Possible Adult ADD...new to ADD section

[whosit]

Hi.... I am a 24 year old male. I spend most of my time in the pain management forum because I am a CP sufferer. On my last visit to my phyciatrist he sugested i have ADD and done the tests and they showed ADD but he wasnt sure. he has now started what he calls a trial medication study with Ritalin 5mg three times daily. I am new to all of this and any info would be greatly appreciated! I just started the medication yesterday and it has left me up all night right now. I dont feel any effects from it...i just cant sleep at all.....does this go away with time or continue to make me awake feeling as long as i take it. i am hoping it will not keep me up at night but i am thinking where i am new to it and have never had any stimulant medication before makes me sensitive to it right now because my body is not used to it yet. if you have any advice for me about what to expect or in general it would be greatly appreciated!

thanks


Wvrecon432

[addprogrammer]

wvrecon,

The Ritalin induced insomnia should subside in a few days. If not, ask doc to reduce dose or sequence doses so the last dose is early afternoon. The irony of Ritalin induced insomnia is nothing exacerbates my ADHD symptoms more than lack of sleep.

I've always found pain to be distracting. Your pain is either contributing to your attention deficit problems or could be solely responsible.

Question the diagnosis.

What ADD symptoms are you experiencing? How do they negatively impact your life?

Be sure you understand the answers to the following:

1. What ADHD diagnostic tests did your doctor use?
2. Does doc disagree with test results or were results ambiguous?
3. Is the purpose of the "trial medication" to determine dose or to diagnose ADHD?

I sure as hell wouldn't take any risky med such as Ritalin without knowing for a certainty the accuracy of diagnosis before taking it and that in my unique case the benefits outweighed the risks.

Bob

[whosit]

thanks so much for your reply! made me feel better about questioning the call he made there. i will talk with him more and consider getting a second opinion as well. again thanks for your help and have a great day!


whosit (formerly wvrecon432)

Originally Posted by addprogrammer

wvrecon,

The Ritalin induced insomnia should subside in a few days. If not, ask doc to reduce dose or sequence doses so the last dose is early afternoon. The irony of Ritalin induced insomnia is nothing exacerbates my ADHD symptoms more than lack of sleep.

I've always found pain to be distracting. Your pain is either contributing to your attention deficit problems or could be solely responsible.

Question the diagnosis.

What ADD symptoms are you experiencing? How do they negatively impact your life?

Be sure you understand the answers to the following:

1. What ADHD diagnostic tests did your doctor use?
2. Does doc disagree with test results or were results ambiguous?
3. Is the purpose of the "trial medication" to determine dose or to diagnose ADHD?

I sure as hell wouldn't take any risky med such as Ritalin without knowing for a certainty the accuracy of diagnosis before taking it and that in my unique case the benefits outweighed the risks.

Bob

[whosit]

Originally Posted by addprogrammer

wvrecon,

The Ritalin induced insomnia should subside in a few days. If not, ask doc to reduce dose or sequence doses so the last dose is early afternoon. The irony of Ritalin induced insomnia is nothing exacerbates my ADHD symptoms more than lack of sleep.

I've always found pain to be distracting. Your pain is either contributing to your attention deficit problems or could be solely responsible.

Question the diagnosis.

What ADD symptoms are you experiencing? How do they negatively impact your life?

Be sure you understand the answers to the following:

1. What ADHD diagnostic tests did your doctor use?
2. Does doc disagree with test results or were results ambiguous?
3. Is the purpose of the "trial medication" to determine dose or to diagnose ADHD?

I sure as hell wouldn't take any risky med such as Ritalin without knowing for a certainty the accuracy of diagnosis before taking it and that in my unique case the benefits outweighed the risks.

Bob

sorry to bring uo a old post but I stopped taking the ritalin and my wife said i was better on it and so did my doc so we are doing the same thing now. He used office visits to suggest ADD over a period of about 6 months. i then had to fill out a checklist that was like 10 pages long and my wife done so as well and he reviewed it the last visit(monday morning). he gave me the meds and told me to try again. i think we are determing dose though because he gave me aRX for 100 5mg pills that said to take 1/2 to 3 tabs 3 times daily and gave times. the papar also had instructions on how to "titrate" the dose up to 15mg or lowest effective dose over 7 days. So am I already diagnosed with it or is this a trial to determine if i do? The checklist said i did have it by a longshot(alot) but it can lie sometimes i hear. again any info will help...no insomnia since starting it and up to 7.5mg per dose following his directions as of my last 5pm dose. i am actually a little tired to tell the truth. i am a pain paitient as well ans am on the pain board alot as well because of trigeminal nueralgia type 2 that warrents me to take percocet 10/325 4 times a day along with Oxycontin 2 times a day for a total dose of oxycodone combined of 100mg a day. will this effect the pain meds at all? i was told it would not and if anything it would help the pain and he gave the example of them putting caffine in excedrine migraine and other OTC pain pills. Also i have heard of the high potential for abuse of these ritalin pills? Should I keep these in the safe with my pain meds to prevent theft and not tell anyone I am on them like i do the pain pills? One last question about it as well(sorry)....does this med have the withdrawl potential as the pain meds i am on, and if so what is it like and how do you prevent it if i lose my doc(if you read the pain forum this happens to pain docs all the time, they move or DEA shuts them down or they retire, all with no warning). My pain doc is a phyciatrist as well so he prescribes everything I have as part of the contract I have with him to not get RX's from other docs while seeing him. Thanks alot guys and sorry for all the questions, I just really like to have everything told to me be real ppl who are going through the same things as I am....thats the best advice!



thanks again

Whosit

[rheanna]

Originally Posted by whosit

sorry to bring uo a old post but I stopped taking the ritalin and my wife said i was better on it and so did my doc so we are doing the same thing now. He used office visits to suggest ADD over a period of about 6 months. i then had to fill out a checklist that was like 10 pages long and my wife done so as well and he reviewed it the last visit(monday morning). he gave me the meds and told me to try again. i think we are determing dose though because he gave me aRX for 100 5mg pills that said to take 1/2 to 3 tabs 3 times daily and gave times. the papar also had instructions on how to "titrate" the dose up to 15mg or lowest effective dose over 7 days. So am I already diagnosed with it or is this a trial to determine if i do? The checklist said i did have it by a longshot(alot) but it can lie sometimes i hear. again any info will help...

whosit,

Others can address your questions about the drugs. I only have experience with Ritalin.

In regards to your question about whether you actually have ADD: There is no physical test that determines this. And whether or not there are any drugs which help your symptoms is also not an indicator of whether you have ADD. It is determined by the pages of tests that you took, and the feedback by your wife, and the determination by your psychiatrist that you have certain specific problems dealing with school, work, people, focusing, and so on. Everyone to a certain extent has problems that could fall under the heading of ADD. But ADD is not diagnosed until it is determined that those problems are so severe that they are interfering with normal activities of life. It sounds like your wife and psychiatrist are in agreement that your symptoms match those of ADD.

Everyone responds differently to different drugs. So two people who exhibit similar diagnoses of ADD may respond differently to the same drug. A doctor cannot determine beforehand which drug will help you, or even which dosage will be right for you. So doctors start with a "best guess" drug in a low dosage, and see how you respond. You have been given instructions on how to increase the dosage and what to look for to determine when you have reached a helpful dosage, and what to look for to determine that the drug is not appropriate for you -- it either isn't working or it has too many side-effects or both. You will have several meetings with your doctor to discuss how the drugs are working and whether it is appropriate to try another one.

The label of ADD is not so important. What is important is that you have some help in learning other ways of coping with life. It sounds like you have a good psychiatrist. And a good wife. Keep us posted about how things are going. We all learn from each other here.

--Rheanna