ADHD medication

[takemebacktothe1990s]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with moderate combined ADHD in April 2021 and since then I've been prescribed Xenidate from 18mg up to 54mg, before being transferred over to Elvanse 30mg in November'22.

The Elvanse has done absolutely nothing for me at all at this dose. I understand I have to start at a low dose then increase but this has felt like I've taken 10 steps backwards I know there's scope for this to be increased though.

My next medication review is a week tomorrow, so I guess I'm wondering (and too impatient to wait until then to find out) has anyone ever been in a similar situation then been out back on the original meds? I can see now that the Xenidate was far better for me. It wasn't quite helping with everything but even at the lowest dose I found it more beneficial than the Elvanse (highest dose I think is 70mg...so I'm taking almost half the dose).

Example of how bad it is for me... The other day I decided to clear out a big built in cupboard in my bedroom. Got it all out and on my bed. Went downstairs for something, got distracted then lost all motivation. Ended up sleeping in my spare room for 2 nights because I just couldn't muster anything up to clear my bed this is just not normal

Why did they move you over when what you had was working?

P*arrotid
*
I was moved over because they were concerned with weight loss. I lost around 7-10lbs in 8 weeks. The medication stopped me snacking between meals and curbed my appetite until around 3pm. (My BMI when I was moved over was around 26 so still classed as overweight and not really what I would consider risky).

It seems a bit hasty to stop the medication that worked for you on the basis of weight loss. After all, the weight loss may have eased off after a while.

Could you ask to go back onto Xenidate and tell the health professionals that you will set alarms to remind you to eat, even though you're not hungry?

I tried this, set reminders throughout my working day and ate little and often. I lost 6lbs in less than a week on one of the meds I was prescribed for ADHD (Concerta XL) and the person monitoring me said the weight loss was okay, that things would settle down.

I can understand how disappointed you must be and wish you all the best for your review appointment.

Clarice

Thank you for your message. My next med review is on Thursday so I'll definitely ask her then. Hopefully she'll change me back again.

It's funny because at the time I really thought I still had a long way to go with the titration. I was feeling the benefit massively but felt I still had a way to go with the procrastination. Looking at it now and having been changed over, I can see it was working better than I thought. Ah hindsight!!!

I'm still only on 30mg of Elvanse so there's scope to increase it if they decide not to put me back on the previous medication, so at least that's something!