Adderall!Adderall!Adderall

[stc]

Help!
I am 38 years old and was just diag. w/ A.D.D. Although I know I have had it pretty bad since I can remember. I was just prescribed Adderall xr by a psych. I am not a big fan of stimulants but my condition has gotten much worse since our wonderful 18 month old boy was born and I am willing to try anything. My wife is freaking out because she has been reading bad things on the web about the drug and the fact that Canada has pulled it off the market. I would greatly appreciate any feed back from people who are on it or who have tried it. I have been prescribed a dose of 10 mg and I am 6' 185 pounds. I am new to this forum and hope to hear from some of you soon!
Thanks
STC

[BamaGRL]

Hi STC!!
I can only tell you my experience with Adderall was horrible. I was in college (about 22yrs old) and I finally understood what was wrong with me. (I started with only 5mg and later increased to 10 or 15mg) So the first med I tried was Adderall. I had absolutely NO appetite what so ever!! (I love food-all kinds) But I would go into the cafeteria and look at the choices and all of them made me sick. I must tell you I have never had an eating disorder and this problem was a direct result of the medicine. I became very thin and worried my parents. But the food was not the main problem -- the problem was short-term vs. long-term memory. I was extremely talkative (more than usual). Any time a thought came to me I would spit it out of mouth immediately to any audience - I was very interruptive in conversations and retained no information in my long-term memory. So I went to doctor the next semester and asked to try ritalin. Ritalin was not so bad but eventually was not exactly what I was looking for. It would wear off after a certain number of hours and in college the days are long and sometimes you have night classes.
Now 28 years old and finished with school with a long list of accomplishments (some achieved on meds and some without meds) I am taking Adhd pills again, but I prefer the time-released medicine. The one I take is Concerta and I take the lower, 18mg, dosage. (27mg kept me up til 5am) The mind always has power if you allow it to and pills are not always necessary. My last year in college I didn't take anything and I was fine. But now I am looking for a job again and have trouble with structure so I am taking medicine again to keep from wasting the day cleaning the house and thinking negatively about myself.
I wish you the best of luck. The trick is to learn and implement strategies with the medicine. A pill is not a miracle. Personality is everything. I prefer hands-on tasks and for my days to be different. So, I'm not a lawyer or an accountant. Instead, I got a degree in PR and marketing.
BamaGRL

[Yes I have ADD....ok?]

Adderall has worked reasonably well for me. My doctor does not like me on it because of the addictive properties but I have not been able to find anything better. Ritalin did not do squat and Strattera is too bad for my liver...maybe I will ask about this Concerta stuff that I see people are mentioning. Anyway, I take 10mg 3x a day and have zero side effects.

[NORCALMAN]

Ive been taking Adderall for about 7 years. I work shifts, and I am prescribed (3) 10 mg tablets and (1) 20 mg Adderall XR (time release) per day, to take as needed. Depending on my work hours, task at hand, and sleep schedule, I adjust the dose as i need it, some days when i dont need to be focused (days off, relaxing for instance), I dont take any. It has worked well for me so far. My psychiatrist says that I can do this because I am very aware of my inablity to focus, and my condition, and that i can recognize when i need to have medication. I dont know that this is the normal way the drug is prescribed, but it works for me, and the 10 mg tablets are a very mild dose, I understand. When I worked a normal 8-5 job schedule, I used to take the 20 mg XR early in the day, which worked good all day, and didnt cause me any trouble at all. If I take the drug too close to my sleep time, i sometimes dont sleep well, so if you work regular hours, thats something to think about, and ask the doc when u should take it. You are the best judge of how the medicine u take affects you, and I can only recommend that you be closely aware of how you feel daily. A daily journal may help you keep track of this, and help the doc adjust your meds if needed. Ive had onset of some mild High blood pressure during the past year, but its not sure whether this is caused by the medication or my other health factors. My Blood Pressure has not been an issue in the past, but I was also excercising more and was younger.