[A Nonny Mouse]

I'm a 33 year old male, and I have severe ADD. It was diagnosed when I was a kid and I was put on Ritalin. My grades shot up, but my parents apparently didn't like the side effects (I don't remember, now, what those were) and took me off of them. I struggled the rest of the way through school, and have struggled greatly in work and life ever since. I feel as if I'm constantly working incredibly hard, only to achieve results that are far below anyone else in my peer group. Friends and family see me as very intelligent, and don't understand why I'm not excelling. It appears to them that I am simply "not applying myself" (I hate that phrase). They see my constant stumbling as a simple refusal to try hard enough. Coworkers, bosses, and teachers, on the other hand, simply think I'm stupid. I can never remember anything or finish things on time, I'm inefficient, etc.

After several years of effort and a lot of luck, I've managed to land a software testing job with a lot of potential for advancement into a field I'm greatly interested in. I've had it for about eight months now, and unlike the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs I've had before, where you pretty much need to steal something or attack someone to get fired, poor performance is a killer. I've been pulled into my team lead's office several times now to discuss my low output, and problems communicating with coworkers. I have a week, two at the most, to increase my performance or I'm going to be fired and lose my health insurance.

I also have high blood pressure and a rapid heart rate. This has been the case since I was 19. I take HCTZ/Lisinopril, and Metoprolol to control it, but keeping it down is still an ongoing struggle. Diet and exercise seem to do nothing.

Recently, I spoke to my doctor about getting treatment for my ADD. I told him about the problems at work, and he wrote me a prescription for Adderall and said to take that for the time being, and he'd refer me to a psychiatrist and see if that was what I should stay on, or if they could find something more suitable. I expressed concern because of my high blood pressure, but he waved it away, saying he'd double my Metoprolol dosage and I should be fine.

Basically, I'm not convinced. And now I'm facing a very difficult decision. I need an immediate and noticeable boost in performance or I stand to lose a job I've worked hard and long to get, and my insurance with it. On the other hand, I'm worried about the effect Adderall could have on my blood pressure. It's obviously a powerful drug and I've heard the horror stories about stroke, sudden death, etc. Even as a short term solution, I'm wary. Has anyone else here ever faced a decision like this?

[ifst5]

Couldn't you at least try it? I have no experience with adderall but most psychiatric drugs take a while to work...you've got the opinion of a professional so other then waiting to see the psychiatrist there's not much more you can do.

Maybe give your doctor another call to express your concerns; perhaps he can lower the dose and in the meantime speed up the referral to the psychiatrist as urgent.

Hopefully other posters here will be able to advise you further on the side affects of adderall...

[A Nonny Mouse]

Yeah, what you describe is pretty much what I'm tentatively planning to do, it just makes me nervous. Even with medications, my blood pressure tends to run pretty high sometimes, and it scares me a little. I guess I was just hoping for advice from someone who's been through something similar.