ADHD - Adults

[TheBinarySheep]

RSTurboPaul said:

Just wondering... these drugs that are mentioned... do they change brain chemistry (or whatever) permanently and become difficult to come off of, or are they sort of like 'drinking a red bull' in that the effect is temporary and wears off with no side effects in due course?

They wear off. From what I've ready, when you start taking them your brain adjusts chemicals in your brain to adjust to the medication. Once you come off the meds, it takes a short while for your brain to re-adjust things back to normal.

Think of it like a car engine. If you add more fuel, the ECU adapts timing, boost pressures etc and adjusts. Take the air away, the ECU quickly adapts back to previous parameters.

The meds are there to boost the amount of a particular chemical in the brain. Brain picks up the increase, adjusts everything to meet it's internal parameters. Take away the meds, brain adjusts again to meet the same parameters.

That's my take anyway. Probably just made it all up though.

[sparkyhx]

RSTurboPaul said:

Just wondering... these drugs that are mentioned... do they change brain chemistry (or whatever) permanently and become difficult to come off of, or are they sort of like 'drinking a red bull' in that the effect is temporary and wears off with no side effects in due course?

I'm not a Dr, but I believe there is some potential for 'tolerance' build up over time that may require higher dose. The guidelines also say you should not stop some of them abruptly. Having said that, I know several people who stop at weekends, or only take them when they feel they really need to button down and get something done.

One person I know does Elvance to take him to mid afternoon tea time then tops up with Concerta for the evenings. He swears by it, and said it made a massive difference to him. His story https://aspireautismconsultancy.co.uk/adhd-and-me-...

[TheBinarySheep]

sparkyhx said:

I'm not a Dr, but I believe there is some potential for 'tolerance' build up over time that may require higher dose. The guidelines also say you should not stop some of them abruptly. Having said that, I know several people who stop at weekends, or only take them when they feel they really need to button down and get something done.

One person I know does Elvance to take him to mid afternoon tea time then tops up with Concerta for the evenings. He swears by it, and said it made a massive difference to him. His story https://aspireautismconsultancy.co.uk/adhd-and-me-...

I've thought about not taking mine on a weekend (when I need them to least), simply to make them last longer. £4.30 per pill.

[RSTurboPaul]

Thanks very much for the replies, all.

[sparkyhx]

TheBinarySheep said:

sparkyhx said:

I'm not a Dr, but I believe there is some potential for 'tolerance' build up over time that may require higher dose. The guidelines also say you should not stop some of them abruptly. Having said that, I know several people who stop at weekends, or only take them when they feel they really need to button down and get something done.

One person I know does Elvance to take him to mid afternoon tea time then tops up with Concerta for the evenings. He swears by it, and said it made a massive difference to him. His story https://aspireautismconsultancy.co.uk/adhd-and-me-...

I've thought about not taking mine on a weekend (when I need them to least), simply to make them last longer. £4.30 per pill.

Like I said 'I am not a Dr, but I know lots of people who dont take it 'day in day out' so in their experience its not an issue and they enjoy their 'life and soul of the party' when they don't

[Motoring12345]

I've posted in this thread before about my struggles. I'm still on the waiting list to be seen—close to 1.5 years of waiting now.

One aspect of my life I had painstakingly managed well was my relationship. Through past breakups, I had done lots of inner work and therapy. I was in an amazing relationship for 2.5 years. We were about to move in and discuss starting a family within a year.

In December I attended a problematic Christmas party with her, drank too much and then got into a massive argument after which I freaked out badly. Said and did some heartful stuff. Something I have never done in my life and I'm still struggling to process. I'm 100% it was due to my ADHD struggling to process emotions, and emotional dysregulation.

So yeah now I'm single and the only thing that kept me going in these last few years with my struggles is gone now. I seriously fking hate this condition and this country. 2 fking years for an assessment.

[RSTurboPaul]

Are there options out there for private assessment / diagnosis / prescription if/as required? (Which don't cost a billion quid...??)

[randlemarcus]

RSTurboPaul said:

Are there options out there for private assessment / diagnosis / prescription if/as required? (Which don't cost a billion quid...??)

Private assessment and diagnosis isn't excruciatingly expensive, but the ongoing prescription is grindingly expensive over time. Worth having a word with your GP to discuss the shared care and how best to align the various elements as efficiently as possible.

[pb8g09]

Sorry haven't read the whole thread.

Is anyone having any success with some alternative/natural treatment rather than the prescribed medication?

[Sslink]

RSTurboPaul said:

Are there options out there for private assessment / diagnosis / prescription if/as required? (Which don't cost a billion quid...??)

Wholly depends on your definition of expensive. Private assessment/diagnosis can cost around £1000 once all is said and done.
My own diagnosis cost ~£1200 (thankfully paid by BUPA), scripts per month is ~£100 (that's for Elvanse, strength doesn't seem to matter much price-wise).

If you can get your private doc and GP to agree to shared care then the on-going costs (prescriptions) will drop dramatically, although you will still have to fork out for a yearly assessment with the psych.

[jamest1988]

pb8g09 said:

Sorry haven't read the whole thread.

Is anyone having any success with some alternative/natural treatment rather than the prescribed medication?

I'm now on medication which does help me, although its not a miracle cure.

Some things I have found which helped (in no particular order...of course)

- Always felt better with regular exercise and sticking to a healthy diet.

- Being honest and open with my partner or anyone close to you and discussing the challenges made a huge difference. It sounds awful but if I'm concentrating on something I can now say "hang on, I'm not listening right now" rather than nodding along to whatever she says and forgetting it all straight away, then letting her know when I can focus. Raised a few eyebrows when I've said it in front of other people but it works for us.

- Counselling helped talk though some of the baggage I was carrying around relating to it all and is the reason I ended up seeking a diagnosis in the first place.

- Having a place for everything and making a serious effort to keep things in their place. Particularly for keys and wallets etc. I'm always losing stuff otherwise.

- Sounds obvious but just "starting" something. Work was my biggest struggle, I wanted things to be perfect and really struggled getting things done on time. Committing to doing 5 minutes usually meant I got on and ended up working well for a while.

Best of luck!

[RSTurboPaul]

randlemarcus said:

RSTurboPaul said:

Are there options out there for private assessment / diagnosis / prescription if/as required? (Which don't cost a billion quid...??)

Private assessment and diagnosis isn't excruciatingly expensive, but the ongoing prescription is grindingly expensive over time. Worth having a word with your GP to discuss the shared care and how best to align the various elements as efficiently as possible.

Sslink said:

Wholly depends on your definition of expensive. Private assessment/diagnosis can cost around £1000 once all is said and done.
My own diagnosis cost ~£1200 (thankfully paid by BUPA), scripts per month is ~£100 (that's for Elvanse, strength doesn't seem to matter much price-wise).

If you can get your private doc and GP to agree to shared care then the on-going costs (prescriptions) will drop dramatically, although you will still have to fork out for a yearly assessment with the psych.

Thanks for the replies, gents, useful info.

[TheBinarySheep]

Has anyone been on Concerta and then switched to a generic brand, but found it doesn't work?

I was on 54mg Concerta, but switched to Elvanse just to see if there was any difference. Sadly Elvanse didn't work for me. I've switched back to Concerta, but this time I've been given a generic brand version, and two weeks in I'm seeing absolutely no benefit from it. If I stopped taking it tomorrow, I don't think I'd notice a difference.

[hepy]

TheBinarySheep said:

Has anyone been on Concerta and then switched to a generic brand, but found it doesn't work?

I was on 54mg Concerta, but switched to Elvanse just to see if there was any difference. Sadly Elvanse didn't work for me. I've switched back to Concerta, but this time I've been given a generic brand version, and two weeks in I'm seeing absolutely no benefit from it. If I stopped taking it tomorrow, I don't think I'd notice a difference.

Be interested in this as I’m going the other way.

I’ve been on generic 54mg and my latest prescription has turned up and it’s Concerta.

Hope it’s good, cost double the generic….compared to the generic, I’m expecting it to be like Mitsubishi’s in the mid 90’s 😬

[Fastdruid]

TheBinarySheep said:

Has anyone been on Concerta and then switched to a generic brand, but found it doesn't work?

I was on 54mg Concerta, but switched to Elvanse just to see if there was any difference. Sadly Elvanse didn't work for me. I've switched back to Concerta, but this time I've been given a generic brand version, and two weeks in I'm seeing absolutely no benefit from it. If I stopped taking it tomorrow, I don't think I'd notice a difference.

I replied a few pages back on that subject.

Fastdruid said:

Not personal experience but from what I gather different brands are not identical and it is best to stick to one. Sometimes it will be the "generic" sometimes the "brand" version works for you because people can be very different in how drugs affect them.

After seeing where you are with Concerta and how it "works" for you you could ask your GP to proscribe generic and experiment by trying the different brands and then getting your GP to proscribe that exact one. Or just stick with Concerta.

As an example https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1agsjtb/i_o...

[Fastdruid]

While I'm here I'm going to vent.

I went to my GP's to see about being assessed two years ago. Some 18 months later I got a call out of the blue for being assessed for Autism and was told at the time they ruled out that first... Ok fine, I didn't _think_ I had autism but then again I can't discount high functioning autism (eg Asperger's etc).

So I had the assessment and the official diagnosis is I _don't_ have ASD.

While they can't diagnose ADHD there were enough signs to recommend in their report that I was assessed for ADHD...Which goes to my GP and then I get referred for ADHD assessment.

Long and short is that I'm basically at the very back of the ~2 year queue for assessment for the thing I asked to be assessed for two years ago.

[hepy]

TheBinarySheep said:

Has anyone been on Concerta and then switched to a generic brand, but found it doesn't work?

I was on 54mg Concerta, but switched to Elvanse just to see if there was any difference. Sadly Elvanse didn't work for me. I've switched back to Concerta, but this time I've been given a generic brand version, and two weeks in I'm seeing absolutely no benefit from it. If I stopped taking it tomorrow, I don't think I'd notice a difference.

Be interested in this as I’m going the other way.

I’ve been on generic 54mg and my latest prescription has turned up and it’s Concerta.

Hope it’s good, cost double the generic….compared to the generic, I’m expecting it to be like Mitsubishi’s in the mid 90’s 😬

[sparkyhx]

hepy said:

TheBinarySheep said:

Has anyone been on Concerta and then switched to a generic brand, but found it doesn't work?

I was on 54mg Concerta, but switched to Elvanse just to see if there was any difference. Sadly Elvanse didn't work for me. I've switched back to Concerta, but this time I've been given a generic brand version, and two weeks in I'm seeing absolutely no benefit from it. If I stopped taking it tomorrow, I don't think I'd notice a difference.

Be interested in this as I’m going the other way.

I’ve been on generic 54mg and my latest prescription has turned up and it’s Concerta.

Hope it’s good, cost double the generic….compared to the generic, I’m expecting it to be like Mitsubishi’s in the mid 90’s ??

Dr's have started writing prescriptions for the drug not the brand, cos of the supply issues so Lisdex.....and methyl.....instead of Elvanse and Concerta

[TheBinarySheep]

sparkyhx said:

Dr's have started writing prescriptions for the drug not the brand, cos of the supply issues so Lisdex.....and methyl.....instead of Elvanse and Concerta

I've also heard stories of people going private, being prescribed Concerta, but then being prescribed a generic brand once they've moved to a shared care agreement because it's cheaper for the NHS.

It makes sense I get it, but then those people are having an absolutely nightmare getting GP's to prescribe the branded version when the generic brand doesn't work for them.

I stopped taking the generic brand for a couple of days to see if I noticed any difference when I went back on them. I noticed a small 'high' an hour or so afterwards, but nothing else. I'm not even seeing any side effects (cold hands) on the generic brand, which I had on Concerta. It's like it literally does nothing.

I'm glad I've had this experience, because at least now I know the generic brand doesn't work for me.