ADD/ADHD Medication help Please.

[lhshoffner]

My husband has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Our Dr says he is the poster child for Adult ADD/ADHD. He has also been diagnosed with a leaking Mitral valve prolapse. And was placed on Pinodol. He is also on Suboxone for loratab addiction. He has been put on adderall then taken off due to it not helping him. Was put on Vyvanse and was having severe side effects from that. So he was placed on the same dosage of Adderall that he was on previously. 20 mg 2 times a day, and was also put on Zoloft. I was wondering what other medications would help with mood problems and anger issues? And what would be the fastest acting medication he could take? His anger issues are not to where he is abusive, just agitated, irritated, and it only takes something small to set it off ie..someone cutting him off in traffic. What advice can you give for us? He is already seeing a psychologist as well.

[lhshoffner]

Thank you so much for that info. He goes to see the Dr. next week and I will definitely bring this up to him.

[Sandman2]

   Not sure what kind of a doctor you are seeing.  But he is wrong.  A 30 mg pill is made because 60 mgs is the recommended highest dose.  And there is a lot of good reasons to go higher.
   I have included two links that give that info.  Can't imagine why your doc would say only 40 as 60 is pretty common knowledge.
     http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49181
     https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:1fL_jZQOALwJ:thecarlatreport.com/sites/default/files/January2010.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgHo2KFaVKHPy-LEX9-H0OnR3mf2BqgxqHiD1WHxXi2Ki2W9hLMawvOQKqBqkQ4TzGi_ckFa0YE5uqzjmsPO77vnWKnyM1yfjMpaF5m10-s2bIhrU-4pN8Zktd0CYS63pjvAcCL&sig=AHIEtbRgWQHzTA6xNsMWaIBeFog1Zdoxdg
      Make sure you paste and copy all of the last link into your browser.
    More general info here - http://www.leeheymd.com/charts/adhd_1.html
    
    I will be curious to hear what your doc has to say when presented this info.  Best wishes.

[lhshoffner]

Thank you so much for the advice. When they originally started his Adderall it was already the highest dose 20mg 2 times a day. The Dr. said that this is the highest dosage they can give. As for the ritalin, the side effects and his health problems would not be a good idea. So we are not sure where to go from here.

[lhshoffner]

Thank you for your help. We will mention this to our Dr.

[Sandman2]

    Sounds like you have two separate things going on here - although its possible that the long term ADD could also be part of the cause of his short temper.  
    Adderall is really pretty fast acting, although Ritalin is even faster.  See this link - http://www.leeheymd.com/charts/adhd_1.html
     The thing to remember is that doctors typically start you off at a low level and wait to see how it works.  I'm kind of surprised that the doc didn't just up the Adderall level.  But the point is that it does take trial and error to find what works best - so do let your doctor know what is going on1
    Now if you are talking about a med for his anger management - I would assume that your doc has told you that Zoloft will take anywhere from a couple of days to a month to work.   http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Meds/Zoloft
     I think/hope that once he hits the right time period/amount of meds that he/you will notice a difference.  Until then you might want to check out a few adult ADD sites with a lot (maybe too much info).   TotallyADD.com and Jeffsaddmind.com have tons of info.   And, of course, anyway I can help I will.  Best wishes.

[Healthadvisory]

I am 35 been struggling with ADHD the last 7 years. I was always in Denial. In high school my buddies thought I smoked weed because I was always in a daze. I am afraid to eat foods now fearing my add will flare up, I am currently on the non stulimulant startera. I don't believe it's strong enough but it does help. I just got a recent promotion at work through sheer con. Meaning I always acted as if I knew everything when in reality is was just a fog to fool everyone.