Checking in

So, it's been a while since I put up a post. I have decided for the time being not to seek medical attention for my ADHD. Not because I don't want a cure, but because I lost faith in my doctor's ability to treat me.

We had tried several medications none of which worked for me. I had bad reactions to all of the stimulants and the nonstimulant meds just didn't work at all.

It got to the point where he was suggesting I try this or that, but only because he didn't know what to do, he had little faith that anything was going to work for me. The last straw was he wanted to try some really expensive meds and send me for a sleep evaluation. The cost of the evaluation was well into the thousands, and it seemed to me it would be unlikely to turn anything up anyway.

So, since the early spring I haven't been on drugs. I manage things better now than I did before I knew about my condition. If I have a bad day I take a caffeine pill, or drink a coke. It seems to work out most of the time, and is gentle on my system.

Update April

I've been on Concerta for a while now. I was on 3 18mg pills per day, but it was a bit too much for me. I felt a bit too hyper for my own comfort. I am now taking 2 per day and I feel pretty good except if I have a large amount of sweets or caffeine in which case I get really hyper and it become a negative rather than positive for me.

If I watch my diet, I feel pretty good with my use of the product. I have been better about keeping myself going on projects and I can see that I am a better employee. I have also noticed I don't self medicate with caffeine or sugar products. I may have even lost a pound or two.

I am going to continue with the product, but I am sickened by the cost (about $500 per month). I have high deductible insurance so it hurts until I hit my deductible.

Have a great day.

More news

So, I've been taking Concerta for a month now. 18mg x 2 for about a month. I like it well enough. I was getting decent results, but felt a bit hyper at times. Talked to the doc and he decided to up the dose to 18mg x 3 per day to see if it helps. Today is the first day of the higher dose and I felt a bit jumpy for my tastes. On the plus side, I've been getting a lot of work done.

I got my original prescription with a coupon that gave me 42 pills for free. This latest scrip I had to run through insurance. I asked the pharmacist how much it was without insurance and it was over $500 for 120 pills. I don't know how people afford this stuff at $500 per month! It's not like this is cancer medication!

Another side bar, I have to go get an EKG and Lipid test because sudden cardiac death is a potential side effect for this drug. Oh great, now my heart is going to explode.

Apparently I am on the borderline as far as my age is concerned as to if I needed to get the EKG or not. I'm not terribly concerned, I have a great heart with the exception of a slightly irregular beat from time to time.

Up Next

Went to the Dr. on Thursday and got a new drug to try out. I'm on Concerta now. I got a free trial coupon from my doc. It's a slow release rittalin variant. I am hopeful as I had good results with rittalin before. I just started taking it today, and it was a pretty good day, although I just sat around the house. It seemed to take a while longer to kick in, but kept working until later in the evening. I can take up to 4 a day and thing I will likely end up taking a couple.

I'll keep you posted

I quit

I stopped taking Stratterra. We just didn't get along. I don't know, maybe it will help other people, it seems to be a strong drug. Strong enough to mess me up three ways from Sunday.

The worst of it was the sleeplessness and along with that, the messed up dreams. Here are a few highlights. Mind you because you don't sleep well, you have a certain level of consciousness in your dreams which I am sure isn't a good thing for your psyche.

I had one dream that if I fell asleep I would die. You know what happens next right? I dies in my dream which is just all sorts of messed up because everyone knows you're not supposed to die in your dreams ever right?? Well as I was plunged into a dark silent abyss of death, I was somewhat conscious of my dream even though I was asleep. I freaked out and tried to wake up, and for, I don't know 30 seconds or so I couldn't wake up! Finally I popped awake to find I had produced enough sweat and adrenalin for a whole basketball team.

The other dream was that I was talking in some sort of broken gibberish, but not just nonsensical noise, almost a language, it kind of made sense, but again in my semi sleep state I consciously knew that the human mind wasn't really capable of coming up with this kind of organized gibberish which mad em think that I was being possessed by demons. Fun stuff.

Oh, and then their was the one when I was driving in a full on apocalyptic snowstorm, trying to get somewhere that was really important, life and death kind of important, and while my car was doing a remarkable job of driving through 3 foot deep snow, the damn thing kept turning off as I was driving meaning I had to fiddle with the key to get it to run again, the whole time frantically trying to get somewhere which strangely enough wound up being Microcenter?!?!?

Anyway, I'm dine with the pills and I see my Dr. today to see what's next.

I should also point out that just because you quit Stratterra doesn't mean it has quit you. Things are better, but I still know it's at work in my brain doing fun things, especially when I'm trying to sleep. I've also noticed I'm rather agitated since quitting.

Straterra Part 2

So, I still haven't had a good night's sleep since starting Straterra about 2 weeks ago. I have been taking some sleep aids I picked up at the grocery store, but they don't seem to do much of anything to make me tired. I have another appointment later this week, and I hope the Doc has something better for me to try.

I am now at the 80mg dosage and for the first half of the day I was an absolute zombie. I take the meds at night to avoid the side effects, but since it has a long half life, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I feel disoriented, dizzy, and I think I can feel my brain freaking out a little.

The drug has done nothing to improve my life, and in fact I'd say I'm worse off than I was before I started taking it. I can't concentrate on anything and I find myself nodding off frequently. I should point out that the drug often takes several weeks to show positive signs, but from what I've been able to gather it works best at tempering the more "hyper" issues of which I have, but keep in check pretty well. I need help with the concentrating and attention part of the problem. I think if you were hyper this drug would bring you down. If you were a rampaging elephant this drug would bring you down!

Anyway, I have to go contemplate witting Eli Lilly a nasty letter.

Update-been a while

I went back on Straterra after the holidays and it has not been good to me. Straterra is a non-stimulant medication originally used to treat depression, but it didn't really work for that application and supposedly works for about 75% of ADHD patients. It is a stepped plan in which you take progressively larger doses up to 80 mg, I am on the third step of four and I have to say I am not happy. Apparently it take a while to begin to work (a few weeks) and in the beginning there is a higher likelihood of side effects until you level out so to speak.

I have been enjoying all sorts of fun side effects. It made me tired and spacey. I even had to go home one day. I changed from taking it in the morning to taking it at night as I had heard some people do better with the side effects (you sleep though them). Apparently it also causes insomnia. I haven't had a good night of sleep in 4 days. Last night was ridiculous. I was up most of the night, and had the weirdest dreams.

I'd like to say screw it and go back to taking something else, but I have decided to stick it out at least until my next appointment in a week or two in the hopes the side effects will wear off and maybe the actual beneficial part of the drug will begin to work! Right now, I'm a spaced out tired zombie.