Struggling…

[Stash]

Hi All!

I’ve been away from the forum for a bit. When last we left our story I had just started on Ritalin after my diagnosis at the end of October. Basically, it did nothing. Doubled the dose, still nothing.

My doctor had a family emergency and had to cancel the appointment where we would have evaluated the meds and maybe tried something different. It’s been a month or more and I still haven’t rescheduled. Now the holidays are here, I no longer have access to a car, every available day for an appt is complicated by “something”.

I attended one support group meeting which was great, but haven’t made it back.

Putting on a happy face for the world, but really struggling with the day to day at the moment. It feels like things are way worse since the diagnosis, probably because I’m more aware and less eternally optimistic that I’ll just magically start to be on-the-ball.

Guess I’ll try to start fresh with the doc in January. Damn, I was really hoping to be in a different place by now..

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[caper]

I find Ritalin (methylphenidate) really helps with my temper (and brain imaging studies support this too). In an adult 20mg of Ritalin IR should have a noticible effect.

If distractibility/focus is your biggest problem and not temper, then try dexamphetamine.

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[Anonymous]

I remember not having a “eureka” moment after my first dose of Rit. I changed to Adderall XR shortly after for the longer duration and although I still didnt have a eureka moment, it most definitely provided me with not only more focus, but much improved mood too.

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[Saffron]

What they said. Hang in there, Stash.

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[Stash]

Thanks guys.

I’m not expecting a ‘eureka’ moment, but just want to be able to self-motivate and focus. Thank you for the med advice. Focus & distractibility are definitely my big issues. The pharmacist talked me into generic ritalin which may also have been an issue. I tried to argue against it, but he was very insistent that it was the same and I eventually gave in. Might try the real stuff first, then switch to something like adderall if i still don’t get what i need.

Just need to get my ass back to the doctor now to get the meds.

Now if I could just get to the wrapping of the presents…..

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[trashman]

I to did not have that eureka moment ,but I found that 108mg methylphenidate helps with my temper and focus enough that some days I can join in on the forms like this one. not every day but some and in my world I have to take what I can get.the one thing I don’t like is the generic I take it seems to fall off at 10hours and then I crash and go to sleep or I am lost in my brain .(no focus). so don’t lose hope and see your doc he can keep changing it up untill he fines something that helps.please don’t lose hope and remember any help is still help

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[billd]

20mg adderall xr – No such eureka moment here – it was “ho-hum”, should I be feeling anything, I thought? Just a bit of tight muscle in the chest (no, not heart issues)

It had solved my daytime sleepiness, but little else. MY wife did say that when she asked me for help or “come here a minute” instead of saying “I’m busy, I’ll be there in a while”, I was saying “on my way, be right there” after the meds.

Then 3 weeks pass, and even that effect is gone and I’m back to my old tired sleepy can’t stay away during boring times self. I did keep responding to her requests for help in a positive way, however, so maybe that was as much habit as anything and the adderall helped me change a habit?

Anyway, I told all this to my ADD person, and she’s double the dose, yes DOUBLED. I went from an initial starting dose of 20mg a day to 40mg a day. WOW, but still no eureka moment…………

focue, distractability, procrastination, short fuse (frustrated in interrupted) -= I’m the combined subtype, pretty severe case according to the docs. (and anyone who has met me personally or read my stuff would probably agree)

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[Anonymous]

hey bill, do you think maybe it’s time for the doc to look at treating the narcolepsy/sleep issues rather than focusing on the ADD? Just a thought. I know they felt you were borderline and that they’d try treating the ADHD first, but it sounds like it’s not helping. My doc said the opposite, treat the sleep issues and then any residual ADHD.

In my case, the meds are doing well, but I am still challenged. At least I am well rested! But it took daytime stimulants and then an approach to dealing with the nighttime fragmented sleep (which I was completely unaware of) to get me to a point of balance. Not sure if I’ll have to continue the nighttime meds indefinitely. Still another sleep study to come to assess the quality of my sleep, but right now I feel good, starting to de-stress and hoping my other symptoms will settle down. Poor quality sleep really impairs me..

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[Anonymous]

stash – hang in there. I think you’re right, awareness of your situation makes things seem worse.

If you can focus on what the gift recipient will be feeling as they open your gift, that might help motivate you. I am not wrapping gifts for my husband (yes, I bought some, he had been buying gifts for us for some weeks now), we just say “close your eyes” and then go get them from the hidey-place. Saves on cleaning up wrapping paper! I always save gift bags too so I have something in a pinch if it’s something I’m taking with me.

I had the store wrap something for me, I had to meet my husband and they only had clear plastic bags. So they just wrapped it in plain kraft paper with a bow. Problem solved, no extra charge.

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[billd]

no_dope – she said that she’d use the adderall xr to treat me, and after she talked with the lady dealing with my ADD, she said they agreed to do it this way since both would do nearly the same thing, but in the end, she’d be willing to up it to 60mg as that’s about what they do for the sleep issues. So in the end, she said using adderall, IF IT WORKS on the ADD, would be the same thing she’d do for the sleep.

I think it did help for some time………… but my body has always been able to take a beating and just plug along. Even in surgery, tooth work, etc. I take more than typical to knock me out. And one time in the middle of surgery the nurses said I sat straight up on the table waved and said hi to all the nurses. (apparently I was a bit of a flirt…….)

Pain meds do litle to help me until I get toward the max dose.

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[JimC.]

@Stash: try some exercise, if you can do that each day in the a.m. it may help you through the holiday period. Regardless, you might want to fit that in somehow as it definitely helps us all one way or another. Hope that helps, best of the season, Jim

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[Stash]

@no_dopamine – It’s funny, I actually love wrapping presents. Mine are usually the most creative ones under the tree! It’s just that there are numerous obstacles to getting to the wrapping which are tripping me up. Mostly due to housecleaning shortcomings.

@JimC – I walk a fair bit, but unfortunately just getting out of the house in the morning is such a challenge, that there’s no way I can add in excercise right now. It’s on my list of things!

I really appreciate the positive messages. It’s good to be back here and to be among folks who ‘get it’. Even the most supportive of my clan still can’t fully appreciate the things I struggle with.

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[Anonymous]

bill, that is really funny about your surgery! (I’ve heard of people who don’t want anaesthetic but this is a different twist!) I’m sorry the adderall isn’t working for you. I haven’t looked into it as it wasn’t suggested by my ADHD doc nor mentioned by the sleep specialist. I guess we have to go with whatever our docs give us.

stash, I used to love wrapping gifts too, I was a really good gift-wrapper, very fastidious, but the one thing that always tripped me up was wrapping a round biscuit tin.

I hear you on the housecleaning shortcomings, we just finished a binge effort and managed to get ahead – whether we stay ahead or not is another question, but we’ve got a pretty good headstart. Sometimes I just have to dive in and promise myself that I won’t do anything else for that period of time (it could be as little as 5 minutes – it seems like an eternity when you’re impulsive, forgetful and easily distracted like me) – even if it’s overwhelming, the intent and effort for those five minutes just might lead to another five or ten minutes. We both find it easier if we do it together, not that we do the same jobs, but that we are both working on a common goal. It’s hard, no question about it, we have tried different approaches, this one worked this time, who knows what it will take next time!

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[Anonymous]

When I first started Ritalin years ago, the doctor put me on 10 mg….I didn’t care for this particular doctor so went to my family physician and he added a tad more…it was good, but still not great. I traveled a lot and set up my locations based on which well known ADD therapist was in that City and one wonderful trip, connected with a therapist who told me I was NOT taking enough Ritalin. We increased my dose to 15 mg 4 times a day and the “lights went on in Georgia”. I need to get back on meds but MediCare wouldn’t pay for Ritalin…started me on a generic, which I personally think is a joke…and it turned out to be just that, a joke! NOTHING HAPPENED so I discarded it…right now. with work a big problem, I am considering forking over the $150 a month and going back on it UNLESS, I can get the manufacturer to sell it to my physician cheaper…I want that gift of clarity back. It was so amazing that if I were listening to a symphony, I could tell you which musical instrument was playing…it was astounding.

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