Reply To: Ritalin and the adventures of PigMonkey

[AllAboutControl]

Hi PigMonkey,

I’m fairly new to the pill game myself; it’s been less than a year since I’ve been taking 30mg/day of Adderall XR. After my diagnosis, I first tried Strattera and Biphentin with no success.

My relationship with my meds is interesting to say the least:

I have noticed a significant difference between the days that I take my pill and the days that I sleep in too late to take it or forget. The latter are essentially write-offs – I have no drive to do anything productive that requires any thought or effort. When I do take Adderall, I notice that I can make myself do things, but it still isn’t easy.

That’s where my biggest problem concerning meds comes in: I’ve been using them as a crutch. My focus has been directed towards school with very positive results while everything else has remained on the back-burner. School has always been something that I could focus on, which I think is due to the fact that I’m accountable to somebody else. This means that I have drive and motivation for things like work, school, meetings and appointments, and other such events; I have none for anything else. I can focus on things once I get started on them, but I can’t muster up the will to do anything.

I need to learn how to take advantage of this medically-induced ability to do things. My priority was school, so I never took the time to learn coping strategies or build and maintain good habits. That’s why I’m here.

The side effects are one such thing – I don’t get hungry anymore and forget to eat, I need to take another pill just to fall asleep at night, I sweat a lot, and my extremities get cold very easily. I’m living with these side effects, but I’m not really doing anything about them: I could get into the habit of going to bed earlier, I could schedule meals, and I could actually use the clinical-strength antiperspirant that I bought several months ago. I could, but I don’t.

I’m a prime example of the “meds are about 15% of the solution” adage…

I’m sorry for the rant. I guess I just wanted to offer my experience with medication.

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