adhd and depression

Hi Caroline: I have been working with ADHD patients for many years now, and have found that nearly all of them have either anxiety or depression or both. Many are on more than one medication, and if you are depressed, there is no reason you shouldn't talk with your physician about this. Please, give him/her a call and discuss it.

Dr. Diana Walcutt, Licensed Psychologist

The Stress Masters

Caroline, my name is Heather, I have a 9 in a half yr. old son who takes up to 60mg's per day of Ritalin (a 20mg tablet 3 x's a day, 2 of the doses for sure & the 3rd one if i think he needs it in the eves.  When I get home from work around 5pm, I have to give it to him no later than 530pm so I have a 1/2 hr. to make my decision in when I get home on whether or not he needs it in the eves.).  Some times my son does get a little depressed & the Psychiatrist has prescribed Prozac but it did nothing for him (that med. has never worked for any one in my family on my moms side), we have tried Celexa but he had most of the side affects from it, & there is another called Lamictil that we haven't tried yet cause at this time he's not having any depressed thoughts or anxiety issues.  2 of those 3 meds the Prozac & Celexa we have tried for his depression & he also has anxiety issues when he gets depressed, so I don't know if they work for people who only have the depression issues w/out the anxiety issues.  If I were you I would consult my Psychiatrist to see if one of those meds would work for you, I know when my son does have another bout w/depression & anxiety issues I will be asking his Psychiatrist if we can try the Lamictil beings the other 2 don't work out for my son.  Well I hope I have given you some insight to your question about what you can take w/Ritalin when you have depression issues as well.  My son also has behavioral & agression issues w/his ADHD so he takes Strattera & Clonidine along w/his Ritalin (he only takes the Strattera 2 x's a day for a total of 50mgs & 1 in a half 0.1mg tablets of Clonidine if he takes it all 3 doses (2 of the 3 doses he takes everyday, the 3rd one is the same situation as above w/the Ritalin).  Take Care & let us know if any thing helped, Heather & Kaleb (my son).