Dr Russell Barkley on ADHD Meds and how they all work differently from each other

[@InflatedBadger]

Russell Barkley is the man! Having adhd throughout my life, I have never heard such a powerful voice in the psychological realm than this guy.

[@GeorgiaHeard]

LOL, I had to listen to this 4 x today. Not my best day...... " keep on swimming"

[@engr80]

Thank you so much for this very informative video. It helped me to learn a lot about my child's ADHD Medication.

[@heatherrekalske431]

Oh, wow. I wish I'd had this information 3 years ago. I was taking ADHD medication while severely depressed. I told my doctor that I felt better emotionally while the medication worked, but as soon as it wore off I would start crying again. I told him I was depressed, and I thought I needed an antidepressant. He thought I was bipolar based on the fact that I'd had severe depression before (bu it was never completely resolved and the PTSD issues I have were never addressed) and kept insisting that I take an atypical antipsychotic, which didn't work for me. I stopped taking the stimulant medication because I thought my depression was worsening on it instead of getting better. I eventually ended up in the hospital, and now I'm on sertraline HCl, gabapentin, and prazosin HCl, but no ADHD medication. I need to be able to focus to function and to not interrupt people in a spastically helpful way to be able to work, but I am afraid my doctor won't listen to me about combining medications to get the lowest possible dose. When will this knowledge become mainstream and trickle down through the rest of the pschological/psychiatric establishment?

[@capitalist4life]

Jonathan Edwards Bupropion is an antidepressant with some efficacy for adhd. might be worth considering.

[@heatherrekalske431]

Thank you so much for replying to my post. I have previously taken Wellbutrin, but to no effect. Maybe it's worth another shot, though. 😀

[@heatherrekalske431]

I took it. It helped, but not as well as adderall. I asked for a combo so I could take a lower dose of the stimulant, but my doc refused. Also, I have IBS, and Strattera at the highest dose caused GI issues for me, whereas the adderall actually helped. So, it helps somewhat, but I think you'll have to end up taking multiple medications as I do, at least if you want to be able to manage work and family and not dance around your chair like a 4-yr.-old at meetings. Hope this helps.

[@jlloyd6923]

The Strattera maid me very angry. It was not going good.

[@sashatagger3858]

Emotional blunting on the psychostimulants? Why do they euphoric then?

[@adhdvideos286]

You have multiple types of dopamine receptors in your limbic system (D1, D2, etc) Certain type of dopamine receptors increase activity in the limbic system Others decrease activity in the limbic system Thus you get different results in different people for people may have different sensitivities of these receptors. One person's d1 receptor may be supersensitive while another person has an insensitive d1 receptor, and the same applies to the d2 receptor. Thus at certain doses you may see different effects in different people. One person may be euphoric, while another person may feel dead inside, they can think, but they just don't care. They have little to no emotion since the emotional system is being suppressed. And its not just receptors and reuptake transporters. It is also enzymes such as the COMT enzyme which deals with the removal of neurotransmitters. Some people COMT enzyme get rids of neurotransmitters too fast, other people it is too slow The same logic applies liver enzymes where your body gets rid of the drugs too fast or too slow. Medicine is complicated. Some meds work great in some people, while the same meds in people with similar problems but different genetic are horrible meds. Yet just because you can't take drug A does not mean Drug B, C, or D may not work for you. The study of drugs and genetic interactions is called pharmacogenomics, it is a new field of medicine for only recently we have the tools to start studying this in an effective way.