, vomiting, nonexistent appetite) that I had to drop it both times I tried.

If I remember correctly, that's actually why one of the main reasons a lot of people don't use it.

...The other reason is that non stimulant :birddrugs:

are a pain in the wallet, of course.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2014 05:45

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I seem to have a particularly bad case given what I've heard of other's stories, but when I went off my meds (partially because my neurologist switched me from Concerta to Ritalin because ??? so they didn't work anymore) I basically went from functioning to struggling to keep up in school, and once I started taking college courses, I basically failed whenever a course required skills I was bad at (I failed English 101 twice and would have failed the equally-basic math courses if I hadn't started self-medicating with massive amounts of caffeine). And that's just the school side of things; I've noticed my daily-life issues have reached the point where I struggle to function vaguely normally. The :catdrugs:

make a huge difference for me.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2014 07:50

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

slogsdon posted:

The issue with Concerta generics is they hosed up the time release mechanism, apparently. I guess the brand uses some futuristic sounding water pump poo poo and the generics just use time release pellets.

Yeah, brand uses osmosis to distribute the meds over a period of time. The only thing that sets Concerta apart is the release mechanism, so if a generic doesn't have that it's basically just relabeled generic Ritalin. ~ :catdrugs:

# ¿ Dec 2, 2014 22:30

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Pseudophedrine just acts as a very mild stimulant, in my experience. It's such a mild effect that anyone who uses it for anything but a decongestant is probably wasting their time. They might have been thinking of Benadryl; that poo poo will gently caress you up in a bad way if you take too much or for too long, even within "safe" dosages.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2015 08:29

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I use Cooking with Dog videos to help me sleep. It's weirdly soothing and I usually pass out after three or four videos. :v:

It's not very good though, considering that it's a huge drain on my phone battery since I don't get a chance to turn the durn thing off before sleep hits.

I've been having a bad few weeks sleep-wise and I keep forgetting to get a Concerta refill though (because it involves phones and phone conversations are horrible :saddowns:

), so this could be a temporary thing.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2015 08:33

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Fusion Restaurant posted:

What are people's experiences with alternative medications to Adderall? Right now I am on a few doses of short release a day.

I've been having some weird times with my current prescription -- I've been taking it at similar times to previously (i.e. not after ~1-2 PM), but it seems to be causing more problems with my sleep. I'm also having a harder time going off it for 1-2 days and then back on, something I had previously done during weekends in a bid to slow down any tolerance build up. Are there other medications which are frequently considered to have fewer side effects?

I've been working out 4-5x a week pretty intensely, and that has definitely been useful, as has keeping a healthy diet (I think), and trying to sleep regularly. I got noise canceling headphones for my open office at work, and that has also helped. I've also been taking more time to draw up really explicit plans and to do lists daily, with the idea that the more memory I can transfer from my head to post its, the better I will be able to accomplish things.

I would love to hear more things people do on a daily basis to combat ADHD.

Finally, has anyone done something like cognitive behavioral or other types of therapy to deal with ADHD?

Unrelated but I have to say this whole ADHD thing is stressful. I intermittently am off ADHD while waiting for refills (a situation I have resolved now), and it always feels like I become someone I like less. My working memory is poo poo, to the point that I forget what I'm doing all the time or lose the flow of conversation, I am more irritable and snap at people more, I forget social engagements and commitments all the time, and have a super difficult time finishing anything. It's just super scary thinking that the only thing between me and being like that all the time is this drug which may or may not continue to work long term.

If you're really set on changing your :catdrugs:

wholesale, have you asked about nonstimulants? They didn't work well for me because of side effects/poor memory, but it might be worth a shot for you. That said, it will take two to three weeks for you to feel any effect from them and you absolutely cannot skip doses ever unless you want the weeks of buildup again.

I personally am on Concerta, since it's just one pill a day and I have very few side effects from it, but if you go that route you absolutely have to take the Alva-stamped pills because the others are really just XR Ritalin, at least unless it's changed very recently.

I've heard that CBT helps a ton, actually! I'm looking for one mostly for my rage issues (poor emotional control plus poor impulse control plus severe social anxiety has lead to me physically lashing out because of fight/flight in the past and I don't want to hurt people anymore!) and crippling phone anxiety (I literally have had panic attacks trying to call people), but I imagine that it'd help with various ADHD symptoms.

...rereading this I am increasingly unsurprised that I can't find a day job. :geno:

# ¿ May 27, 2015 01:24

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

i am tim! posted:

One thing that stuck out to me from my second diagnosis was a question I was asked during the doctor's test, "Do you like to read or learn about Ancient Civilizations?" I'm paraphrasing this because it's been ten years, and while my answer was "Absolutely!" I always wondered why I was asked the question. It didn't seem like the doctor's personal test or anything, is there something about ADHD that makes you like old dead countries?

That is such a weird question to ask in an assessment like that. :psyduck:

Anyway, anyone have advice for getting the feds to take my ADHD rear end seriously when I apply for disability? I wouldn't have tried it after getting denied a few years ago, but I still haven't been able to get any job, I'm getting booted off my parents' insurance next month and I can't function without a very expensive four drug cocktail (lamotrigine/concerta/Prozac/antianxiety-I-can't-remember) and it's making my idiot brain panic. :saddowns:

# ¿ Oct 15, 2016 02:19

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Thanks for the advice, guys. :shobon:

I really was totally lost, so knowing the right direction to go helps a lot.

I sometimes forget that caffeine mixes poorly with Concerta and drink giant mugs of strong tea shortly before or after taking it. :v:

I usually end up a neurotic mile-a-minute mess when that happens until I realize what I did and can compensate for the mistake a bit.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2016 00:32

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I don't remember how I was diagnosed, but I do recall my mother mentioning later that the neurologist who diagnosed me figured it out almost instantly because I was an incredibly hyperactive preteen.

The problem for me was finding a med that would work without severe side effects; my second neurologist switched me off Concerta (worked) to XR Ritalin because ????, which just made me irritable and wired, which made me go off meds for like a decade, and then I tried Strattera (drastically worsened my suicidal ideation and depression) and Intuniv (gut problems!) before trying Concerta again. I still crash hard when it wears off, but at least it works with minimal side effects.

Yes, I knew a med worked for me and I looked at other ones anyway. I was extremely concerned about the raised seizure risk of stimulants and being treated like a drug seeker. Since I've given up on ever being able to drive, the former is not as big a deal anymore and my pharmacists are cool so the latter isn't a concern for the moment; now my concern is obtaining them with no insurance and nonexistent income. ~American health care~

Somewhat relatedly, how do you guys deal with anxieties that are all too firmly based in reality? My usual methods don't work because they're, y'know, reasonable fears and not my usual rampant paranoia.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2016 01:13

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Grape posted:

But yeah this is all nice to hear, only problem is for some reason even the generic is really pricey compared to Vyvanse.

It's probably because proper generic Concerta (versus just making basic rear end SR Ritalin and selling it as concerta) requires some special tech to make; while the patent seems to have lapsed from what a quick googling tells me, there aren't exactly a lot of meds that use it which I feel indicates that either the equipment isn't cheap or that most companies don't see the benefit in using it versus multiple doses of a shorter release method. So, afaik all true generic concerta is just relabeled brand.

This is all theory, though. I don't exactly work in pharmacology.

E: also, confirming that Concerta makes me more caffeine sensitive; I have to cut tea entirely when I take any dose above 18mg or I become uncomfortably aware of my heartbeat and come down with super-anxiety.

Like Clockwork fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Jan 31, 2019

# ¿ Jan 31, 2019 10:47

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

In my experience the ADHD being treated helps a lot to compensate for the increased nervousness from taking stimulants, and when I had both anxiety meds and concerta taking the two together near-completely eliminated the worst anxiety symptoms. (My brain is bad enough that I needed to attack on all fronts to reach functionality lmao)

It depends on your brain chemistry, but there's a good chance that it at least helps. :shobon:

# ¿ Mar 30, 2019 18:59

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

I work for myself purely due to the fact that all my brain poo poo (including epilepsy that I'm too poor to manage) combines to prevent me from keeping any sort of "normal" job (I collapse under stress, can't do phones without having a meltdown, am abnormally sensitive to sounds/smells, can't interact with people I don't know face-to-face, sometimes struggle with even basic functions like eating, the list goes on), but art is a particularly lovely field to try to be self-sufficient in for a variety of reasons and if I didn't live with my parents I'd probably have long since died. Don't chase the arts unless you have external support or a preexisting job first is my 0K take. :j:

(This extreme dependency also aggravates a lot of my depression issues because I can't safely come out to my family as trans (they probably wouldn't kick me out but I don't know that for sure), which is great fun during those times when words associated with my agab are like hot knives to my guts, luv2have my only gender affirmation come from text.

...hhhhh I think that has been bothering me more than I realized, I got really upset writing it out.)

# ¿ Nov 24, 2019 08:03

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

From the combined experience of myself and other people, adhd hinders more than it helps in any job track. Even jobs where some traits of ADHD are desirable still has to contend with our very poor executive function, which is never desirable.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2019 08:31

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 08:27

Like Clockwork: Feb 17, 2012; It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Yeah the hunter hypothesis is generally considered inaccurate these days. A thing to keep in mind about theorizing using natural selection is that even purely negative traits only get strongly selected against if they usually kill/sterilize the organism before it reproduces�you could definitely argue that various brainforms (including adhd) have benefits, especially in a premodern society, but the real reason most human traits are still around is probably that it is not actively detrimental to reproductive success�and while humans take a long time to start reproducing, that's still a fairly small portion of our lives even before modern medicine. If you survived to like, 6, even in bad times you could expect to see 70+.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 19:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about childhood and adult ADD.