My question is just what the title says. I am new to being diagnosed and new to taking medication. The first one I tried made me extremely fatigued to the point I would sleep all night. Get up and do a little and want to go back to sleep again. Obviously this wasn’t the right med for me because it was hard for me to function because of exhaustion for no reason.
I am currently trying a new medication(beginning my third day) and am trying to figure out if it helps or not.
What things help you know a medication is somewhat successful for you in helping manage your ADHD?
What helps you know it is not working other than intolerable side effects?
Thanks. I am not looking for specific medication suggestions.Just looking for examples of how you can tell if medication is working or not for you and your ADHD.
This is all new to me, the diagnosis and medication part, not so much the ADHD that I have been living with for a lifetime.
Have you tried taking a daily journal?
Give a description of how you feel as a baseline, before you start the meds, and then describe your daily life in a paragraph or two - perhaps with a short rating (energy, attention, comfort, whatever else you consider important) at the end of each day.
Then give it a read at the end of the week or the month, and see how things have changed.
Its helpful to provide this to your doctor as well, if for no other reason than it demonstrates a good relative frame of reference and gives you something to key on more robust than “how are you feeling at this moment”.
Chronic exhaustion is an easy side effect to pick up on, but you might not notice the presence (or absence) of subtler feelings down the line. So having them scribbled down day to day can give you a better sense of the relative effectiveness.