Quote: (10-07-2018 12:20 AM)godfather dust Wrote:
I'm on Wellbutrin which isn't really for ADHD but that is why I take it (antidepressant that is a NDRI. Completely different than SSRIs acts on dopamine, but works steadily so you don't feel it hit in the morning or anything.)
The Adderall etc are much better for concentration but more for work than day to day IMO because there's a crash at the end of the day after you take it a while. I don't take any Adderall Ritalin etc but largely because I avoid narcotics for personal reasons.
And yeah strattera is worthless (many feel that way about Wellbutrin but it works better than just coffee for me.)
Curious what's your Wellbutrin experience?
I was recently prescribed Wellbutrin for a very severe clinical depressive episode (basically one shitty thing happened after another, so I couldn't take it anymore and finally collapsed) and I've been using it for roughly 2 months or so.
Started with 150mg once a day (XL extended release version, not immediate release) and here's what I got:
- Depressed feeling *sort of* gone but so is EVERYTHING ELSE.
- Complete apathy towards literally everything, I would think about doing something then say "meh, fuck it" and not do it.
- This applied to everything, from doing shit at work, to seeing friends, going to the gym and even having sex
- Normally I'm one of the horniest motherfuckers around, I have a live in LTR and we used to jump on each other 4 times a day but on Wellbutrin nope nothing. (This is particularly weird because apparently Wellbutrin is supposed to INCREASE sex drive not lower it)
- Anxiety levels started creeping up, as a result self confidence levels started going lower.
- Delusions of jealousy and persecution started taking me over and, this combined with everything else, I became very easily irritated.
Told my doctor this and he said "well we can try upping it to 300mg or we can switch to an SSRI" to which I replied "
SSRI? HELLLLLLL NO" so I recently started 300mg XL together with my usual Vyvanse. Results are somewhat promising so far.
One thing I noticed is that even though Wellbutrin is supposed to be a stimulant, it does the exact opposite to me and if I take it in the morning I'm practically dead by early afternoon. Doc says this may be because the norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI) Wellbutrin might have a different effect due to my ADHD which itself is a norepinephrine-dopamine related condition. Uh by the way I get ZERO attention and focus benefits from Wellbutrin. Like absolutely nothing. Nada.
I figured "if this is gonna make me sleepy why shouldn't I take it at night then?" and went ahead and started taking my 300mg right before bed with my 10 mg Ambien. Sleep like a rock every night and waking up feeling pretty energized and uppity. Then I take a shower, eat a VERY heavy breakfast since after taking my speed (50 mg Vyvanse fucks my appetite straight over to hell) I won't be able to eat a single thing till late afternoon. No trouble focusing at all during the day, at least till the speed wears off LOL. I'm usually fully crashed by the time I get my workout in and have dinner so I then just chill with a drink or two, then rinse and repeat.
On days where I feel especially stressed, I add 1000mg Phenibut into this stack and that covers the speed tweak up pretty well.
So Wellbutrin when taken at night; the apathetic thoughts/lowered self confidence/anxiety and irritability effects are not as pronounced. Sex drive is mostly back to normal. I haven't seen any overall mood lift on it yet (maybe slightly) I still feel pretty bored and distant about my circumstances and future, I remember when I was working on my own startup I was super excited about literally everything and looking back at old pictures it looks like even my eyes were shining brighter. But I'll see if I get there.
Anyway curious how your off-label ADHD treatment experience has been? I saw next to no ADHD benefit from Wellbutrin so I'm pretty curious.
and PS: the Wellbutrin makes cigarettes taste like shit, and makes me crave not nearly as much. I find that annoying because I actually enjoy smoking.. but guess I'll quit now.. or not
Quote: (10-07-2018 01:28 PM)godfather dust Wrote:
Quote: (10-07-2018 10:50 AM)chrisblackbeard Wrote:
Does anyone have high testosterone, lots of energy and a sex drive that is through the roof? Are you forced into a setting where you do not expend that energy?
Then you may have "ADHD"!
I realized this after one semester of college, dropped out now I'm in a trade (working on my master license at this point.)
If I had gone the desk job route I would be on hard stimulants the rest of my life, too restless.
I went the desk job route, am a software engineer. Weird thing about the ADHD hyper-focus is that if the project I'm working on is well defined with clear goals and milestones, I can sit down and crush the coding in lightning speed even without the meds (as I'm very result driven so when I'm able to visualize the concrete end result, the progress towards it gives me the drive I need not the hard stimulants).
But if the project involves reading through countless pages of technical specifications, meeting after meeting where you repeat the same shit over and over to other people that may not be as well versed in the subject but you need to get everyone on the same page; and boring boilerplate coding and infrastructure/operational work that doesn't amount to much in the big picture, that doesn't give me the dopamine I need to feel like I'm achieving something so that's when I need the hard stimulants.
Should mention that I also think that I'd be much happier working in the trades, as the only thing keeping me here in corporate software engineering is the money. But I'd probably be better off starting my own tech company, than doing a huge career shift and going to the trades.