Is medication right for me?

What you might expect from stimulant medication:

  • Improved attention span

  • Decreased distractibility

  • Improved ability to initiate tasks and complete them—increased productivity

  • Enhanced short-term/working memory

  • Improved efficiency on tasks –faster processing

  • Improved ability to read materials efficiently and retain information

  • Reduced risk-taking (safer driving; better choices)

  • Decreased sense of being overwhelmed

  • Decreased lability, sensitivity, irritability, and emotional over-reactivity

  • Increased patience and tolerance

  • Decreased stimulation-seeking, hyperactivity, restlessness, and impulsivity

  • Reduced secondary anxiety/depression

  • Enhanced self-esteem and communication skills over time

For a list of ADHD medications currently approved by the FDA, click here.

Medication management issues:

  • Avoid under-medication — the rate of response increases with higher doses. (Adults may need 1mg methylphenidate per kg of body weight). 

  • Women with ADHD may experience variability in the efficacy of stimulants over the course of the menstrual cycle — due to the effects of estrogen on attention, memory and mood (stress, depression and lack of sleep may also decrease clinical efficacy of stimulant medication for all clients).

  • You will likely need to have your blood pressure evaluated and/or be cleared by an EKG to rule out certain heart defects.

But Katy, I'm worried about the medication side effects.

It's completely understandable to be worried about medication side effects (I was terrified to try stimulant meds and walked around with the bottle in my purse for a month before I tried them!). Even the word "stimulant" is a misnomer since the outcome is usually a quieter mind and better focus.

That said, there is a LOT of research on ADHD meds because of their use on children, and a lot of evidence to suggest that they are very safe to use. I always say it's worth a try if your prescriber is on board — and if they're not for you, it's very easy to stop them, too. (You don't have to wait for weeks to find out if they're working, and you don't have to wean for long periods of time, either.)