I'm a 22 year old female, recent university graduate in psychology. I'm currently in a research position, and am applying to graduate schools next year. This summer I was diagnosed with ADD and given a script for Ritalin. The construct of ADD Primarily Inattentive describes me to a T, and I feel that this was a long time coming. I was self-medicating with a friend's Adderall XR prior to the diagnosis, which was immensely helpful. One interesting thing I've found is that while with the Adderall, I very much noticed an increase in tolerance with consistent use, with the Ritalin, the tolerance hasn't been a steady increase, but more of a day to day thing-some days it doesn't have as much effect, and others it's perfect. So I'm very satisfied with this, not wanting to jump on the ever-ascending dosage ride.
My problem is that, with the Ritalin, I can be a bit edgy during the day, and when I come down I can feel a little sketchy and anxious-though not psychosis or anything that extreme. I'm going to try to cut the caffeine out to see what effect it has on my side effects, but I want some advice if possible on other supplements to stack.
Currently I'm taking:
-20 mg Ritalin XR (in the morning, lasts about 8 hours)
-20 mg Ritalin IR (throughout the day)
-quite a bit of caffeine, cup of coffee in the morning and a pot of black tea throughout the rest of the day.
-I take weekends off of the Rx meds
-on weekends and evenings after running (by late evening I'm only experiencing residual effects from the meds), I take a protein powder that contains amino acids including 1.41 g of phenylalanine, and 0.94 g of tyrosine.
-Melatonin, 4 g fish oil, vitamin D, and a multi at night.
I purchased some L-theanine today and took 200 mg with my Ritalin, and so far it's pretty amazing. Almost a sort of zen feeling, no intrusive thoughts or anxiety. Just content and focused. What dosage is recommended for this? Would another 100 mg for coming down be safe?
I'm just wondering if anyone here has any other recommendations about other things to supplement to counteract negative effects of the Ritalin, or for the comedown? I'm considering maybe Rhodiola Rosea? I took Piracetam for most of undergrad which I really liked (found it made me somehow more interested in things and excited about learning), but it's so hard to get my hands on now. I also took DMAE for periods during undergrad, but I'm concerned about its long-term use, and I think it might be overkill with the Ritalin.
