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Personality changes with medicine

fanglorious profile image
16 Replies

I was on ritalin a few years back and a friend told me that it made me very boring. I ended up going off of it for unrelated reasons, but I was wondering if others had the same experience and if their personality returned to normal over time.

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fanglorious profile image
fanglorious
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16 Replies
roachkid profile image
roachkid

i dont have any personal experience with ritalin in particular but my ex bf had tried numerous medications. he told me of one that made him into a total zombie. i would evaluate whether you or your friend tie symptoms of neurodivergence into 'personality'. i also have a really hard time distinguishing how much of a mental disorder is a part of what makes me interesting and unique and how much was a facade over my true self..

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply toroachkid

That's a curious way of looking at it. I think aspects of the disease process have been integrated in my personality over time as I've accepted them as part of myself. Maybe energy and enthusiastically suggesting a random fun thing to do off the top of my head is ADHD and not the "true me", but I'd rather not lose it. I'd like to reach a midway point between being able to function in school and a loss of my accepted identity.

roachkid profile image
roachkid in reply tofanglorious

totally. finding that sweet spot is so important but so very difficult

Shnookie profile image
Shnookie

With my unfortunate experience of having to go cold turkey off one of my meds, please don't do this, if U take any other meds. There R other meds for ADHD such as Strattera and

Adderal. I think it might be wise to consult with your doctor again. It is also possible that U

were prescribed to large a dosage of Ritalin. The important thing is to have balance in your life.

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply toShnookie

I've already been off for some time, but am going back to my doctor. I'm unsure what would be a better alternative. I've tried Strattera and it made me mean, so that's a no go.

Shnookie profile image
Shnookie in reply tofanglorious

I understand. That’s why I’m on only on

25 MG of generic Strattera. When my

therapist upped my dosage to 50 MG

I felt that I was about to jump out of my

skin. That’s why I’m back to

25 MG. Have U ever tried Adderall ?

Good luck 👍🍀 M

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply toShnookie

Way back I did, but I think I had an unrealistic expectation of what it would do for me, so I moved off of it

Shnookie profile image
Shnookie in reply tofanglorious

Maybe U should discuss with your new therapist the unrealistic expectations you had of Adderall..There R other things that can help U such as cognitive therapy.

It has helped me in many ways to rein myself in. Also meditation, try closing your

eyes obviously lying down and visualize a fond memory U have or visualize a peaceful place where U would like to be or turn on music U like Sometimes if I feel like dancing around my apartment I turn on the gap band or James Brown. If I want to

feel peaceful I listen to Andrea Bocelli sing Besame mucho in Spanish. Whatever works 4 U.

MsHBomb profile image
MsHBomb

I take adderall, when I was younger my dose was super high because it had to be, and it made me SO MEAN. Looking back, I was an enormous jerk to people. I lowered my dose in my twenties and got with a therapist to teach me behavior mods to make it work and I'm so much nicer to people now. I wonder how much better I might have done as a kid if I hadn't had my aggression all amped up by a high dose of meds.

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply toMsHBomb

I was a bit of a mean kid too, but it was before I was on meds. I think it was a bad defense mechanism because my attention span was so poor I barely knew what was going on and I lashed out because I assumed everyone was making fun of me.

wtfadhd profile image
wtfadhd in reply tofanglorious

Great explanation for why i was such a terribly mean kid. Im a super nice person in my 40’s now that i am diagnosed n medicated. I have often wondered what caused me to be such a bully. But yea, what u said sticks- i literally could not follow what was going on in HS! Thx for the post! I feel alot better now.

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply towtfadhd

Glad I could inadvertently help. I'm 36 and it took me years of self reflection to figure out why used to be so unkind to everyone.

Txdrifter profile image
Txdrifter

I took Ritalin for several years and had to be taken off when I was about 15 because it was causing me to become incredibly aggressive. 15 more years of self medicating (caffeine and alcohol in unhealthy volumes at different times) and I tried Straterra around the time I turned 30. My wife described the nearly overnight (within a week of starting) personality change as shocking and aggressive so that experiment ended quickly.

Turned back to self-medicating with caffeine (mostly backed off of alcohol in mid 20’s). Would LOVE to find a medicinal option that would work... Quite frankly I would take boring...

According to my parents and wife the personality change back to normal took a few days once off the meds; not really consciously aware of it myself (I assume the same for you as you were told that it made you boring)

fanglorious profile image
fanglorious in reply toTxdrifter

Right, I initially thought I was doing well until my "friend" told me that. I tried Strattera once (actually twice) and the first time it made me nasty and the second time years later it made me terribly emotional and frequently tearful. Zero stars, do not recommend.

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DaniJons

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FillinBrown

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