Pristiq + Adderall would be safe? I need help :(

[batsu]

hey guys.

i`ve been on ritalin for 7+ years now. i wasn`t treated for ADHD when I was a kid and i was diagnosed with distymia (and many times, double depression) since i was 17, with one psychriatric saying it was even some kind of depressive personality disorder (i have been always been like that - always on the down side).

after trying a bunch of meds for depression I developed panic syndrome. they would happen first weekly and then, daily and i`d go to sleep thinking i was going to die and living every day thinking i was dying. anxiety with chest pain and numb left arm, sweating and tachycardia.

 

the trigger? feeling my heart beat rise. every day i was having panic attacks after taking ritalin, it was expecially worse after eating. my BP would go as high as 18/14 and the heart beat used to go between 140-160 during the attacks, before that it would be always on the low side - even ritalin never affected that before panic started.

 

after getting paxil, it got better. took it for 2 years but the side effects became too much for me to handle. 

after 2 years of no panic attacks (of course it wasn`t all beautiful and flowers, the fear of having another attack was too difficult for me to handle - but i could work again), i stopped for almost one year and the panic attacks came back. i tried pristiq and used that for another 2 years - the pros were that i could have a decent life but the anxiety was still there. my BP rose a bit, like 12/8 usually.

 

but taking it with ritalin can still be a bit tricky, i have to split the 10mg one and take every 2 hours and hope to not feel the tachycardia. i wanted to stop with the pristiq and switched to prozac for one month but i couldnt go without it in the end. i went back to pristiq cause i was being too useless at my job.

i take 25 mg of ritalin per day and 50mg of pristiq. i was wondering, does anyone here have experience with pristiq and adderall? i still feel sleepy with ritalin (and adderall is not approved in my country of origin - but it is in the one i`ve been living for the past years). are there many chances it`ll trigger panic attacks and anxiety even more than ritalin?

 

 

doubts are, go to pristiq + adderall; prozac + adderall or keep on this way?

i`ll see the doctor tomorrow, but there`s too many doubts in my head right now.

 

also, i noticed that ritalin + high carb foods trigger it like nothing else. ritalin by itself can be okay most of the times.

 

thanks a lot and i`m sorry if i wrote it in the wrong part. 

Edited February 21, 2014 by batsu

[saveyoursanity]

I took Pristiq and Adderall and ended up on a beta blocker for tachycardia.  It worked great for the symptoms; I just had high heart rate.

[mcjimjam]

I take an SNRI + stimulant with no problems.

 

Have you ever tried anything to desensitise you to a fast heartbeat? If you can experience a fast heartbeat in a safe environment without panicking, you might learn not to fear it. An example might be getting your heartbeat up with vigorous exercise. Doing this regularly might teach you that a fast heartbeat does not always mean you are having a panic attack. Talk to your pdoc/tdoc.

Edited February 19, 2014 by mcjimjam

[daisy131864]

had a friend on a high dose of both and she was fine AND she smoked too. but YMMV

[batsu]

thanks a lot, guys. the doctor gave me just 5 mg of the extended release one for two weeks and then move on to 10mg.

i felt that it doesnt do much, the amount of ritalin i was taking made it possible for me to work (25mg during the whole day). with this dosage i`m pretty much useless. it doesn`t lasts 12 hours either, and anyway, i need to do stuff at night too so from those 25 mg, i used to take 5 mg at 6 or 7 pm.

i sleep too much so it`s no problem. i sleep A LOT, actually.

i took 10 mg (5 at morning and 5 at noon) yesterday to see the anxiety levels and all (and see if i could work, cause i`m under a work visa in another country and it`s what keeps me here). i feel a bit of anxiety but my concentration is still too diffuse, i can`t work the same way as when i used ritalin. takes longer to feel the effect, too.

i slept better, tho. i usually sleep a lot and wake up tired but not today, i slept and woke up super fine.

 

still on pristiq. had to take 5mg of propanolol today cause i felt tachycardia.

i guess i just have no one else to talk to, about those things.

 

i appreciate the desensitization idea, mcjimja, i`ll look out for that and i think it might be what i need to take the anxiety trigger in control. 

[saveyoursanity]

I had to go up to 72mg a day on Adderall while continuing to take Pristiq but it turned out later that I actually have fibromyalgia so that's why the treatment wasn't working.

 

Aside from some fucking wicked dry mouth and a raised heart rate, as I said before, I'm totally fine.

[Blue Toad]

I tried that combo as well.  It made me very irritable.  Too much norepinephrine, I guess.  

[batsu]

i`m thinking about going back to ritalin. it`s still too difficult to work.

i wonder if the immediate release version is better, i`ve got to look into that.

[Geaux Tigers]

I am currently titrating off 50mg. Pristiq, but I was taking it with 60mg. of Adderall daily with no side effects whatsoever. 

[mcjimjam]

My old pdoc said something about the immediate release being better if the stim is being used for depression or fatigue/narcolepsy. I don't know why.