Posted by hrguru on May 7, 2010, at 8:24:21
In reply to Re: Best meds for ADD/Depression/Chujoe, posted by chujoe on May 5, 2010, at 14:36:53
Well let's see...I am on Adderall (immediate release) for ADHD and Wellbutrin for BP Depression.
You mentioned Cymbalta: Years back, before I was on a stimulant, I used to take Cymbalta, and it worked very well for me- for anxiety and depression *I have a sneaking suspicion that it's because it made me mildly hypomanic, so there would be days I was so sublimely happy that if the sun was shining, I would literally be fighting tears of joy!* That's a good feeling of course, but an AD really shouldn't do that ;)
Then after about a year, it just stopped working. Which sucked. It was as if the pharmacist had switched my script with a placebo or sugar pills. The depression came back in full-force. So I thought, well I guess it's curtains for this drug. Word of advice, if you ever decide to stop taking it, consult your doctor first, because it's an absolutely horrendous withdrawal experience- you have to titrate off of it SUPER carefully and slowly (with your doc's help). This is coming from someone who is an ex-opiate addict (perhaps the worst withdrawals known to mankind). Now don't get me wrong...By comparison, coming off of opiates was, of course, much worse :) But Cymbalta was a nightmare to quit, and it should be handled carefully, that's all.
If it keeps workin for ya, though - stick with it! I loved it when I was on it!!
Now, as for ADD/ADHD meds: Adderall is the best I have tried and the only one I'll take is the orange oval shaped kind. The little round pink ones are awful. They're both generic brands, but I've found it actually makes a difference. With the orange ones, I feel just "normal," calm, and focused. It's a very smooth medication. If I have to take it in the afternoon or evening- I can even sleep on the stuff (but please understand, I am a freak of nature!) The pink ones have side effects (for me) which I don't like. I'm in grad school, so this is a must for me to be medicated, and the pink ones would always make me so incredibly tired (as though I had taken a sleeping pill) that I was falling asleep in the middle of class. So it was basically like I hadn't taken anything. They would sometimes make me pretty anxious to boot, which is a super fun side-effect- especially when you already had anxiety in the first place.The best medication I have ever taken for anxiety, and perhaps this works for me because I'm dx'd bipolar (I'm not sure), is Topamax. It's an anti-convulsant, and acts as a mood stabilizer. However, I do not have anxiety at all these days. It's wonderful. By the way, I have been dx'd OCD as well, and I have not had any obsessive-compulsive behavior since day 2 of taking this med. I'm really pleased with it. OCD is SO hard to find the right drug to treat, as it is a certain kind of anxiety- you understand what I mean since you and I can relate. You don't have to be bipolar to take Topamax. Some people take it for migraines, and obviously various types of epilepsy as well. In any case, you can always ask your doc for information. He/she is the expert ;)
Hope this helps (at least a little!)
poster:hrguru
thread:944334
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100504/msgs/946639.html