Diagnosed at 45 and not sure if meds are working.

[Anonymous]

Wow. In shock- kind of.

History: I always knew I had “components” of ADD. But, in 2006, when my daughter was diagnosed at age 17, I didn’t want her on meds. I told her and the doctor, that behavioral modification should work. I didn’t see the resemblance between us. My doc mentioned about 2.5 years ago, that I may want to get tested, but life was stressful at that time and I blew off the chaos as just that… drama due to previous divorce, addict new husband, work, etc. Then, this year when I was taking a nursing education credit course on ADHD- that was me! I thought, that is CRAZY! I have heard of people hearing about a diagnosis and thinking they have the disease, so I wanted to blow it off. But my mind wouldn’t let it go…. Hmm. So I read research articles and took the Harvard test. It said see your primary care doc right away. So, I did. I was tested- I had to wait for the results. When I spoke to a few friends about it, they said, I have it too and then started letting me know all the signs I exhibited but they never mentioned…. Well, if they would have told me before I was ready to see it- I would have blown them off. I almost cried when the results were explained… He described my mind.. All the behavioral modifications I have implemented for me to stay on task– were just not enough and it was time for meds. From talking to people with ADHD- how their mind works when on meds, I thought- wow- I don’t know what that is like- I think that would be awesome..

Question: I was put on Adderall XR (generic) 20mg a day. The first day a weird calm occurred, but not much help with the chaos in my mind. I have still taken it daily, I think it has helped some, but how does a person know when they are at the right dose? I have irritability- but I can’t discern if it is due to not being able to focus or the meds. I have had a couple of “overwhelmed” episodes in the afternoons, but I am really stressed right now due to work load and home.

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[billd]

Sounds a bit like me. I went through 3 diagnosis – my “family doc” agreed with me that I have ADHD. But he only spend 10 minutes or so with me. I was forwded on to a behavoural specialist – took a 90 minute “intake” test that covered a ton of ground. The follow-up with that place said “Bill, I have no doubt you have ADHD. (severe, obvious)

She then forwarded me onto a neuro-psychologist. He spend 4 and a half hours with me – testing, interviews, puzzles, math, memory, etc. I have it bad. I have social anxiety but they said that often goes with ADHD.

(I also have sleep issues I’ve written about in this forum a couple of times as well.

Finally after months of going back and forth and testing was put on Adderall XR (generic) 20mg / day. I just finished 2 weeks on it. The first few days (about 3 or 4 days) it kept me awake all day, plenty of energy, no naps. I didn’t sleep at all the first couple of nights but have since settled into decent sleep at nights now. However, I feel it’s not really done a thing for my ADHD.

I still can’t remember anything, I get confused with long to-do lists, can’t decide where to start, I’m once again getting very tired mid-day and this weekend went right back into the old take an afternoon nap habit (although I kept it short today, only 45 minutes)

I had trouble getting back to chores today, still put things off that I REALLY should be doing, and instead do things I’d rather do or want to do – if I can even talk myself into doing those. I don’t focus well, easily distracted still, can’t make decisions very well, but I’m half wondering if that isn’t just a little better, or WAS for the first few days I took this stuff.

So it’s like it’ was stort of maybe helping a bit for a few days, and now, back to the old me – but I don’t feel it ever really did much for my ADHD – just my sleep issues. I do find I’m quite irritable. I find myself wanting to snap some heads off (but a few actually deserve it LOL)

Maybe 20 mg isn’t going to be enough for me………..

It’s almost as if my body adjusted to it and sort of fell back to how things were – again, not that I felt it helped the ADHD – but it sure kept me from napping and getting really tired so easily. I almost felt borderline narcolepsy at times.

Doesn’t help I have SO much to do, keep taking on more stuff, and I really don’t care for my work situation at all. I like some of what I do – just not the place/people/situation. They are moving me into very boring, complex stuff, believe it or not, actually over my head and I never figured I’d find anything like that! HA.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Mos…lots of folks seem to have work at getting their their med dosage right for them. Not everybody walks away…… right away with the correct meds or the correct dosage for them. I might add that different folks get different reactions from meds too. By that I mean some get tremendous relief and quickly, others find that meds can give them a leg-up, but a more whole-life approach seems to be the approach they need.

There is so much attached to who we are, and what makes us up as people. Diet is a huge consideration for me. Not the get skinny diet, but, more the extremely healthy eating type. There is so much garbage put out by the food industry…..what with all the pesticides, and steroidal material injected into food like feed lot animals and fowl, and sprayed on plant life as well. I am very careful what I eat, I’m a chronic lable reader (it’s a good habit)…..not the big promo print, the tiny FDA stuff on the back of the packages!!! I wouldn’t think ingesting all those strange chemicals can be good for anybody!!!! Exercise for me is critical a well…..I must exercise a minimum of three times a week…..it relives my stress, it oxygenates my brain, it gives me energy, and I sleep well….all those damn things they say it does….it does!!!

If you hang around here long enough you’ll find I’m a great counseling supporter as well. I find not everything is about meds. I’m sure therapy actually gave me the most benefit of anything I’ve done to date, including meds. A great deal of who we are is a conglomeration of our experiences, our history, and it doesn’t take much (in our history) to kind of put our perception or our vision of who we are and our life, off track, which can leave us with a lifetime of turmoil. So, counseling certainly assisted me with those issues.

Anyway that’s a thumbnail from me…..

Toofat

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[Anonymous]

Toofat,

Thank you!

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[Anonymous]

Well, I went back to the Dr. and he doubled my dose based on all my symptoms and status. I was a little nervous about that, but he knows me very well and he has good experience with ADHD. Well, it helped some… some my anxiety is down some but the thoughts are still irritating. I focus then lose it. But since the diagnosis, I recognize it even more. Yes, more stress has come up with life and work, but I think I could handle it better if I could focus better. I did get a laugh at the doctors. I asked, “How will I know if I am at the right dose?” He said, “You will feel normal.” I said, “Really? Really….” He got that.. Duh, if my brain has not functioned right all along, then how in the world will I know what “Normal” is. We both laughed.

But since being on the increased dose, I am getting nervous. I don’t think the 40mg dose is right. I am scared that I will need the max of 60mg. I know I am jumping the gun… Not that I am impatient or anything:)- I truly hope that next month, he will have a better clue on if Adderall XR is working but a bigger dose is needed or if a different med will help. I already dropped 9.5lbs over the past month and at this point I really can’t afford to drop anymore.

I refuse to try Adderall IR and luckily it is not available, at least around here due to supply. I have a brief history with drinking which rapidly turned to dependance and well.. do not want any med that gives me any euphoria. Just want to be able to think and focus.

My doctor says.. “Breathe, we will get through this, just take one day at a time.” So, I am trying to relax and be patient with myself, but it is really hard.

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[Anonymous]

Hey……Mose, I don’t know how old you are, but……….what ever that number is, over the years, you’ve probably developed some habits, both mentally and physically, we all do, not just ADDers. It may take time time time……and effort to change ingrained physical and mental habits……

That’s why a guide or counselor is sometimes a good “hand in glove” with med treatment. As I mentioned previously, meds sometimes give us the “leg up” we need to move forward, but it is not always the whole game.

Like the old proverb goes…..patience is it’s own reward, impatience it’s own punishment…..

Toofat

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[caper]

Some of the ADHD studies have used computerized tests like PASAT, go/no-go, and SSRT.

A couple of them are available free online at cognitivefun.net

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[billd]

moserene – the posters above are right.

Adderall and euphoria? HA, sorry, I had to chuckle, and i barely feel a tingle when I take it. (figuratively speaking as far as tingle)

It doesn’t make me feel good, goofy, happy, sad, high, low, it doesn’t make me feel anything. Might as well have taken aspirin.

About all I note is that I stay awake, tend to not get upset when folks interrupt me, I never snip at my wife if she says “come here now, need you fast” where I used to say “I’m busy, I’ll be there when I can” and then get irritated at her. For that, I’m thankful.

Now do NOT take this as dashing toofat’s optimism – that’s not my point, as he’s got good points, however, meds and counseling and all sorts of other tools won’t make you fixed. Well, not necessarily. I look only for improvement on some symptoms realistically.

Yes, meds will help me, yes I can work on my bad habits, yes I can learn new ways and help control many if not most symptoms, but you will still have ADD. Like they told me “it’s for life”. They can help and a good doc will doo all they can using all tools, meds and OTHERWISE, but don’t look for a fix, please. If lucky, maybe you’ll be helped along enough to be able to ignore or nose up at the remaining symptoms. But will they all go away and can you even fix or correct them all? Not necessarily.

IN ANY CASE, DO be patient. He’s nailed it there. This takes time! Meds have impacts as individual as we all are.

I’m on 20, the ADD doc said could try 25 or 30 next. Ya know what the sleep doctor said? “We often use 60 to treat the sleep symptoms you have so be prepared”. she then added that “this is for life” bit.

They all agreed – it will take TIME, you have to do your bit, we must be patient, we must work as a team.

Take tips from those who have been successful here – it will be worth it.

They aren’t successful because of magic – they put their all into it.

Good luck.

Remember, I’m pulling for you, we’re all in this together.

I hope I didn’t offend anyone or say that wrong – there’s some good ideas, just wanted to make sure we are not only optimistic and try our very level best, but don’t get upset or disappointed or give up if some things are still there. I may happen. Never give up!

Just the fact that you are aware, you are trying, you are willing to work on it means the rest of your life will be better!

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[Anonymous]

Well, as is probably not unusual, I haven’t read all the posts before posting – haven’t even read any one post in total. So my post may be a little unrelated, but I just wanted to share my story. I just discovered this website because of a documentary that I stumbled upon on PBS. It just feels really good to connect with other people with ADD/ADHD. I was diagnosed at about age 44. I am now 60. I was seeing a therapist for grief issues and she suggested to me that I might be an adult with ADD. At that time I did not understand the difference between ADD and ADHD and also did not understand the spectrum idea of the disorder. I saw myself as the complete opposite of someone with ADHD so I could not believe I could have this. She explained that I probably had ADD, not ADHD and suggested that I read a book called Driven to Distraction by Hollowell and Raley. It was a revelation getting that book. I didn’t read the entire book cover to cover (of course!!), but what I did read was my life. She suggested that I see a psych. who specialized in adults with ADD/,ADHD. I did, but I was not entirely happy with the results. He diagnosed me with “mild to moderate ADD” and immediately wanted me to go on Meds. After living to age 44 with this disorder and managing somewhat, I was and still am hesitant to go on drugs. I looked into other ways of coping with this, tried meditation and simple coping strategies, many of which I had instinctively done to get through my life already. At this point in my life, I do believe he correctly diagnosed me and think that perhaps meds might have helped many of the issues in my life that I still struggle with. However, I must say that simply knowing there is a reason, other than being “spacy”, “zoney”,” undisciplined” and” disorganized” that I have these struggles and knowing that I have to find ways to cope – lists upon lists being a huge one – has helped a lot. It seems lately I have been experiencing a certain amount of sorrow over certain things in my life that may have been different had I been diagnosed and treated much earlier in life. My passion in life is music and I wanted to be a professional musician. I started off in college as a music major, but dropped out and tried to work as a free lance musician. However, I was never able to make enough of a living that I could completely rely on it and always had to do other “odd jobs” to make ends meet. Eventually in my early 30’s I went back to college and finally completed a bachelors and a masters in special education, a field I had always had a strong interest in. Being able to complete those degrees and the masters with a 4.0 was a huge accomplishment for me and a huge confidence builder. I was a terrible student in high school and had no confidence in my abilities intellectually. And even though I was a good musician and a good actress (I was very involved in music and theater from a very young age), I had very little confidence in those areas either. After getting my degrees, I worked as an early childhood special education teacher for a while and then quit when I had my own late in life child. I now work as a Headstart teacher. I love the work and believe strongly in the program, but I really want to spend my energy giving to my family and working on my music. I do still play in some local groups and perform, mostly on a volunteer basis. But after working all day at a pretty demanding job, it is difficult to have the energy to be a good mom (I still have a child at home) and give my music the attention I need to give it to be at the level I want to be. If we didn’t need me to work financially, I would quit and do as much music as possible whether it paid anything or not. I guess this is all to say that looking back, I would have loved to have had a career in music and I think I had/have the talent, but ADD got in the way of being able to have the right kind of discipline and focus needed to be successful. I need to close because I was actually on my way to cleaning the house before going on line and joining this group!! I guess the lesson in my story is that if a person thinks they or their child has ADD/ADHD, get the help you need. But I guess also the lesson is that sometimes life works out the way it is supposed to. After two failed marriages, I now have a wonderful family. Perhaps if I had had that career in music, I may not have met my husband and had my two wonderful boys. I just wish I could have found a way to combine a music career and my family and I think ADD is largely responsible for my difficulty in doing that.

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[Anonymous]

put me on 18 mg concerta a month ago, felt it for the first week then nothing, nowhe put me on 36 mg concerta daily, feels better but this stuff doesn’t turn my life around like I had read about, geez some peoples descriptions of the stuff made it seem like everything would be perfect, far from it, I can be a bit more focused but still basically make the same mistakes I always did, my advice to everyone, if you are newly diagnosed as I was (age 55) DON’T expect miracles from these medication’s, only my humble opinion mind you

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[Anonymous]

You may need to switch to a different medication shootinggallery. I’m on Adderall and I’m noticing a major difference at work with focus. I’d give what you are on some time and then if it’s still not working ask the dr for something different. My son tried Concerta and it made him spacey and tired and didn’t help the ADHD much.

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[Anonymous]

hi Lanakila000, when the Dr. upped my dose he had me use up my remaining 18 mg tabs until they were gone by taking two daily. I noticed that when I started my 36 mg tablets that they seem to work a little better. I really know nothing about Adderall but the name. Is the Adderall you take long acting or short acting ?? The Concerta doesn’t make me feel spacey at all and thanks for your input, it is really appreciated !!!!!

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[billd]

Agree with:

>>put me on 18 mg concerta a month ago, felt it for the first week then nothing, nowhe put me on 36 mg concerta daily, feels better but this stuff doesn’t turn my life around like I had read about, geez some peoples descriptions of the stuff made it seem like everything would be perfect, far from it, I can be a bit more focused but still basically make the same mistakes I always did, my advice to everyone, if you are newly diagnosed as I was (age 55) DON’T expect miracles from these medication’s, only my humble opinion mind you <<

I was told just last week at a “follow-up” that->

meds act different in each person. Don’t expect miracles or big changes. It may or may not work at all, or may work for a while.

She contradicted all the thoughts I got from reading all the “wow, it turned my life around” and “wow, now I can concentrate” things I’ve read and heard. She said those are the exceptions in many cases. Meds CAN help, but don’t “expect it” and if they do – the body often adjusts so you start over again later.

Like they say “your mileage may vary” and with drugs, MUCH more so!

They may work,

they may not work,

they may work a little,

they may work a lot,

they may work for weeks, or months, or years, and then fade away.

they may work long-term

It’s as simple as that.

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[caper]

I agree that the effect of the meds varies from person to person, though they act the same. If you take the time to understand what is going on in the various parts of your brain and find out how the different drugs affect the different parts then you can find out what (if any) meds may be good for you.

For example if someone tends to have anxiety, the distractibility of ADHD may minimize the impact of the anxiety. Taking some meds that improve your focus may lead to you focusing more on your problems/worries.

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[Anonymous]

like billd says, “I can be a bit more focused but still basically make the same mistakes I always did” – patterns are deeply embedded and will probably take more effort to change than just adding meds to the mix.

I think of it this way, I can see my patterns/habits more clearly now – they are still running, and at times they are unbearably powerful and almost overwhelming, but I can SEE them and FEEL them instead of having someone else tell me about them. That gives me a glimmer of hope that I can start to work with them (with the help of our therapist).

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[Author]

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