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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 13:30:54
The latest is trading Ritalin for Adderall -- and I think this might be it, at least for a while. Yesterday, although I didn't have that major boost to my mood that Ritalin had given me, I still felt good. I felt mostly like what I think of myself as being. Not as productive as I would like to have been, but at least feeling pretty much capable. (Although I needed a nap about two hours into my second dose. Why can't I be normal, and NOT need to sleep while on amphetamines?)
While it's truly too soon to tell, I think Adderall is much better for me -- today there's a slight headache, but nothing like what Ritalin was doing, and I feel good, but without the jitters that Ritalin was causing. (Although I think it might have increased my typing speed...)
The bad news is that it does mean lowering Wellbutrin, which has upped my desire for cigarettes, so I'm smoking a bit more. Not as much as before going up to 450mg on the Wellbutrin, but more than while on the 450. From about 4 per day to about 7. {sigh}
This is temporary, though. I'll be having surgery in a couple of weeks to see if we can correct the infertility. Once we get back to trying to make a miniracer, I'll have to stop the Adderall, and can up the Wellbutrin again enough to quit once and for all.
And my new pdoc and I at least have a plan of attack: the Adderall and Wellbutrin, assuming the Adderall continues to be so friendly; adding Buspar if the anxiety isn't better on Adderall, and if my BP goes up, we'll substitute propranalol, for both BP and anxiety. Although, of course, most of this goes away once we go back to trying to make little people. It's nice having some of the uncertainty go away.
Posted by maxime on March 12, 2006, at 15:24:53
In reply to Update on latest med change -- Adderall, posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 13:30:54
That's great Racer. Maybe if you switch to the XR version it will be even better.
Oh how I miss my Adderall!
Maxime
> The latest is trading Ritalin for Adderall -- and I think this might be it, at least for a while. Yesterday, although I didn't have that major boost to my mood that Ritalin had given me, I still felt good. I felt mostly like what I think of myself as being. Not as productive as I would like to have been, but at least feeling pretty much capable. (Although I needed a nap about two hours into my second dose. Why can't I be normal, and NOT need to sleep while on amphetamines?)
>
> While it's truly too soon to tell, I think Adderall is much better for me -- today there's a slight headache, but nothing like what Ritalin was doing, and I feel good, but without the jitters that Ritalin was causing. (Although I think it might have increased my typing speed...)
>
> The bad news is that it does mean lowering Wellbutrin, which has upped my desire for cigarettes, so I'm smoking a bit more. Not as much as before going up to 450mg on the Wellbutrin, but more than while on the 450. From about 4 per day to about 7. {sigh}
>
> This is temporary, though. I'll be having surgery in a couple of weeks to see if we can correct the infertility. Once we get back to trying to make a miniracer, I'll have to stop the Adderall, and can up the Wellbutrin again enough to quit once and for all.
>
> And my new pdoc and I at least have a plan of attack: the Adderall and Wellbutrin, assuming the Adderall continues to be so friendly; adding Buspar if the anxiety isn't better on Adderall, and if my BP goes up, we'll substitute propranalol, for both BP and anxiety. Although, of course, most of this goes away once we go back to trying to make little people. It's nice having some of the uncertainty go away.
Posted by theo on March 12, 2006, at 15:45:53
In reply to Update on latest med change -- Adderall, posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 13:30:54
Funny, I just went to Concerta from trying Adderall XR and the Concerta seems much better for me, funny how things work better for some.
Why did you stop the Ritalin if it boosted your mood better?
Posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 18:35:47
In reply to Re: Update on latest med change -- Adderall » Racer, posted by theo on March 12, 2006, at 15:45:53
>
>
> Why did you stop the Ritalin if it boosted your mood better?On Ritalin, I was having horrible headaches. They'd come on about three or four hours after taking my first dose of the day, and they'd hold on and on. I can't take any NSAIDs right now, and Tylenol wasn't touching this headache. And it wasn't just while the drug was active -- the headache would last into the next day, without feeling much better.
That's the biggest reason, but I was also feeling jittery, which I don't like, and I'm not getting that at all from the Adderall.
The "mood boost" from Ritalin was enough that I wondered if it was hypomania, too. Nearly every day, I'd have a period of wondering, "OK, let's look at the criteria for a hypomanic episode..." I'm definitely not anywhere in the hypomanic range now, but I still feel pretty confident. What my T calls "cognitive hyperactivity" -- in my case, mostly self-conscious and self-critical commentary going on in the background -- eases so much with the Adderall or the Ritalin that I get less anxious, which of course boosts my mood, too.
Posted by Phillipa on March 12, 2006, at 18:58:36
In reply to Re: Update on latest med change -- Adderall » theo, posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 18:35:47
Racer finger crossed for you. fondly, Phillipa
Posted by fairywings on March 12, 2006, at 19:39:42
In reply to Update on latest med change -- Adderall, posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 13:30:54
It's good you're able to narrow things down so well - what works and why, what doesn't work and why, and good that your pdoc is willing to switch things out and try new combos.
Sorry about the headaches - I take Adderall too, and it works really well, no headaches, but I do get more sleepy on it. I did on Ritalin too. I got good motivation on low dose Strattera, but it did nothing for concentration, and when I went higher the side effects were bad.
Question - no anxiety or bp problems on Wellbutrin? I liked it for depression, but it made my anxiety high when the Adderall wore off, and I had postural hypertention, so I could only take a really low dose. Did you have that at all?
Good luck working on making little racers! ; )
fw
Posted by AuntieMel on March 13, 2006, at 10:24:46
In reply to Update on latest med change -- Adderall, posted by Racer on March 12, 2006, at 13:30:54
Why did you have to go down on wellbutrin? I've (fairly - a few months now) recently added adderall xr (40mgs) to my combo and I didn't reduce wellbutrin at all. I'm still taking 450 mgs - same as before.
Posted by Racer on March 13, 2006, at 13:25:43
In reply to Re: Update on latest med change -- Adderall » Racer, posted by AuntieMel on March 13, 2006, at 10:24:46
> Why did you have to go down on wellbutrin? I've (fairly - a few months now) recently added adderall xr (40mgs) to my combo and I didn't reduce wellbutrin at all. I'm still taking 450 mgs - same as before.
I would very much like to be able to stay at 450mg, but my pdoc is very concerned about seizure. It may be that she's over-cautious, and I know that she just had a patient seize on WB.
After a cocaine binge.
Which even the pdoc admits is probably the cause of the seizure. But, whatever it is, pdoc doesn't think it's safe to take the 450mg WB with any simulant. {sigh} Oh, well...
And FW, I haven't had much trouble with anxiety crashing in as the Adderall wears off. Less, maybe on Adderall so far than on Ritalin. Cross our fingers, hope it continues this way.
And, there's always Buspar, which helped me, but was too amotivating. So, maybe having a plan is helping me not worry so much, thus lowering the anxiety?
Posted by alohashirt on March 17, 2006, at 20:48:03
In reply to Re: Update on latest med change -- Adderall » AuntieMel, posted by Racer on March 13, 2006, at 13:25:43
Both amphetamines and ritalin seem to increase dehydration. I have a repeated challenge with remembering to drink water during the day. The hyperfocus can stop me from getting off my *ss. The dehydration leads to headaches.
One thing I do to reduce this drink fruit smoothies for lunch - I still spend a lot of time dehydrated.
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