KateA,

Why do you have to go off the Adderall? Are you assuming the high blood pressure and headaches are due to the Adderall. Perhaps it is, but then again it may not be from the Adderall. My husband had a heart attack more than 4 years ago and had 5 stents put in. When his ADHD was discovered, doctors were concerned about putting him on a stimulant so he tried Straterra first but it didn't work for him. We ended up signing a waiver to use the Adderall, knowing it might pose a risk for his heart. It's been more than 3 years since he's been on the Adderall (60 mg. XR) and his blood pressure is fine and he hasn't had any heart problems since being on it.

On the other hand, about 5 yrs. ago I began having a problem with high blood pressure. And I was not ADHD, and had been going to the gym, exercising faithfully, focusing on eating better, etc. The doctor couldn't figure out why, since this had never been an ongoing problem for me in the past. I am in my late forties now. She said she would try one other thing before she would have to put me on blood pressure medication. She switched my birth control medication from the ortho-novum with the estrogen to another type that did not have estrogen in it. I had been on birth control since I was 21 (besides when I planned to get pregnant and nursing for a short period) and never had a problem. Amazingly, when we switched the b.c. my blood pressure went down. It turned out the estrogen was causing my high blood pressure even though I had been fine for many years.

Just want you to keep an open mind. It's not always what we think it is. I've seen people who had given up on stimulant medications because it appeared to cause another problem, only to later find out that the medication had unmasked another underlying disorder (this can happen sometimes when someone has depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, etc. just to name a few).

My sister has clinical depression and has had it for many years. She has had to switch antidepressants several times to find one that would work, sometimes only for a short while. Between different medications, undiagnosed disorders, etc., it can sometimes be complicated to get it all sorted out.

I hope that you are able to get it all figured out and find what works best for you and your situation.

Quote

Hi KateA,

A lot of your description sounds like me, lol. I also take Adderall XR, and was diagnosed about 1 1/2 years ago. Been on Zoloft for a while too.

I had to abruptly stop the Adderall for a week several months ago, thinking it was causing some bad side-effects. (Turned out it was the antibiotic I was taking briefly at that time that caused the problems.) The first day off of it I felt essentially fine, but a bit tired. Then for a few days I felt pretty out of sorts--grumpy, irritable, very tired...it felt pretty unpleasant, like a withdrawal I'd imagine. My dr had advised that it didn't need to be tapered, but I definitely disagree with that opinion. Tapering it gradually would have made it much more tolerable.

After a week off of the Adderall, we re-started it and I did fine. About a month ago she had me switch over to Vyvanse, but all I did was just one day stop the Adderall and take the Vyvanse instead--and I didn't feel any uncomfortable effects from that at all.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Quote