Meds Experiences Thread!!

I use modafinil off-label for focus. I have NVLD, which isn’t ADHD but has some similarities.

It’s subtle. It won’t feel obvious like ritalin or adderall. Be careful with it, it’s possible to run yourself down and not notice, because you just don’t feel the exhaustion and you also don’t feel amped or wired. But I think it’s a godsend. I don’t feel particularly different without it, but I couldn’t get it for a while because of insurance shenanigans and I just fell to pieces that I couldn’t figure out how to put back together.

I wish I could give a definitive test for knowing if it’s working but I don’t have one. You might have to kind of feel it out. I found I could get really wrapped up in activities that I’d been very frustrated about because of my inability to stay focused. I think it’s easiest to start with small, fun things like a video game you would totally enjoy if you could just actually sit still. If it’s working you may notice that you spontaneously accomplished tasks you might normally find too tedious to stick with. I played Sims a lot at first, and good heavens was my game organized.

It won’t fix the avoidance issues you get when you’ve learned it’s not worth it to try accomplishing tasks because they are suffering. That’s something that improves with time as you relearn the boundaries of what you can expect from yourself. Hence starting with easy, fun things and working from there.

It’s probably the second worst tasting medicine I’ve ever tried but I’ve had great luck. I hope it helps you too.

 

@palindromordnilap I asked a friend who also uses modafinil for focus if she had any input on the situation. She said she would suggest doing something right on the edge of what you normally would be able to do, like if you have trouble sitting through an entire movie or listening to an entire music album. She says it's important to monitor how you feel while this is happening so you get an idea of if you're restless, or if it's easier than you expected and you're having a pretty good time.

She concurs about the difficulty of judging efficacy, because modafinil really is just subtle like that. You just wonder sometimes if any improvement is because of the medication or if you're just having a good day. She said that if you're prone to accidentally missing doses sometimes, that is unfortunate but it can also serve as an excellent test for whether it's working if you suddenly discover that focus is much more difficult.

(As far as placebo effect goes, my psychiatrist has told me that placebo works much better for some things than others. Apparently it is really, really good for pain. I'm not sure about its usefulness for focus, but anecdatally from my own experiences I'd rank it as pretty much completely useless.)

 

Has anyone ever taken citalopram and experienced nausea after consumption? Not sure if this is a med-specific side effect or my disabled ass not liking eating things.

 

by "after consumption," do you mean "after taking citalopram" or "after eating"? because nausea is a very common SSRI side effect, and citalopram definitely made me queasy and tanked my appetite. but i never was nauseated after eating, when i managed to eat.

 

After consuming the meds, sorry. I take mine at night right before I go to bed with a piece of toast.

 

ahh, yeah. like i said, nausea is a very common SSRI side effect, and from personal experience it's the side effect i've dealt with the most. taking medication with food is supposed to help mitigate nausea, but if you're worried that the toast itself isn't sitting well, you can try taking it with a smoothie, a protein shake, an ensure (or some other supplemental nutrition type drink), or even just milk or juice. some kind of drink with nutrients that normally doesn't upset your stomach.

my sympathies, though, it SUCKS to be nauseated all the time.

 

I'm taking escitalopram, which is pretty similar? Nausea is a side-effect that was mentioned in the literature I got and it is one I was experiencing before I switched to taking it in the evening before bed. I usually take it with some juice or a sports drink - are you having yours with anything besides toast?

 

Also, for persona experience with escitalopram: I think my appetite has actually improved, and I've been way more productive in the past couple of days than I was in the past month before that. I did experience some nausea and drowsiness while I was taking it in the morning, but I switched it to an evening dose and that seems to have helped with the drowsiness. The nausea's still sort of a thing, but might be anxiety-induced - it's more of a "there's a lump in my throat and swallowing past it Sucks" type of nausea and less "my stomach is unsettled" type; taking deep breaths seems to help.

 

Oh same hat vis a vis escitalopram! I think it's pretty common to have nausea when you start it and it typically goes away over time. If it doesn't your doctor will probably wanna switch you off cuz if you're too nauseous to eat you're not gonna feel any better on your meds.

 

So I've started weaning off thingy (thing thing head brain no no fuck a ruck, the... that one on my bookshelf. TOPIRIMATE) I started weaning off topirimate on doctor's suggestion since the side effects were really starting to override the benefits, and I thought caffeine withdrawal headaches sucked. Going off topamax sucks. I have rebound/withdrawal headaches (whatever is applicable when you are on less of a headache-minimizer) and it is accompanied by atrocious mood swings for a few days each time I decrease the dosage. A three-day migraine finally went away. This is not fun. This is not fun at all. >:| (But also not fun was randomly collapsing from weakness and being so nauseous I refused to eat, etc)

I forgot how much going off meds can suck. I witness myself.

 

Hard witnessed. I remember those days. When I went off Paxil I was sick for a month. But once feeling like hot garbage passes then you'll feel so, SO much better! Hang in there!

 

Adding my name to the "used to get nauseous right after taking my escitalopram" list here. It's annoying, but normal.

 

Update on the modafinil thing: I ended up getting pretty heavy brain fog within about a week, so I eventually stopped taking it... And then caught up on all the sleep I had apparently missed, and focus was obviously pretty hard unless I took massive amounts of caffeine. So, a few days later, I started again, and it worked great... For a while, and now it seems the brain fog is back. So, I assume it is working, but also causing sleep deprivation issues (which is weird because while I did lose some sleep time, it's like, less than an hour), and I'm not entirely sure how to help with that.

 

You should update your doctor on that and see if they have any suggestions. It sounds like you might be having non-restorative sleep, which is causing fatigue and that could be the cause of the brain fog.

 

Does anyone here know if any ADHD meds can cause long-term appetite fuckery? I haven’t been on meds for a year or two because I function just well enough for my job and basic tasks but not well enough to get it together to find a good doc. I was on Strattera for a couple years before my current nonmedicated state, and then before that it was various stimulant meds - at various times I’ve been on both long- and short-acting concerta and adderall, and also briefly Ritalin, which I stopped because it gave me bad panic attacks.

The strattera gave me nausea which messed with my appetite, and Concerta and adderall are also both known appetite killers. While on meds, I often had a hard time telling if I was hungry or not, and even if I could tell that I was hungry, eating often seemed like a drag. That’s all expected. What’s puzzling me is the fact that I’ve had similar appetite problems on-and-off for the past year or two despite not taking any meds at all. Is it possible that this is still something caused by the meds, or should I just chalk it up to an inconsistent sleep schedule? I do t remember having any appetite problems before I started taking meds when I was 18, but various little lifestyle changes could also be to blame. Anyone have any knowledge or anecdata to share?

 

Sleep can effect your appetite. I don't think stimulants mess up your appetite permanently - they get out of your system pretty quickly, so they shouldn't still be effecting you. I know if I forget to take mine once it's like I was never on it at all. If you feel like this is a significant problem, you could probably ask your doctor, because probably if permanent appetite changes are a problem with any of the meds you've taken, the doctor should know and maybe have suggestions for dealing with it and making sure you're eating enough.

 

I'd consider it more likely that an inconsistent sleep schedule's to blame, honestly. But seconding that if it's a significant problem for you, you should discuss it with your doctor.

 

So far it’s been more an annoyance than any kind of serious problem, and I doubt that will change anytime soon because I tend to hoard easy-to-eat snack foods :P the possibility that it could be a lingering meds effect just occurred to me today and I wondered if anyone else had had similar experiences - but overall yeah I guess it would make more sense for inconsistent sleep (and possibly exercise levels) to be the issue.

 

yeah, adhd meds can cause appetite fuckery. my brother lost his appetite on one of them, though i don't remember which one.

 

I do not get nauseous after taking citalopram (anecdata: I take it in the morning with my other meds and final bite of food), but I've been taking it for like 13 years now and very well might have adjusted. I honestly don't notice any side effects from it anymore? But maybe I'm just so used to them that they've become background radiation.