2nd day on dexamphetamine....a bit worried :S

[paying_it_forward]

So today is my second day on dexamphetamine...i got diagnosed with adhd. I know there are common side effects and everyone reacts differently but i'm worried.

My doctor put me on 50mg's per day,

15mg's on waking
15mg around lunch time
10mg's late afternoon
10mg's before bed

My first day was good i was quite happy and energized for once and besides a funny tummy, bit of dizzyness and no appetite. but only slept for 3 hours :\ is that quite common when initially starting dexamphetamine?

Today i'm feeling pretty crappy. I have a headache/migraine (though i did get them alot before i started these meds), still have the funny tummy/nausea, itchy inside my ears and watery eyes, starting to get diarrhea and i just notice a little rash under my chin :S

Should i be worried? :( help!

If anyone could share their experience on them i would be really grateful too.

[paying_it_forward]

Just after i typed that yesterday i went to my local doctor to get the results of a blood test to see my liver and kidney function...

Not only is my liver function good...but its BETTER than 5 years ago! That's probably because i used to binge drink a LOT when i was younger...but now i don't even have one standard drink a week...and especially on these meds i really don't feel like drinking...i just have no interest in it anymore.

It's amazing how your body can repair itself! I've put my body through sooo much with the codine dependence and everything else...I'm so lucky not to have damaged my body permanently.

And I've lost 2kg's since i saw my local doctor 2 weeks ago :) Now my brain is getting what it needs from the medication i no longer crave sugar! (I gained ALOT of weight because of a sugar addiction over the past year and a half). It will take some time to loose the weight I've gained but I'll do it.

I'm finally getting my life in order...and getting the feeling of finally having control and direction, which is something I've never had and always yearned for (especially career wise too!). :)

[holly20092]

That is great to hear!!   keep us updated!

[paying_it_forward]

I can totally relate to your story...well besides the having kids part :P

I most definately used painkillers to make me feel "normal" as i would always explain to people...

Once my doctor suggested that i might have ADHD in January i went home and have been researching it ever since...so even before my Psychiatrist appointment i already knew that i had it....i researched the medications available here in Australia that i might get put on...just researched everything under the sun! In my research i found that people with undiagnosed ADHD are far more "prone" to addiction and abuse of drugs and alcohol, getting in trouble with the law...and also depression,anxiety,bipolar, OCD...some of those go hand in hand with it even when being treated. Thank god the psychiatrist is pretty damn sure i don't have any of those. I've probably only had depression and anxiety from the stress of having to deal with ADHD symptoms, though i never knew or even suspected that i had it!

I know about the whole parents not getting me to a doctor when i was younger. As I may of said my father has tourettes and when he got diagnosed when i was really young she asked the doctor about me and if i could have it because she had some concerns and he said it could come out in me as ADHD but yeah i never got to see a doctor or anything because my father was against medication so it just got left. All we can do is look forward now and keep moving on...we're young and both have a big life ahead of us!

It does all make sense now...my whole life...the things i thought...the things i did. And its so good to finally get to the bottom of it all.

Oh yeah the lower dose is going well...on my third day of it just now :)

[holly20092]

I myself had a drug addiction mainly to opiates growing up it started when iw as about 15 and got worse ....when i was 19 I became pregnant and competley stopped all drugs!! then after having him I started lightly taking pain pills again but only what had been prescribed....then got pregnant again at 21 and stopped again....same thing after pregnancy started again...then got pregnant with my daughter at age 24 and stopped again...well slowly started back up after she was born but only what  had been prescribed......I kept wondering why do I feel like I need these? i always strggled withfocusing and etc and alwasy thought that the pain meds helped me focus and etc.......well I quit cold turkey again about a few months back and was struggling harder then ever with stress and just maintaining life on a daily basis!!  I finally said my anxiety is thru the roof and i cannot manage life something has to be causing this!! so i broke down and spent money to get to this psycharatist and I swear all of my prayers have been answered...now I ask myself "why did my parents not take me to a psychartist when i was younger and get my diagnosis and treatment?' I would have not had the struggles I did in life........Now my younger brother is struggling and I just know he is having the same issues......I mean thru out it all I did graduate colleg and always worked FT and always had nicer things and always had the bestf or me and my children but my husband kept saying you are bipolar!! I said no I am now people with bipolar suffer from severe stages of manic depression and stay up for days which i never have and now he understands it ALL! The psychartist was great he asked me to bring my husband o my next appt so he can explain to him my illness and disorder a little better.....i swear this guy is a life saver!! during my appt he kept saying iw ill prescribe a stimulant for you....finally i said "what is a stimulant?" I had never heard that term before even in all my years of working in healthcare.......and i tell ya SO many adults are on the Vyvanse i take and swear by it.......I however do not like the fact the doctor told me i will probably have to take this drup for a LONG time to come.........

[paying_it_forward]

I called my doctor this morning and he seems to think it was the high dosage. so we've lowered it from 50mg to 30mg over the day. And he said once my body is a little bit more used to the meds we can up the dosage.

Today has gone well...i do feel i may need a higher dose during the day because I started studying again, i was focused today but not all the time. :) Through my own personal experience i decided i want to become a drug and alcohol counselor (mainly drug addiction).

But anyways i guess i'll just keep on truckin' and see how things go :)

[holly20092]

This is true almost 75% of people who suffer from drug dependency......and this is due to them having add/adhd that is untreated and they really do not know they have.....and I was also told that once Iam stable on my Vyvanse that my anxiety will be under control.......I thought it was a large dose to start usually you only start it twice a day I thought? but keep us posted

[paying_it_forward]

Hey :) thanks for your reply.

I ended up going to the emergency room (because it was a saturday night) because my face started getting red patches all over it and was feeling really hot...then the patches sort of combined and my cheeks were all red.

While i was in the waiting room i was calm then all of a sudden i had this weird mini panic attack i started hyperventilating and uncontrollably crying but then returned to normal and calm within literally a few minutes. I've been on xanax for about a year and a half (max of 4mg's a day) for anxiety but my doctor said taking the dexamphetamine would improve it...and i felt that it did.

Anyways the doctor i saw at the ER told me it could just be that i was on a higher dose than needed. I didn't have a temperature or anything, But they said to stop taking them and to call my doctor on monday, which he wanted me to do anyway to let him know how i was going. Unfortunately i live 2 hours away from his clinic so i just hope that it's something as easy as lowering the dose. It's frustrating because I've been through alot of medications over the past 2 years already, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, suboxone for a codine depenence (today is 100 days off suboxone, no relapses, no painkillers) and finally getting a proper diagnosis for adhd and medication that was great on the first day.

I was thinking the same as you said, if i was to get an allergic reaction i assume it would of been on the first dose or atleast the first day. I know i can be sensitive to new medications to start with so it could just be that. I'm a little tight chested today but i do have asthma anyway. and the right side of my face is still a bit red and hot. Ah well i guess i'll just have to wait til tomorrow when i speak to my doctor...

[holly20092]

Maybe you should try to not take the one before bed as this might be what is keeping you awake....I just started a med called vyvanse about 3 weeks ago and I know the first 4 days was rough no sleep and etc. but now it works great I am just very tired come about 7-8 pm dues to the drug not working as well.......and I just read all your other sxs and me being in the healthcare field they really sound of 2 possible problems.....1) a possible virus you have caught that is causing tummy pains,diarrhea,headache, and last a rash most viral illnesses will cause a rash of some form as they work out of our bady.....or 2) you are having a allergic reaction from the medication, but I would think if this were the case you would have gotten the reactions about a hr after ingesting the medications since they are not extended release...........You should really call your doctor on this one and keep us posted ;)