To medicate or not to medicate?

[AmyB66]

So I really have ADD, I think I scored a 98% on the profile and had it done by a therapist. She sent the results to my GP and now I need to decide at age 45 if I want to go with meds or not.

I've tried them, great stuff, but is this something I really want to take because there are side effects.

My job is full of multitasking and I am constantly stopping one project to run over and take care of something else but I do find I have massive trouble getting on or back on task. If it involves sitting and doing paperwork, it is worse. I do know my overall job performance and life performance will greatly improve if I go the med route.

Wanted to get an idea how many of you do take the meds. What are the benefits and how do they compared to the side effects of using this regularly?

 

[Lindsknits]

I take my meds every day. I have a much better quality of life when I take them. As far as side effects go, I don't really experience any. I do work with my doc to move my dose up and down based on what my current needs are. ( school, work, time off, all have different needs) i take vyvanse now and i prefer it to any other medication i have tried.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

I have never tried, but I knew two different people who had similar experiences. So, please keep in mind, this is a second-hand account.

They both told me that it's wonderful being able to stay on task and focus where you need to. I did work with both of them, and the change (between taking them and not) in one guy was monumental; the other guy, much less noticeable. They would both not take them sometimes, and for the same reasons. They said that they made them feel "weird." They said it felt like they weren't themselves, as if they just couldn't think right.

From my own observation, there was a mood change too. The guy whose change was monumental worked with me in a very fast-paced kitchen. When he was medicated, he was quite serious, on-task, and not jovial whatsoever. When he was off, he was more fun, but it could be hard to work with him because he just wasn't focused. The other guy, again, barely had a noticeable change. He did become a bit less jovial, but he was less so to begin with. They both seemed so absorbed in what they were doing that they'd barely interact.

Again, this is all just my own second-hand observation of just two men. I also can't say which med either of them was on.

 

[Ronda]

My recommendation is to give it a try. If you can take the meds, it seems to have a wonderful impact on some people. If you can't, you'll know soon enough. I wasn't able to take them, but I would if I could. I'm already a very different thinker than most people, so I'm pretty confident I'd still be myself. Because I'm so scattered without meds, I limit what I'm willing to take on. With meds, I think I'd be able to take on more than I'm willing to try now. Just so you know if you try the meds - the reason I couldn't take them was severe mood changes and mood swings. Crying jags to hysterical. Very scary for me, and I stopped the meds immediately. There's some bipolar in my family, so it could just be that my genetic makeup is super sensitive to anything that ramps up my brain activity - or it could be as one doctor suggested - that my liver is missing a key enzyme that helps break down the med in the blood stream. It was usually day four that things started to go south, so that's a pretty good possibility as well. Got too scared by the wacky emotional rollercoaster to go through the genetic testing to find out. I'd rather be ADD than bipolar. FWIW

 

[SharkbaitJr]

Not to bring up an old dead thread... But if you're still considering, I second the vyvanse. It works magic for me, tons of energy and focus.
Ronda- I hear you.. I'm bipolar with ADD, welcome to my world of fun!!! I didn't find out until about 5 months ago so it's quite an adjustment now!

Either way, I'd recommend talking to the doc about your med options and giving something a try. At over $100 a month, its a choice I don't regret at all!

 

[CdnBison]

I just got put on Concerta (36mg) and have been noticing it's easier to stay on task, without sacrificing "me".

I *really* wish I would have had this diagnosis before I started back at university (38 now...). Finished my last class 2 weeks into the meds... Oh well. I passed, and with a B+ avg.

 

[the ob]

I just got put on Concerta (36mg) and have been noticing it's easier to stay on task, without sacrificing "me".

I *really* wish I would have had this diagnosis before I started back at university (38 now...). Finished my last class 2 weeks into the meds... Oh well. I passed, and with a B+ avg.

concerta is supposed to be a good one. I have been going through and trying different ones. I am currently on Ritalin, but soon they would like to move me to concerta. It is supposed to last a total of 8 hours which would be good.

 

[KrisBKream]

I'm going to have to second the Vyvanse recommendation. I've got experience on both sides of the table here. I currently take Vyvanse. I need a dose increase because I started low on purpose. (more on that in a sec) But before I grew so tolerant of it, I had about 2 weeks of good focus. No buzz or sense of not being able to stop moving, and I got tons done. I have had a bit of heat intolerance though. Kinda like hot flashes, except I'm a 30 year old guy

I was on adderall and then adderall xr years ago. YMMV but it was a double edged sword for me. The first few hours were great, but the side effects were too much. Nothing I did would fix the dry mouth, I literally did not eat except for what I forced down, and the crash when it wore off was utterly miserable. Because of this bad experience, I did not take any meds for years. And when I was recently prescribed vyvanse, I asked for a low dose just in case it made me miserable.

I'm also a psych nurse, and I have a bunch of patients on vyvanse. The little ones benefit from its obvious effects, but they also see a decrease in anxiety and agitation. Don't take that the wrong way, it is not an anti-anxiety med. But they have said (and I've experienced the same thing) that they simply have less to worry about when they're proactive in tackling their day to day life. With add or adhd well managed, it's quite amazing how Murphy and his stupid law tend to back off and leave you alone a lot more.

Hope you find/have found something that works for you!

Edit: oh yeah, the mood changes. I experienced the same sort of bipolar-like mood swings on the adderall. It was horrid. This time with the vyvanse, I started Effexor, an anti-depressant, several weeks before the vyvanse. I've had a great improvement with depression AND anxiety, but because of my tailored plan, Idk if it's the effexor, vyvanse, or the combo that is working for me. But it works. If you find a good doctor that you trust, and you tell him/her everything, and they listen... these problems can be very well managed in most people.

 

[Hondo69]

Don’t know how much this will help, but here’s my 2 cents:

Our son was diagnosed with ADHD, then they came back and said “maybe not”. They’re not really sure which direction to go so I started doing my own research. The more I read about it the more I started to read about bipolar and a dozen other ailments. Well, I just kept reading and reading.

Before I knew it I was reading research papers that were almost written in Latin, written by researchers for doctors with tons of big words about biology and chemistry, words I had to look up to understand. The long and short of it all is that it often comes back to the foods we eat and how our bodies are lacking in the basic building blocks of nutrients, proteins and vitamins that feed the body and brain.

For us, tweaking the family menu helped a lot as did adding some vitamin supplements. Seemed to smooth out the highs and lows quite a bit. So it might be worth doing a little research into things like fish oil, GABA, 5-HTP and the like. They’re relatively cheap (I order online from Swansons) and seemed to do wonders for us. Everyone is different, of course, but at least the research is free and the products are cheap and safe to try for most people. Never hurts to check with the doctor first though.

 

[Youssefa]

good lord where do I begin , I have been on several different meds from adderall to wolbutrin and lexipro and ritalin . all of them with severe side from ultra focus, chain smoking, ED, thoughts of suicide, seizures and hallucinations. adderall cause oltra focus and chain smoking , wolbutrin caused ED, and after only 1 pill of lexipro hallucinations, seizure and thoughts of suicide. needless to say I think I'll just keep on vaping.

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