1 month trial with Focalin XR

Just thought I’d add to this growing body of wisdom!

The good…found myself in the middle of routine (read “monotonous”!) stuff like cooking dinner, laundry, or straightening up without any of the self-talk (positive but mostly negative, unfortunately) to get myself to start and then continue. Several times while on Focalin XR, I was in the middle of a chore before I realized I didn’t have to talk myself into anything (which usually takes hours to DAYS!). I was just doing it…WOW! For the life of me, this has never, ever happened before!

The interesting thing…I didn’t even realize any self-talk was going on until it was gone. Ahh…the silence is beautiful!

The bad…I felt so mellow and calm that I wasn’t my bubbly, talkative self. My 15 y/o son takes Concerta 36mg, in the same “ritalin class” of drugs as Focalin XR. He also says that the meds make him act “shy” and he hates it.

Also bad…I still have a hard time concentrating on my master’s work in seminary — especially heavy reading like theology, logic, Greek/Hebrew translations and expert’s opinions when they argue over minutia. Over 1000 pages for one class this term! On Focalin XR, I still found that as I read, I would be reminded of something and off I go! My eyes would “read” 1-2 pages before noticing I have NO IDEA what’s going on, and have to find where I trailed off and begin again.

Just as an aside…I started wearing soft earplugs when the reading heavy stuff. I found that even a bird chirping can totally send me off. Even the sound of me wiggling in the chair can cause my attention to vanish (and then it is SO hard to find again). The ear plugs have been helping with that part at least.

So, I’m trying Vyvanse for the next 30 days. My doc is hoping to keep the good and cut out the bad, and hopefully help a lot more with the school work. He also suggested that since ADHD family members usually respond to the same class of meds, that if we find one that doesn’t change my personality, but still helps me focus, I should bring my son to try it.