My husband was recently diagnosed with ADD. He started on Ritalin, which worked for the first 2 days. The doctor increased his dose to 2 20mg controlled-release pills per day, but there is still no improvement. He is a pretty big guy. How long does it usually take to arrive at an effective dose? We don't want to keep going to the doctor and asking for more drugs--we are not drug seekers, we just want the medication to help! Also, he crashes pretty rapidly when the pill wears off, and crashes pretty hard, right around 4-5 hours after he takes it. But if he overlaps, he crashes as soon as he gets home! Any ideas or suggestions I could pass on to the doc?

If he has went this long without medication why does he feel he needs them now? Maybe ask about trying strattera or wellbutrin, they last all day so theres no crash and they are non-stimulants which is obviously a plus.

In response to the previous reply, I was diagonosed at age 38 with ADD and started treatment. I would rather die than go without my meds I know many other adults who are diagnosed late in life feal the same way.

I know when I started my meds I was on Ritalin and I know it has a bad crash when they wore off. I remember back when I started it took over a month for my body to get back to a more even keal. It was a real adjustment for me. Now I am on Dexidrine (tablets) I like them much better they don't have such a crash when they wear off, I don't have to take as big a dose. I have been on them for 8 years now.

Rather DIE than go without your meds!?!?! OMG Markie thats horrible. Is your ADD very severe? What subtype do you have?

To WifeLooking4Answers -
There is another form of ritalin that lasts longer and has a less severe crash. It is called Concerta. It lasts 8-13 hours (supposed to last for 12) It comes on and wears off smoother than regular ritalin. It is controlled release so the medication is getting into the blood stream for the whole day (well 12 hours of it)

As another person already mentioned there are non-stimulant medications available to use also. Strattera is the newest ADD med. It takes about a month to work cuz it has to build up in your system. For some people it works great, for others not so great but it'd probably be worth a try. A nice thing about it is once a day dosing. And then of course the wellbutrin which was also already mentioned. Its an anti depressant but its commonly used for ADD. There is a great post here called "Wellbutrin for Attention Issues" Take a look at it when you have time.

I myself prefer my natural treatments. I end up taking more pills than if I took medication but I think its worth it. I take beCalmd 3-4 times per day and melatonin at bedtime. I have Omega3 capsules 1-2 per day if I dont have any fish that day. The beCalmd works great for me. When I was younger I was on adderall, adderall xr, concerta. The beCalmd for me works way better than the adderall and for attention&hyperactivity it works just as well as the concerta but it doesnt have any of the side effects and it helps me with many other things that concerta didn't. (Like headaches and no cravings for drugs/alcohol)

Hope that was helpful http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

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~*~ Kristy ~*~

You can only buy it online. Just type in becalm'd and their website will come up.

ADDDAD - You can buy beCalmd off the net. Just go to any seach engine... I prefer google or askjeeves, and put in "beCalmd" About 5 sites that sell the stuff will pop up. I buy it from the same site each time because I prefer them..good customer service, fast shipping etc. But I dont think we're allowed to post links to sites like that on here.

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~*~ Kristy ~*~

Sorry to hear about your grandfather.

I sent you an email. Hope its helpful. The website did some reconstruction and added some new success stories. I'm reading them now, its amazing what the right supplements can do for some people.

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~*~ Kristy ~*~