Posted by zeugma on September 5, 2004, at 19:43:44
In reply to Re: 2nd Q on paradoxical stim. response - z, anybody? » zeugma, posted by KaraS on September 4, 2004, at 14:59:54
I'm mostly worried about stressing my adrenals by taking a stimulating drug. Also, though, I'd probably have to get on something else so that I could sleep. The paradoxical reaction isn't worrisome - just annoying.
I know my adrenals were stressed today- I became exhausted before the time I was 'supposed' to. The depletion of energy that the stimulants cause is aggravating, but I dont see an alternative. I agree that it's better not to have to take a med to counter the s/e of another med, even if it's Benadryl. Of course sometimes it's necessary.
> i wish i could cut down on coffee. my caffeine intake is slowly creeping back up as tolerance is developing to the provigil/ritalin. i don't mind using caffeine, as long as i don't need two cups an hour.Wow, that's a lot of coffee. Do you need that much now? What a drag to feel so dependent on it.
Something that emerged from looking at the narcolepsy boards, besides the invectives against Provigil (actually most users of Provigil have a more temperate view of the drug) is the use of caffeine to compensate for the near-total exhaustion all these narcolpetics suffer from. They would talk about being on Provigil, Adderall, Ritalin, whatever, and would know that tolerance was developing when the need for caffeine became urgent again. Believe it or not , Strattera was stimulating for me when I first took it. Its effects began to wane when I needed more and more caffeine every day. Eventually it became positively fatiguing, by which I mean it elevated my fatigue and need for caffeine above baseline. That was when the time to stop Strattera entirely became necessary.Yes, it's a drag to be dependent on a substance. But if it's a choice between functioning minimally and with difficulty, and not functioning at all, which do you pick?
>
I definitely understand about picking your battles. As someone who's been battling depression for many, many years, I'd have to agree. It's a long, long road but well worth it when you find things that work and you feel better (or so I've read). I love reading the old posts of people who find some medicine or cocktail of medicines that's really working for them after long periods of being dysfunctional. It's enough to keep me going and searching.
Yes, definitely. Do you find your depression has followed any kind of course? i.e. have the symptoms changed, some improved, others worsened, that kind of thing? Those might be clues to what's really going on.-z
Kara
poster:zeugma
thread:382683
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/386833.html