adult adhd

HI! I was wondering if anybody has adult adhd? I have had it since I was a child, and I still have symptoms from it. I have been seeing a psychiatrist here where I live and he has had me on Strattera since April of this year. I had horrific side effects (ex. sweating, hot flashes, dry mouth, fatigue, suicidal thoughts, etc) and I asked him if he could change my medication. He told me there was nothing else to put me on and that I would just basically have to live with the side effects. I gave it a try and each month when I went to my appointments, he would not switch my medication, even though i was having suicidal thoughts!!!   There is a huge warning on this medication that warns that it may cause suicidal thoughts in patients that are prescribed this medication! Then, to top all that off, about a week ago I got really sick and had to go to the emergancy room! I had horrible stomach pain, pain under my right rib and in my back. The doctor at the hospital said it sounded like I was having gallbladder symptoms, so they ordered a ultrasound of my gallbladder, etc. When I went back to my family doctor for my results, she said that it wasn't my gallbladder, that in fact, it was my liver!!! She told me that the medication (Strattera) can cause major liver damage!!!!! She made me quit taking it immediatley, and told me to have my psychiatrist put me on something else. She told me that there are other meds he can put me on and she doesnt understand why he didn't change it when I told him I was having suicial ideations!!She also ordered me to have a ct scan of my liver for the next day. I haven't gotten my results back from the ct scan yet, but I'm sooo scared!! I'm too young to have liver problems!! I'm supposed to go see my psychiatrist tomorrow, so hopefully he will change my medication. Has anyone else had similar effects from this medication, or heard of anybody that has had negative effects from it?? What should I do?!? Also, what other kind of medications could they prescribe me to help treat adhd in adulthood? I don't remember the name of the medication I took when I was younger..Any advice would be helpful! I'm going crazy!!

My daughter has been on Strattera 60mg (max dose) for a few years and has done fine.  I was totally against medicine for it until I had to finally cave. Usually the suicidal thoughts and liver issues happened in children and it was very rare.  Most common issues were upset tummy, weight loss, insomnia, things like that. None the less, when u told ur doc about the suicidal thoughts he should have stopped the medicine right then.  When he wouldnt u should have found a new doc.  IS stratterra the only medicine you were taking at the time?  Have they done blood work yet?  If not, request it asap. There are several medicines on the market now days for ADHDand ADD other then just Ritalin and Adderall from years ago.  There was also studies where they found that MANY children  were being diagnosed as ADHD but in fact they were BiPolar so there for ADHD meds had undesirable affects or no afects in helping the problems at hand.

As always not all medicines work for everyone...  I am not totally sure other then Straterra which by the way is the only non-stimulant ADD/ADHD med around to my knowledge are used for adults but here are a few meds that are more well known...  Ritalin, Adderal and Adderal XR, Concerta, and Strattera. I wish u luck with this and hope that u find a new psych.

Thanks for the advice! My family doctor referred me to a different pscyhiatrist so I'm excited about that! I got my results back from my ct scan, and she said it wasn't caused from the strattera, but none the less, since I told him I was having suicidal thoughts and he didn't do anything to help me, that she recommended that I see someone else. I am not really crazy about the idea of taking a stimulant because I just dont feel like those are what I need.. its a shame there isn't another non stimulant available out there! But, if I have to take them, I guess i will give them a try. I think thats what I took when I was younger (stimulant). thanks for the advice! It was very helpful!! :)