What do you expect / what are you gaining from your medication?

[Anonymous]

I went to the dr today to get my new prescription for the month. Long story short, I started taking medication about 4 months ago. I started at 40 mg Vyvanse, then went to 50 mg, then tried 36mg Concerta this past month (which was pretty much like taking a sugar pill for me). The dr gave me 60 mg Vyvanse this month, but asked a great question – what exactly are you looking for this medicine to do for you? My initial reaction was that I want it to get me to a point where I can use other organizational tools and tricks to help me get my life on track and get things accomplished. But I feel sometimes that I rate so highly on the ADD scale in terms of symptoms (major procrastination, no focus whatsoever or super super high focus, finances a complete mess, etc) that it’s hard for me to know where to begin.

So my question is – what point do you expect your medication to get you to in terms of functionality, and how do you take it from there? How do you know that the medicine is doing everything it’s supposed to be doing? Do I just keep going up in dose to see what happens? I really don’t want to medicate, but I am definitely MUCH better with the Vyvanse – the question is, how much better can I get?

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[billd]

Here is what I’m gaining:

A feeling like I’m ODing on allergy meds, loopiness, dry mouth, sexual side effects, have to pee all the time (not helped by the Menieres meds), I “feel odd”, sleep all the time, constantly tired and want naps.

The drug – Strattera – 12 days into treatment. First week 1 40mg pill taken 1 time a day, second week, 2 40mg pills taken 1 time a day.

What I WANT to gain – self-control, lose the impulsiveness that gets me into constant trouble. Get me to think before typing or speaking. Allow me to concentrate and stick to one project at a time until it’s done. Help me to stick with paperwork and boring tasks.

Mostly so I can keep a job…………..

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[Anonymous]

Some of my concerns without meds:

1. have trouble remembering things, make constant lists and check them frequently
2. can’t prioritize (want to do everything NOW)
3. mind is so fast that I constantly think of great new ideas
4. always want to do something other than what I’m doing, unless it’s REALLY interesting
5. fast mind keeps me up at night, I have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, and I get up earlier and earlier to start working on my great new ideas
6. I eventually quit everything I start (some things sooner than later) – have had over 20 jobs in my life
7. I procrastinate about everything, probably because I like the thrill of doing things at the last minute
8. my ADD husband and I have relationship issues because of untreated ADD/ADHD
9. can’t invite anyone over to our house because it’s a total disaster, clutter, dusty, etc (it’s so HARD to say that)
10. I have a lot of trouble keeping track of time, everything only takes “a minute” but I’m always spending longer on things than I should because it takes me longer to do them
11. I feel like I’m dragging myself around during the day, I usually have really high energy but only for stuff I want to do
12. spend many hours on the internet
13. do things to perfection rather than just settling for good enough
14. always feel restless, like I want to be doing something or going somewhere

How have meds helped?

1. I can get up in the morning and feel alert enough to drive to work
2. I can focus on the jobs that need to be done at work rather than thinking everything is a fire that needs to be put out NOW
3. I don’t have to check my lists constantly, I can plan a few days ahead and actually do what I need to do rather than waste time on things that don’t matter
4. our house is starting to be decluttered and cleaned
5. my husband realizes how meds can help and is more receptive to taking them
6. I now get to sleep within minutes of going to bed and sleep through the whole night – even if I wake up thinking I need to pee, I can go right back to sleep
7. I’m able to resist acting on things, not so impulsive
8. I can stick with a task or project and take regular breaks without losing my attention to where I was and what I was doing
9. I can stop doing something and not feel the impulse to go back to it
10. the restlessness is substantially diminished

That’s a brief list, I am finding it life-changing and glad I looked into it.

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[Anonymous]

bookmark.. I will post here later, but really need to get going! thank you meds? I think….

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[billd]

wow no_d – I hope I get there someday. Your first list sounds a lot like me.

Luckily my wife puts up with it most of the time………

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[Anonymous]

I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago and have been taking Ritalin for about 4 weeks now. I’m also struggling with what to expect (I’m still not sure if this medicine is everything I could expect) but things have been getting more clear now. I’m also doing cognitive behavioral therapy.

The effects I’ve noticed so far:

– I feel more calm (not all of the time but my ‘base stress level’ is much lower than before)

– My blood pressure is perfect for the first time in years (it used to be high, the Ritalin probably takes away a lot of stress)

– I can actually see clearer. I see more depth (driving feels safer)

– My mind is not running all the time anymore

– I have more focus doing my tasks and sticking to them

– I sleep much better

– I am a little more patient

– Much less need for alcohol to relax

– Less need to microfocus (on facebook, tv series)

But:

– I’m still dealing with severe procrastination (severe!)

– I still feel a lot of stress when I try to make myself do a chore

– Microfocus is still a problem

Overall I feel like Ritalin is giving me some peace and quiet in my mind. And focus. My life seems more overseeable. Things are more clear to me so it’s easier to see what I need to work on (procrastination, microfocus, stress). Therapy seems to be helping me slowly on those things.

Reading about AD/HD is also helping me a lot. Finally, after 36 years I’m getting a better understanding of myself and it’s getting easier to accept my flaws…

Jbolduc, I hope this helps you and if you ever find anything that helps you stop procrastinating please let me know

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[Anonymous]

oh, and: if you notice any weird language, I’m Dutch…

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[billd]

weird language? Hang out in the states and listen to most folks here attempt to speak “English”.

LOL – my Korean daughter-in-law does a better job.

(BTW – my blood pressure has always been perfect to low. Even when I farmed and the doc checked it in the middle of planting or harvest seasons.)

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[Anonymous]

totallylola, part of the stress for me is because I have a lot of tasks that were so overwhelming they never got done. I am taking a one-day-at-a-time approach – if I can set aside some time to tackle a task or project, I’ll do it, but if I can’t, I don’t sweat it (and I try not to go anywhere near it so it doesn’t stress me out looking at it).

I am using my whiteboards at work and home to help me visually plan – I write the whole week down and then my husband and I discuss what we plan to do, trying to make it as realistic as possible given the fact that we both procrastinate a lot and want to do other fun things too. Then we work the next few days according to plan and revisit the plan and revise if necessary. Anything that didn’t get done that was planned is carried forward and given priority (if appropriate) in the next few days. This is really working well because we are both accountable to each other.

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[Anonymous]

Hi no_dopamine My stress too comes a lot from not getting things done. The past two weeks I’ve been trying to work with a schedule.

I find that even writing the tasks down stresses me out. A lot!

So I changed plans and made a more flexible list. I’ve actually made five lists:

– chores that take less than 15 minutes

– chores that take less than an hour

– chores that take less than two hours

– chores that take half a day

– chores that take a whole day

All without time planning (unless there’s a real deadline).

I’m still finetuning this (how to prioritise?) I’ve done quite a few things from the list but less then I hoped. Bet then again, I’ve also done things that weren’t even on the lists!

I’m talking to my psychologist about why these plannings freak me out and hope that one day I will be able to use that whiteboard just like you! (and I’ll work on the ‘if I can’t I don’t sweat it’ part…)

Meanwhile: breathe in, breathe out!

Thanx, I appreciate your response!

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[Anonymous]

Hi Totallylola,

That sounds like something I read somewhere, I tried it too but it didn’t work long term for me. I divided things up into three categories and you might find three easier to manage than more:

• bites – things that take 10-15 minutes to do (fillers when I have time available, which never happens)
• gobbles – things that take a few hours to do
• munchers – things that more than a day to do and which require more planning (the munchers can be broken down into gobbles and bites)

Since I’m an avid listmaker, I found putting stuff on the whiteboard and then moving things forward every few days (and erasing what I did get done) is working for me right now. Also, the orders I have to manage are best written down, with deadlines, and then erased as I fill them and those remaining moved up the list. Might sound silly, but it’s working for me right now. I am having trouble with paperwork so this is a paperless solution for me.

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[Anonymous]

I think you read the same book as I did! ‘Opgeruimd leven met ADHD’ ehm, that’s something like: ‘living organised with ADHD’.

But I think I should try to use a whiteboard. Moving up and erasing items sounds good!

I think I will miss seeing what I crossed off the list though…

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[Anonymous]

You can always cross items off, or make a separate list of what you’ve actually achieved, and celebrate your little successes

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[Anonymous]

What I wanted the most out of the meds is to try and balance out the high anxiaty that i have and the racing thoughts which would lead to anger problems because i would never stay with anything long enough to achieve my goals. Off the Meds my mind would race through a hundred things in a day, things i need to do, things i wanted, ect. And at the end of the day nothing would get done or the list i created was impossible to achieve, so I would get an overwelming feel like i was a failure.

When i went back on meds within a couple of months i could priortise things, and could let things side easier without all the anger and emotion I use to have. I have been on Ritilin for 5 months now and the improvement is great. I to had to find the right dose for me by trial and error, but when you find the right balance you will feel great.

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[Anonymous]

I have been putting a lot of thought into my med expectations vs. reality vs. the effort I put into change

reason why I looked into ADD: I have been an excellent student so I never thought I could have this problem and I only thought about it in desperation:

-I started a new career and couldn’t keep up. Doing 6 hours of work in 11.5 hours is not ok or sustainable. I was worried that I was going to lose my job because doing 8 hours of work per shift is required.

so completing an 8 hour day in 11 hours was my entire goal of this medication. However, I started thinking about things, researching, spending time on this forum and started wanting much more than not losing my job!

wants:

-not losing the job of course!

-less procrastination

-ability to get myself to clean

-more organization

-less time to spend on tasks.. i swear that everything in the world takes me twice as long!

-less wasting time

-less compulsive behavior (ie. being able to go into a grocery store for less than 2 hours)

-not looking confused and dumb all the time as I cannot explain anything without some thought derailment

day 12 vyvance..so far.. (was taking methyln ER for a month before this, but only for work due to not getting prescribed enough)

-7.5 hours in 11.5 hours. I have confidence that I can soon move this up to 8 and am actually working on changing the schedule. so not losing job is a success. However, kind of bummed that I am still going to be working 11-12 hour days. I hope this can steadily improve. part of my time issues is actually moral (health professional) so ADD meds aren’t going to change that part.

-procrastination still thrives >_<. However, I can do more now if I push it. So moral: ADD meds aren’t going to push me for me

-still don’t want to clean.. but I organized a bit. I discovered I have a glass dining table lol. still petrified bugs on the tile . need to push myself on this and hopefully will feel less tortured when I do.

-i am more quick with tasks. not as much as I would like to be, but I do come from a family stock of slow-moving anxious people.

-definitely less compulsion. i can hold back embarrassing outbursts and went to a grocery store and mostly stuck to a list.

-big improvement in thought derailment and organization of thoughts. I still feel scattered, but I am told that the difference is significant.

so improvements are actually kind of subtle. so much so that I have been spending a lot of time on this forum posting about my progress in order to figure out if it is doing anything at all. Also, I have been interviewing friends and keeping them updated on this whole ADD adventure.

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