How are you feeling right now? (Pt 2)

[Peter]

I'm having a Strattera-induced headache accompanied by a loud ringing in my ears. I think I need to stop taking the med.

I was wondering about how long the effects were lasting, because I thought you had already stopped taking them.

I stopped taking Concerta because I had trouble breathing properly. Strattera I'm still taking.

You might have the same issue that I do; I get bad side effects to varying degrees from drugs that increase synaptic norepinephrine concentrations, including atomoxetine/Straterra (a pure norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that gave me the worst side effects of any drug I've tried), venlafaxine (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor), mirtazapine (noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant that also inhibits norepinephrine transporters) and lofepramine (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor with a high binding affinity for norepinephrine transporters), plus caffeine, which indirectly stimulates the release of norepinephrine. 

I haven't tried methylphenidate/Concerta (a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor), but I think it might not agree with me terribly well either.  Dexamphetamine also functions partly as a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor, but it's binding affinity for norepinephrine transporters is low compared to it's binding affinity for dopamine transporters, and it causes very little in the way of side-effects for me.

Concerta was fab, esxcept for that one side effect. I felt alive and able to focus, and i had never known the difference, if that makes any sense.

Well, who needs to breathe when you can feel alive and able to focus instead?  Fair trade-off to me.

There was a difference between before and after, a wow kind of feeling that turned down the noise, but I'm not sure I consider it fair.

Whoops, I was being facetious.  I would imagine breathing troubles would be quite upsetting and certainly a reason to discontinue a drug.

They were, and I was absolutely terrified when my breathing grew laboured over a period of a few days, but at the same time the difference between what I was capable of before and after was not something I could ignore.

I've never tried drugs (beyond cigarettes and alcohol) so I don't know if  that's just a "high" but it didn't fit the description.

The improved focus and feeling of aliveness from methylphenidate was probably coming from the increased dopamine, while the breathing problems are more likely to have come from the increased norepinephrine.  You might have better results from dexamphetamine; it has a weak effect on norepinephrine compared to it's effect on dopamine, so it's effects relative to methylphenidate tend to more cerebral (focus and feelings of well-being from dopamine) and less physical (stress response and peripheral nervous system effects from norepinephrine).  I suspect that I'd benefit somewhat from methylphenidate, but that I'd experience more side-effects than I do with dexamphetamine.

[Peter]

Feel sleepy despite taking 6 Dexamphetamine. Going to take another 3. Probably shouldn't but I have to study.

I feel the same way today; I just took dexamphetamine pills #7 and #8 and I'm hoping that I'll wake up enough to get some work done.

I ended up taking 13 dexamphetamine yesterday. Felt ok but still tired. Gone back to taking my regular amount today, otherwise I will run out before it is time to get another script filled.

When I get up to needing more than 10 a day (50mg, vs my prescribed dose of 40mg), I try to take a break from them for at least a couple of days to let my tolerance drop a bit.  It's often difficult to find the time to take a break, since I've developed a physiological dependence for dexamphetamine and I'm not much good for anything other than eating and sleeping when I come off it (at least for the first few days), so I have to wait for a gap when nothing critical needs to be done, but I get more work done in one good day when the meds are working well than in a whole week of mediocre or poor days when the meds aren't helping much, so it's worth it. 

I have a pill bottle where I put spare pills from days when I didn't take any or took less than my prescribed dose, which gives me a buffer for when I need extra without risking running out and having an unplanned break until I get a refill.

[ShyOne]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

["couldbecousin"]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

[P7PSP]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

[ShyOne]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

Thanks guys

I'm a bit freaked out, my heart started racing and I went blind before it happened. I wonder if it was the 2 cans of red bull I had
I still can't see right at the minute.

[Al Swearegen]

That is fucked Crip.

Hang in there

[Binty]

Sometimes I really despise having girl hormones.

["couldbecousin"]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

Thanks guys

I'm a bit freaked out, my heart started racing and I went blind before it happened. I wonder if it was the 2 cans of red bull I had
I still can't see right at the minute.

 Has this ever happened to you before?  If you don't feel better soon, please go to a doctor to get checked out. 

[ShyOne]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

Thanks guys

I'm a bit freaked out, my heart started racing and I went blind before it happened. I wonder if it was the 2 cans of red bull I had
I still can't see right at the minute.

 Has this ever happened to you before?  If you don't feel better soon, please go to a doctor to get checked out. 

I very often have near misses, I can't stand in shop queues unless they're very short for that reason. Didn't happen when I was able to walk around shopping but I can't really test that now to see if it's still true
My blood pressure is always low when they measure it (hardly ever seen it above 75 over 60 or at least I think that's the measurement it was) and my ECGs are normally okay. It's weird though, I'm scared to sleep

["couldbecousin"]

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

Thanks guys

I'm a bit freaked out, my heart started racing and I went blind before it happened. I wonder if it was the 2 cans of red bull I had
I still can't see right at the minute.

 Has this ever happened to you before?  If you don't feel better soon, please go to a doctor to get checked out. 

I very often have near misses, I can't stand in shop queues unless they're very short for that reason. Didn't happen when I was able to walk around shopping but I can't really test that now to see if it's still true
My blood pressure is always low when they measure it (hardly ever seen it above 75 over 60 or at least I think that's the measurement it was) and my ECGs are normally okay. It's weird though, I'm scared to sleep

 I'm not sure this is in any way related, but I have *almost* blacked out a couple of times after standing up too quickly
 from a crouching/kneeling position.  I have to stand up slowly and carefully if I have been crouching for a long time. 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension

['andersom']

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

That sucks.

Embarrassed. Travelled down to Loughborough today in the car (seriously long journey D:) and was looking around someone's house that we're interesting in buying and I fainted.

 No need to be embarrassed, a long car trip complicated by pain would be enough to make many people faint. 

Thanks guys

I'm a bit freaked out, my heart started racing and I went blind before it happened. I wonder if it was the 2 cans of red bull I had
I still can't see right at the minute.

 Has this ever happened to you before?  If you don't feel better soon, please go to a doctor to get checked out. 

I very often have near misses, I can't stand in shop queues unless they're very short for that reason. Didn't happen when I was able to walk around shopping but I can't really test that now to see if it's still true
My blood pressure is always low when they measure it (hardly ever seen it above 75 over 60 or at least I think that's the measurement it was) and my ECGs are normally okay. It's weird though, I'm scared to sleep

 

Any chance that it is hyperventilation?

Would with a low blood-pressure fainting happen more easy?

['andersom']

Oopsypoopsy (um yes, turned gay overnight ), too much wine I drank last night.. feel.. numb, I reckon. Not hangovered, just very chill. Going to shower for an hour now and.. we'll see..

Oh, yeah.. painting/varnishing again after that.

Numb because of turning gay? Or was it the wine? Or maybe the combination of those two?

Inquisitive mind does wonder. 

['andersom']

Ooops, see that CBC covered the hypo-tension question already.

[Binty]

It's probably your low blood pressure.  I sometimes get it so I can relate.