Just started on Adderall... A few questions

Okay, i'm 19, and in addition to the Adderall to treat ADHD i'm on 100mg of Zoloft, .5mg of Klonopin daily and .75mg of Klonopin every night to treat OCD and Generalized anxiety disorder. My psychiatrist is very confident I have ADHD, and unlike most people who think it means just being hyper and not focused, its much more than that. I get constant mood swings from excitable when I am seeking stimulation, however when I don't have a task that provides excitement, I immediately get depressed, but restless at the same time. Its an awful feeling.... I just feel so out of control... I feel like I could almost be a little bipolar, but my doctor does not think so. I work 9-5, and when I am in a structured environment, i am perfectly fine, however, as soon as I leave the structured environment all hell breaks loose in my mind, my mood goes from perfectly fine to miserable.

Anyway I started on Adderall two days ago... .5mg 3x a day for 5 days, then 10mg for a week, then to 15mg. The first pill I took made me more hyper which was sort of strange. The second pill I took didn't seem to do anything. However the final pill I took with a cup of coffee and I felt SOOO Relaxed and at ease... and really happy.... Has anyone else experienced it? It seems so weird stimulant would do that.... If anyone else has any advice/ share their experiences with Adderall that would be great!

Hi there.

Anyway I started on Adderall two days ago... .5mg 3x a day for 5 days, then 10mg for a week, then to 15mg. The first pill I took made me more hyper which was sort of strange. The second pill I took didn't seem to do anything. However the final pill I took... [snip...]

Since you're taking a sedative, it's possible that the effectiveness of the adderall will prove hard to assess at 5mg (I'm not a doctor, though, and just speculating here). I would continue taking it as your doctor instructed and wait until you can say for certain how it makes you feel, one way or the other. I would imagine that it should not be hard to identify how it effects you, provided that the dosage is correct. That's how it was for me when I first started taking it. If you're unsure right now, it's possible that you haven't hit the right dosage level yet.

My own experience: For the most part, adderall tends to help me relax by improving my prioritization and decision-making, which in turn helps me feel more at ease about my circumstances. For me - and this is different for everyone, I think - it can increase anxiety at times, but that's rare and usually only happens during flareups in family conflict. For some reason, that's the only time when stims increase my anxiety. I've met people who claim to only be able to relax while on their meds, purely due to the physical sensation it causes. Personally, I hardly notice any physical effects at all from it, save for a lack of appetite.

I've been taking Adderall for about 4 years and I've noticed a huge improvement. I know what it's like to have everyone think that "there's nothing wrong with you" and that you just "don't pay attention" year after year. I finally sought out answers at 25, and was diagnosed.

Within an hour after taking it, I notice that Adderall helps me to get "in the zone." I feel a rush of ambition and motivation. This is why I take it around 10am. I work 8am to 4pm, and when I would take it first thing in the morning, it would wear off too early. This would leave me sitting there not feeling like getting anything done. When I take it at 10am, it carries me through to the end of the day, and I can focus and get more done. I also notice that I feel very happy and even more talkative once it kicks in

I also take Zoloft for OCD and anxiety (as well as Wellbutrin)! We have some things in common, lol

sabrdawg wrote:I've been taking Adderall for about 4 years and I've noticed a huge improvement. I know what it's like to have everyone think that "there's nothing wrong with you" and that you just "don't pay attention" year after year. I finally sought out answers at 25, and was diagnosed.

Within an hour after taking it, I notice that Adderall helps me to get "in the zone." I feel a rush of ambition and motivation. This is why I take it around 10am. I work 8am to 4pm, and when I would take it first thing in the morning, it would wear off too early. This would leave me sitting there not feeling like getting anything done. When I take it at 10am, it carries me through to the end of the day, and I can focus and get more done. I also notice that I feel very happy and even more talkative once it kicks in

I also take Zoloft for OCD and anxiety (as well as Wellbutrin)! We have some things in common, lol

I think it's just easier to get interested in other people. I get interested in subjects I don't know anything about and research them endlessly - seems like the same thing happens with conversations. It's just easier with adderall. Before I started taking the stuff, I had near zero motivation, hardly ever read anything, never bothered to research stuff that caught my attention, and very rarely talked to people I didn't already know. It's a nice change.

Thanks guys! good to know there are other people dealing with the very same thing Today I havent noticed any difference on the adderall at all, but I'll have to wait and see how things work. I Know a lot of you with ADHD, have trouble focusing and hyperactivity, but does anyone else get major mood swings from hour to hour, (like really excitable, then all of a sudden very depressed?) I know that's a less common symptom of ADHD but that is my issue, especially with transitions throughout the day. Thats why I alway thought I could be mildly bipolar... I think they call it cyclothymia... Any thoughts?

-- Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:37 pm --

lilnumber9 wrote:

sabrdawg wrote:I've been taking Adderall for about 4 years and I've noticed a huge improvement. I know what it's like to have everyone think that "there's nothing wrong with you" and that you just "don't pay attention" year after year. I finally sought out answers at 25, and was diagnosed.

Within an hour after taking it, I notice that Adderall helps me to get "in the zone." I feel a rush of ambition and motivation. This is why I take it around 10am. I work 8am to 4pm, and when I would take it first thing in the morning, it would wear off too early. This would leave me sitting there not feeling like getting anything done. When I take it at 10am, it carries me through to the end of the day, and I can focus and get more done. I also notice that I feel very happy and even more talkative once it kicks in

I also take Zoloft for OCD and anxiety (as well as Wellbutrin)! We have some things in common, lol

I think it's just easier to get interested in other people. I get interested in subjects I don't know anything about and research them endlessly - seems like the same thing happens with conversations. It's just easier with adderall. Before I started taking the stuff, I had near zero motivation, hardly ever read anything, never bothered to research stuff that caught my attention, and very rarely talked to people I didn't already know. It's a nice change.

I've always been the type of person who is overly outgoing when I am on a rush and then at times anti-social when I am feeling down... I hope this levels me out

I do tend to get some weird mood shifts when unmedicated - I think it has more to do with sensory overload, though. I dunno if it's the same thing you're describing, but I tend to go from hypervigilant (I dunno if I'm using that term right, but I mean easily startled / distracted by noises/lights/shiny objects) to lethargic and depressed. I will say that hasn't totally vanished after starting on adderall, but it's dramatically less of a problem now than it used to be.

lilnumber9 wrote:I do tend to get some weird mood shifts when unmedicated - I think it has more to do with sensory overload, though. I dunno if it's the same thing you're describing, but I tend to go from hypervigilant (I dunno if I'm using that term right, but I mean easily startled / distracted by noises/lights/shiny objects) to lethargic and depressed. I will say that hasn't totally vanished after starting on adderall, but it's dramatically less of a problem now than it used to be.

Yeah my mood shifts tend to be more like on one "everything is great I love the world, I want to go and do all sorts of stuff at once, getting really excited." In this phase I tend to be really confident in myself, Overly outgoing (constant talking) and am able to complete tasks I want to complete, but have trouble doing things i don't like. There are really no triggers for this sudden happiness and excitement. On other end of the spectrum I get really depressed and anxious at the same time, like at the end of a work day going home, (going from constant stimulation to nothingness) I struggle to maintain the "high" that I earlier had. During this time my mind wanders all over the place, I become a couch potato and am unable to do anything, I lose a bunch of confidence in myself and feel really down. However sometimes this feeling just comes at random times, like if I'm doing something with friends, I'm having a good time, and all of a sudden it hits me... Its just so weird and frustrating. Not many people seem to have this.

mbenz4ever wrote:Yeah my mood shifts tend to be more like on one "everything is great I love the world, I want to go and do all sorts of stuff at once, getting really excited." In this phase I tend to be really confident in myself, Overly outgoing (constant talking) and am able to complete tasks I want to complete, but have trouble doing things i don't like. There are really no triggers for this sudden happiness and excitement. On other end of the spectrum I get really depressed and anxious at the same time, like at the end of a work day going home, (going from constant stimulation to nothingness) I struggle to maintain the "high" that I earlier had. During this time my mind wanders all over the place, I become a couch potato and am unable to do anything, I lose a bunch of confidence in myself and feel really down. However sometimes this feeling just comes at random times, like if I'm doing something with friends, I'm having a good time, and all of a sudden it hits me... Its just so weird and frustrating. Not many people seem to have this.

That does sound like what happens to me - I get the sensory overload thing because of how tightly wound I am when I get excited. I also tend to get really hair-brained and have trouble sticking to just one subject, or doing just one task for long. It's a lot like how a squirrel must feel when it's looking for buried acorns. When you say the downturns come at just random times, might it be that you aren't finding whatever your doing as satisfying as you expected? Like, you get excited at first, but over time you start feeling apathetic about it because it's not catching your interest quite as strongly as you think it should? If so, I used to get that a lot; I first started noticing it when I'd go out to play billiards; after about an hour of playing, I'd get really bored and depressed because I wasn't enjoying it as much as I thought I should have, though I always felt really excited about playing when the game began.

lilnumber9 wrote:

mbenz4ever wrote:Yeah my mood shifts tend to be more like on one "everything is great I love the world, I want to go and do all sorts of stuff at once, getting really excited." In this phase I tend to be really confident in myself, Overly outgoing (constant talking) and am able to complete tasks I want to complete, but have trouble doing things i don't like. There are really no triggers for this sudden happiness and excitement. On other end of the spectrum I get really depressed and anxious at the same time, like at the end of a work day going home, (going from constant stimulation to nothingness) I struggle to maintain the "high" that I earlier had. During this time my mind wanders all over the place, I become a couch potato and am unable to do anything, I lose a bunch of confidence in myself and feel really down. However sometimes this feeling just comes at random times, like if I'm doing something with friends, I'm having a good time, and all of a sudden it hits me... Its just so weird and frustrating. Not many people seem to have this.

That does sound like what happens to me - I get the sensory overload thing because of how tightly wound I am when I get excited. I also tend to get really hair-brained and have trouble sticking to just one subject, or doing just one task for long. It's a lot like how a squirrel must feel when it's looking for buried acorns. When you say the downturns come at just random times, might it be that you aren't finding whatever your doing as satisfying as you expected? Like, you get excited at first, but over time you start feeling apathetic about it because it's not catching your interest quite as strongly as you think it should? If so, I used to get that a lot; I first started noticing it when I'd go out to play billiards; after about an hour of playing, I'd get really bored and depressed because I wasn't enjoying it as much as I thought I should have, though I always felt really excited about playing when the game began.

Exactly. Its like if I didn't seek this constant stimulation I would be depressed all the time. It seems like certain things give me a high. As I mentioned, I have a lot of other issues going on at the same time, certain health issues in the family, fighting, having to move out of college and commute because of OCD, and anxiety.... a lot at once. And this stimulation includes, buying things, loud music, doing projects, working and stuff like that to cover up all the other stuff that's going on. Like socially I've always been that person who gets a ton of acquaintances, but then abandons them. I often try to be and act like a person I am not, but someone I would like to be. I act up and draw attention to myself socially and inflate my ego just to fulfill that need for excitement. (But i've never been a trouble-maker). Then as soon as I leave an environment that provides that stimulation I sort of slip back to reality, restlessly searching for something else.

I need constant stimulation or else I get really bored lol. Video games are very therapeutic for me. They allow my brain to go at light speed, while giving me a calm feeling at the same time. So they're kind of like a stimulant in themselves