I couldn't believe it…but I'm ADHD

[Anonymous]

I’ve been diagnosed for about 6 weeks now, and finally found a forum with some good information.

My Story:

My brother, who is 38, decided to go back to school. He’s got 2 kids (2 & 5) and 2 jobs. His doctor started a dialogue with him about his symptoms and lo and behold, he was diagnosed ADHD. It was a shock to everyone in the family because we never had any idea. I couldn’t believe the (positive) difference in him after he started taking medication. During a visit, I asked him how the dialogue for ADHD even got started, and he started to explain his symptoms in depth. My reply was, “Isn’t that normal?”

Fast forward a year and my symptoms had gotten so bad to the point that my job was in jepardy. My brother encouraged me to get assesed. I couldn’t focus on anything, I would get started on new project, and then lose interest about halfway through. I’d end up without about 10 half finished projects and then procrastinate finishing them. At work, I’d put things off until the end of the day, then rush around in the last 15 minutes. Not to mention how bad my depression had gotten.

After the counseling, my doctor agreed that I most likely had Adult ADHD, since I had exhibited signs of it when I was younger. Unfortunately that was in the late 70’s/early 80’s when it really wasn’t prevalent in society. My doctor is a 2nd year resident, so I was his first Adult ADHD case! (can you believe that?!) He’s been very great and very supportive but he isn’t as familiar with medications and different dosing combinations so it’s a learning process for both of us. He referred me to a Psych group for a med consult, and they helped out a lot.

Currently, I’m on 27mg a day of Concerta, with a extra “as-needed bumper dose” of fast acting Ritalin 10mg in the afternoon. I take the Concerta every day, but the Ritalin I only take on the weekends. The first month was AMAZING! Now, I’m in my 6th week of medication and it isn’t working for me the same. I’m expecting a long road ahead of me to find the right combo, but it’s still frustrating. I hope I can glean some information here and learn about the journey.

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[nellie]

Dont’ give up, it took me about 10 months to get the right medication and dosing down. It can be frustrating but worth the effort.

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[Anonymous]

I am frustrated now because of how great the Concerta worked for the first 6 weeks. Now I feel almost as bad as I did before. Especially on the weekends, because all I want to do is sleep. I’m just glad I realized that it’s common to have problems discovering the right medicines and doses.

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[munchkin]

Me too!

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[nellie]

Actually I think I had the same reaction with Concerta. I can sympathize! It was great for about a month then I started going backwards in progress. I think I’ve tried all of the different meds with varying side effects. It’s about 3 months since I’m on Vyvanse and so far so good without any side effects.

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[Anonymous]

Don’t give up yetm SusyBear! You are in early days of your journey of self-discovery in this ADD life.

I started out on a low dose of Concerta and did notice a small effect from it. Actually, looking back at that time now, it seemed like it was a BIG effect because it was the first time I had ever had a noticebly positive effect on my functioning levels and abilities.

Over time (about a period of a year), my dosage was increased to 90 mg of Concerta. For me, it’s a perfect dose. Hopefully, your doctor has good experience in this field and will work with you to find just the right dose to give you the best effect of whatever med/meds you choose to use.

Each one of us has a different metabolism so our doses and meds can all be quite different than one anothers. Some of the people here choose not to use meds to help them deal with the challenges of ADD, either by choice or just because the meds haven’t proven to be effective in assisting them.

We’re just glad you’re here with us!

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[billd]

nuvigil worked a whopping THREE DAYS for me, then I was right back to my old self again……….

Be patient, it can take many months to get the right meds and right doses, and then, a med that fixes xyz for one ADHD person might not do a thing for your xyz, but might instead improve abc, while doing nothing for Joe’s abc.

It’s trial and error to SOME extent. Not always, but can be.

Unfortunately, I know few ADHD people with patience, and yet that’s the very thing we need at the beginning of the journey to improvement of the negative symptoms.

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[Anonymous]

I decided not to take anything over the weekend. Today I’m feeling better, but still not where I was a few weeks ago. It’s possible I may only need a higher dose, but I’ve also been planning to ask my doctor about Vyvanse. I hear good things about it.

After 6 weeks of feeling great, now I realize how awful I felt before. I’ve seen the other side! *lol* Its a wonder I was ever able to get anything done before meds. At least I know that this IS my problem, so now it’s just a matter of patience…not my strongest suit. *lol*

Thanks for the support!

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[billd]

Suzybear i can totally relate! I’ve had these “issues” since gradeschool – EARLY grade school. So bad, so much so, they all called in a school psychologist who simply said it was due to high IQ and my being bored. Bored, yeah, almost always! I’ve got it SO bad, I was in many car accidents, had long strings of speeding tickets, broke bones, got into a table saw, and have trouble at work – I either get bored and quit, or get to the point of being in big trouble, and decide to move on………..

I’m very nearly at the top of their scales of the “no, maybe, we think so, and WOW, does he ever have it” tests. I typically do well on tests – and it seems when given a test for ADHD, I ace those, too. Meds – well, MAYBE finally after several months of being tossed between this person, that person, this one again, now a different person, and then back again, something may be done?

Remember, I’m pulling for ya. We’re all in this together!

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[Anonymous]

Bill, hopefully you will feel better soon. I never thought ADHD could be my problem. I was always disruptive in class but back then, no one talked about ADHD. It was just “being a kid”. I often wonder how much better I would have done in High school and college had I been on the proper kinds of treatments.

The doctor who initially diagnosed me is a 2nd year resident so, while he’s extremely smart, he is used to working with ADHD in kids, not adults. Luckily he’s receptive to anything I present to him because he’s learning at the same rate that I am. I also see a Psych Nurse Practitioner so, I can always talk to her specifically about the meds.

Still feeling better…the coffee in the afternoon seems to have helped. *lol*

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