POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: redhotmuslbear on January 24, 2007, 10:18:48 am
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I'm interested in the experiences of other HIVers who have been on Adderall or another ADHD medication.
I was first diagnoised with ADHD in 1995 after my last round of brain surgeries. It came about in a scary way, as I was a bank manager at the time and began forgetting steps in routine tasks and making bizarre word substitutions when I spoke. After a round of testing with a neuropsychologist, I was prescribed Ritalin and Zoloft--the neurologist figured that I *had to be* depressed by the surgery and these new odd behaviors. Of course, the Zoloft killed my sex drive, and I dropped it after four weeks of being inorgasmic. Ritalin made me alert and able to function normally, but at the minimum dose that worked, I also became easily agitated and very aggressive. So, after 6 months I came off Ritalin and seemed to function well.
Then, in early 2003 I started to fall apart again. Putting ice cream in the oven, deli meat in the clothes dryer, and going to making the wrong turns on routes I've taken hundreds of time since I learned to drive over 20 years before. I was prescribed Strattera at 60mg, then up to 80mg after two years of use. Last summer a psychiatrist backed the Strattera down due to sexual side effects--slow arousal and 'missing' orgasm--and added a bump of Adderall, first at 5mg bid. Last week he pushed me up to 10mg bid.
My performance professionally, academically, and sexually is great now, but there are down sides. Reynaud's syndrome set in about a month ago. My hands and feet are like ice until late evening, and then I'm deprived of being able to goose my partner with freezing digits in bed :o Worse, the aggression and irritability has arisen. It'a actually been helpful in some respect, as I've been locked in an 11-week battle with GM and a Chevy dealer over botched engine work under extended warranty on my vehicle. However, I've had two co-workers call me a "cunt" already this week, and others have noted that I have been coming across very strong. Waiting to hear back from the psychiatrist who's managing my meds, but I'm only taking 5mg in each dose today to see if the bitchiness subsides.
Better like through chemistry.... yeah, right!
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Hey red. I was diagnosed with ADHD way before it was the cool thing to have. Back in like 1978. I was on cylert all through school and gave it up when I hit adulthood. But i realized in my career i needed something to keep me focused.
I never had the meat in the dryer or wrong turns symptoms you describe. Mine was more of I would not be able to start doing a project because it seemed to overwhelming, finishing a project 3/4ths of the way and moving on to another one, getting THOROUGHLY wrapped up in a new hobby about every 6 months, and hyper focusing at odd hours(read that as cleaning all the closets in the house at 11pm for no good reason and not being able to stop until they were done. Unfortunately for the wife this didnt happen to often!).
I was on 90mg of aderall XR in the throws of my sexual addiction trying to self medicate myself somewhat. It didnt help. I then switched to Straterra and just didnt get that KICK that I needed. Might as well have been taking nothing at all. Now I just started back on 30mg of Aderall XR and it has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. I have gotten more done at work in the last week than in the previous month before that! I can focus, i am clear and can define what i need to do and get it done. I did notice im not nearly as talkative and slightly more irritable, just noticed that LAST NIGHT as a matter of fact, driving home from the airport with my sweetie i normally can talk alot but caught myself saying "yeah" and "uh huh" alot just to keep a conversation going.
Anyway, I am thinking of backing it down to 20mg or 15mg next month cause I just feel a little too amped up during the day. But it is nice having ME back.
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I never had the meat in the dryer or wrong turns symptoms you describe. Mine was more of I would not be able to start doing a project because it seemed to overwhelming, finishing a project 3/4ths of the way and moving on to another one, getting THOROUGHLY wrapped up in a new hobby about every 6 months, and hyper focusing at odd hours(read that as cleaning all the closets in the house at 11pm for no good reason and not being able to stop until they were done. Unfortunately for the wife this didnt happen to often!).
I was on 90mg of aderall XR in the throws of my sexual addiction trying to self medicate myself somewhat. It didnt help. I then switched to Straterra and just didnt get that KICK that I needed. Might as well have been taking nothing at all. Now I just started back on 30mg of Aderall XR and it has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. I have gotten more done at work in the last week than in the previous month before that! I can focus, i am clear and can define what i need to do and get it done. I did notice im not nearly as talkative and slightly more irritable, just noticed that LAST NIGHT as a matter of fact, driving home from the airport with my sweetie i normally can talk alot but caught myself saying "yeah" and "uh huh" alot just to keep a conversation going.
Interesting. Four weeks after I started the Adderall the doctor asked what changes I noticed in myself, and I noted increased focus and a markedly decreased propensity to ramble or blurt things out. That doesn't mean that I've been totally healed of being a venomous bitch when not agitated--if anything, I'm more venomous when properly medicated, as I'm calculating the force and trajectory of my words longer before unleashing them. :o Friends and family, however, grew worried that I was "becoming withdrawn" until I explained to each one how my silence was a good thing. As for the inability to finish projects and the link, I was a real pro before proper medication. New fascinations that last a couple of months. Home repairs and improvements that lingered.
My ADHD is attributed to the trauma of a dozen brain surgeries, two cerebral hemorrages, and a coma back in 1980-81. I had raced through high school as a straight-A student in advanced classes, but my abilities to focus and organize crumbled in college. Rather than making an issue of the changes, I tried to bottle them up; and then I found one thing thatmade me feel completely functional, MDMA. My current psychiatrist isn't surprised by that finding, nor does he try to hang my ongoing challenge of finding the right drugs on my past drug use.
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I was diagnosed ADHD back in '91 when I was 25. I was on Ritalin for years, then switched to Adderall. I take 10mg 3x per day. It works fine for me with no noticeable physical side effects. Since finding out I'm HIV+, I had a bit of anxiety / panic attacks and was prescribed Prozac, which worked wonderfully. It effected me sexually, but not really too bad (it just took FOREVER). I was then prescribed Ativan for occasional use and Klonopin for daily use. I ended up dropping the Prozac about the time I was diagnosed with PCP and just take Adderall and Klonopin for my mental needs, and that combo works very well. The Klonopin helps with the slightly anxious feeling I sometimes get after taking Adderall. Unlike AC, Adderall makes me very talkative, but not at all bitchy. In fact, it seems to make me fairly fun to be around, but I'd better let my hubby verify that! ;) Good luck with it.
David
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I was previously taking ritalin and changed to Adderall this past summer. 1st it was 7.5 mg per day and it really didn't do anything, now I'm doing the 15mg 1x a day and it seems to work but I think I would do better with the xr at 20 or 25 mg. I have noticed a difference in concentration but nothing has really changed in my mood or getting upset easier. So far I think it is going good.
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I take Concerta and it helps me focus but I am not on meds for hiv at the moment. so far it's been helpful but let's see what happens.
My Concerta keeps my libido in check and should have been on it before I got infected. it would have saved my life.
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Uh, I am not one who really believes much in psychiatrists and that whole field of pseudo science. Just look how well NASA docs did as of recent ; )
ADD and ADHP were among the many diag. I had during a long time where I got sucked into that whole black hole of therapy bullshit.
That was quite a while ago and I don't recall what all meds I was given, but I have had a recent experience with Adderall. All I can say is that a friend told me it would pep me up. I'll just say that we'd been drinking. So, my judgement was poor to begin with, but that drug mixed with alcohol was like crystal meth.
I was so not proud of myself for carelessly taking someone else's medication while drinking. Ugh! I haven't touched crystal in years and I will never take an Adderall again.
Anyways, I just wondered if perhaps drinking (even minimal) might contribute to the odd behaviors (some funny) that you've described?
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Uh, I am not one who really believes much in psychiatrists and that whole field of pseudo science. Just look how well NASA docs did as of recent ; )
ADD and ADHP were among the many diag. I had during a long time where I got sucked into that whole black hole of therapy bullshit.
That was quite a while ago and I don't recall what all meds I was given, but I have had a recent experience with Adderall. All I can say is that a friend told me it would pep me up. I'll just say that we'd been drinking. So, my judgement was poor to begin with, but that drug mixed with alcohol was like crystal meth.
I was so not proud of myself for carelessly taking someone else's medication while drinking. Ugh! I haven't touched crystal in years and I will never take an Adderall again.
Anyways, I just wondered if perhaps drinking (even minimal) might contribute to the odd behaviors (some funny) that you've described?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've taken Adderall (and Ritalin) for years. My main side effects are that I talk too much sometimes when on it! ;) I'd say that Wes might have taken a MUCH higher dosage than normal. I take 10 mg 3x per day; I have a friend that takes 30 mg 3x per day. I don't think I'd function normally on that high a dosage. I have several friends that take adderall, some with and some without prescriptions. I've never heard of ANY of them having effects like Wes mentioned. Of course, anti-retrovirals' side effects effect each person differently, so why would Adderall be any different?
A good psychiatrist is not in the field of pseudo science. They are full MD's and understand the workings of the brain, etc better than most of us here. Of course, there are wacko's everywhere, and a bad one could be a problem.
David
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As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've taken Adderall (and Ritalin) for years. My main side effects are that I talk too much sometimes when on it! ;) I'd say that Wes might have taken a MUCH higher dosage than normal. I take 10 mg 3x per day; I have a friend that takes 30 mg 3x per day. I don't think I'd function normally on that high a dosage. I have several friends that take adderall, some with and some without prescriptions. I've never heard of ANY of them having effects like Wes mentioned. Of course, anti-retrovirals' side effects effect each person differently, so why would Adderall be any different?
A good psychiatrist is not in the field of pseudo science. They are full MD's and understand the workings of the brain, etc better than most of us here. Of course, there are wacko's everywhere, and a bad one could be a problem.
David
Thanks, David, for the positive contribution. I was beginning to think that Tom Cruise had gotten on the board --talk therapy is NOT an appropriate treatment for ADD, though it can certainly help get at other issues which interact with ADD in potentially dangerous ways. For instance, my history of abuse that led to commercial sex work and sex addiction about the same time I discovered MDMA and cocaine. And if we're going to pick on any medical specialty, let's give it to neurosurgeons!
Cheers,
David
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My understanding is that there are many who believe that psychotherapy is an appropriate and beneficial treatment for those who have been labeled ADHD. From what I've read, they would question that so many in our society are being diagnosed today and look for other reasons, whether they are societal, emotional or to do with many of the circumstances that we find ourselves. For instance, drug use and alcohol have been mentioned as factors that has led or contributed to the diagnosis. They might also look at the other things going on in a person’s life, look at their abilities and things they are doing well and find different meanings and interpretations that move beyond being labeled ADHD. I have also read about that it is only by getting the diagnosis that people are offered help. Take out the diagnosis and they find themselves unable to access services for the problems that people find themselves in.
Psychotherapy may be a route to diagnosis of ADHD, along with throough neuropsychological assesment, and it may assist in uncovering co-occuring conditions; but it is not an evidence-based treatment, as noted here by CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder):
http://www.help4adhd.org/en/treatment/behavioral
As the site notes, behavioral therapy is the only non-medical treatment recognized for ADHD. BT amounts to making changes in our daily patterns to mitigate against the disease, and it is a lot more difficult to implement and sustain that keeping appointments to talk. Just ask me how many organization systems I have been through before finding one that keeps me 90% on-track, though I attempt to rebel against it and sabotage it every day despite knowing the consequences.
True, getting a diagnosis can help people tremendously, though "services" are sparse. If I wanted services, I would have gone for depression! [oops... inside voice :-[]