Posted by HannahBeGood on January 11, 2003, at 22:53:46
In reply to Re: ...develop a tolerance to stims? - Answers » cybercafe, posted by fachad on January 11, 2003, at 2:09:29
> > or can you take the same dose of ADD drugs forever?
>
> Here's a thought I had a few months ago about tolerance to stims. The whole thread may be of interest to you:
>
> http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020215/msgs/94906.html
>
> > stims work fast, make you feel great,
>
> They do work fast, but they don't always make you feel great. I personally think accepting the loss of the "feel great" feeling and continuing to derive benefits after it is gone is the key to years of ongoing usefulness of a fixed dose of stimulants.
>
> > and have no side effects...
>
> And as for "so side effects"...you are completely mistaken about that. They all make your blood pressure go up and your heart beat faster. They all can produce anxiety.
>
> Ritalin makes me feel extremely gloomy and melancholy when it wears off...which is about every 2 hours.
>
> Adderall was absolutely intolerable for me. It makes my heart race and gave me worse dry mouth than Elavil.
>
> Dex is the best of the lot for me, but it still makes my heart race sometimes, and it makes me edgy, and easily prone to anger. Dex also gives me a peculiar dry throat that sometimes becomes sore.
<clipped>Hi fachad~
Good points~
I have tried all 3, plus Wellbutrin.
Wellbutrin gave me chest pain for one hour after every dose I ever took. I tried it 3 times,no, 4, b/c none of the other AD's helped me at all (I was not yet with my current p-doc). I dealt w/the chest pain, b/c I knew it wd. go away, but during my first trial it also gave me terrible muscle cramps in in my upper back. The next 2 times, the cramps lessened and disappeared. This was all 3 or so years ago. I tried it again in early 2002 along w/Adderall b/c Add. was not stimulating enuf, even at high doses. Wham! First dose of WB 100mgs (in combo with Adderall 60 mgs a day) almost immediately made me feel like I was speeding my way to heart attack city. I took 40 mgs. propanolol and 1 mg. clonazepam, and once the WB was out of my system, I said to myself`'You're a great drug for some people, but this is our final parting!'Ritalin did nothing good for me. I felt nothing 'til taking b/t 45-60mgs. at one dose. I felt angry, super-anxious, totally dysphoric for 45 minutes, then I crashed, had to nap for 1-2 hours to regain my calm and that was it. And I had started at 5mgs.2x's a day, titrating up. For me, a truly nasty drug, right up there w/Stadol (a pain med spray) which gave me the only actual panic attack I've ever had.(I do have an anxiety disorder-so...maybe ritalin is NOT the answer for those who are both addled and jumpy).
Adderall alone was effective for about a month, and along w/FXR pulled me out of a 3 month long bout of major depression. But, it gave me terrible dry mouth as well, and we had to keep increasing the dose, to the point where pharmacists were looking at me warily. And, I felt drowsy on the high dosage, not stimulated, so I asked if we could try Dexedrine and p-doc said sure.
I now use between 20 to 80 mgs. of dexedrine a day, a combination of 15mg. dex spansules(long-acting) and 5 mg. Dexstrostat tabs(IR). My p-doc allows me to fine-tune my needs daily. I usually end up w/2 or 3 spansules and 1 or 2 dex tabs, staying in the 40 to 60 range. IT's good to know I am allowed the freedom to go high or low. I also use clonazepam 1-4 mgs. prn daily and at least 1 40mg. propanolol daily, altho I can go up to 120mgs. in divided doses prn, but have rarely if ever gone above 80. These are for vascular headache prevention, but are also great for smoothing out physical symptoms of anxiety (chest pressure-yuk!) more effectively than the clonazepam, which I describe as my mental/intellectual anxiolytic (and mood stabilizer).I am a mixed bag, no exact diagnosis as yet, my doc is not big on detailed diagnostic labels, we are treating symptoms still & fine-tuning as we go. I will be able to spend more time w/my talk therapist this year, which is good. There is some manic-depression in my tree, and I have always been very moody. In fact, my main problem now is maintaining a consistent mood.I have never had an attack of mania, altho alcohol often makes me quite hypo-manic. I pretty much quit drinking altogether when I got pregnant 7 years ago. I have no desire for it at all when on A-D's or klonopin.
I deal w/on-going chronic pain, which is controlled by low-dose darvocet ( which helps slightly w/my TRD) and carisoprodal (gen. Soma), prn. When my pain flares occur, they must be dealt with promptly, or I am completely unable to maintain any functionality or emotional stability.
I rarely take my stims while in a bad flare, b/c I need the deep sleep to heal strained and damaged muscle tissue from fibro and herniated discs.I do take Lexapro 15mgs for the past 10 weeks. And, I have been quite consistent w/it. I came off 300 mgs FXR very slowly while starting the Lex. Been ostensibly 'off' the FXR for about 3 weeks, but I do still get a weakish, dizzying brain swoosh every 3 days or so, even now. I then take about 8 or 10 granules of the FXR and no withdrawal effects for next sev'l days. That FXR is some strong jhoo-jhoo.
Don't know if the Lex is doing me any good,really. Probably did help me drop the FXR, which was putting me to sleep.
I am so pleased that my dr. allowed me to titrate up to an effective dosage of p-stim (per my own evaluation/opinion)that did not cause distracting side-effects. It really made me feel like he saw me as a a thinking, rational person who had suffered long enuf and deserved relief, even if it took a lot of trial and effort, and an open attitude towards polypharmacy.(I have tried dozens of A-D's, analgesics, sleep aids & muscle relaxants thru the years). When I reached the point where I felt I was getting the best effect possible (at this time) from the dexedrine, I wanted no more (I was very afraid of becoming hopelessly addicted & craving more, more, more!) and even enjoy my drug holidays, altho I'm pretty useless due to sleepiness during them.
So, that's my sideview, verbose as usual.
Hannah
poster:HannahBeGood
thread:134770
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030106/msgs/135445.html