Reply To: Starting ADHD medication as adult – did your world turn confusing too?

[hullupoika]

Lollibyte — I am almost 40 years older than you, and I am a man, but my story is much like yours. I also never suffered from dislexia.

I was diagnosed at age 66-67 with a mild form of OCD and ADD/ADHD. This was on top of having been treated for nearly four years for PTSD, anxiety, depression, and all those things that go with it. So, id already been through a lot of counseling, testing, and finding the right drugs to help thos issues.

These issues have mostly been under reasonable control for over a year. That is when my psychiatrist and psychologist continued to look for solutions to other problems that were still causing me issues. That is when i got the OCD/ADD/ADHD diagnosis.

I was started on Adderall. Much like you with the Concerta, cerain side affects were intolerable — including the extremely dry mouth and the constant bad tase in my mouth. It kind of helped but i sure didnt like the feeling. I felt like i was looking it myself from outside my body. I was changed to Ritalin. It started out very well. It certainly helped me stay moderately focused — not super focused, and not totally scatterbrained and doing 17 different things at once

But, I’ve always been high energy and high achieving. The Ritalin took that away from me. I became a couch potato. I had to give it up if i wanted to get anything reasonably accomplisehed according to my expected schedule.

I have been on Zoloft and im on an as-needed dosage of Xanax. For me, the Xanax at leasts takes the pressure of my self-imposed tasks. It is expremely helpful in contolling my anxiety, and especially controlling my anger issues. The Zoloft really helped with my depression, which was also a cause of much of my anxiety.

Ive also been taught to use a lot of easy to use metal tools to compensate for these issues.

Good luck.

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