Stimulants

[Aquadiva]

This is my daughter's second try with ritalin. She really doesn't see any difference when she takes it, but it has only been 2 days. No positive or negative effects. She took 10 mg the first day and 20 the second day. When she tried it before, the same thing-no benefit, no bad side effects. She tried it longer that time, but was on a beta blocker at the same time which we now believe has been making her worse. We have added this back on our own as the only other meds she is taking are bcp and fluoxetine just to see if she notices a difference.

Should she notice a difference right away with stimulants? She isn't interested in continuing taking it without seeing a benefit, but I have to wonder if it would take a longer trial? Part of me says no as it is such a short acting medication. She needs it mostly for concentration and energy.

[Connie]

Yes you should notice a difference with stimulants immediately. Maybe she could try a different stimulant like Adderall, Concerta, and or Vyvanse. Different people react differently to each medication. My older son is ADHD and started a on Ritalin when he was younger and it worked great but then after a few years the doctor switch him to something that would last longer than 4 hours. The thing about Ritalin is that the when you take it, it starts working slowly and gets better like you are going uphill with a sudden drop when the medication effects wear off. My younger son has POTS and has not noticed an improvement taking stimulants either in paying attention or with the brain fog. His brain fog seems to be worse. The only thing my younger son noticed about most of the stimulants is he is even more wiped out after taking them. Some people with autonomic problems have good luck with stimulants maybe a different one would work better.

Mack's mom suggested my son try turmeric. It is natural and you get this at at stores like GNC. Mack's mom said they use turmeric in CFS patients to help with energy and the help with brain fog is an added bonus. It helped her with energy and cognitive function liked brain fog. After thinking about it, I am nervous only because my son had a couple of really severe reactions to what we think have been spices. I am still weighing the options of trying it for him.

Good luck finding something that helps your daughter this has been a big struggle for us. I hope you find something soon.

Hope

[PotsMom]

I am no expert on this but my understanding is that with most of the stimulants you will see benefit right away if it is going to help. Between my two kids we have tried several of them with no benefit, with a couple of small exceptions. We have tried Concerta, Adderall (neither of the kids tolerated this), and Provigil. The exceptions are that with Provigil, the first day my son took it, we thought it was a miracle drug. He had an awesome day and said he didn't remember the last time he had felt that good. However, the second day the benefit was reduced by about 50% and after that nothing. The Concerta may have helped a bit at school (this was several years ago) in that teachers felt he was a bit more interactive in class, but even that was not a noticeable effect for him. We also tried tumeric, with no benefit. For some the stimulants seem to help and for others they don't - they have not worked for us. I think you will see benefit right away and if not, probably not going to help. Hopefully some who have been helped by them will give some feedback on that.