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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sjb on December 6, 2001, at 7:55:59
I started Adderall for the first time last Fri at 5mg twice a day along w/Celexa at 20mg. I felt great for 5 days, lots of energy, decreased appetite (am atypical) and then after 5 days seemed to be back to my old ways. I did have a lot of insomnia but I didn't care as I was actually getting excited about the holidays (usually DREAD them) and making plans for vacation!!! (Never go on vacation.) PDoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine. I'm sure there is truth in that but the dosage for Adderall seems low and would like try to go higher. Would like advice.
Thanks.
Posted by JohnDoenut on December 6, 2001, at 13:45:43
In reply to Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by sjb on December 6, 2001, at 7:55:59
Try taking a lower dose for a day or two and then go up to your normal dose. Reverse tolerance. . . See what that does.
Posted by sjb on December 6, 2001, at 16:18:02
In reply to Re: Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by JohnDoenut on December 6, 2001, at 13:45:43
> Try taking a lower dose for a day or two and then go up to your normal dose. Reverse tolerance. . . See what that does.
Thanks, but at 5mg I guess I would just have to take it once a day or stop taking it 'cause there's nothing lower.
In a real bad way now. Had to leave work 'cause started crying uncontrollably. Ate all the cookies in the vending machine the last two days. Too wiped to excercise.
Posted by Chloe on December 6, 2001, at 18:18:49
In reply to Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by sjb on December 6, 2001, at 7:55:59
> PDoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine.
sjb,
What does your pdoc mean, exactly? Could you explain more about this? This is interesting notion...Maybe it's time to put a call in to the pdoc? You sound like you are in a really tough spot.
Hang in there
Chloe
Posted by manowar on December 8, 2001, at 13:55:18
In reply to Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by sjb on December 6, 2001, at 7:55:59
> I started Adderal for the first time last Fri at 5mg twice a day along w/Celexa at 20mg. I felt great for 5 days, lots of energy, decreased appetite (am atypical) and then after 5 days seemed to be back to my old ways. I did have a lot of insomnia but I didn't care as I was actually getting excited about the holidays (usually DREAD them) and making plans for vacation!!! (Never go on vacation.) Pdoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine. I'm sure there is truth in that but the dosage for Adderal seems low and would like try to go higher. Would like advice.
>
> Thanks.What are you taking the Adderal for?
Do you mean that when you started taking the Adderal you really felt well and then after a few days you started feeling down again?
Unfortunately, pstims are not ADs and even if they do give you an AD effect it's fleeting unless you take more of the drug.
Sometimes what I do is skip a dose here and there (when I can) so that I create a small stash. Then when I need it, I'll add the extra dose with my regular dose and if I'm lucky, sometimes I'll achieve the desired AD effect.
When I started Adderal, I felt pretty good. But after about a week I noticed that it made me depressed as ****. The Ritalin works better for me.
>PDoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine.
What does that mean?
Good luck,
Tim
Posted by cmcdougall on December 10, 2001, at 9:22:37
In reply to Re: Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by manowar on December 8, 2001, at 13:55:18
This is my first post on this board. I have taken all kinds of antidepressants (prozac, trazodone, serzone, effexor xr, and others) along with Ritalin (20mg twice a day) for about 5 years. I switched to Celexa 2 months ago, and now take 40mg of that at night. I believe this is considered the optimal dose. Last week I added 50mg/day of desipramine.
Anyway... I switched from Ritalin to Adderall last week and WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I really feel like doing things again. I have energy and motivation that I haven't had for at least a year. Because I was used to taking the Ritalin, my pdoc prescribed 20mg/3xday of the Adderall. I haven't taken that much yet, tho. I usually take 20mg first thing in the morning, then 10 or 20mg around 1PM. If I take it any later, I have trouble wanting to go to bed. I also take trazodone as needed for sleep.
Since I have only been on the Adderall and desipramine for a week, I don't know how long this euphoric feeling will last. Forever I hope. Unfortunately, for me I usually get AD poop-out within 2-3 years and then have to go through the hell of med trials till I find the right mix again. And, I really don't know if it is the Adderall, or the desipramine, or the combination of both plus the Celexa that is making the difference. What I do know is that I LIKE IT. When I was taking only the Celexa and Ritalin, I felt sleepy ALL the time, and NO motivation.
Thanks to all who post here. I have gotten lots of good info over the past month or so.
> > I started Adderal for the first time last Fri at 5mg twice a day along w/Celexa at 20mg. I felt great for 5 days, lots of energy, decreased appetite (am atypical) and then after 5 days seemed to be back to my old ways. I did have a lot of insomnia but I didn't care as I was actually getting excited about the holidays (usually DREAD them) and making plans for vacation!!! (Never go on vacation.) Pdoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine. I'm sure there is truth in that but the dosage for Adderal seems low and would like try to go higher. Would like advice.
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> What are you taking the Adderal for?
>
> Do you mean that when you started taking the Adderal you really felt well and then after a few days you started feeling down again?
>
> Unfortunately, pstims are not ADs and even if they do give you an AD effect it's fleeting unless you take more of the drug.
>
> Sometimes what I do is skip a dose here and there (when I can) so that I create a small stash. Then when I need it, I'll add the extra dose with my regular dose and if I'm lucky, sometimes I'll achieve the desired AD effect.
>
> When I started Adderal, I felt pretty good. But after about a week I noticed that it made me depressed as ****. The Ritalin works better for me.
>
> >PDoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine.
>
>
> What does that mean?
>
>
> Good luck,
> Tim
Posted by ArtChee on December 10, 2001, at 10:51:04
In reply to Re: Adderall - I take 10 or 20mg twice a day, posted by cmcdougall on December 10, 2001, at 9:22:37
> Since I have only been on the Adderall and desipramine for a week, I don't know how long this euphoric feeling will last. Forever I hope.
I am glad that the Adderall has offered you relief. I just started taking Adderall 2 weeks ago. Last Friday I was considering building a shrine to Addrall and seeking contributors. During these 2 weeks I have also been reducing my dosage of EFFEXOR & came off of it completely this last Saturday. BOY! am I wiped out today! It is my presumption that the affects of coming off the Effexor have GREATLY reduced the positive effects of the Adderall. I am having trouble keeping my eyes open, and am incredibly listless. "ALL THINGS WILL PASS."
After exasperating experiences with 8 of the most popular antidepressants over the last three years, and 10 months of "no clue" psychotherapy, and being at the lowest point in my life - with NO motivation & forcing myself to do little things that I can manage, I HOPE that I have come to a RELAVATION of a life time. I would like to share it here.
With my frustration with my therapy not "going anywhere," I picked up an old book at the house, THE SECRET STRENGHT OF DEPRESSION; and a more recent one, THE SEAT OF THE SOUL. The old book pointed out that Depression is an "opportunity to change." The SEAT OF THE SOUL showed me that I for all of my life I have been "fighting windmills" in my efforts to control my external circumstances in order to construct a productive "me" that would provide for my family and contribute to my community. This struggle has provided for my family, but has been a great strain on me. I have been in great pain that I was not becoming the "whole person" that I desired to be. Repeated frustrations, and re-grouping for continued "attacks" at the goal of self fulfillment fell short time and again to the point desperation and of loss of ALL motivation. This led me back into therapy given up on many years ago.
Three months of being "out of the loop" of what was happening, or SUPPOSED to be happening in therapy, and feeling that I was STILL in square one, prompted me to send the therapist a letter of resignation. He responded with a phone call requesting that we get together to at least discuss it. I returned, but with no idea of what it was about. Would have quit a couple of more times since, but this generous therapist has apparently ceased charging for his hour with me. All I understood was that I need to "get in touch with my anger." The only anger I could see was the anger at my failures, that causes my depression. The SEAT OF THE SOUL explains that this emotional pain is the result of the blockage of the expression of my true self as I have attempted to MAKE myself into something, rather than allowing myself to BE my TRUE self. My 1957 high school class moto was, "Know thyself, Accept Thyself, BE Thyself."
I have never understood religion, but respect it. I DO KNOW that there is a POWER within us that is greater than the individual, that is responsible for the ALL of the wonders we see around us - natural AND manmade. I am beginning to see that the wonders that man has produced are from when he let his energy flow from within, rather than trying to be God himself.
I feel that I am on a THRESHOLD, and am excited about where I may go from here (when I can get rid of the side effects of Effexor). IF you can find some relief from antidepressants, use that to find the reason for the personal conflict inside that has caused the depression. Confront that negative emotion and forgive it, dismiss it, OR convert it to LOVE and COMPASSION - a POSITIVE emotion, and a POSITIVE influence on YOUR life, and the lives of the ones around you. "Let your Light shine that the World may See." But don't just continue to medicate yourself to maintain the status quo. My Mom was treated for over 40 years with medications for hypertension. It caused her many trips to the hospital for re-evaluations and adjustments in the medications. This was treating the symptom, not the emotional dis-ease. Had her emotional dis-ease been treated and cured, she may not have needed a life time of medication.
Would love to have as many of you that would to join me on my journey to discover the "Truth within." I don't know where it will take me, or how long it will take, or how it will happen. Sharing with each other cannot hurt. I am excited about the trip. I am even excited to receive confrontation from this board with this "folly," or this simplistic potential solution to such serious problems.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!
Posted by sjb on December 19, 2001, at 13:51:33
In reply to Re: Adderall - I take 10 or 20mg twice a day, posted by ArtChee on December 10, 2001, at 10:51:04
Thanks for all the tips and advice on Aderrall. I'm still going to ask my PDoc to increase when I see him tomorrow.
Posted by sjb on December 19, 2001, at 14:03:08
In reply to Re: Adderall - dosage advice, experience wanted, posted by manowar on December 8, 2001, at 13:55:18
> What are you taking the Adderal for?
For atypical depression that includes binge eating. I don't think I have ADD.What do you mean that when you started taking the Adderal you really felt well and then after a few days you started feeling down again?
Well, I had lots of energy, life felt exciting and I wanted to DO so much. I was also a bit manic, I believe, but it was fun. After 5 days, I crashed, ate a lot and slept a lot and had no evergy. I think it wasn't helping that I was drinking during both periods.
> Unfortunately, pstims are not ADs and even if they do give you an AD effect it's fleeting unless you take more of the drug.
Yes, I'm going to try to go up tomorrow. As you are probably aware, can only get a month's prescription and no refill or modification by Dr. over the phone to pharmacy.
> Sometimes what I do is skip a dose here and there (when I can) so that I create a small stash. Then when I need it, I'll add the extra dose with my regular dose and if I'm lucky, sometimes I'll achieve the desired AD effect.I tried that and it does help.
> When I started Adderal, I felt pretty good. But after about a week I noticed that it made me depressed as ****. The Ritalin works better for me.
I, too, became very depressed after week and went off all drugs. However, went back on the Adderall and Celexa combo, stopped drinking (Gee, why did I think that would help the mix?????) and, overall, doing better but not as good as the first week.
>
> >PDoc didn't want to up dosage as he says my emotions/feelings/neediness overwhelm my medicine.
>
>
> What does that mean?
>
Beats the heck out of me. Something about not getting enough attention growing up and looking for it now and not finding it or not getting 'nuff 'luv. Trying to stuff neediness with food or numbing myself with food or booze 'cause I want more attention, 'luv, etc. He says meds can't overcome that deep down desire/need. He recommended I get a dog as my cats aren't as affectionate. He says it's a guarantee that people will always let me down, I will let others down, but of course, not as much, as I let myself down. Something like that.
>
> Good luck,
> TimThanks. You, too.
Posted by Augusta on December 21, 2001, at 0:59:14
In reply to Re: Adderall - I take 10 or 20mg twice a day, posted by sjb on December 19, 2001, at 13:51:33
ArtChee,
I am very interested in what you have written here. Surely much depression flows from precisely the issues you have identified.
While I would love to talk about this more with you, I have the feeling that we should move the discussion over to Social-Babble. Would that be all right with you?
See you over there, I hope!
This is the end of the thread.
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