I got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. And my doc first recommended atomoxetine saying it’s safer than stimulants.
But then some things went wrong in my personal life and I went back to doc, he ran some cardiac tests and finally gave me methylphenidate. Been taking it for 4 days now but I am not sure if anything is happening.
I’ve read it changing lives of other ADHDers and I had a lot of hope especially on the stimulant. But so far I don’t feel it doing anything. I am even taking atomoxetine too as the doc said.
What should I do?
A few things that are useful to know when you go back to your doctor (I’m on a medical editorial team that writes about ADHD, so general info only):
- The two drugs work on different timelines. Methylphenidate acts within an hour or so, but people almost always start on a low dose and go up step by step, so day 4 is often still below the dose that works for you. Atomoxetine is the opposite: it builds up slowly and often needs 4-8 weeks, sometimes longer, before the full effect shows.
- “Working” is often quieter than people expect. Many describe it less as feeling different and more as: starting tasks with less friction, fewer half-finished things, not losing the thread in conversations. It’s easy to miss from the inside.
- A tiny daily log helps a lot. Dose and time taken, hours slept, focus 1-10, appetite, mood, anything odd (heart racing, trouble sleeping). Two weeks of notes makes the follow-up appointment much more productive than “I’m not sure anything is happening”.
- Sleep and caffeine can mask the effect. Short sleep makes almost any ADHD med look like it isn’t doing much, and a lot of coffee on top of a stimulant can just feel jittery rather than focused.
The dose and combination are really your doctor’s call, but going back with specific notes is the fastest way to get it adjusted. Good luck, it often takes a few rounds to get right.
One made me feel sick and the other I skipped over. I’m taking a expensive medication right now call qelbree which is similar to atomoxetine. I’ve had good results to it but had a hard time getting it approved by insurance.
One made me feel sick
The atomoxetine? I get sick if I don’t take it with food. Best results for me are a big meal and taking it in the middle of the meal.
I wanted to try qelbree but my doctor said it would be very difficult to get approved and it’s really expensive.
I got sick so bad I went from 220 pounds to 170 in five weeks. I had to look deep in to the drug records to find it. There was a very rare side effect that was below the threshold for reporting. It only occured in two people inthe trails. I finally found a forum where just two other people had this side effect. By that time I was on week four convinced I was going to die. They said their symptoms started to go away after the sixth week. Sure enough I finally could stand without throwing up and had a appetite in the sixth week of that hell.
The symptoms were persistent 24/7 nausea accompanied by dry heaves when I stood up.
No apetite at all. I had to force food down and if it was more complex than a cracker it came straight back up. This went on for six weeks. I went ten years before I nerved up enough to try another non stimulant ADHD med.
Frustrating thing is you have to experiment until you get the right combination and dosege. Give it at least a week or two, but different people react to different mixes and doses, and for some it takes time to settle with the effects. Methylphenidate works for most, didn’t for me from one company, I had better results with another one but in a version with some milk byproducts, which I cant consume. Ended up on another group of stimulants with a second med in “support role”.
No, the frustrating thing is that Adderall works. It works instantly and for everyone, but for some fucking reason, they just won’t prescribe it. You can trip over a fent script for a stubbed toe, but GOD FORBID “woke” people get the medicine they need.
Adderall in any form isn’t legal (even for medical use) in my goddamn country.
There might be a valid point here, what I use is dextramphetamines by another brand name. In EU countries where its not available and some other countries it might be possible to get it legally imported by the pharmacies.
The other one I use and might be worth looking into is bupropion, it’s mostly classified as an antidepressant, so might be easier to get.
I’ll add that it’s also an experimentation with when you take it and how you take it (with food? An hour before food? With orange juice?). A lot goes into it. Be prepared to go through a few dosages as well, because they always start low, and maybe a few different medications before finding one that works. It sucks, but it’s just how it goes. Best wishes to OP.
Probably stick to your prescription and tell your doctor how it’s going. Titration can take time, and you’ll get better results if you’re consistent and methodical.
Pretty much this yeah, I’m on the same med combo as the poster and my only extra advice is to drink LOTS of water throughout the day if their methylphenidate is Concerta as it uses a water powered delivery system.
Well, I don’t know if I can give advice but I can at least share my own experiences with those drugs, such as they are.
I can’t speak as much to the methylphenidate because I haven’t taken it since I was a kid, though I will say I didn’t notice it changing my behavior at the time. But then I was never very self-aware in that way as a kid, and the adults around me claimed to notice it had a substantial effect on me.
As for the atomoxetine, though, I was on it for about five years as an adult, and I can say that it is a slow buildup kind of drug. I think it took maybe a couple weeks at least for me to start seeing any beneficial effects. It wasn’t a constant “on” like adderal, instead it felt like my brain was finally willing to make an appropriate level of dopamine when I was doing something that needed it, which seemed like how brains are supposed to work.
Brain chemistry can be a bitch to get lined out. Especially when parts of your brain aren’t doing their job. I’m almost a decade post diagnosis and my quality of life has improved dramatically. It’s not perfect and I still have to tweak things occasionally, but it’s much better.
Everyone reacts to stimulants differently but the effects are usually noticeable pretty quickly. Keep taking your prescribed doseage and talk to your doc about it. I’ve never taken methylfenidate, but I’ve been on Vyvanse for years. Adderall was too rough of a ride for me. It took probably 6 months to get my dosage up to the right level. The main problem I’m having today is that it exacerbates my motor tics. Still working through that one.
Hang in there. If this stimulant doesn’t work well for you, there are others you can try.
If MPH doesn’t work I’m f’ed, adderall is not available here
Atomoxetine suddenly stopped working for me after about 6 months. Methylphenidate just made me feel off. Lysdexamfetamine (Elvanse) was the ticket. I stopped taking it years ago and now only take a fractional dose very occasionally, only when I absolutely have to.
Took me about a year of changing the dosage until I got it right, but rhe emotional stability is a real life chabger
Increase dosage
Not without asking your doctor first though.
I am the doctor
You’re OP’s doctor? What a brilliant coinkidink.
