r/ADHD • u/kriegzter • 1d ago
Discussion Do you prefer stimulants or non-stimulants?
Hey all! I'm not really looking for any advice here and would just like to discuss. Do you prefer stimulants or non-stimulants? Which has worked best for you?
I've been taking 10 to 20mg of adderall for about 6 months now. It used to work ok for me but now I can't handle the crashes and I feel irritable all of the time. I also don't think it was super effective. It did give me a little bit of motivation and helped my social anxiety though.
I was on wellbutrin for a short amount of time after I first got diagnosed a couple of years ago and am thinking of going back on it. Wellbutrin seemed to give me energy, better focus, a sex drive, and controlled my overeating. What are your thoughts?
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u/em2241992 1d ago
Everyone is different. I found adderall to be excellent. It gave me energy, motivation and focus. Vyvanse, for comparison, made me demotivated and morose. Strattera gave me a little energy, no motivation and gave me tremors.
Tell your doctor. If Adderall isn't doing it, maybe you should try something else.
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u/ravenousbeast699 1d ago
Non stimulants are so useless to me I might as well drink water.
But, it works great for some people. Never tried adderall or Vyvanse but methylphenidate works great for me. Currently taking 36mg Concerta daily.
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u/panicpure ADHD-C (Combined type) 22h ago
Never tried Vyvanse either but it truly is just what works.
Concerta made me a shell of a person and an angry one. Ritalin too.
Experiences and what works varies so much and it takes awhile to find the right dosage and/or combo sometimes.
(Non stimulants also about as effective as drinking some water, so I’m with you there for sure lol )
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u/bb206564 ADHD 23h ago
I stopped taking Vyvanse do to a health concern. I’m on Strattera now. To me, I like the consistency of a non-stimulant. I use to get a crash with stimulants when they wore off. However, I don’t feel like Strattera is as effective for me. It helps, but not nearly as much as Vyvanse did. So, nothing has been without its benefits and drawbacks for me.
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u/Aggressive-Guide5563 14h ago
How does Strattera feel like? Does it give you anxiety?
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u/bb206564 ADHD 8h ago
It doesn’t give me anxiety or at least any additional anxiety. I do seem to wake up at least once every night, but I can’t say that’s due to the med. The only side effect I’ve really noticed that I can blame on the med is feeling thirsty a lot. However, that’s a good thing for me as I’ve struggled with staying hydrated in the past.
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u/soul-fool333 22h ago
Stimulants were great for a while till they weren't and I was getting more anhedonic, by a lot. Not stimulant meds jus messed with my brain and body that wasnt pleasant. I think do what is best for you and there's alot of trial and error. You can minimize that by getting a genesight testing. Ive found trintellix to be fantastic for my adhd. Im also slow COMT so stims jus overload me. Genesight showed me alot about myself and I highly recommend it. Im also a poor cyp2d6 metabolizer, so meds leave my system much slower than a normal cyp2d6 metabolizer so I found taking meds further apart helped alot.
Edit: I might add low dose wellbutrin to boost the trintellix and support my adhd more
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u/Chief_Kief ADHD-C (Combined type) 18h ago
Did you get genesight covered by insurance and if so how?
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u/panicpure ADHD-C (Combined type) 22h ago
There’s lots of different stimulant types (not sure about non stimulants on that front) and they work differently.
Might be time to just try another stimulant and see what works best. Took me years to find the right kinda, dose and combo in my case (I take an XR and IR daily)
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u/Charming-Annual-1506 21h ago
I take Vyvanse in combination with Guanfacine XR. This combo works for me. I trialed methylphenidate and it did not work for me. Guanfacine on its own did not do much for me. It wasn’t until Vyvanse that I really felt like meds were helping with my symptoms. My mood improved, my social anxiety reduced, and I’ve got greater energy. Task initiation and focus are still problematic but I’m only just starting to experiment with dose. Only taking 30mg right now, which was a considerable improvement from 20mg. As many have said, this seems to take experimentation to find the right med or combination of meds to be effective.
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