My psych is letting me try ADHD meds without getting neuropsych testing after all, which is great because that shit’s expensive. Wish me luck getting it filled with the shortage and everything. I really hope it helps! I’m tired of being overwhelmed all the time and unable to focus on what I want to focus on.

Update: Day one on Adderall 10mg - It’s a little too early to tell, but it might feel a little bit easier to focus on stuff. I don’t feel “wired” or anything, and I’m still getting hungry as usual. My heart might be beating a little faster, which I was told to expect.

  • TicagrelorEnglish
    18·
    11 months ago

    Pharmacist here with a couple suggestions to make your life easier.

    • ask your MD to give you your rx as a hard copy. Electronic prescriptions may not be transferable depending on state regulations. With a hard copy you can call arround to several local pharmacies to find one that has your dose in stock and then physically take the rx to them instead of asking your MD to send over a new electronic rx.
    • look into genetic testing. Genesight has income based costs that max out at $350 and will save you months to years of trial and error trying to find a med that works for you.
      • TicagrelorEnglish
        5·
        11 months ago

        The genesight test specifically test for how your body would metabolize depression/anxiety and ADHD meds.

        For example, if you are a poor metabolize of a drug, you would be more likely to have side effects. And if you are a hyper metabolize you wouldn’t respond as well to normal doses as you would break down and clear the drug faster that the average person.

        Both of these issues would eventually show up through trial and error with dose adjustment over the corse of a year or so, however with the genetic testing you can get that information in a couple of weeks and avoid a lot of the back and forth with does and drug changes.

      • nightauthor@kbin.social
        2·
        11 months ago

        According to Dr Russell Barkley, there are genetic tests that can really help identify which drugs you are likely to respond to.

      • TicagrelorEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        I can’t speak for all testing, however the genesight test is legitimate. The test analyzes a range of CYP enzymes that are common in the metabolism of anxiety/depression, and ADHD meds and compairs the activity of your enzymes to the population standard. You can then compare your metabolism of drugs to the expected metabolism to determine if it will be a viable treatment choice.

        As an example, my siblings and I all tested as having slow metabolism via the most common CYP enzyme used for SSRI’s. Due to this we experience more adverse effects from the SSRI’s as we don’t clear them at the expected rate. Fortunately, medications like Cymbalta and pristiq utilize a different CYP enzyme metabolic pathway and we are classified as normal metabolizes so these medications can be used without risk of additional adverse effects.

        Over all there may still be some trial and error in therapy selection even after genetic testing. However, knowing how your body will metabolize a drug before you even take it helps to eliminate some options right off the bat, and is a great tool to help guide clinical decision making.