Not all ADHD drugs are stimulants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It shouldn't make her feel that way though. If she truly has ADD, it should sort of calm her down but allow her to focus. People with ADD don't speed on those drugs like people without it do.

This. The response is entirely different if you do not have adhd.

I'm not convinced of that, although it is what all the doctors say. There is no question that I have had lifelong ADD. I took Ritalin for a while in grad school, and also tried another stimulant drug (can't remember the name). I hated the way they made me feel. I mean, the stuff is effective in the same way that coffee is effective. Both drugs helped me focus, and there was a time that I thought they were working for me. I suppose I felt calm in the sense that I felt detached from external stimuli and I could do one thing for hours. But I felt like it interfered with normal executive functioning, meaning that I lost all sense of time when I was on it and didn't always use the focus in a way that would lead most efficiently to the desired result. It also made me feel strangely self-conscious and out of sorts socially, which is probably a function of the same out-of-body feeling you describe. And after several months, the constant peaks and crashes made me feel anxious, depleted, and eventually depressed. The drug withdrawal was awful. When I wasn't dosed up, my cognitive function moved so slowly I could feel the synapses in my brain struggling to connect. I really couldn't get organized/moving to do anything without the meds. I had never been that way pre-medication, so I stopped taking it.

DD is showing signs of having ADD and I have pretty much decided that I won't medicate her with stimulants, even if that limits her realization of her academic potential. I would consider treating her with subclinical doses of a more stimulating SSRI, which I had some success with years ago. The extra serotonin can sometimes help improve focus, independent of its mood-stabilizing activity. I noticed an immediate improvement with the very dose.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It shouldn't make her feel that way though. If she truly has ADD, it should sort of calm her down but allow her to focus. People with ADD don't speed on those drugs like people without it do.

This. The response is entirely different if you do not have adhd.

This is so unbelievably not true.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/06/10/the-questions-about-adhd-drugs-the-new-york-times-didnt-ask

Anonymous wrote:OP, my DC is on Vyvanse for ADHD/anxiety/HFA. What dosage did you take? Thanks.

30

A friend took his son's med and said the same thing. If it is so tough on the adults, imagine the effect on the small bodies.

OP, my DC is on Vyvanse for ADHD/anxiety/HFA. What dosage did you take? Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:It shouldn't make her feel that way though. If she truly has ADD, it should sort of calm her down but allow her to focus. People with ADD don't speed on those drugs like people without it do.

This. The response is entirely different if you do not have adhd.

This is weird to say, but I felt almost like my body sped up like crazy but my mind felt great... Focused, calm....
What I liked was how it made my mind feel
It made my body feel really weird.

She can't articulate what her brain or body feels like other than it makes her feel "weird", "out of it" and "not normal".

OP, have you told the doc about this? I have ADD and I remember when I first took my Vyvanse, my thoughts were more like, "OMG, I feel calm. My mind is not busy racing with 100 different thoughts pulling me in different directions." I almost cried to know you could feel that centered. And I felt more awake & alert. Prior to the Rx, I would drink about 12 cups of coffee in the a.m.

It shouldn't make her feel that way though. If she truly has ADD, it should sort of calm her down but allow her to focus. People with ADD don't speed on those drugs like people without it do.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, good for you for doing that OP.

I agree with this poster.

You deserve applause OP. Thanks for posting.

No, I wasn't being sarcastic. I think you did a brave thing and what you learned is good to know.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, good for you for doing that OP.

Is this sarcastic? I can't tell.

I know you aren't supposed to do this. But she was having such a hard time articulating this feeling she was getting. And I was feeling like she was making a big deal out of feeling a little tired or something. That's why I did it.

But again I have no clue whether my experience was anything like hers. I did come away with a knowledge that this stuff really can make you feel really, really weird.

I can't even decide if overall I liked it or not.

Wow, good for you for doing that OP.

My kid has tried a few ADD meds and we are trying to find something that works for her. This is the 3rd med we have tried. (Vyvance).
She took it for 2 days and said what she said about the other two meds: "I hate how this makes me feel".
She's never been able to articulate exactly what this "feeling" is that she hates so much (aside from upset stomach but that's not what she is referring to).

Today I just decided to take one. For better or worse, good or bad, I know it's not right to do but I'm trying to figure out what she's talking about or get some sense of her experience.

Holy crap.

This stuff is strong. And I can't articulate it either but wow...it was like a super fast super high where I could actually feel my body racing up. For about five hours I felt so weird. Good parts, I felt happy and uber focused on getting stuff done. I could clean my whole 3000 square foot house in about two hours. I was chatty and felt good. But part of it was weird-I felt like I was like, "outside myself"? If that makes any sense? I didn't feel like me.
I wasn't hungry at all...in fact, the thought of eating was got tally unappealing. I couldn't imagine eating. I literally wouldn't take a bite of anything. I was incredibly thirsty. My stomach felt awful, nauseous in a way I can't describe.
And then wow, the crash. Hour 6 I literally felt my whole body slow down. Like I could feel it actually slow down like you feel a car slow down while driving. I was so tired, I couldn't stay awake. I laid on my bed for an hour, but my mind was awake (my body was totally exhausted). My head was pounding.
I finally now feel back to normal.

So yeah.... Experiment complete. I don't have any idea whether our experiences were the same, but boy I will never "poo poo" her comments about these meds again. This is serious stuff. And this is the intro dose!!

I don't know how I feel about these meds anymore.