LONGECITY

I have been diagnosed with ADD and have a script for Dexedrine, which I don't like to use too often because I'm fearful of addiction and tolerance issues.

It is helpful for my motivation however my ability to maintain focus and attention is nearly non-existent. I struggle to focus on things that have interest to me and it makes me irritable.

Off dex, I have energy but my motivation is low, I take little pleasure in achieving goals and barely engaging in pleasure seeking activities.

I'm have ordered some a Bacopa and rhodiola hoping they will help, as I think maybe I'm too irritable to focus.

I'm also interested in trying a Racetam and want to know which one is best for attention and motivation?

Can I take it long term?

Do I need to supplement with Choline? (I think I remember reading bacopa has a cholinergic component)

Bacopa has an inhibiting action on the degradation of choline.

Its not so strong but better avoid choline supplementation or take firstly small doses of them together.

 

I dont have any great experience with racetams, but I´ve read recently 1-2 threads which stated that Noopept has a negative effect on the Short-term memory.

 

Dexedrine has an inhibiting effect on Vmat2. Vmat2 is,afaik, a kind of provider of monoamines i.e. Dopamine, Serotonine etc.

On the short, inhibition of Vmat2 increases the release of monoamines but on longterm it decreases it.

And in addition to that a decreased Vmat2 increases the oxidative ( i.e. Neurotoxic) effects of degraded Dopamine.

So an antioxidant like Bacpoa would be good, albeit I dont know if sufficent enough.

 

This is all what I can tell You.

So, maybe this has to be blamed for Your amotivation.

But I´m not a professional, so I´m maybe wrong with this.

 

Try to talk about the Motivational aspects with Your Doctor, maybe He would give You something other than Dexedrine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Flex, 24 July 2014 - 04:30 PM.

I heard phenylpiracetam might be a good bet, I've never tried it though. Would like to.
 

DLPA may help with both motivation and pleasure.

Improve your diet, reduce stress. An aggressive herbal combination is ginkgo, ginseng, brahmi, ashwagandha, green tea, and gotu kola. If looking for less harmful/addictive pharms, consider modafinil, ritalin, atomoxetine, etc.

Modafinil if you want to go straight to hardline focus, but (phenyl)piracetam if you would like to ease your way up the ladder to find a substance that is suitable for you like the bacopa, etc.

Judging from your post, I actually think you might have more classical ADHD, instead of ADHD-PI - the fact that you report energy when off the drugs, is why I believe this.

Sometimes, when you have ADHD-C ( combined, you pronounced problems with both inattention and motivation) you often get a case of the sufferer not having as great of a difficulty with one or the other, and if diagnosed late in life, may be seen as mostly inattentive, when in reality, this diagnosis might not be entirely correct.

 

( the person with the illness may by then have found various behavioural compensations, which mask most of the hyperactivity. Especially if that was the lesser problem.)

Anyways, for pure focus, just ask your pdoc for Intuniv ( time-release guanfacin) - it has nearly no effect on motivation, but tremendous effect on attention. That's because it primarily inhibits cAMP -formation in the Pre-Frontal-Cortex.

 

Over-production of cAMP is theorized to be the primary pathology behind the inattention, behavioural, and emotional control -problems of ADHD. A lot of people diagnosed with comorbid bipolar-disease find themselves PERFECTLY emotionally stable on Intuniv - most likely because they don't really have bipolar at all, they just have ADHD-PH - and especially problems with emotion-control.

 

Intuniv is often used in concurrence with stimulants, such as amphetamines, since they compliment each other incredibly well, they more or less remove the side-effects of the other. ( they stack, heh)

 

Just remember to lower your stimulant-dose if you decide to try Intuniv - you won't really need the same dose as before, so no need to push it.

 

Or, if you want to try something experimental, or a Racetam, then go with Fasoracetam! = ) We have a fairly extensive thread here on Longecity. It's a compound currently in clinical trial for treating not just ADHD, but the comorbid diseases as well.

 

http://www.longecity...55-fasoracetam/

 

PS: You're welcome to check out my ADHD master-thread as well, in fact I welcome any and all feedback. And feedback definitely helps with the motivation.

http://www.longecity...ception-thread/

The main idea, is to collect all of the Longecity knowledge about ADHD, into one simple, clear, and extensive thread.