need advice

[sb12]

Thank you larynxa and Lindsey3.  Pharmacy called and said I need authorization for namebrand so focalin . Does anyone know if the generic is okay?

My fiancé will get super mad at me if I go off the Prozac and I’m very anxious or anything .  Plus I always (2x) get “fired” from pdocs for not following recommendations.  That being said , I may try to stop taking the Prozac in a couple days, I’m not taking any Focalin or whatever until the weekend anyway so I can see how I feel and not have to be at work.

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[sb12]

I bought a book- New adhd medication rules so I could read more about the Prozac and stimulant interaction . I definitely agree that I should get off the Prozac first . There were some examples of different patients – the guy and one was a man with ADHD who was given Prozac and went nutty . So they prescribed bipolar medication bc they thought it was mania. That’s what happened to me before when I was first prescribed Prozac and they thought I was suddenly manic, 2   pdocs wouldn’t work with me because they thought I was bipolar I knew I wasn’t and refused to take the mood stabilizers . After a while the prozac evened out though I did sleep a lot on it, 9-12 hours/day which isn’t typical.  Anyway now I have to figure out when to decrease the Prozac again. I went from 40 to 20 milligrams five days ago and had one day of agitation . And I might just stop taking it tomorrow, it sounds idiotic but I’m getting bored of caring about this.

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[seabassd]

sb12, Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever took Prozac while on ADHD Medication. There may have been a little overlap, I don’t remember. Glad others are here to help us out (@Larynxa). I do remember feeling tired on it, or maybe just a heavy weighted muscle feel. Unlike you however it really screwed up my sleep. I do remember being put on Klonopin for a bit and man did that stuff do a number on me. Sure it killed my anxiety but it also turned me into a coma patient.

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[sb12]

Well I read in that book To wait a week after stopping the Prozac to start the stimulant medicine . I didn’t take any today so I guess next Thursday would be good but I will probably wait till Saturday so I don’t have work I want to just try it already! The book said you have to wait until it clears out or else the stimulant meds will build up in my body because it can’t metabolize them with the Prozac in there.  I feel like I should probably go to a different therapist since she didn’t even know about this , but I really don’t feel like having to find someone else.  I also feel like I should educate her but don’t want to make her upset .

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[sb12]

Well I tried Focalin yesterday . I didn’t like it . I felt boring I guess, although I did get a good amount of stuff done in the first maybe two hours but oh yeah and I was also able to focus better like there wasn’t so much going on in my head. I could listen to one song on the radio and it was just background didn’t have to constantly switch.  I did feel like my thoughts were more organized and when I thought to something there wasn’t immediately another thought that made me either forget or not care about the thing I had to do, so that was really good. I didn’t like that it made me quieter like my voice was just quieter and my personality was muted, too. Then for the rest of the day I just felt a little out of it I couldn’t have much to say.  I’m going to try it again today and see how it goes. Then a wait again until next weekend and try again because the Prozac should be pretty much all gone by then and I don’t know I guess I’ll try it for like five days in a row starting next Saturday to see . Sleep was fine and all that so that was good.  Oh and I wasn’t hungry all day so I barely ate and when it wore off at 7:30 I ate a ton. ( The voice recognition thing just typed that I ate Poland. I thought that was really funny.)

I mean I like my thoughts being organized that’s really great . I still locked myself out of the house yesterday so obviously I need to build skills like someone said. But if I feel like it changes my personality I’m not gonna take it . I would much rather have swirling thoughts and make mistakes a lot at work and home than feel like a different person.

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[lindsey3]

Just a little don’t forget thing – meds don’t change who we are as individual people, they just provide important support to help us achieve some things if we work with them.

If you can, try and manage your expectations of meds and spend time looking after yourself and building self esteem. Make a list of all the things you are good at, and I mean everything! and a list of all the things you enjoy doing, and a list of all the things that went well today…yesterday…last week… Research self esteem boosting techniques!

I can’t leave the house without having to return at least three times – to shut the windows, back again to find my phone, back again to get my watch, back again to pick up the letter I need to post….always! In the scheme of things I don’t worry too much about these consequences of ADHD, but self esteem problems are big and really matter.

 

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[seabassd]

@lindsey3, I know my expectations for meds were way out of the park. That really dinged me for a while too. I kept tweaking and tweaking dosage and changing meds. I never really stopped to think what they were suppose to do.

I WAS SOOOOO IMPATIENT! Go figure.

 

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[sb12]

I wrote back to both of you last week but the post never got posted and I’m just getting around to redoing it . I’m been taking the medicine all week and I don’t think it’s doing anything . Nada.  I just took two I know I shouldn’t do that but I have my appointment with Dr. and 10 days and like a month or so ago I had to fill out paperwork about insurance and being how I am I filled it out wrong and accidentally choose a different carrier not to mention that I wrote my daughter’s social security number wrong. I’m afraid if I find a new doctor with this new insurance that they will think I’m Dr. hopping or pills seeking or something and I’ll be up sh!ts creek without a paddle because I can’t not have a doctor. So anyway figured I’d take two today see if that’s better if not see if maybe we Should try a lower dose? Because I feel even more scatterbrained than normal so maybe that is too high to begin with or it’s from the lack of sleep from when I was switching. Though now I’m sleeping like 8-9 hours a night.  So anyway I feel like I need to figure out the medication pretty quickly because gonna be expensive for me to continue seeing this doctor so I’m trying to speed things up.  And on a  positive note I’ve started to use the container thing my fiancé got for me to put my keys purse sunglasses and whatever else in when i  come in the door . I still forget to use it like half the time but I’m really proud of myself when I use it . It’s silly, I know but I am.  Thank you guys very much for helping me through this.  Just having somewhere to write it out what’s going on is really helpful.

 

 

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[seabassd]

sb12, Sorry to hear about all the insurance headaches you’re running into. I pay out of pocket for doc and meds (no insurance) so I understand the money pressure, “will I have the money this month” kind of thinking. I also understand the impatience that we feel when trying to get the whole medication thing worked out.

I know it’s difficult to be patient with the medication process. Trust me, in the long run you will be much better off maintaining a consistent dosing amount and schedule. It’s not a huge deal that you doubled up or anything, I’ve done it and I’m sure many others have and do from time to time. It’s hard for us to be patient. Remember, the medication may be working in a subtle less “BAM” “POW” way than we may have expected. There’s also the possibility that a new med or a different dose or scheduling is needed.

“Start Low & Go Slow”  – I know, like fingernails across the chalkboard for us.

Keep us updated.

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[sb12]

I feel like it works somewhat, but then there’s periods of my brain working slower too slow I mean, which is not good I can’t have that at work.  Like I have to kind of make myself think, like that zone out thing that has happened to me many times before but is now happening frequently every day- not good.

When I go back to the doctor I will maybe see if I can get on the lowest dose possible of a different med.

I don’t know, my diet has been terrible lately, maybe that’s why the meds won’t work right.

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[sb12]

I feel like it works somewhat, but then there’s periods of my brain working slower too slow I mean, which is not good I can’t have that at work.  Like I have to kind of make myself think, like that zone out thing that has happened to me many times before but is now happening frequently every day- not good.

When I go back to the doctor I will maybe see if I can get on the lowest dose possible of a different med.

I don’t know, my diet has been terrible lately, maybe that’s why the meds won’t work right.

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[seabassd]

I just wrote something and then took too long and the page refreshed. So I lost it.

The gist of it…

I’m a bit hit and miss with advice, especially when it comes to meds.

I know that zoned out feeling. I experienced that on one of my first trial medications. Told doc about it and we tried something else.

I’ve called doc between visits and explained via secretary what was going on. You can always touch base with Pdoc via phone, you don’t have to wait for appointment date, at least that was my experience.

I’ve found meds that work much better than my original trial med. Hang in there.

Yes, getting 6-8 hours sleep, favoring 8, plus getting outside for at lest 15min at a time for a walk, etc and making sure I eat enough and drink enough water throughout the day helps me quite a bit. I find meds do work better when I keep these other things in mind.

There’s something else but I forgot.

 

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[sb12]

Don’t we all…

I emailed the pdoc and she wants to see me, I hope it’s tonight, but I doubt it.  I guess I won’t take any more ofthe focalin.  I m going to really try to clean up my diet too.  I just eat so much crap before bed bc it calms me into a nice coma, lol.

Exercise really helps too, but feeling like this I just can’t do it.

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[kristalina]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the site and very happy to be here!  I was diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago at age 55.  I have benefited from mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy, when I remember to practice it!  I wondered if anyone has heard of a natural supplement for ADHD called ‘focusene’, made by tranquility labs containing gingko, dandelion, phenylalanine, etc. I am curious if anyone has heard of this or has any experience with it.  Please let me know, as I am considering medication at this point and want to check out all the possibilities.  Thank you!

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[wiredonjava]

Hi Kristalina, no, I’m sorry I haven’t heard about ‘focusene’ but it sounds interesting. I prefer homeopathic remedies whenever possible as I seem to experience more side effects than most as I think I am over sensitive to everything. While I’m here, does anyone have arthritic like symptoms on bad days? I wake up in the night with aching hands and know tomorrow will be a slow minded day for me. I think my depression is a complete package of mind/body/soul…just something I noticed.

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