Hubby took his Adderall every day this week for the first time. I have a hard time with it, because there are parts of his personality that I love when he's not taking Adderall..his sarcasm, joking, silly self, and he seems to lose that a bit when he's on Adderall. I also feel like he's taking too much. He tells me he needs 90 mg for work(he has a physically demanding job that requires split attention all day, and he says when he takes less than that he gets more distracted..but at home this weekend he took only 60 mg to get some jobs done around the house and I could tell he was more focused..almost too focused.. like he just didn't know how to stop. He was determined to get this job done this weekend and was doing everything in his power to get it done, made several Home Depot trips to get the right parts, ran into problems, but didn't let it distract him from the goal. I know this is the whole point of taking meds, to keep you focused..but it was almost like he was in a state of hyper focus all weekend. He even didn't stop for very long to eat. He'd wait until he was really hungry, then come inside ad scarf down some chips and a handful of m&ms. He's also diabetic. NOT A GOOD THING! But, he was better with the kids, way more aware and attentive about what was was going on, remembered to get the trash cans out to the curb without me reminding him, and when we went out to dinner before our second home depot trip, he was focused on getting the kids to eat their food, and was just aware of what was going on. I usually feel like I'm the one that's aware and keeping the kids in line, etc while DH sits in his own little world, eating and making a mess and clueless as to everything around him. It was a nice change knowing that I didn't have to be the only one focusing on the kids..Huh..it's like we were a team or something!? We talked last night after he had given up on the project for the night once he ran out of daylight, and sat outside on our patio.
I wanted to bring up the topic of Adderall but was afraid(given our history that if I told him I felt like he was taking too much Adderall he'd flip because it's taken me months of convincing to actually take it on the weekend..and here I am telling him he's too focused. WTF? I have a friend who used to do speed recreationally and it reminded me a bit of her..not that bad, mind you, but just seeing the way his brain was working on it was a little scary. We talked and it actually went really well. I told him I felt like he was super-focused all weekend and asked him how much adderall he took. He told me 60 mg, and I told him I can't imagine him taking more than that during the week.. He told me that he feels he needs more due to the nature of his job, like he burns through it quicker because he's physically working harder. When he skips it on the weekend, all he has the motivation and energy to do is watch TV or sleep. Seriously, he sleeps all weekend. One weekend I asked him after several naps and sleeping in if he felt rested, and he said no. It doesn't matter how much sleep he gets, it's never enough. Getting him to do anything off Adderal is useless. Or takes a lot of coaxing. I told him I felt like he might be taking too much Adderall during the week and when he goes off of it cold turkey like that for two days straight, his body is withdrawing, hence the sleep, and amplified ADHD symptoms. In the past this would have brought on a huge fight, but instead he said, "yeah, that could be." So we agreed for him to continue taking the 90 mg during the week for work, but dropping it down to 30 on the weekend, instead of not taking it at all. My other concern is for his health. He is already taking blood pressure medication. Wouldn't this be a good indicator that he's taking too much Adderall? We're actually in a position now financially that he could quit his job and do something else entirely, get into a line of work that is less physically demanding, but the idea of that makes him want to vomit. He said he couldn't imagine a desk job or anything that was too monotonous. I know this is probably because of the ADHD and need for excitement, stimulation, etc.
I don't think he would object to me going to a doctors appointment with him, but I know if I tell the doc that I feel he's taking too much meds, the doc might change his prescription, and then DH would be upset because he won't be as focused at work.
ADDers, tips? Experiences with other meds?
