TeenHelp - ADHD medication

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Hi, I know your not doctors. Just looking for opinions and support.

I am an adult. I am prescribed a stimulant. I am not new to stimulants. I have taken them on and off for 4 years now. I was just wondering do most people get cold feet when taking a stimulant?

Its weird and interesting to me that two different stimulants make me feel totally different. I was on and off vyvanse (only as needed) for about 4 years. Two hours after taking it I could take a nap. I could take vyvanse any time in the day and be able to sleep at night.
I am now trying concerta and it feels so much stronger. I can not take a nap on it. I took it at 11 am and when it was bed time I could NOT sleep at all and got very sweaty. Any one else experienced this or similar??

Any body else feel taking another psychiatric drug like an antidepressant for example with a stimulant helps you not get depressed on the days you don't take it and helps you be able to sleep?

I'm going to start buspar soon at night. I feel maybe taking buspar at night and concerta in the morning will help me be able to sleep vs taking concerta alone and not being able to sleep.

Because concerta caused me to not be able to sleep and caused me to sweat at night I have not tried it again. I think ill try it again once the buspar has been in my system for a few days.

Thoughts? opinions ??

Re: ADHD medication

Hey there,

Some people are hesitant to take stimulants because of their potential for abuse and possible side effects. Some individuals report that they make them feel flat, emotionless, or robotic, while others report that they make them anxious, or, as you describe, unable to sleep. They tried me on stimulants when I was a kid, but they were never much good for me. I got off them and eventually started Strattera, which is an SNRI that can be used for the treatment of ADHD.

I can't give you any specific medical advice here, but I encourage you to talk to your doctor about the side effects you're experiencing with Concerta! They might be able to adjust your dosage or put you on a different med that doesn't keep you up. :) It might be worth asking your doctor about some non-stimulant options for ADHD, like Strattera or Wellbutrin, if you find that stimulants are giving you too much trouble. Sometimes these medications can also help with depression.

I hope this helps a tiny bit! Sorry I can't be of more help!

All the best,
Kylie

Re: ADHD medication

thanks for replying. No one else has yet :( Any ways thanks for sharing your experience. I also wanted to maybe try strattera but unsure. I heard it takes like a month to work. Right now I don't feel like trying anything new. No cold feet today when i tried concerta again.

Re: ADHD medication

I don't have the energy to research those specific meds right now (I did take an advanced college bio elective on drugs though).

But different stimulants have different mechanisms. Even within the same drug class, there are differences (like how effectively the drug binds to receptors, how long it works, how long it takes the body to break it down, etc). So it's not unusual to have different effects foe different meds.

As already mentioned, talk to your doctor about this.

Also do NOT take antidepressants with ADHD meds without first discussing this with your doctor. That interaction could be very dangerous, depending on which specific meds you're combining and other factors. Same with anxiety meds and alcohol.

Re: ADHD medication

Hey I take concerta for my ADHD etc and it seems to like make me really sleepy I used to take concerta as a child too but was recently put back on it as I asked my pyschiatrist to like put me back on it etc