confz

Hi. I'm a first time poster. The reason I post is because I've searched the internet for many months looking for people with the similar problem with no results. This is a problem I and my doctor are working on but have run out of solutions. Here it begins:

1.5 years ago (I'mm 22 years old now) I was diagnosed with ADHD. I had been taking medications for depression many years before that, including Efexor and Zoloft and others. When I was diagnosed, I was prescribed 5mg of Ritalin 3 times a day. With it, I took Zoloft, 1.5 tablets x 50mg a day. The first day was difficult, my anxiety worsened but over a weekend it subsided and by Monday I was a new man. Something wonderful had happened as I suddenly could concentrate, sit tight, talk on the phone without walking around and overall feeling great! My grades at University soared, got much better than I ever got in college (I'm studying Electrical and Computer Engineering). It was a wonderful time. This positive effect remained unchanged over at least a 2 month period, probably more. During this period I skipped 0.5 tablets of Zoloft a day because it made me tired, so I was taking 0.5mg ritalin and 50mg of Zoloft. Now, gradually over time, the effects subsided. I tried taking more ritalin (10mg, 15,mg, 20mg) 3-5 times a day but that only made it worse. I switched from taking Zoloft to taking Noritren, a very small dosage, I don't remember the size exactly. It did nothing. I started Efexor 2x37,5mg tablets a day and again, nothing. The positive effects of the treatment slowly disappeared, although the fidgetitiveness( is that a word?) never came back.
Now recently, I got a girlfriend. Due to the side effect of Efexor (delayed ejaculation) I quit using it altogether for a period of 1.5 weeks but continued taking ritalin as ever.
Now comes the interesting part. I got very anxious and depressed when I stopped Efexor, so after 1.5 weeks I resumed taking it. Then suddenly, after 1 or 2 days, things fell in place! My concentration got way up and every ADHD symptom disappeared completely. I was again, a new man. But... after about 5 days, the effects wore off and disappeared completely. I ran to my doctor to tell him what had happened, and together we tried both upping the dosage of Effexor to 375mg a day and decreasing it to 37,5 mg a day. Nothing positive happened. Then I tried stopping it again, for maybe 6 days. When I started it again the positive effects again appeared, but to a lesser extent and only for a day or two.
Now I had become obsessed with this. I tried various combos, more Noritren, Cipralex, Effexor Depot, more Ritalin. Nothing.
Then we tried Wellbutrin 150mg extended release (Zyban) 1x a day for a week and then 2x a day after that and stopped all other medications. Suddenly, again (it only took one day) the positive effects appeared again and my ADHD symtops was a goner. I was yet again, a new man. Exams are closing in so I was a happy man. Then again, it started wearing off. And I got a nasty panic attack (very nasty) and my doc presribed to me 37,5 mg Efexor to taper it down. Now, my Wellbutrin has stopped working and my ADHD symptoms came back. I've tried taking a very small amount of ritalin ( <3mg ) with it but it makes my symptoms worse.
What is happening?????????????? Why does it always go away! My doctor treats about 400 people with ADHD but has never seen anything like this! Tomorrow I will be taking Strattera, but I fear the same thing, cause Strattera is a Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor just like Efexor (and to a lesser extent, Wellbutrin). I'm out of ideas. This is so frustrating. It's almost worse than if I didn't know I had ADHD. Btw. Adderall is not available at my location.

So if anyone has had a similar experience, please respond! This is my cry for help. Thank you. Sorry for the lengthy post.

[This message has been edited by confz (edited 04-03-2003).]