NEW DRUGS FOR ADHD?

You are in my prayers. Wishing you health and happiness. God bless you.

I just found the below on a website and it's something you might want to talk to your doctor about. If you want to come off an amphetamine based drug, talk to your doctor first. My cousin went cold turkey by himself and ended up with severe withdraw and other bad side affects.

"Tricyclic antidepressants have also been shown to be helpful in treating ADHD symptoms, and may be helpful if stimulant medications are not successful, if stimulant medications produce unfavorable side effects, or if the child has concurrent symptoms of anxiety or depression. Newer antidepressants like Prozac and Wellbutrin may also be helpful, although less work documenting their effectiveness in treating ADHD has been conducted."

I hope this helps.

Kelly

thanks kelly, I think i am going to stick to the stimulant medication.....i will probably have to be on it my entire life....i tried to quitm cold turkey too, and it was awful for about 4 months.....also my symptoms of add returned. My question is...can you be on these medications for life? I did some research and from what i have found, it looks like that you can be.

I would talk to your doctor about that. I've been on Adderall since 2003 and my doctor has never mentioned me going offf ot it. I'm sure if there were long-term side effects he would have told me about them.

Unfortunately, my insurance company stopped covering Adderall this year. My doctor has to call them and make a case to get an exception so I can have it covered. It's stupid - why would my doctor prescribe me something that is not medically necessary?

I called the insurance company myself and they can't even tell me why they aren't covering it anymore. However, they are still covering the generic for Ritalin which I don't understand. And I can't take that as it makes me crazy sick.

If you're interested in Medical School then you should go. Become a great psychiatrist as we seem to be lacking those that think outside the box. I am lucky to have one of the good ones.

wow...since 2003...thats almost 10 years....sounds like your going to be on it for the rest of your life too. thanks for the post.
The bar is set pretty high when i am on my medication. I am high functioning, organized, and ADD symptom free when I am on medication. When I am off my medication, I am not as High functioning, organized and I have symptoms. All the years that I am on my medication, I establish a life for myself. When I am off my medication, I find that I cannot continue on with that life, because I am now untreated. My question is, should I seek medication and take it, creating a life that is only sustainable as long as my medication is continued. Or should I accept the symptoms of ADD, and accept a life that I can sustain without medication? The reason why I ask this is because, I have been taken off my medication before, and the life that i built with medication fell apart, and I was a different person, I found out I couldnt do the stuff I used to be able to do, and I couldn't maintain the life or lifestyle i was accustomed to while on medication.

I would absolutely talk to your doctor about it. I can't give advice on whether or not you should discontinue a medication. However, it sounds to me like you have a better life when you're on the medication. If this is how you feel and your doctor tells you you will be on medication for life (like I was told) then you just have to accept it and move on. Make sure you don't ever stop taking a medication without your doctor's permission as their could be severe withdrawl (sic) symptoms especially from Adderall. I had the stomach flu about a year ago and my morning dose went bye bye and for a whole day I had the worst migraine ever. My doctor said it was because of not taking the Adderall dose, or rather taking it but hurling it back up.

My brother on the other hand refuses to take his medication (he suffers from depression). Instead he exercises regularly, has become a vegetarian, and maintains a healthy lifestyle. The problem is he is absolutely miserable still but won't take the Zoloft the doctors want him to take. He is stubborn as hell and prefers to be miserable instead of taking medication. He is now a hermit with no friends who isolates and I worry about him constantly.

I am also Bipolar, so I take more than one medication. I hate that going to bed is a production. I have a cup and I have to count out my meds and take them all. I yearn for the days I could just go to bed when I'm tired, however I have no choice. Without my meds my life is miserable and out of control.

Just remember they are coming out with new drugs everyday. Someday they may have a replacement for adderall that is a non-stimulant. Hope for the best. Someday they might have a solution for me.

Have you tried (and I hope not to offend anyone) but have you tried diet changes and meeting with a holistic nutritionist? I am asking because in Canada where the food is abit different there is much less ADHD.

I am new to the treatment of ADHD, but the first drug my doc tried me on was strattera. If you can get past the side effects then it might be an option. It is a non stim and it is a norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor. it worked for me but I haven't been able to get to a therapeutic dose due to some side affects.

I've been on Adderall since i was in the 3rd grade (i dont know how old i was). I am now 28 yrs old (so i've been taking it for 20+ years) I stopped taking Adderall because i started abusing it about a year ago (Addiction to the drug is a common side effect) Now if i try to start taking it again i hear voices and just feel like i'm crazy, it no longer helps me.

I have been off the medication since Dec. 16th 2011.

I feel like i am having to relearn how to do everything not being on Adderall. I have little to no energy... and when i do have energy it's nothing like the energy i used to have. Not just energy... stamina, motivation, emotions, It hard to even do the simplest things now. My hobbies have even changed, i dont listen to the same music, i dont like the things i have enjoyed my entire life.

About 2 months ago I started researching long-term side effects of Adderall and online patient files / cases on adderall side-effects, both short-term and long-term. (Everything i'm about to say is from me researching the internet and should not be considered fact or medical advice, this is just my opinion on what i read).

There's no proven long-term side effects of adderall nor long-term studies to support long-term side effects (that's what my conclusion is after reading about it). I did keep reading about possible common/rare long-term side effects such as: ocd, Amphetamine-Induced Anxiety Disorder, Schizophrenia (diffrent person on and off the drug), Adderall-Induced Psychosis, body ticks, goal driven mindset, panic mode if your denied adderall when you suppose to take it...

The withdrawels are much more severe than i ever thought... the withdrawels are more psychological as they are physical. Stopping suddenly causes extreme fatigue, and severe, possible suicidal depression in adult patients. ***I'm quoting www.adderall.net right now...

I did enough research to determine it was in my best interest to go see a psychologist. I didnt know how much adderall manipulated the psychological / perception part of my brain or whatever... it scared the hell out of me the more i read.

if you want some articles and studies on this PM me and i'll try to find all of them... i delete my browsing history everytime i exit IE so i dont have them handy...

Here's a pretty cool website that explains it in better detail.
http://quittingadderall.com/how-adderall-works/