Posted by squids on December 20, 2003, at 23:23:15
In reply to Ritalin for brain fog, posted by LynnPerley on December 20, 2003, at 12:45:44
After so many years of being told I was a depressive, I got diagnosed with inattentive ADD this year and put on ritalin. Am also taking zoloft for depression. The ritalin is amazing, wonderful stuff. I can actually sit down and focus now. Yesterday I spent several hours organizing my to-do lists and phone numbers. I actually use my PDA to organize my life now instead of having it as an expensive toy to play games on.
I've taken AD's since I was 17 (am 36 now) and even when they were working I often felt like my mind was mush. But I was supposed to be "cured" so I guessed that was just the way I was normally.
But I really hated that slow feeling. One of the things about ADD is the ability to hyperfocus on occasions - just be totally into what you are doing. I got through college by waiting until the last minute, when the pressure was on my hyperfocus would usually kick in. I love that and feeling slow and stupid just seemed so wrong. I just didn't know what was going on until I got the ADD diagnosis this year.The ritalin does wonders for my overall thinking. I take 5mg focalin (dexmethylfenidate - the more active D isomer of ritalin) 4x a day. In my case it usually takes 15 minutes for it to kick in and each dose lasts about 3 hours. I take mine throughout the day from waking til 5pm. If I take it later I have trouble falling asleep. I haven't had any side effects from it either.
My cocktail is 5mg focalin 4x/day, 100mg zoloft in the morning, and .5 mg klonopin as needed.
Hope it works well for you.
poster:squids
thread:291902
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031219/msgs/292036.html