Posted by Peter on November 22, 2001, at 1:25:46
Hi all:
Well, I've posted a few threads on adderall in the past 2 weeks and here's another one. I've been taking it for almost 3 weeks, gradually increasing the daily dose. I'm now up to 5mg 3 times a day (every 4 hours). Most of the adderall's undesirable side-effects have dissipated by now, but I seem to be quite irritable throughout the whole day. BTW, I'm also on 750mg depakote for bipolar and up to 2 mg klonopin daily for anxiety/SP. I've been taking these two meds for years. I've always taken my depakote all at once at bedtime since it also helps me sleep, but, in light of my newfound irritability my pdoc instructed me to take 250mg in the a.m. I started doing that today and I noticed that my irritability did in fact decrease, but that along with that alot of the positive concentration/motivation effects of the adderall seemed to virtually disappear, and I just felt sedate all day - I didn't even feel like leaving my apartment. I got in touch with my pdoc who said the fatigue from the daytime depakote dose can in fact initially mask the positive adderall effects, but he said my body should be able to adjust over the next few days. But, I gotta say -I've noticed even before this whole daytime depakote experiment that the general positive effects of the adderall were dissapearing; during the beginning of the treatment, I experienced an elevated mood; I was able to sit in restaurants and talk long after I'd finished eating instead of always feeling like moving and rushing to something else to stimulate me; it even helped with my SP - I felt more comfortable and confident around people, and was willing to try new experiences that I otherwise would have considered boring. In addition, I no longer felt like I needed alcohol to make things fun - so I could actually sit at dinner and have a soda. It was great! Then, after just these few weeks, all I feel is a tiny annoying stimulation/irritation for sometimes as little as 1 hour and then NOTHING. This in turn makes me feel like taking more adderall, which worries me as a sign of dependance. Does anyone have experience with this happening? Aside from the fact that the effects are hardly present any longer, I'm especially curious as to why the DURATION of the drug's effects seems to have diminished so drastically (I used to feel it for 4-5 hours, now it's 1-2, if that). My doc said that the med has NOT 'pooped out', yet he doesn't want to consider increasing the dose until after my irritability is calmed down.. In fact, he wants to switch me to 10mg adderall XR, since I'd been annoyed by the inconvenience of multiple dosing. This leads to my next question - is anyone familiar with adderall XR? I'm especially confused by the fact that my doc wants me to take 10mg XR once daily, whereas I've been taking 15mg daily of normal adderall, which, as I've mentioned, doesn't even seem to work anymore. Finally, I wanted to ask about ADD. My brother took a complete neuropsychological test that concluded that he does have ADHD. I wanted to also take the test for a more definitive prognosis, but my pdoc recommended against it, saying it is unnecessary, and that he's pretty sure I had ADD as a young child (from what I've told him-but I don't trust my own memory), and that now it has either transformed into mild bipolar disorder or it has remained alongside the bipolar disorder. It seems like so much speculation to me, especially since I was a drug addict for years and I don't want to be on amphetamine unless I REALLY need it for ADD. I'm also angry that my pdoc just told me this theory last month about that he had suspected comorbid ADD/bipolar since I first met him 6 years ago. But he didn't suggest stimulants until just last month! Instead, over the last 6 years,on top of mood stabilizers, I've been on every SSRI, moclobemide, effexor, wellbutrin, dopamine agonists, and other meds, none of which had lasting benefits on my recurrent depressive/antisocial/anxiety episodes. In fact, all the AD's seemed to do after awhile was to make me more impulsive (triggering some mania) and cause me to crave and relapse on alcohol/drugs. So finally he puts me on adderall. I don't know if I'm on it as an unconventional treatment for my mixed diagnosis, or if I really have an underlying ADD. Not being sure is bothersome; I'm afraid that this rapid tolerance I'm experiencing is a sign of dependance and I even sometimes crave the idea of taking it even though it's not working very well. It's all pretty twisted. Anyone else on stimulants for comorbid diagnoses or for ADD that has not been diagnosed through common neuro tests? Sorry for the length and I hope I haven't been totally incoherent. Thanks in advance for your help.
Peter
poster:Peter
thread:84890
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84890.html