Mental Health struggling with adhd meds

[katylin]

hello I am a middle aged woman with adhd,,,,my life has been pretty much a mess.
So now I am trying concerta in various strengths.Adderall just made me speedy and no sleep-same with vyvance.
My children and grandchild take these meds successfully.
Why would concerta make me tired anyone else tired?

on adderall even 10 mgs can hardly sleeps helps w attention but not hyperactivity.
Concerta helps both but I started at 27 mgs.its rough on my body but do these drugs take time or what?
should i go to a lower dose?
what are your experiences?

I cannot seem to make an appointment or think clearly w out these meds -no routine -a lifetime of being lost.
I want a routine and I want to be able to hear others and at least have some kind of sanity in these years.
its very disconcerting.
Im a high risk for stims ,but hey starting an exercise program is high risk!
any ideas are much appreciated.

 

[endotropic]

From what I've read katylin, you should feel the good effects right away - if the drug isn't helping you after the first couple of days it probably won't get any better. The side effects on the other hand WILL improve over time, so the sleeplessness with adderall should go away once you've been taking it a while. If they don't your dose might be too high.

Good luck with your treatment!

 

[a dream]

Concerta made me anxious and tired in the afternoon sometimes when I took it in college... I think it might have been due to poor nutrition and/or hydration though. Vyvanse is always much smoother and didn't result in fatigue. Adderall did sometimes. It is possible that it doesn't actually cause fatigue but is causing anxiety instead; Adderall is more likely to result in anxiety than Vyvanse and at least for me Concerta was also more anxiogenic.

These drugs usually have stimulating effects within an hour of taking them, but for me, first-time use of a drug/dose often makes me feel rather speedy for the first few days. But I was still able to focus right away. I've never had trouble sleeping as long as I took the drug early enough.

You could try even low doses. I assume you were using instant release Adderall and not XR? You can split instant release XR, definitely can't split Concerta without bypassing the extended release mechanism, but might be able to throw out some of the Vyvanse - I've never tried.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

It can actually take weeks for the full benefit to be yielded sometimes. See Stephen Stahl.

Did you take the XR form of adderall? Sometimes switching to IR and not taking it after a certain time will allow you to sleep.

In my experience and that of many others, stimulants produce a coarse feeling and rough comedown in the beginning. If it's too much then ask your doctor what to do. Otherwise, it tends to go away within a week.

Exercise is actually a great idea. It's been shown to improve outcomes with any psychiatric disorder.

 

[RichardMooner]

I know that this is an older thread, but I figured I might give a bit of input. Adderall use for productivity is often underestimated. 5mg IR, or 10mg ER, worked for me for a long while. No speedy effects at all, but definitely helped with focus. The effectiveness of the dose varies from person to person. That's usually why doctors (that aren't completely lop sided) start with the lowest dose possible, 10mg ER might not work for someone, but it does work for somebody else. If 10mg ER makes you speedy, you might try 5mg ER and see if that works. It's an extremely low dose, but speed like effects are usually an indication that the dose is too high, although, it's a pretty common, but temporary side effect. After a week or so of taking it daily, it might just completely go away.

 

[n00bsaibot]

Give it 2 months.

 

[phactor]

Have you ever tried Wellbutrin? It helps with my ADD and depression. I am not hyperactive, but I have a lot of trouble focusing and sometimes have trouble with motivation. The motivation gets better for me the longer I stay clean, but its not perfect.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Wellbutrin provided me with energy, but it made me feel icky and over-stimulated mixed with cognitive dysfunction. Yet it can still be helpful to many.

 

[hunter1]

27mg Concerta is a pretty low dose. If you're tired or fatigued from that dose after a week or 2 of treatment than you probably need more. Stimulants should work almost immediately unlike SSRI's ect... The side effects will usually be more pronounced in the first week or so and then they should clear up.
Finding the right dose of Concerta or any ER stimulant is usually the tricky part that takes time and as with all drugs we all react differently. I'm on Concerta, have been for 12 months now. I'm also an adult, 32 year old male. I'm on 108mg/ day taken at about 9am. I was previously on 72mg for 6 months but it wasn't enough. Prior to that I was on 80mg IR Ritalin and for me the crash from the IR was just too brutal. I find concerta pretty smooth although most days I don't think I get anything past 4-5 hours max of useful effects. I sleep fine too. Occasionally if I can't sleep for anything if I take 1 36mg concerta I can 'focus' on breathing and sleep within 30 mins