Posted by Tomatheus on August 3, 2006, at 14:14:44
In reply to Does Adderall work if you don't have ADD?, posted by stargazer on August 3, 2006, at 9:17:52
SG,
You should know better than anybody else whether or not you're feeling too unfocused and too tired. I can see why your doctor might be of the opinion that your fatigue and difficulty focusing aren't being caused by a "lack of Adderall." But if I were your doctor and you told me that you were having difficulty with fatigue and focus, I certainly would have taken your concerns seriously and would have offered to do *something* to try to help alleviate the symptoms that you reported. From your post, it sounds like your doctor just dismissed your concerns about feeling too tired and unfocused, and that just doesn't seem right.
One thing you might want to consider if you haven't done so already is lowering your dose of either Lamictal or Risperdal (under the guidance of a doctor, of course). Both meds tend to be associated with increased fatigue and difficulty focusing. I'm not necessarily saying that the symptoms that you've described aren't true manifestations of your psychiatric disorder, but it could be the case that taking Marplan by itself might be enough to help you feel more focused and less fatigued and that the Lamictal and Risperdal are interfering with Marplan's therapeutic effects.
Of course, it is possible that the addition of Adderall or another stimulant to your medication cocktail might just provide the boost that you need. However, I personally think that it would be best to first try reducing the Lamictal and/or Risperdal (if you haven't tried this already) to see if that might help you feel more focused and less tired without having to take a fourth medication.
Adderall is officially contraindicated with MAOIs, but several anecdotal reports (including some on this board) suggest that low-dose Adderall can -- in some cases -- be safely combined with an MAOI. It is also my guess that your odds of experiencing a hypertensive crisis as a result of combining Marplan with Adderall would probably be reduced if you keep Lamictal and Risperdal in the mix. But considering the fact that Marplan and Adderall are indeed contraindicated, it might be difficult to find a doctor who'd be willing to prescribe you Adderall. If you still think that adding a stimulant to your combo would be the way to go, you might want to consider asking a doctor about modafinil. Based on what I've read about modafinil, it tends to increase alertness and concentration in most individuals without causing too much edginess and agitation. And unlike Adderall, it's not contraindicated with MAOIs. It's actually been used successfully to combat residual fatigue induced by other medications.
I can't say for sure that you'll find my suggestions to be helpful, but hopefully what I wrote will give you something to think about, if nothing else. Please let me know if you have any questions about anything that I've written.
Tomatheus
> I'm not sure if I have ADD or not. I've been referred to an ADD clinic to verify this based on my own uncertainty. I did take Adderall for awhile and I think it was helpful for energy and focus. It recently was discontinued along with Celexa and Wellbutrin (stopped working), which helped for awhile. I wanted to try Marplan so I had to stop everything else due to interactions. I told my doc I thought the lack of Adderall was causing me to be less focused and more tired. He disagreed and is keeping me on Lamictal and Risperdal with Marplan. I feel tired and unforcused. Can I take Adderall with Marplan or what stimulant might help if I cannot take Adderall?
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> Thanks for any feedback...SG.
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> I'm still wondering if the Adderall helped becasue I have ADD or if it works to give you energy adn focus without the diagnosis.
poster:Tomatheus
thread:673212
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060802/msgs/673271.html