I'm getting medication!

[Scattybird]

Ashockley – if it’s any help my methylphenidate doesn’t override my PMS if I am feeling particularly emotional. But I take fast release.

It ought to slow you down a bit not make you more hyper. Keep a check on that.

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[JimC.]

I’m glad you’re getting help quickly. As others have said, everyone is different; I use Adderall @ 20mg, (amphetamine, dextroamphetamine mixed salts), and within one day I was able to focus and stop procrastinating (well, mostly stop). Subtle, but…I felt and still feel “normal” whatever that is.

Keep us posted, good luck, Jim

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[Anonymous]

We actually don’t have information on Metadate on the website. it is not available in Canada but it is widely available in the US. It is a methylphenidate product so the information related to good old methylphenidate is applicable. JimC discussed Adderall but there is a long acting version called Adderall XR also available.

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[JimC.]

I’m on Adderall XR, forgot the last 2 letters; my bad. So much for my focus statement 🙄

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[ashockley55]

I think I’m gonna go read up on Adderall, regular and XR.

So far my experience on Metadate has not been that great….even though Metadate rhymes with great.

After I first take it, I feel really, really, really sad and emotional. That kinda wears off eventually, but not completely. It seems like I don’t get any productivity until several hours into taking it, and I don’t know if that’s the Metadate or placebo effect, or something else entirely.

It’s almost like instead of extended release, it is delayed release.

I do know that I am much more inclined to express myself – I’m doing a lot of talking, posting, communicating in general. And that could be a good thing, or a bad thing. I mean, I’m expressing *everything*.

I dunno. Hmm.

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[Anonymous]

I was prescribed Ritilin, then the generic Adderall (methylphenidate), and they were no help to me at all. I noticed no effect at all when on them (other than a slight headache at first) and no effect when I went off them abruptly, either. My GP said maybe I didn’t have ADHD, if those didn’t help, but I’ve been diagnosed at the U of Washington, so I believed I DID have it. It was just that all his previous ADHD patients had been helped by those meds. Now I am on Strattera ( 40 mgs, twice a day: 80 mgs all at once kept me awake ALL night!!). I think it is helping some; I’m not sure if I am at the top dose yet. I find it easier to get up in the morning and easier to fall asleep at night, too. I still have trouble with organization and motivation. I was hoping the meds would help a little more than they do, but any help at all is something.

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[Scattybird]

MonkeyBarb – I believe Strattera takes a while before it starts to work so I hope it kicks in soon and makes a difference.

Ashockley – how are you getting on with your meds?? Just wondered as I haven’t spotted an update – hope it’s going well?

Ditto Tiddler!

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[Anonymous]

I read that meds are like glasses for the brain. They help focus better, though there’s always room for improvement. Just like prescription glasses, there’s some adjusting to do from time to time. Just like glasses, no 2 people will get the same prescription meds nor the same dosage. I’ve been on Concerta for the past 2 years (at first 18 mg and now 72 mg). It’s not perfect yet, but it’s making my life much easier.

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[Tiddler]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the support and your stories.

I’m now on 27mg and it seems to be working just fine. My emotions are sustained and so is my ability to ‘concentrate’ (so that’s what that word means?!) There’s choice involved, isn’t there! Who’d have thought!

I’ve had a couple of fairly crappy weeks that would have been just appalling I think without the medication. I was trapped in a corner by a ‘therapist’ who frightened me terribly (I have domestic abuse in my past) and I experienced an intense time with flashbacks. I was able to work through it very quickly because I could finally see the patterns of fear that I’d been suffering from and I was able to break them.

Then I got a breast lump and had an agonising wait before finding out, thankfully, that everything is okay. During this too I was able to sustain my thoughts and, whereas that allowed me to see VERY clearly the worst case outcomes, it also allowed me to be rational, calm and prepare myself for whatever was coming.

The dog is confused because I don’t have to turn back when we set off walking. I haven’t lost the car and I’ve only lost my keys once. I have made a tentative start on my uni work and I’ve got an interview for my dream course next week.

Mornings in our house are almost surreal in their difference to LBM (Life Before Methylphenidate!) I’m up and ready when the kids get up and I play the piano while they’re eating then they’ve been asking for piano lessons from me before school.

Whereas I have barely touched the piano in years, going through patches where I play it regularly but I’m just relearning stuff I used to know how to play and it’s the same few pieces over and over, now I’ve learnt about 10 new pieces and I play just for fun. For an hour at a time sometimes – IF there’s nothing urgent I need to be getting on with.

What the heck happened to me?! lol

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[Anonymous]

@Tiddler

Congratulations for hanging on. I relate to your mornings with kids. From what I read, you went from a bumpy road to a road increasingly paved with small daily successes. As I always say, we’re making baby steps, one day at a time. It makes me happy to see you’re doing better and better.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Tiddler- thanks for the update. I am so pleased it’s working out well for you.

Good luck with your interview next week.

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[Tiddler]

Thanks, quiscale. Yes, I like the small successes. You’re right. They seem like HUGE successes to me but they’re really just wonderfully ordinary things that are meaning so much.

Thanks for the good luck, scattybird. I’m quietly hopeful.

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[Author]

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