I am a 41 year old woman w/ADD. Disagnosed in 2nd grade, but never used medication till a few years ago. I also found myself in a job that I just wasn’t cut out for and could not do w/o medication. I talke Adderall 30mg 2X a day. Even though I was able to do what was expected from me (for the most part) I eventually became sop miserable that one week end when I went home I knew I wasn’t going back on the following Monday. It was very impulsive and unwise for me to do this as it was 3 weeks before Christmas and this left me with no extra money during the holidays. Then I’d heard that had I stayed through the holiday I would have receive e very gernerous cash bonus (several hundred dollars) and I ended up moving to a new house a few months later and had to borrow money to make that happen.
My point is that if I could go back in time to that situation I would have done things a little differently. The smart thing to do would have been to find another job when I decided I couldn’t stand it any more, THEN leave my stressfull job for something new. Jobs are also hard to find where I live (S.W. Florida) but if you know that what you are doing isn’t working for you then the wise solution is to start looking for something else. If you try to just hang in there, you will become more depressed and complacent. Eventually you will get to the point (if you aren’t already) where you start to feel oppressed and you will have a hard time projecting a positive image of yourself making getting another job even harder. It’s a lot easier to find a job while you still have one. Not to mention it makes it easier to stick with it untill you find something else when you know that you are taking steps to move forward.
I’d also like to mention that people with ADD often get bored, or sick of their jobs after a period of time and need a new situation to keep their iterest. Just be careful when asked during an interview why you want to leave your current job. As people with ADD can be somewhat impulsive, give some thought to what will be the best & most appropriate way to respond to commonly asked questions.
Also, regarding your friends, I’ve found that every 10 years or so my whole circle of friends will shift. Sometimes I simply outgrow where I was when I aquired those friends & therefore have less in common with them after a while. Nothing against any of them, but as I change and eveolve, so do many of my friends. However, true friends will often resurface after such periods & will be supportive of you puruing what’s best for you. After all, if they genuinely care about you, they will want to see you happy. And if they don’t then you’re better off moving on anyway. This can be a heartbreaking expeirence, believe me, I know from expeirence. But it seems inevitable.
Good luck to you. I hope you find what makes you happy!!!

I can certainly relate to your situation. You are lucky, you had friends off the meds. LOL I burnt all of mine out until I got Concerta.

I definitely know what you mean, you have lost that spark of excitement that was attractive to others.

You should not have the zombie issues when you are off the meds unless you are also taking an anti-depressant.

You need to decide what is important to you. The job and the stability and find new friends. Or having fun but no job, loosing the house etc.

The Concerta is not likely giving you depression. It’s more likely that the Concerta is fixing one problem and uncovering another.

Go to the doctor and tell him how you feel and maybe he can find an appropriate change or additional medication.

Go spend time with your friends, if they only wanted to hang out because of your crazy antics than they were not really friends. Go find some that like you for who you are now.

Good luck
Augie
http://addsherpa.com