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Problem with medicine changes

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

[color=darkblue][/color] :( I am writing to you because my new psychiatrist, Dr. Bennets, has changed my medications to the point where they are no longer working properly. Thanks to the psychological staff at Bay Pines VA Hospital I was run through a battery of psychological testing and finally diagnosed with ADD almost three years ago. Using a combination of psychotherapy and medicine they were able to help me become a respected salesperson and a much more functional person. They treated me with Methylphenidate and clonazepam. After trying different doses of these two medicines, my doctors found the dosage that helped me turn my life around. They settled on two 10-milligram tablets of Methylphenidate when I wake up (6:00 AM), one at 11:00 AM and one at 4:00 PM. The dosage of Methylphenidate worked very well for me both in my work ethics and in my personal life. I have had problems falling asleep for many years because my mind would always be racing at night. The dosage of Clonazepam they prescribed for me was four little yellow tablets at bedtime. I believe they were .5mg each. This calmed my mind down enough to allow me to fall asleep. I was extremely productive and much happier for a little over two years while taking these medicines. At the same time I was seeing my psychologist an average of once a month. I never knew I could feel so good about myself and that my life could be so good. I swore to myself that I would never allow myself to become the person I was before treatment. About 6 months ago Dr. Bennets replaced my psychiatrist and the first thing he told me was that we needed to reduce the amount of drugs I was taking. This made me very nervous so I told him that the current dosages were working perfectly and I did not feel that any changes were necessary. I told my psychologist how anxious it made me to think that my prescriptions might be changed and he informed me that that Dr. Bennets has always been against prescribing controlled substances. His reasoning behind changing my prescription was that I was taking an “upper” and a “downer” and this would not be good for me in the long run. Dr. Bennets began reducing my dosages over the last six months to the point where I am worse off than I was before my diagnosis for ADD and the subsequent treatment. He reduced me down to two five-mg. doses of Methylphenidate and completely took me off of Clonazepam. About three months ago I petitioned the Psychology Department and was granted a meeting with all of them where they agreed to change my dosage of Methylphenidate back to where it was when it worked but would not allow me to continue taking Clonazepam. They tried replacing the Clonazepam with clonodine then Hydroxyzine Pamoate but neither one is helping me fall asleep. Now I am suffering from lack of sleep so bad that the Methylphenidate does not seem to be working the way it used to. I am worse off than I was before I began getting help for ADD because now I know that I do not have to feel this way. My sister is a RN and recently attended a conference on ADD. She discovered that when it comes to ADD and it’s treatment, it is very difficult to find the right combination of medications to help the patient become healthy. She was told that once you do find the correct dosage that it is not recommended that the dosage be changed. I am very close to losing everything I have worked for including my job, my apartment, my girlfriend and my sanity. I decided to write to you to see if there is any evidence that I could give to Dr. Bennets or the Psychology Department that would get them to change my medicine back to the dosages that were working. Please help me before I become homeless again.

Peter Augustyniak

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 09/19/2003 - 12:05 AM

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You’re quite right about finding a combination of meds which actually work well for you and then being asked to change what works (the shoe fits) to another shoe (which does not fit/may not fit).

There are a number of real world accounts involving both epilepsy and ADHD where slight changes to the basic meds switch the meds from being effective to being ineffective. Some people understand that there is a difference between a shoe which fits and one which doesn’t.

Thank you for sharing what has happened to you.

At the moment, don’t know what to say.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/adhd.htm

( I am writing to you because my new psychiatrist, Dr. Bennets, has changed my medications to the point where they are no longer working properly. Thanks to the psychological staff at Bay Pines VA Hospital I was run through a battery of psychological testing and finally diagnosed with ADD almost three years ago. Using a combination of psychotherapy and medicine they were able to help me become a respected salesperson and a much more functional person. They treated me with Methylphenidate and clonazepam. After trying different doses of these two medicines, my doctors found the dosage that helped me turn my life around. They settled on two 10-milligram tablets of Methylphenidate when I wake up (6:00 AM), one at 11:00 AM and one at 4:00 PM. The dosage of Methylphenidate worked very well for me both in my work ethics and in my personal life. I have had problems falling asleep for many years because my mind would always be racing at night. The dosage of Clonazepam they prescribed for me was four little yellow tablets at bedtime. I believe they were .5mg each. This calmed my mind down enough to allow me to fall asleep. I was extremely productive and much happier for a little over two years while taking these medicines. At the same time I was seeing my psychologist an average of once a month. I never knew I could feel so good about myself and that my life could be so good. I swore to myself that I would never allow myself to become the person I was before treatment. About 6 months ago Dr. Bennets replaced my psychiatrist and the first thing he told me was that we needed to reduce the amount of drugs I was taking. This made me very nervous so I told him that the current dosages were working perfectly and I did not feel that any changes were necessary. I told my psychologist how anxious it made me to think that my prescriptions might be changed and he informed me that that Dr. Bennets has always been against prescribing controlled substances. His reasoning behind changing my prescription was that I was taking an “upper” and a “downer” and this would not be good for me in the long run. Dr. Bennets began reducing my dosages over the last six months to the point where I am worse off than I was before my diagnosis for ADD and the subsequent treatment. He reduced me down to two five-mg. doses of Methylphenidate and completely took me off of Clonazepam. About three months ago I petitioned the Psychology Department and was granted a meeting with all of them where they agreed to change my dosage of Methylphenidate back to where it was when it worked but would not allow me to continue taking Clonazepam. They tried replacing the Clonazepam with clonodine then Hydroxyzine Pamoate but neither one is helping me fall asleep. Now I am suffering from lack of sleep so bad that the Methylphenidate does not seem to be working the way it used to. I am worse off than I was before I began getting help for ADD because now I know that I do not have to feel this way. My sister is a RN and recently attended a conference on ADD. She discovered that when it comes to ADD and it’s treatment, it is very difficult to find the right combination of medications to help the patient become healthy. She was told that once you do find the correct dosage that it is not recommended that the dosage be changed. I am very close to losing everything I have worked for including my job, my apartment, my girlfriend and my sanity. I decided to write to you to see if there is any evidence that I could give to Dr. Bennets or the Psychology Department that would get them to change my medicine back to the dosages that were working. Please help me before I become homeless again.

Peter Augustyniak

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