Reply To: New to meds and feeling speedy

[Chica]

Hi Breeze,

Yes it has affected my energy levels in a very good way. I used to sleep long hours all night, then fall asleep or feel really exhausted periodically during the day unless I was around fun people, or busy with something engaging, or driving a bit too fast – you get the picture.

All that time I was undiagnosed I was sleeping way too much. I had great difficulty falling asleep at a sensible time – 10pm seemed like the only time of day I was sure to be energised and organised. At first, the Ritalin pepped me up so I wasn’t falling asleep, and I felt more together as I tried to shop, or pack for a trip – this sounds a bit like what you are getting now.

After a while, as I experimented with dose and timing of meals, or when to get up or go to bed, I started feeling tired and strained. If I had one big day where I tried too much it left me exhausted for three days after, so I would fall asleep even though I was medicated. This was upsetting because I didn’t know the situation would improve.

It is the food and sleep I get alongside Concerta that make a difference long term. As Robbo & many others suggest, I eat 3 meals a day with protein in each, and go to bed on time. I try and be sensible with healthy carbs, I mostly avoid caffeine and alcohol. Sounds boring I know, and I’m not perfect with this, but this is the bare minimum of what I must do for the Concerta to work effortlessly for me. Now my meds give me a normal day, I can’t really feel them, but the days I forget meds are just frazzled and confusing.

I think the subtle quality of my energy has improved gradually over the whole 16 months. I feel as though I am catching up on a lifetime of poor sleep and invisible stress. I’m glad I didn’t give up on the meds last summer when I couldn’t tell which problem caused what outcome. It took patience at the time.

I now know exactly what overmedicated and undermedicated look like in ME because I took notes as I adjusted doses. I can see from those notes that sleep and sensible eating were OK at the time, so the problems were mostly about the dose. Now if I feel under or over medicated it is always linked to poor sleep or not enough good food for how active I have been. I am really sensitive with these two issues, and I really hate that, but I can see I am less sensitive than I was a year ago – my energy and appetite is more stable long term.

I think the more consistent you are in your habits and meds, the more consistent the meds let you be. It’s kind of a two way street. I hope you find all this reassuring.

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