One day after some conversation my wife made some very good points. I never really thought of things being bad, but I didn't really have anything to compare it to. In a way I was ignorant to the possibility of what could be. What if things could be better? A few doctor visits later I had an Rx for Stratera. The doctor chose Stratera mainly because it's the only ADHD medication that is not a narcotic.
The first problem I had with Stratera was that it made me sort of nauseous, but I managed to work around that. It did have an effect on my behavior but other people noticed the change long before I could perceive a difference. I chose not to tell anyone that I was taking the medicine. I wanted any observations made to be unbiased. People were very used to me being excitable and hyper and the change in behavior was perceived as extreme. Often times people thought that I was sad. I tried to stay with the Stratera for as long as I could but in the end some very unusual side effects caused my doctor to discontinue the Stratera and prescribe Aderall XR.
Aderall was a huge difference from Stratera. The nausea was gone and my attitude was not perceived as being sad or depressed. I had some mania the very first time I took it which lead to non stop multi-day cleaning spree on my part, but afterwards the side effects subsided to random bad cases of dry mouth. With the dry mouth sometimes came the habit of constantly rubbing my tongue against the roof of my mouth. In retrospect it seems more like a tick. When the problem persisted I would develop a sore in the middle of my tongue. Usually just stopping the medication for 1 to 2 days would let my tongue heal and then I would continue without problem. Later I had some issues with teeth grinding at night but it was nothing a night time retainer couldn't fix.
My job situation has been "odd" to say the least for almost the last year. About 3 months after being at the clients it seemed like after more than a year of working just fine my medicine wasn't as effective. I mentioned it a few times when I got my refills and the doctor offered to up my dosage. I decided not to change anything for a while and see if I could work on things from my end. At one point I even wondered if the changes weren't due to a change in my Rx from name brand to a generic. Finally after a few months I decided to talk to the doctor about changing my dose.
When I spoke to the doctor she mentioned a new drug called Vyvanse that many of her patients had been changing to. After some discussion I decided to try it. The first Rx was OK but it seemed very underpowered. After some discussion she decided to change to a higher dosage twice a day. After the dosage change I could definitely tell a difference. The problem however was that the side effects seemed much more severe. With Vyvanse I seemed to have wet mouth. I find myself constantly carrying a mouthful of spit. Also that nervous tick with my tongue returned with a vengeance.
It got to the point that I couldn't take 2 pills a day for more than 2 or 3 days at a time before my symptoms caused me to either stop or only take one pill. It also took me a while to realize but even with the full dose I still had this sense of apathy. I think perhaps the problem I am having right now is one that the medicine can't help. I wonder if its not just as effective as its always been, and its just that the issues I am having are interfering.
The side effects I am having make me think I'm taking too much. I have figured out that I have to be careful what other medicines I take with it. I have particularly bad allergies and I have found that if I am taking even just one pill in addition to allergy medicine the side effects can be worse faster. Recently while doing a search for something I came across this article on Vyvanse. Here is a small excerpt that caught my attention:
Do not stop taking lisdexamfetamine without talking to your doctor, especially if you have overused the medication. Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually and monitor you carefully during this time. You may develop severe depression and extreme tiredness if you suddenly stop taking lisdexamfetamine after overusing it.
Due to the side effects my dosages have been all over the place including some on again off again periods. As I mentioned in a previous blog my wife has recently observed what might be described as depression (though I wouldn't say severe). I have also had more than one bout of what I would call extreme tiredness. Not to mention about 15lbs of weight gain. (of course that might have something to do with the cheesecake, oreos, cookies, and popsicles that I have charitably called meals recently) Still, I wonder if my medicine isn't throwing me out of whack a little.
One more quick excerpt from the article under the serious side effects section:
- believing things that are not true
- feeling unusually suspicious of others
I must admit these two bullets gave me a chuckle. "Believing things that are not true", like the new Knight Rider series that got canceled was an excellent mini-series with great characters and stories that was unfairly canceled before its time? "Feeling unusually suspicious of others", as opposed to a usual suspicion of other people? I'm curious exactly how suspicious is unusually suspicious? As my good friend Fox Mulder used to say, "Trust No One!"
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