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What's the line of being overly medicated?

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read this, it is my first post on MedHelp. I'm a 22 year old male, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science last May. These next two years I am pursuing my masters degree, and then I will be finally done with college!!! WOOHOO! I have suffered from depression since I was about 12 years old. From the ages 19-21 I think I was on and off every anti-depressant/anxiety pill offered. NONE of them worked for me. (Prozac, EffexorXR, Wellbutrin, Xanax, Zoloft etc.) After all of those UPs and downs, losing weight, gaining weight, withdrawal symptoms, feeling like a zombie... I said, ENOUGH!! I got off all of those pills cold turkey. I threw them away, and didn't take one again. It was brutal... yes.. but I feel 100% better being off of them now.

From then, I still wanted to tackle my depression. I still felt like it was consuming my life, and there had to be a way to get around it.

I was referred to a different doctor, and this particular doctor prescribed me Adderall. I knew I heard of it from being in college, but never tried it. Being that I was in a mental-state of severely depressed, I thought I should just give it a shot. It worked out GREAT, for the first time I think I actually felt "normal." I could actually get out of bed during the day. I wanted to talk to people. My interest in school went up immensely etc. etc..

With all that being said... Are there other people out there that are prescribed Adderall for depression? Also how many MG do you take? I am curious to see if I'm prescribed a "normal" amount. I currently take 2, 30mg Adderall XR daily (morning, afternoon) and 1, 10mg Instant Release Adderall around 7:00pm. 70mgs of Adderall total a day.

Of course it's difficult to sleep with amphetamines so I am taking 10mg of Ambien, and 1mg of clonazepam at night.  

Is anyone else experiencing this too? Should I be frightened with the amount of pills I'm taking?

Thanks!!
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
I've heard my endocrinologist say this and my AWESOME psychiatrist say the same thing....its the nature of the beast...its always is pushing up in milligrams and disturbing a patients sleep cycle...sadly taking a couple of pills leads to side fx..and reqire more pills....but....you seem to be doing fine.
I have diabetes...so I take meds for nerve pain...then something for my stomache...then blood pressure meds. .depression meds...adhd meds...shamefully I mess with at times...antipsychotic pills...its just like that
In my opinion...yer doing fine...if you are not happy there are a lot of alternatives to consider as well as exercise and cognitive thinking/therapy.
Keep on rolling!
Helpful - 0
189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   Oh boy, that kind of changes things.  I assumed you were ADD posting here.  (You still might be)
   You can't compare the effect of stim meds on an ADD/ADHD person to somebody who doesn't have that problem.  So no help there.  I do know that a person with AD/HD typically does not build up a tolerance to the meds.  While a person without AD/HD will normally require more and more meds for the same effect.
    Although, (I think) that a person without AD/HD on that amount of stim meds should be in a pretty hyper state.  
    I do wonder why you would be depressed at age 12?  I do know from my own experience in education,  that a sharp kid in 5th or 6th grade who knows that they should be doing better in school, will become frustrated, anxious, and then depressed as they watch the world pass them by.
    You really need to talk to your doc (what kind is he?) and get more info about how and why the meds are helping you.
     The really important part is that the meds are helping you.   You now need to figure out how to help the meds help you.
      Oh, and you might want to check out this link to see if it rings any bells for you.
        http://jeffsaddmind.com/how-do-you-describe-adhd-to-a-non-adhder-10270.htm
    Let me know what you think.
    
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for your feedback. I will definitely put your suggestions into consideration. Yes I take the 10mg (blue) adderall at night, once the 60mg of the XR wears off. The crazy thing is that I wasn’t told I am ADD. (I don’t think I am) I’ve done great in school my whole life, with no attention problems. I think the stimulant effects are fighting off my cloud of depression. I didn’t have to take an attention test or anything to get prescribed these medications.

So I guess I am just nervous that I will become addicted to these drugs, since they make me feel SOOO much better than what I feel when I’m depressed. I hope that I don’t become tolerant to them, and have to start taking more, and more… Personally, Adderall has been such a blessing for me. (Overcoming depression, and losing a substantial amount of weight) This drug almost seems too good to be true.

Again, thanks for the feedback. I know I need to start exercising more, it’s difficult to find the time, but that’s a bad excuse ☺
Helpful - 0
189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   Congratulations on getting out of college!  That is a huge deal.  And so is getting off the antidepressants.  The great thing about stim meds (if you have ADHD) is that they can be taken on an as needed basis.  Its very difficult to do that with antidepressents and most of them have to be slowly withdrawn.
    Depression is very common among people with ADHD.   I personally think that it is the ADHD that has usually caused the depression, and thus if you can correctly deal with the ADHD - then the depression can much more effectively be dealt with.  But, all too often, people get stuck with a doctor that only sees the depression.  You are lucky to have found the doc that you have.
   There is no "normal" dose of stim meds.  And not only that, different stim meds effect people differently.  One kind that may work for one person may not work for another.
   The main thing is that it is a trial and error approach to find out what works best.   And this can only be done by being in constant communication with your doc.  If the doc says take this and call me in a month, I would be concerned.
   One very helpful thing that you can do is to have a high protein breakfast.  It makes the meds much more effective.
    I am guessing that you take the 10mg at night so that you can study?  If that can be changed.  Then you could sleep.   The meds that you are taking to help you sleep are powerful.   It might be that taking one  Vyvannse   early   - which is the longest lasting med (8 to 12 hours) - might allow you to get your studies done and then sleep.
    I would also really, really, work on exercise.  Besides helping your ADHD, it will also help you sleep at night and help depression.
   But, to answer your question.  I have seen posts of adult who take much more then you.  As I said, it all depends on the person.  But, I would certainly speak with you doc and experiment with the meds to find the least possible to take and still be effective.  And definitely work on getting off the sleep meds by changing your routine for study, etc.
   Has your doc given you much info on ADHD or ADD (more probably) and how it can effect you and ways to deal with it?  
Helpful - 0
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