it’s important for you to understand and own your individuality when beginning treatment for anything, especially ADHD. What is written on the insert with your new prescription is hardly a comprehensive list of effects or side effects. It is simply a summary of what was realized by the patient or observed by the clinician during a very limited period of time in a very controlled setting with a very small group of people who probably don’t represent cross-section of society or substantial genetic diversity.
human brains are incredibly complex. The more we know about the human brain, the more it puts into perspective how little we really know about it. I want to briefly share and experience that a client had when trying a new medication. As a successful woman in midlife, no one would’ve thought of ADHD 30 years ago. Even now, I don’t think that it is a slam dunk that that is the primary issue. However, there are ADHD symptoms present. Recently, while doing a very low-dose trial of an effective drug in the Ritalin/methylphenidate family she had a side effect that I have never heard of or read about.
Most stimulants suppress appetite to a certain extent in most people. How severe and how long lasting the suppression is varies from person to person. And there are people who don’t experience this side effect. But I have never heard of anyone becoming ravenously and almost obsessively hungry when taking stimulants for the first time. Yet, that’s what happened to this particular client. She immediately knew that this was not the right drug. Thankfully, her doctor accepted her report of this side effect and they moved onto the trial of a drug in the Adderall/amphetamine family.
Granted, this was a very stark and noticeable side effect at a very low dose. And it was easy to correlate the effect with the new medication. Far too often, when I see clients who have more subtle effects or side effects things become murkier. I’ve definitely seen situations where doctors have dismissed my clients concerns because their side effects wasn’t one that was listed in “the book.” This is where it’s important to remember that you’re a simple size of one and that you are the world’s foremost expert on yourself. Or your kids, if we’re talking about their medication side effects.
I have a client who has an exceedingly rare heart condition that I’ve never heard of. And as rare as it is, it’s even more rare in Caucasians. Yet, he has it. I had a good friend who died last year of an exceptionally rare form of melanoma. Rare as it is, she still died. Rare things happen. Counterintuitive things happen. And almost always, the rare counterintuitive thing is not captured in the results of a study. So listen to yourself and listen to your body. If it’s not your doctor, talk to someone about the effect that you’re feeling. It’s absolutely possible to physically manifest something that is going on psychologically. But it is just as possible, if not more possible, that you might be having a side effect that just isn’t in the book. And not being in the book doesn’t make it any less real. If you’re prescriber isn’t willing to hear that, you should probably find somebody else.
Standard disclaimer: When posting my thoughts here, I feel that content is far more important than perfection. I try to practice what I preach that ‘done’ is better than ‘not done…perfectly.’ So, unlike with my book, I don’t edit much, if at all. I hope you can look past any small imperfections and find the content useful.