Adult ADD

Non-stimulant medications are also used to treat ADD.   They include:

• atomoxetine (Strattera) usually causes side effects (abdominal discomfort and other) and takes as many as six weeks to have an effect.  In addition, Strattera has been found to cause severe liver problems in a small number of patients.  Its beneficial effects are usually mild.   It is prescribed by clinicians who are not comfortable prescribing stimulants, to patients who cannot take medications that might be abused, and to patients whose treatment with stimulants did not work.   Still, there are some patients for whom Strattera is an effective and side-effect free treatment.
• buproprion (Wellbutrin) sometimes has a mild helpful effect on ADD
• guanfacine (Tenex, Intuniv) Intuvin is a relatively new, long acting version of guanfacine.  The brand name of the short acting version is Tenex, which has also been used to treat high blood pressure.   It has some sedative effects so is sometimes used to help ADD patients get to sleep.  It may also reduce hyperactive behaviors.
• methamphetamine (Desoxyn, non-chrystal methamphetamine) is the least used stimulant for treating for ADD probably because it is much more addictive than the other amphetamines. In fact, the only patient I ever saw who was addicted to amphetamines was taking it.
• modafanil (Provigil) and armodafanil (Nuvigil) are primarily used as alerting medications.  They appear to have little effect on the cognitive and bheavioral symptoms of ADD.