My question is just what the title says. I am new to being diagnosed and new to taking medication. The first one I tried made me extremely fatigued to the point I would sleep all night. Get up and do a little and want to go back to sleep again. Obviously this wasn’t the right med for me because it was hard for me to function because of exhaustion for no reason.
I am currently trying a new medication(beginning my third day) and am trying to figure out if it helps or not.
What things help you know a medication is somewhat successful for you in helping manage your ADHD?
What helps you know it is not working other than intolerable side effects?
Thanks. I am not looking for specific medication suggestions.Just looking for examples of how you can tell if medication is working or not for you and your ADHD.
This is all new to me, the diagnosis and medication part, not so much the ADHD that I have been living with for a lifetime.
For me, the first day I took adderall, the world changed. I stop struggling with where I left things, started to remember the things I needed to do when I got home without the help of an app, it was like a light switch had been flipped. Sadly, my blood pressure doesn’t like stimulants and I had to switch medications.
I have been on Strattera for many years now. Every now and then I find myself thinking it is not working and I decide to stop taking it and my life gets 10 times more difficult.
Obviously what happened to me may not be the typical scenario, as there are many different aspects of ADHD, but from my experience if in 21 to 30 days you do not see improvement on your ADHD symptoms, might be time to try a different one.
Have you tried taking a daily journal?
Give a description of how you feel as a baseline, before you start the meds, and then describe your daily life in a paragraph or two - perhaps with a short rating (energy, attention, comfort, whatever else you consider important) at the end of each day.
Then give it a read at the end of the week or the month, and see how things have changed.
Its helpful to provide this to your doctor as well, if for no other reason than it demonstrates a good relative frame of reference and gives you something to key on more robust than “how are you feeling at this moment”.
Chronic exhaustion is an easy side effect to pick up on, but you might not notice the presence (or absence) of subtler feelings down the line. So having them scribbled down day to day can give you a better sense of the relative effectiveness.
For me, I used to be tired all the time and I needed at least one nap a day. My brain was going so fast in my head and my executive dysfunction was overwhelming so I was just constantly exhausted. I don’t even need naps anymore! And if there is something that I need to do, I do it. At the moment I do feel more lazy, but that’s because it’s warm and humid and I’m not built for that.
Okay… For me, it feels like an energy surge. I’m usually constantly tired (like I am rn on my one day of no ritalin). When I take the meds, I am more energised and can express myself more clearly.
A tip to see if the meds have started to work is by doing some puzzles on my phone (I use blockudoku). I start before my meds and play for like 10 minutes and I can see an improvement in my score lol
For me, the focus and quietness in my brain were a definite indicator at first. After a bit (three days I guess, once the initial euphoria wore off), I realized I am a lot less frustrated and have more mental capacity left in the evenings to be social. Work has been more focused, although maybe not as pronounced at it used to be initially. I do feel a difference when I don’t take my meds some days - it’s when I realize I am still sitting, watching TV instead of being a little more productive.
