ADD ADHD

[whereismike]

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and after looking back on my life and seeing the impact it has had on me I'm very sad in fact I'm crying right now.  I am in the process of finding an ADHD coach here in Boston.  

I started 200mg Provigil and felt a little "out of it" or "foggy" I had stopped and just got back on 100mg of Bupropion and .5 Clonopen.   So I stopped the Provigil.

Has anyone withADD - ADHD had any luck with any other medications or treatments?
Any information on coaching or medications would be GREATLY helpful.
I'm very distressed about ADHD and am desperate.

Thank you.

[SeaStar]

There is a really good book : Refuse to choose

which is made for ADD people. The woman who wrote it
refers to our "brain style" as "scanners" rather than put
a negative label on ADD and pathologizing it, she has
this positive view.

She talks about choosing careers and hobbies and things
and just accepting the way we are rather than trying
to fit the "normal" mold of societyl

I have tried Adderal, Dexidrine, Ritalin but I actually
found that over the counter Pseudafed is consistently the best
except if I take too much it keeps me up at night.
I guess there is a reason they made it illegal! LOL.
if it is the same as those other ADD drugs which are heavy
hitters.

Good luck with every thing.

[SeaStar]

And ADD coach is a good idea. There are different ones and they have different approaches.
It is good just to get educated about ADD and learn "how your brain works".

I used one for over a year and I learned a lot, but I did not come to any conclusions about my career goals.
Well, I did kinda, but then I had a hard time accepting them. Making changes can be hard.

I will see if this will let me post and then I may write some more.  Peace, S

[BlueEyedStorm]

Any recommendations from the forum doctor, Dr. R. Gould would be greatly appreciated about anything I've said above.  
Mike, I hope I don't scare you off.  I know this forum is getting very full, so if you want to chat some more go to:
  http://www.medications.com/se/adderall
This is an online medication discussion resource.  You can leave a post, reply to people or send them private mail.

[BlueEyedStorm]

So, yeah.  I think that you should always start at the lowest dose possible at first.  I see this Dr every two weeks or so.  And I still have a lot of work to do, with getting my life on track and I also must get a report from this doctor saying that I have AD/HD, and stating that I don't have what I have been accused of having in the past, and I am getting treated for it, and the progress and so on.  So, I am going to him for legal reasons as well as getting my life on track.  The legal reasons are so that social services will never treat me the way they did the next time I have a baby.  I will have turned my life around, and I will be able to stick up for myself better in court or perhaps they might even grow a few brain cells from now and then and they won't interfere with nature again.  See, in Canada(where I live), they don't have many specialists in AD/HD.  Online, I looked up AD/HD training and referral services, and got referred to him.(he is American actually)  I have to travel two cities next to mine to see him but it is definately worth it.
The dosage of Adderall XR now is 25mg and which I start 30 mg tomarrow.  And I am taking 150mg of Wellbutrin XL.  He wanted me to try 300mg which I did, but had some uncomfortable symptoms so I take 150mg.  And I take Prozac every third day which I believe he will want me off someday.

So I guess Clonopen is a tranquilizer?  I could tell you some horror stories about those............. but not right now.  Anyhow, I have been on and off, (but mostly on) an amphetamine since age 17, prescribed that is.  I experimented with Acid, pot and hash at age 17, and I started to get anxiety attacks, (I STOPPED TAKING THE DRUGS!) and one night I also had a very weird experience.......my music on the radio started to play really fast, like it was techno music, but it was actually rap music.  It scared the heck out of me knowing that I had not done the drugs a few days ago......I was thinking....am I going to be permanently messed up?  So, I saw a psychiatrist and I was diagnosed with AD/HD.  I was prescribed Dexedrine and Prozac. Now he told me that I would take Prozac because Dexedrine can sometimes give people some nervousness.  So the next day, I knew Dexedrine was a miracle drug because I could actually listen to what the teacher was saying, study, learn, focus, keep info. in my brain and have conversations with people,without forgetting what I was about to say!  It was amazing.  From that point on, I knew that I had a brain and in that brain there was actually a high level of intelligence.  Before the meds, I had always thought I was dumb.
Anyways, good luck with your medication and your couching session.  I think I'm going to go to sleep now, I think I have written enough for a week!...lol.........take care Mike.

[BlueEyedStorm]

Hello Mike.  And your welcome.  
I am 29 years old and have no career currently.  There are just too many careers that I would want to do, I don't know what to do.  But, my medication is finally starting to work again because I am seeing a psychiatrist who specializes in AD/HD.  I have been seeing him since August of this year.  After social services took away my infant, I figured it was time to get my life together.  I have gone through SO MUCH because of my AD/HD and because of the doctors who did not know what the heck they were doing.  This man knows exactly what AD/HD is,  and the symptoms, so he is not going to say that I have bi-polar disorder, schizophonic disorder or some other **** like that.  It is completely ridiculous, the labels they put on people.  They can say you have a personality disorder because you don't dress right for f---s sake.  Pardon my language but it angers me.
And how many have I gone to or how many do I need to?  Well, right now we are just trying to get the proper dose that is effective in that it helps me focus and motivates me but yet I'm not spun.

[whereismike]

Hello and thank you for your message it is VERY helpful.

As a matter of fact I'm seeing an AD/HD coach tomorrow.  He isn't cheap and doesn't take insurance.  How many sessions did you need to have or did you go weekly to your AD/HD specialist.  I assume he/she was a Dr. of some sort and How did you find the coach?

I did try Dexedrine and Adderall in the past but felt to anxious... maybe the dose was too hight.  I'll see what the Dr. tomorrow says.  I'm hopeful this Dr. will understand and be able to help me.

Frustrated? dude my dad and brother are world famous doctors and I'm 34 and have amounted to about a buck fifty.. so yeah I'm pretty frustrated.   Have worked in many careers and have had many relationships.  I am reading ADD by Thomas Brown PhD and I see myself in the book a lot.

I'm currently on 100 Bupropion bid and 0.5mg Clonopen  Qam

[BlueEyedStorm]

ADD and ADHD can be VERY, VERY frusterating.  Take it from me.  I know.  And so can trying different medications.  I have never heard of Provigil.  Very common medications for adult AD/HD are Dexedrine and Adderall.  They seem to be very effective for a lot of people, if taken only at the prescribed dose.  But I think that people with AD/HD need a counselor or AD/HD couch to help them with their planning in life, goal setting, follow-through and to just sort of puth them along positively.
You should Google these meds, and talk to your doctor about them.  
I have ADD and I have been very frusterated, to say the least, for a number of years.  This frusteration would have been little to none if I had of gone to a specialist someone who specializes in AD/HD is paramonut to getting help.  I was seeing my family doctor, big mistake, now
I see a specialist.  Good luck

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You may be very sensitive to Provigil, so instead of switching medications right away, ask your doctor about starting you on  a lower dose and see how that works first.