Anyone on ADD meds?

I was on strattera last semester and it wore off pretty bad so this year my doc started me on Concerta 18mg. I have been on it for three days now and the first two days were horrible. I felt like a walking zombie. Today was slightly better. Also i'm not ADHD just ADD and i read online that concerta is pretty much just time released Ritalin. Ritalin i thought is more for people with ADHD. I really hope some people out there can give me some experiences. I know its working b/c i can't focus on two things at once at all and my appetite slowly started to die today. Anyways my question is if anyone takes it or ritalin and what problems they have and what their first week or two were like when they started.

PS.....Is it just me or Does this stuff make it impossible to get off? :scratch:

Im supposed to be on stratera or smth....:?:

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Originally Posted by Liquidred

I was on strattera last semester and it wore off pretty bad so this year my doc started me on Concerta 18mg. I have been on it for three days now and the first two days were horrible. I felt like a walking zombie. Today was slightly better. Also i'm not ADHD just ADD and i read online that concerta is pretty much just time released Ritalin. Ritalin i thought is more for people with ADHD. I really hope some people out there can give me some experiences. I know its working b/c i can't focus on two things at once at all and my appetite slowly started to die today. Anyways my question is if anyone takes it or ritalin and what problems they have and what their first week or two were like when they started.

PS.....Is it just me or Does this stuff make it impossible to get off? :scratch:

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What happened while you were on straterra? What do you mean exactly by "it wore off pretty bad". How long were you on it for and at what dose?

And yes Concerta is a stimulant as is Ritalin, there are issues with appetite loss and there could be some dependency/abuse issues as with any stimulant. But if it works for you, and you can tolerate it then what exactly are your concerns?

BTW, ADD and ADHD are treated the same way. Its just that in adults, its usually ADD, they hyperactivity part is no longer apparent.

I tried Strattera in NOV 02. Honestly, I did not feel any increase in concentration level. I have been tested 3 times as a adolescent and 2x as an adult. Each time they say I have add but grew out of ADHD. As an adult, Ritalin made me very angry and agitated at any dose. Basically, I use special time management skills and adhere to them. For some that may not be possible and it took me a long time to master my skills. However, I graduated college on time (with solid grades) and I worked for the largest computer manufacture. Now I work for myself and life is grand.. Just make sure you have a wonderful support team around ya! Doc included not some doc doling out the meds..

Also liquidred, read "Driven to Distraction" By Dr Halloway http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...574059-0419837 an excellent read and you might really relate to the book, I know I did.

Also, another must read...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...574059-0419837

Dr Hallowell is the premier Dr for Adult ADD in the States.
http://www.drhallowell.com/

I highly recommend that you do no use your GP doc for this, if that is the case.. They do not have the expertise on this subject. Find a psychiatrist that specializes in Adult ADD. You will have to search.. This is no joke..

BTW, have you been tested by a licenced therapist who specializes in ADD/ADHD?

Good luck my friend...

Also, are you in the "disabled student services" program at your college? It was in it's infancy when I was in college but it helped a lot. I am not really fond of the name. Maybe the name has changed but it is what it is...I just never looked at it as a crutch..I just had to work 2-3x harder-no biggie...

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Originally Posted by Liquidred

PS.....Is it just me or Does this stuff make it impossible to get off? :scratch:

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it does affect your sex drive... One of the downfalls of the meds.

Well the guy i see is a gp but the only reason that i keep going back to him is bc his son is ADD and he really "seems" to know alot. He told me he's been researching this for a while and likes to see me every two weeks or to know my progress.

I started to get a tolerance to the straterra. Last semester i started off great in school i had a 4.0 at midterm and it was no problem for anything. Tests were better, classes were easier to remember things. Then i started to get my appetite back and was started to lose my concentration. So they upped to dose. Well that worked for a few days then i would lose it again. By the end of the semester i was taking like 100mg a day of it and i literally felt like i was doing whatever it took just to keep my grades from dropping fast.
I have always been ADD but never had problems with it until being in college now. High school was easy but i really can't even function. When the medicine would wear off i would feel like my ADD was worse and uncontrollable. I couldn't even talk right sometimes b/c i would get flustered and like 4 different combinations of the same sentence would come out. I have never had a problem speaking before. I'm not a doctor but i think it feels worse when i come off because i realize what all problems ADD can contribute.
Today is my fourth day of Concerta. I took it about half an hour ago and it wears off in 12 hours. Thats no joke also. 12 hours done. Its a shitty come down too. The first two days it felt like o was coming off blow. I've read alot online were some people have to combine ritalin types and strattera or ritalin and adderall, ect. I guess there is no one answer for everyone on what is going to work and what is not?
wow thats a long reply.....thanks for everyone's help im just new to these medications

Anyone got any more info on adult ADD. I suspect I might have it :( . A couple of things are ringing really true for me. I interviewed for a job on Friday for something that really intrested me, an internal job. I would more or less be my own boss. The job is critical to the whole production department at work. If I don't do my job production can't function. The details of the job excite me, but I am scared I will lack the motivation to get my work done.

It is a fresh reminder of my childhood where even from the age of 6-7, I wasn't doing my work for class. Even for my strongest subject maths which I picked up instantly, I gave up when the going got tought around aged 13-14 and wasn't willing to work at my subjects.

Behaviour was a problem when i was very young as well.

Just a couple things i do/feel...
If someone is talking to me and there is a tv on or something else going on i stray conversation or sounds easily....
There is no full attention for anything...
I'll start doing something and end up doing like 4 things at once and not finish one.
Forgetfullness is bad i don't know how that works but doc said its b/c you don't give it enough attention to store it in your memory or something...
Driving is bad checking out things not watching the road all the time...

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Originally Posted by GREENMACHINE

Anyone got any more info on adult ADD. I suspect I might have it :( . A couple of things are ringing really true for me. I interviewed for a job on Friday for something that really intrested me, an internal job. I would more or less be my own boss. The job is critical to the whole production department at work. If I don't do my job production can't function. The details of the job excite me, but I am scared I will lack the motivation to get my work done.

It is a fresh reminder of my childhood where even from the age of 6-7, I wasn't doing my work for class. Even for my strongest subject maths which I picked up instantly, I gave up when the going got tought around aged 13-14 and wasn't willing to work at my subjects.

Behaviour was a problem when i was very young as well.

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Adult ADD is very difficult to diagnose and many family physicians do not screen for symptoms of this disorder. Also as an adult the symptoms of ADD often overlap with other disorders (bi-polar is a big one) and it often gets misdiagnosed. And with adults, ADD is often accompanied by other comorbidities, which the symptoms sometimes show up as more prevalant than the ADD symptoms and the doc misses the diagnoses again.

I hope you have a good GP, one who is not "old-school", you're better off seeig a younger doctor who is more proactive in terms of screening and diagnosing.

On this website is a great self screening test. It is used in doctors offices as well as a start to rule out or rule in ADD/ADHD as a possibility. http://www.addcoach4u.com/adultaddtest.html There is a PDF link on this website for the test. Take the test and take in to your doctor. Remember a lot of doctors are suspiscious of adults "self-diagnosing" ADD because they think they are just trying to get their hands on Ritalin, a stimulant. A lot of addicts do in fact do this, they try to "trick" docs into getting them Ritalin by faking the symptoms. But now that Straterra has been around, there is at least a non-stimulant option.

yea alot just want ritalin to lose weight....The first older doctor i went to gave me lexapro and said it was just nerves

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Originally Posted by SexyKitty

Adult ADD is very difficult to diagnose and many family physicians do not screen for symptoms of this disorder. Also as an adult the symptoms of ADD often overlap with other disorders (bi-polar is a big one) and it often gets misdiagnosed. And with adults, ADD is often accompanied by other comorbidities, which the symptoms sometimes show up as more prevalant than the ADD symptoms and the doc misses the diagnoses again.

I hope you have a good GP, one who is not "old-school", you're better off seeig a younger doctor who is more proactive in terms of screening and diagnosing.

On this website is a great self screening test. It is used in doctors offices as well as a start to rule out or rule in ADD/ADHD as a possibility. http://www.addcoach4u.com/adultaddtest.html There is a PDF link on this website for the test. Take the test and take in to your doctor. Remember a lot of doctors are suspiscious of adults "self-diagnosing" ADD because they think they are just trying to get their hands on Ritalin, a stimulant. A lot of addicts do in fact do this, they try to "trick" docs into getting them Ritalin by faking the symptoms. But now that Straterra has been around, there is at least a non-stimulant option.

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Thx Sexy Kitten, I am adamant that maybe I can tackle this without drugs.
Dunno though cos I'm not a doc.
I am happier now bodybuilding and looking after my health, than when I was a rec user, while I was never a problem drug user, a prescription might change that. I don't know if I really want to find that out. Could see other thing maybe leading to a misdiagnosis in my case. Also ADD isn't as recognised here in Ireland as it is in the U.S, where there appear to be a serious Ritalin culture.

Looking through the site now.

Some things seem to be repeated, expressed difffrently. A lot seems relative but others I am at the other end of the spectrum than what is expressed. I'm assuming that not all qualitie are psesent in all people.

The challenge all ring through though.

26 challenges.


Blurting things out
Clutter-physical leading to mental and emotional
Daydreamer
Defensiveness
Depression
Emotional self-flagellation
Forgetting things
Getting lost
Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity in relationships
Impatient, impulsive, distractive
Lacking attention/ wandering mind
Losing concentration during conversation
Losing things
Messy
Negative self-talk
Never finishes jobs
Often occupied with self or easily distracted so difficult to maintaining Concentration
One-upmanship
Organizational problems
Over talkative
Pessimistic
Procrastination
Time management
Undisciplined
Unfocused, disorganized, forgetful