Should i ask doc for Adderall?

Last month I went to my family doctor because I'd been experiencing extreme fatigue and listlesness and had trouble sleeping. He suspected either a testosterone or thyroid problems, but all those tests came back normal. I have a sleep study in two weeks as he wants to rule out sleep apnea.

Anyway, he did say something about getting Adderall from my p-doc. I have a 6 month check up with her next week and I was wondering if I should ask her about putting me on it, and how exactly do I go about bringing it up? Should I just tell her what's been going on with my family doc and see what she says?

It is good your GP is really testing all the possibilities. Adderall is normally only prescribed for ADHD ADD. It is pretty rare they would prescribe it for depression but sometimes. In ADHD it has the opposite effect so much less likely to be abused. For other things they are reluctant to prescribe Adderall and the other amphetamines because of potential for abuse and because they have a come down effect when they wear off which makes you even more tired. The right dosing can solve this but to high a dose would interfere with sleep. Amphetamines are powerful drugs.

If I psychiatrist diagnosed you with chronic fatigue syndrome or narcolepsy they would probably try Provigal or Nuvigal first. Stimulants but with a different mechanism of action.

If you are having trouble sleeping and that is what is causing the fatigue then addressing the sleep problem would be the best approach to see if good sleep takes away the fatigue.

I would for sure tell your psychiatrist all your symptoms, what your GP is doing, what your GP said and go from there. In my opinion an amphetamine should be the last thing tried if nothing else works. I know how you feel though. I wish they would give me an amphetamine for depression but I don't think it will happen. I know how much energy it would give me. A long time ago I got caught us in meth amphetamine and talk about an antidepressant. The come downs were absolute hell. I know that is not a good comparison as it was abuse and not a doctors prescribed specific dose. Meth isn't even used as a prescription because of it's power and problems on brain chemistry.

But yes to answer your question....tell everything to your psychiatrist. That is the only way they can help is if they know everything.

Also it is possible the Lexapro could be causing sleep disturbances. It is quite common with the SSRI's. It has happened to me many times. I would wake up every two hours and have to get up for ten minutes to get back to sleep. I would dream like crazy all night. The problem was I never got enough stage 4 deep sleep and would not feel rested. I compensated for it because I was always able to take a long nap in the afternoon where I would go into a coma deep sleep and get it that way which worked. As soon as I got home from work at 4 I would eat and sleep until 7 pm. And then get up and do something and go to bed at 10 or 11. Then get up at 5 am and start all over.

I agree with zinco, it sounds like the sleep trouble needs to be addressed before throwing a stimulant at the fatigue end of the spectrum.. I'll add to that: usually prior to a sleep study you'll have a full consultation with a sleep specialist. If not it may be something to ask about, they are very thorough in evaluation causes of sleepiness and insomnia.

best of luck to you and keep us updated

Thank you both. I did a little research on Adderall after he mentioned it, and the thought of it being very addictive was a little off putting.

I already had my meeting with the sleep specialist a few weeks ago. I didn't think to ask about if the lexapro could have anything to do with it. I've been on it for several years and these problems seem to have happened within the last 4 or 5 months. My depression has been considerably worse lately (not suicidal, just extremely "down"). So I don't know if the depression is being caused by sleep problems, or if the sleep problems are being caused by the depression, or non of the above.

Depression can certainly cause sleep problems. It messes up melatonin and circadian rhythms. It's a double edged sword because not getting good sleep can make depression worse even if the depression is causing the sleep problems.

If it is only the last four or five months and the Lexapro hasn't caused it before than that is not it.

If you have been on the Lexapro for years and don't feel it is working it probably pooped and you need to switch to a new one. I would focus on treating the depression and getting the sleep problem fixed.

Do you live in the north? Winter could be part of the problem as even mentally well people feel more low or fatigued in the winter. Checking a vitamin D level would be a good idea...you may want to try light therapy in the mornings. CBC for an anemia check, vitamin B are others things I'd ask about

Adderall is less stressful on the body than Ritalin in my opinion but eventually niether is partiularly effective as you need to take more after a few hours to get the effect again (or you become exhausted), but the side effects are cumulative to the amount you;ve taken. By the end of a day using them I was jittery and completely exhausted.

I live in Kansas, but the sun has been pretty non-existent here recently.

I take vitamin D, B vitamins, fish oil, and melatonin. I have no idea if I am deficient in anything. I doubt it. Probably vitamin D in the winter as I live in northern Michigan. I take them all just because. Not that I have never noticed them helping depression.

Is it possible that the Wellbutrin has petered out? When I first started taking it, it helped tons, but could it have lost its effectiveness?

That is a possibility. You could try 300 and see if it helps. Supposed to be activating but not everyone feels activated by it. I felt so super activated by it I couldn't take it. Thought I was doing meth again.

Certainly a possibility, I would bring that up to your psychiatrist for sure.

I had thought about upping the dosage and seeing what happened, but didn't know if I should talk to her first. I go see her on Thursday, so I'll discuss all this with her then.

Yeah you shouldn't up the dose on your own. Sometimes I do it by talking to the psyche nurse and she gets the ok from my pdoc and he calls in the script. That way I don't have to wait until I see him. He pretty much lets me make my own med decisions but I never do it without discussing it all with him first.

Your question was kinda answered by now but just some insight from someone on Adderall:
I just started Adderall last Thursday, prescribed by my doctor because he thinks there's a chance I have Adult ADHD or ADD whichever it's called. (I don't think it is at all, but I gladly accepted the prescription because I know something is definitely wrong and I figured I might as well try it.)

The first day I took it I felt fantastic. I can't even put into words how amazing I felt. It was like an extreme high and I was the happiest I've been in years.
The next day the pill had no effect, the day after I felt awful and all my previous symptoms were back and even amplified, the day after that I didn't take the pill because I was too depressed and unmotivated to take that or any of my other pills (also on treatment for Lyme Disease), and then today I took it hoping I would feel better again after taking a day off, but instead I think I've hit a new low. (Sorry if this isn't really making sense I feel like I don't have too much control over my brain atm.) I read up on Adderall and yea apparently you develop a tolerance to it extremely quickly.
Idk if any of that was relevant^.

tl;dr

Anyway, to answer your question I personally would not get Adderall if I were you, after seeing how it's effecting me. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone either.
Though I have heard from lots of people that it really helps.

Hope this helps, or is at least readable. I'm having a really hard time putting words together rn.