Tolerant to Meds?

[Dee caraballo]

I suspected long ago that I was ADHD but all the psychiatrists just wanted to treat my depression.  So I self-medicated with 2 pots of coffee a day and 6-8 cokes.  I have finally found someone who is willing to at least try so he started me off with 10mg of Adderall (by the way I'm 46), twice a day.  The first day I was shaky, but the second day the fog lifted and I felt like I could actually accomplish something.  I could concentrate and I could start a project and complete it without losing myself in a thousand different tangents.  But by the end of the week, it was like I was taking nothing.  I won't say I was completely foggy again, but the focus just didn't seem to be there.

So we moved to 15 mg in the AM and 10mg in the PM.  Again, that worked ok for about two weeks.  The change wasn't anything like what I experienced on my first week at 10mg but it was still an improvement but after about two weeks it was, again, like I was taking nothing.  And I started drinking a ton of coffee again.  I upped the evening dosage myself to 15 but it didn't seem to make a difference.

I am now on 20 mg, 2x a day and don't see an improvement at all.  The only difference between my medicated self and my unmedicated self is that, while on meds, my explosive temper seems to be in check.  I still get angry but it's like I actually have time to think and decide whether to blow up that very second or wait a bit and blow up later (because I WILL blow up, just have to decide when!)  :)  I still daydream all the time but now my daydreams but at least I'm not hopping around from thought to thought.  I actually spend time thinking about solutions and connections, unlike before when I just flitted from concept to concept, never fleshing anything out.

Has anyone else experienced this?  Am I expecting too much of my meds?  Is the problem more one of retraining myself to actually think and move by refocusing myself rather than expecting that my brain will work like a "Normal" person's brain does?  I guess I just thought that I would have a normal brain underneath the fog.  I don't want to increase my dosage again if it's a matter of retraining myself OR of getting another med.  I was just wondering if anyone else had a tolerance to medications and what they did about it.

Thanks!

Dee

[doug puryear]

there can be tolerance to the meds, but i havent seen much of it.  if you read your note to yourself, it sounds like the medication is helping you a lot, but not in every way you would wish.  dr goodwin says ( i think he exaggerates a bit) that the purpose of the med is to help you focus enough to use the strategies.  some people need higher doese of the meds than the book says, one of the guidelines is whether you are getting side effects or not.

good luck

doug

[Amy T]

Dee,

Are you taking generic short acting Adderall?  It is evil!  I resorted to it when I was unemployed and it nearly ruined my life.  Adderall XR name brand always worked well for me, then I tried Vyvanse, also made by Shire.  I dont trust generic drugs after all the problems I've had.  I don't know how they're even on the market.  Then again, maybe one of the non stimulant drugs like Strattera would work better.  It wasn't for me, but some people swear by it!

[Dwee]

My doc told me to take weekends off to avoid building a tolerance to Adderal.  I recently started the 20 extended release and one 10 short acting in afternoon instead of 2x a day of the 10 short acting because recently started having afternoon crrrash sometimes (over year on it though. )  This took me up to 30 from 20.  I hope I can resist on weekends.  Maybe if you go off a few days you can get back on track and go off on weekends?   Easier said than done I realize....