MORE CHANGES TO MEDICATION DOSE! GRRRRR!

[DANA]

My BIGGEST challenge with doctors and psychiatrists is that they do NOT listen to their patients. Why do professionals think that they know everything and why do they refuse to pay attention to our needs and what we share with them?

Just because I have been diagnosed with ADHD does NOT imply that I am lacking wisdom, knowledge, intelligence or common sense! If anything else, I am more so understanding my condition, reading about it, learning more about it and becoming quite knowledgeable about ADHD.

I am taking the generic form of Adderall, I have been on it for three months and it is my very first time. I have NEVER tried the original form of Adderall so all I know is the generic form of this medication.

Keeping that in mind, I have been taking 20 mg Adderall one time daily for three months. I do feel that the 20 mg is working well and I am happy with it. Just a few days ago, I went for my appointment with my psychiatrist. My psychiatrist decided that I should be taking Adderall twice a day, instead of only once.

I am fine with that, but what I disagreed with my psychiatrist is that she wants me to take ONLY 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg in the early afternoon. My body is used to taking the dose 20 mg so I personally believe that I need to stay on this dose and that I should NOT decrease my dosage.

In my opinion, if my psychiatrist wants me to increase how many times per day that I take Adderall, that is perfectly fine. However, I should stay at the same dosage by taking 20 mg Adderall in the morning and 20 mg Adderall in the early afternoon. To me, this makes good common sense. I believe that it is worth a try, but my psychiatrist disagrees with me.

I explained how I felt about the decrease in dosage, but my psychiatrist refused to increase the dose for my prescription. This is so frustrating for me. I understand that she is very conservative with medication, but it makes no common sense to decrease the dosage of Adderall that I have already gotten used to at 20 mg.

I try to keep an open mind and cooperate with my psychiatrist. I did attempt to try the Adderall by taking 10 mg in the morning and taking 10 mg in the early afternoon. However, in all reality, this dosage is TOO LOW. My body is not responding as well to the decreased dosage and I personally feel that this change in my medication is not advantageous or beneficial for me.

My psychiatrist wants me to follow this new change in dosage for one solid month, but I am very disappointed and I do not want to waste one entire month or risk getting messed up with the wrong dosage.

Any suggestions? Should I go with the flow for one month or should I contact my psychiatrist after one week and explain that this dosage is too low and that I need an increase?

[Jeremy Dyer]

I can sympathize with you, and you psychiatrist. Although I have never met either of you before I understand where both of you are coming from. For you, I am in the same boat, I have tried explaining my situation to 7 individuals in the past 10 weeks and not one of them has actually helped me one bit! One person says to do this and go see this person, then that person says the opposite and cancels what the first person did and it just goes on and on. I just want something to be implemented and I just want it to work, likewise I would like for them to listen to me. The first 4 people I talked to didn't listen to me at all, I ended up being under involuntary admission in a psychiatric ward for 2.5 weeks and it was absolute hell. Since then no one knows why I was admitted or understands the previous doctor notes.

Now, about you meds, I am on adderall xr, and I am presuming that is what you are talking about and I would suggest that you do some researching on it if you haven't already. When I looked at it for myself I had come across the max perscribable doseage, being 30mg and the lasted effect to be from 8-12 hrs. So first thing that comes to mind when I read your story is that the doctor cannot safely perscribe that much med. For a suggestion as to how to rectify this might be to ask for a 20 mg doseage for the morning and then a 10 mg for the evening, keeping it still low and it wont build up into a overwhelming amount. Also to keep in mind is the basic chem compund - amphetamine, this will most likely keep you up since its 50% the same chem as speed and the other 50% is a derivative of speed.

Hope you luck out soon, I hate waiting as well :)

[DANA]

Hi Jeremy!

I want to mention that I am not taking Adderall XR, but I am taking the generic form of regular Adderall that lasts about 5-6 hours. This information may change your response to my previous post. Let me know what you think.

Next, I wanted to say that I am so ticked off at the fact that 7 professionals have NOT taken the time to listen to you in the past 10 weeks. Jeremy, it is NOT your fault. Trust me, I totally sympathize with you and your situation.

In all respect to your situation, what the hell are these professionals thinking and doing????? OH, MY GOD, I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN THE LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM, THE LACK OF CARING, THE LACK OF SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PROFESSIONALS AND THE LACK OF PUTTING INTO PLACE THE CORRECT TREATMENT PLAN TO ADDRESS YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS!

Jeremy, if you are feeling the least bit agitated, frustrated or totally overwhelmed with these 7 so-called professionals, I totally feel for you! If it were me in your shoes, I would be highly upset, not to mention, ready to file a written complaint to the individual in charge.

Jeremy, how did you end up in an "involuntary admission in a psychiatric ward for 2.5 weeks" and how did you get discharged? Most importantly, did you receive the proper treatment and how are you presently doing?

I am enraged that this happened to you, that these professionals are not listening to you, that you were INVOLUNTARILY admitted to a psych unit for 2.5 weeks and that these idiots do NOT understand the doctors notes! (Excuse me, professionals, but where did you get your college degree?)

Just between you and me, I would be filing a complaint to this institution, I would be seeking an advocate to get help and I would definitely look for a new psychiatrist. This lack of professionalism in the mental health system should NOT be tolerated.

I pray that you may find a top quality psychiatrist who is capable of providing you with excellent care and treatment. You deserve better treatment and it is your right to consider checking into all of your options to receive it.