I did not like Ritalin. I am now on Adderall 10 mg 3 times a day. I do have ADD but my doctor gave it to me mostly for depression and fatigue. I have bipolar depression but I also have severe fatigue and cannot do as much as everyone else I know.

Even when not depressed, i can have a bad fatigue spell like today.

The adderall was great at first but then I got used to it. Without it things would be worse I am sure, but I don't notice that much help some days form it.

Ritalin also just made me feel weird. Some people like Adderall better.
But I do feel it decreases my appetite, which is a struggle for me.

If you decide to go with Adderall for any reason, take it on an empty stomach first thing and wait about 45 mintues.

I am still addicted to coffee but am trying to cut down. I am wondering if it will work better once I stop taking it with my morning coffee. Someone said online somewhere not to take it with caffeine.

My dr prescribed adderall for me. It did give me more energy. Unforunatly, my brain fog was off the chart. I had that hyper feeling and I wanted to multi task because my body had the over energy. My brain just couldn't keep up. I was a mess!

I noticed this at first too but it eventually died off.

You just reminded me that it does help with the brain fog although my brain still just goes into shut-down mode at times, but not as bad.

I think you will find that most ME/CFS sufferers will tell you that taking a pill to give you that "energy" feeling is a disaster. Now you have your brain telling your body to go.. go.. go... and your body CANT. We aren't even supposed to drink coffee or caffinated beverages. Same reason...stimulants are going to confuse us miserably. We already have the desire to go go go, but not the capability. It would only be worse if there were a drug in our systems making us feel energetic when there is no way our poor bodies could keep up.

Very frustrating. I know. Pills like Ritalin give you the "feeling" of having energy that you do NOT have....and you may push beyond your body's limits to cope and end up crashing.

My CFS doctor says absolutely NO stimulants!

I am hoping to get off of them, personally. My life is getting more organized and I got some situations out of it that were causing me a severe amount of stress and now I want to work on cutting down on the caffeine and the adderall. I need to find out what my baseline is again.

I remember quitting caffeine many years ago and I think I felt calmer and less stressed. Someone even said I looked less haggard.

There are also adaptogenic herbs such as Ginseng. I've been experimenting with that. I wonder if that's okay. At least it's natural.

My doctor put me on Adderall years ago because I was sleeping so much. Within two hours of taking it I was sound asleep. It could not keep me awake. There was no physical sign of energy. The energy I felt was my heart racing and body burning out. Did not stay on it for long. I will not try anything else. I gave up caffeine long ago. I live with fatigue for such a long time (1993). I just adjust to what my body can and can't do and be happy.

I take adderall 10 mg. It helps me with energy and focus too. Most days it helps alot, however there are those days which it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.