ADD

So today was my first day on medication. The doctor prescribed me Ritalin, 10mg twice daily.

I took one at ~9:15, it kicked in about an hour later, and I started crashing at ~1:30-2:00. Took another then, that one lasted maybe 3 hours.

My first impression of the medicine is that, it definitely helps. I don't think it's as good as it could be, and it needs to be tweaked a bit, but it really helped me focus and concentrate on work. I did more work today than I do in a few days without the medication.

There were a few bad side effects, though. First, when it first started kicking in, I got some pretty severe anxiety. From what I've read, this is fairly common, but it was really bad. Secondly, it wasn't the uberfocus that people describe it as. I was still somewhat easily distracted by things around me, and my thoughts were still a bit chaotic and unorganized. It really felt like a caffeine rush. Third, the muscles in the back of my neck and upper back were very tense throughout the day. Fourth, lack of appetite. I could tell that I was hungry, but felt no urge to eat. Fifth, dizziness. Sixth, which I'm experiencing right now, extreme fatigue. Now that my second dose has worn off, I am completely unmotivated to do anything, and feel like I've got no energy at all, and I'm sore.

I'm going to suggest to my doctor that I take one of the extended release medications instead, since that will somewhat prevent the anxiety in the beginning and the "ups and downs" of the day. As for the other things, some of them might go away with time. I suspect that my lack of energy and achiness is because my body isn't used to doing so much work, but I should adjust to that. Lack of hunger is very common and will probably not go away, even with a different medication. The diziness and "tweaking"ness might be helped by trying a different medication.

Overall, my feelings are that the medication definitely helps, and even if I can't get rid of the side effects, I would continue to take it.

Well firstly KA. You'll adjust probably better once your tolerance builds up a bit. You should know it's like that with all drugs. Also, that seems like alot to put up with man, I'd see some different doctors. Try a homeopathic doc. Just taking Ritalin seems very 90's. Uhm, kind of an arcaic way of dealing with this issue.

In all honesty, I think my doctor is a retard. With how much better Adderall and most other new-age ADD treatments work, I really don't see why anyone would prescribe Ritalin unless other drugs don't work. Not to mention he didn't even give me an extended release.

Basically how I see it is, my psychologist suggested to my doctor that I get some ADD medication, and my doctor was clueless as to what to do so he gave me Ritalin, which is a widely known and accepted treatment for it, even though there are better ones. I'll probably end up getting a better doctor if he doesn't shape up soon. I'm going to tell him that from what I read, Adderall has fewer side-effects and that extended release forms of ADD medications work better to prevent the anxiety effects in the beginning and end. I'll probably just tell him a friend told me that Adderall works better for these reasons.

Haven't you ever seen John Q? Doctors make more money to keep you sick!!!

On a more serious note, if you ever start to feel super depressed, stay away from all pills and blades. Word on the street is those kind of pills make you so depressed you commit suicide.


And guns....stay away from those too...

Actually, KA, I was originally prescribed Ritalin as well. I requested to make it Adderall.

I'm going to request it as well as soon as I get a chance. My doctor is out of town until tuesday.

It's not something I've really looked into, but I've never heard of Ritalin being somehow inferior to Adderall. I merely requested Adderall because I had experienced it before.

It's not something I've really looked into, but I've never heard of Ritalin being somehow inferior to Adderall. I merely requested Adderall because I had experienced it before.

From what I've read, some drugs are better for some people than others. Some people do better on Ritalin than Adderall. It seems like you have to bounce around for a bit until you find your drug.

Well firstly KA. You'll adjust probably better once your tolerance builds up a bit. You should know it's like that with all drugs. Also, that seems like alot to put up with man, I'd see some different doctors. Try a homeopathic doc. Just taking Ritalin seems very 90's. Uhm, kind of an arcaic way of dealing with this issue.

Ritalin works for some people. It does not work well for me. I use concerta.

Ritalin works for some people. It does not work well for me. I use concerta.

The active ingredient is the same in both. My doctor basically described Concerta as Ritalin XR.

I'm on Ritalin for the first time today. As compared to Adderall, I think Adderall is more potent but this certainly gets the job done.

That's basically what I've heard. Adderall is more potent.

Here's an update:

Yesterday, I told my doctor about all of the side-effects I was experiencing, so he told me to stop taking the Ritalin and prescribed me Strattera.

I went and picked up my Strattera, and then came home and read about it. Basically, I think my doctor is just an idiot, or he doesn't know what he's doing. Strattera is usually what they give you if the stimulant ADHD medications don't work. It causes all sorts of fucked up side effects, such as pain in the testicles, trouble gaining/keeping an erection, difficulty orgasming, and leakage before orgasm. Fuck that shit. Not only that, but it takes 4-6 weeks to even start working, assuming you got the right dosage. That's just way too fucking long to wait to see if it works. He could have given me dextroamphetamine or Adderall and we could know in a couple of days if they work.

I called a psychiatrist today and made an appointment for next Tuesday. I even made sure that I picked a psychiatrist that listed ADHD as one of their specialties. Hopefully she'll know what she's doing.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not taking the Strattera. I'm kinda bummed that I paid for it and now I'm not going to be taking it.I'm taking the Ritalin still, for now, as it does help at least a bit. I upped my dosage to 20mg twice a day instead, and the side effects are still about the same but the intended effects are a bit better. I just took a third dosage for the day so I can do some housework and homework. I understand that upping my own dosage without a doctor's orders is potentially a dumb thing to do, but I'm perfectly healthy and have low blood pressure, so I feel that there are no risks.

Fuck that other medication man. Your doctor must be a fucking idiot. He obviously doesn't know what he is doing. If I were you, I would hurry up and switch doctors perminantly before he fucks you up forever.

I already cancelled my follow-up with him and I don't plan on ever seeing him again. I don't need him to prescribe, since the psychiatrist can both diagnose and prescribe. I don't know why I didn't just go to a psychiatrist to begin with, it would have simplified this whole thing.

No one that messages up with drugs really thinks they're at risk. There's a spotlight bias that makes us think that we're above that sort of thing.

Well I'm not taking an abnormal dose. There are children who take 4-5x what I'm taking right now. I'm simply following the criteria that a doctor would. If I don't have high blood pressure or any other possible heart problems, there's no problem with the dose I'm taking. I could probably safely take a lot more than I'm taking.

So how hard was this to really get prescribed?

Straterra was actually the first medicine I was prescribed for ADD.

I started with Concerta and have taken it ever since. My doc is an idiot too though. He only has a 100 lb kid on 1 36mg a day. I know a kid who is doing 2 36 mg a day. I want to know if that would work better but high dosages have led to side effects for me. Oh well.