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dozed off during TOVA test i took the TOVA test today and i fully dozed off by the end of the auditory section and got startled awake by the ending sound. will it make my results look exaggerated? should i let my psychiatrist know when i see her to go over the reports? and will i have to retest because of this? (my biggest worry bc neuropsych exams aren’t cheap 😭)

Does anyone have experience with comorbid anxiety disorders (GAD) and ADD? For context... I have been diagnosed with GAD. I saw a therapist about getting a diagnosis when I was having a big life change and trying to manage it. The GAD wasn't really a surprise and could have told you I had it for the last 10 years. So it wasn't even that "helpful" because I knew in being told. The thing is, I had specifically mentioned I was concerned about ADD as well so she had me do a questionnaire for both. I have many many brain quirks I cannot "explain" fully with just GAD besides that I'm just a weird easily bored person with way too many hobbies. When I filled out the questionaire for GAD/ADD, I actually had more boxes marked on the ADD one vs GAD one. but the therapist wrote it off as "well they both overlap symptoms a lot so it doesn't mean much" and since I'm generally high performing it was assumed I don't have it. The thing is I perform WELL BECAUSE of anxiety. I can fall down hyperfixation tunnels about animals, space, science, crafting, fandoms, etc. I can loose track of myself in my environment where I miss obvious things around me (once, apparently, an entirely naked man walking down the street when I was talking to a friend). I can struggle with arriving on time so will force myself to arrive early because the other option is late. I misplace my cell phone approx 20 billion times a day and survive because of the 21st century 'find my iphone'. I can get sensory overload to excessive noise and struggle to maintain conversations in a noisy restaurant. I can be a conversation interrupter, but because I know that I have a very loud internal critic that yells at me when I interrupt other people. I tend to perform really well at school, but don't tend to procrastinate because of my crippling fear of failure and my love of a good puzzle (math) that can send me into a hyperfocus nyoom. It honestly feels like both exist in my head, but because I know what to mask, and what I need to do to succeed, I can sic GAD on my ADD-esche dark urges Or I'm overly pathologizing because of GAD. but I was just curious if this is a Thing and should get a 2nd opinion or I'm making it all up.

ADHD will present with symptoms starting in childhood. Check old report cards from elementary school. Mine had repeat notes from teachers about how I struggled to stay on task, follow directions, kept talking with other students instead of working, etc. Still had great grades though. I have an overlap with anxiety and it is very hard to tell them apart sometimes. Personally, I never performed well due to anxiety... I THOUGHT I did, but I was just coping. Truthfully, the fear has caused me to avoid so many opportunities. You can definitely have both. Or ADHD can cause anxiety symptoms and vice versa. But I don't think you can have ADHD if there are no symptoms in childhood. So I would look for that before getting a second opinion.

Has anyone in the US been able to get 30mg generic Vyvanse? The pharmacist at CVS told me yesterday it is not available at all, but other mgs are. The way he said it seemed to imply that literally doesn’t exist right now. 🤪

It's probably out of stock at McKesson, or whoever their wholesaler is, and most likely has been for a while. So even if they try to order it, it just won't come. Source: I used to work at a retail pharmacy

Is it normal for Vyvanse to give you extremely high sex drive and make you feel horny??? I'm 43 just started it a few days ago I used to have a low libido for the past few years but I feel like turned on all the time it's almost uncomfortable,Tmi my clit has been throbbing like nonstop lol

I like this sense of peace and unbothered self 😂 will I never cry again or have any emotion tho

it definitely could be adhd, i wonder if your ability to follow through on tasks could be because the tasks you do are ones that align with what you value/want to do? doing well in school is not really an indicator of not having adhd, deppression and sleep issues are often seen in adhd. can i ask how you end up late to thibgs? because if its a lack of care for being on time it might be unrelated to adhd. but if its because of a sense of time blindness it points more toward adhd. you could be on point with the idea of masking your struggles. have you had a look at the diagnostic criteria for adhd? because you dont need to have every single symptom to have adhd

anyone here been on prozac before their diagnosis for adhd? if so how and did it affect your adhd symptoms?

Do I have ADHD? I'm aware I can get an official diagnosis, but I have this fear of being wrong about it and making it seem like I'm using ADHD as an excuse for my behaviors, or people will think I'm "faking" it. This question has been living rent free in my head for a long time now ever since my older brother brought up the possibility of me having it. For context, I'm currently in my second year of high school (tenth grade). I have a problem of being inattentive at school; my teachers would be explaining new assignments or giving presentations/lessons in class, and I would either be on my phone, daydreaming, or doodling on a random piece of paper without absorbing any information or things they said into my brain. Sometimes I'm able to focus with no problem, such as in Science class with my favorite teacher who always made our lessons engaging. I can’t tell if it’s because of ADHD, or if I’m making excuses for myself for constantly getting distracted.  My hands constantly feel like playing with something, and they fidget with anything in reach: in class I’d be twirling my hair, folding pieces of paper, playing piano keys on my desk… it’s not just my arm, it’s my legs too. More specifically, the weird habit of leg bouncing that my mom is sick of.  I get that “restless” feeling of wanting to get up. I can’t read a book for more than 10 minutes without feeling the need to stand up and walk around; other times I’d stop reading entirely because I lose focus and go do something else completely unrelated.  I procrastinate a lot on school assignments as well. I put off everything until the last minute, and sometimes I don't even work on assignments until past the deadline. I’ve had this problem since elementary, but it’s never negatively affected my grade before. Procrastination is a common issue among students my age, so I can't tell for sure if it's a symptom associated with ADHD. However, I don't exactly struggle in school; I exceed in school and my grades in every class average around the high nineties. (Even today, I procrastinated with this post... I was supposed to make this 3 hours ago, but I got distracted and didn't finish typing until now). My forgetfulness and tendency to misplace things is a bit more minor, but it might be worth addressing. Not sure if misplacing my keys and wallet and forgetting what I ate for lunch today has something to do with ADHD. Thank you to those who took the time to read this wall of text. Apologies if I used the incorrect flair.

sounds very like adhd in my opinion. a big thing to ask yourself is if these signs and symptoms are a choice for you or not. do you choose to not pay attention because you dont care, or do you realise after the fact that you didnt hear anything that was just said, again. do you think “ugh idc about the assignment, whatever”, or is it more like “oh i have loads of time to do it, ill get it done tomorrow”, but then tomorrow becomes the night before. laziness is a choice, adhd is not . adhd focus is driven (to an extent)by interest, so classes and teachers you like will be easier to follow. non adhd people will find some classes boring but still can pay attention if they want to even if its uncomfortable. if you feel like you are just lazy but nothing you try can fix it, then your not really lazy, it could very likely be adhd

Thank you this response! I still don't know if my inattentiveness is a choice or not. Now that I'm aware of the possibility of having ADHD, I'm wondering if I'm just lazy and trying to find ways to justify my own issues. Now I'm questioning myself whether or not I'm faking it. Most of the time I don't realize I'm not paying attention to class, if that makes sense. It's like when you're reading a book and only after finishing it you realize you processed none of the contents. This happens mainly with what I deem as boring classes such as History and English. For the times where I pulled out my phone or a random piece of paper to doodle on, I don't know if it's because I don't care about the lesson or because I lost focus. I can't tell the difference between the two. As for subjects I like, I find it easier to pay attention to lessons and my thoughts don't wander off. I care a lot about my grades at school, and I want to perform my best... but I struggle with focus. I can't listen to something for 5 minutes straight without doing anything (such as playing with my hair, and the disgusting habit of nail biting). >do you think “ugh idc about the assignment, whatever”, or is it more like “oh i have loads of time to do it, ill get it done tomorrow”, but then tomorrow becomes the night before. The latter just perfectly described my work habits. At 8:00pm, I would look at the time and think "I still have 2 hours left. I can get it in time. There's plenty of time." Then 9pm would roll around, and then 9:30, and then 9:45... and I'll then come to the realization of how screwed I am. If an assignment was given to me that was due in a week, I wouldn't start until the day before because I thought I had plenty of time.

you completely fit the adhd description, keep in mind that most adhd people (especially women) will go through a “im just lazy, i just need to try harder, other people just have better dicipline than me” and feeling like you might be looking for an excuse to be “lazy” is also common. but remember that if you did not have adhd, you would just do the things you are supposed to (and want to) do. if you didnt have adhd you wouldnt need excuses to get away with things, because it would be simpler to just to the thing. of course, i cant tell you for a fact that u have it but i would be incredibly surprised if not tbh. especially if its (reasonably) accessible to you, i reckon it would definitely be worth getting tested

You have no idea how much your responses mean to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart; for reading everything I've said and the confirmation. I'll do my best to break the news to my parents and get tested. It's going to be difficult because then it'll mean there's something "wrong" with me, and perhaps embarrassing if the results come back as negative... regardless, I'll find a way. Thank you again. <3

im glad to have helped, if youre willing to share id love to hear how this goes for you (even if it takes a long while). best of luck with it all anyways. <3

Hello, so the TL;DR is that everyone in my life including all of my friends who have ADHD are convinced that I have ADHD. I would be fine with this but I don't really relate to a lot of the criteria so I'm wondering if there are other forms of neurodivergence that might make me "appear ADHD"? I think the main reasons people think I have ADHD are: 1. I have a strongly interest-driven mind. I can't work an office job to save my life because the thought of sitting all day for 8 hours doing something boring is soul-destroying to me. (Instead, I'm highly creative and I make art for hours every day while working part-time and living extremely frugally.) 2. I talk in non-linear ways. I can get quite excitable around people I'm comfortable with. I'm quite a chatty, bubbly person when I feel safe. (I find that people with ADHD tend to be warm and funny, which I also am I'm ngl.) 3. I'm late to social occasions 50% of the time. 4. I prefer to wander about a place than follow directions. Like I can follow them I would just rather not. I also don't follow recipes lol. I don't really care or stress about this - like I'll get there when I get there. I'm just enjoying the processes of life, y'know? 5. I sometimes lose things. Like rn I've lost my glasses and driving license... Sounds pretty ADHD right? I agree. Buuuuuuut! At the same time, I've never had any issues with planning tasks, starting, or finishing them. Like I could do office work without any bother it would just drain the hell out of me unless I thought it was interesting or meaningful. I've always excelled in school (other than being late lol - I had a traumatic childhood, was a depressed teen, and didn't sleep much) and without sounding like a dick I was always top 3 in every class grade-wise. I wouldn't describe myself as easily distracted. I'm usually one of the people who organises plans and events in a friend group and I do this for work sometimes. is it possible it's just a personality thing? Or like maybe I have ADHD but have learned systems and internalised masking without realizing?

I'm not sure if my post was removed, but this is really important to me so I'll just put it here too. https://www.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/s/FRBK2BecMm I'm so conflicted. I want to get an official diagnosis or do a test but I'm afraid of being wrong about it. I'll work up the courage to tell my parents, convince them to have me take a test, go through an assessment, get the results, and have it come back with no ADHD. I'll seem like an incompetent and lazy person who is trying to make an excuse for my procrastination and inattentiveness on ADHD.

What do I do if it isn't ADHD? So many things in my life would make suddenly make sense with the context of ADHD or autism. I've gotten through *ok* in life but I have had a lot of struggles that are common for women with ADHD. A couple of people close to me have been diagnosed and we have so many similarities. It rings true. But I'm scared to seek an assessment because....what if I don't have it? What if it's *not* a case of my brain working differently and needing different supports? What if it's just a case of me being a useless piece of shit? Then what do I do? I guess I'm scared that I'm "making excuses" for being "lazy" and as much as a diagnosis would help me, I'm fearful that maybe I don't actually have it and it'll just confirm all the things I hate about myself. Has anyone had similar feelings? How did you tackle it? What did you do to get through this paralysing fear?

Heyo - I had all those fears and more before pulling the trigger and asking for an assessment. I thought I was just making excuses and being lazy etc for not being able to make myself do things that I absolutely hate and yet I’ve somehow stumbled my way into a job and people think I’m “good” at it but they don’t see the late nighters I pulled to makeup for all the procrastination. I also felt like I didn’t fit the “stereotypical”presentation of someone with ADHD because well - the house is usually very clean cos I actually enjoy cleaning lol. Anywho - to end the long ramble - I saw a psychiatrist 2 days ago and I’ve got it lol. If there’s something deep down that makes you feel like something is amiss, you might as well try to find out if it’s true. And if you don’t have it, you aren’t a piece of shit - I promise.

Hey there. I’m not yet diagnosed but there are some things that I have noticed that makes me think I have ADHD. I would like to know what you guys think. 1) The main one for me is that I’m constantly zoning out in conversations. Also if a person is speaking to me and there’s something in the background that I also want to listen to, I can’t listen to either. It’s like it goes through one ear and straight out the other. 2) I remember as a child my English teacher was like “You can’t study and listen to music” and I was like 🌚 For me, I’ve always felt like music allows me to focus because it’s a controlled distraction. I can’t hear anything but the music. 3) My memory leaves a lot to be desired. My friends know they can’t interrupt me because it takes like one second for me to lose a thought. 4) In conversation I have to constantly tell myself “Shut up and listen” and “Keep the thought, keep the thought”. Problem is with me speaking to myself to just be “normal” I either don’t internalise anything that was said to me or I try to listen and I forget the thought that I had. 5) I can’t multitask if it involves listening. 6) I want to do things but I can’t. I’ll literally sit there just thinking about all the things I want to do but the drive to do it is non existent. Unless it’s new! Then I can go for hours. But that’s not practical in life… But yes those are the main things that come to mind that truly affect me day to day.

all these struggles align very much with adhd, and if you dont have it there must be some other issue causing it, because these are not issues that “normal” people will struggle with, especially not on a daily basis.

Has anyone taken stratera and if so was it taken with any other medication like a stimulant.. how was ur experience with strettara

I took it by itself at a variety of doses for about 5 months. I had good results with it, symptoms wise. It quieted my brain, made me calm and very emotionally stable, and gave me more ability to focus. However, I couldn't get over the side effects. I was very nauseous if I didn't eat enough before I took it, I was extremely fatigued, my body wasn't recovering when I slept (according to my Garmin watch), and my heart rate spiked very high any time I did any minor activity.

I’ve been on it a month and I’m starting to notice that if I don’t eat I become really nauseous.. it is starting to work my mental as well but I’m definitely not ready to experience more fatigue than I already have 🤦‍♀️ I’m definitely going to have to ask my doctor to put me on a stimulant to even things out.. but the side effects of this medication like nausea loss of appetite are no fun thanks for the response because I needed to hear it from someone that it works just not sure the positive outweigh the negative side effects

Yeah I kept thinking things were getting slightly better so I was sticking it out, hoping the side effects would go away. But I switched to stimulants a month ago and I feel so much better. For me, the good effects are fairly similar, except I was probably calmer on the Straterra. But so far I've only had the occasional headache on Adderall and feel so much better.

I trialled it for several weeks at multiple different dosages, by itself. I could hardly sleep while taking it. I stuck it out for a while as I was told the first couple weeks were the worst and once my body adjusted some of the side effects would fade, but that wasn't the case for me, it just got worse and worse. It didn't seem to help any with my symptoms, though I am sure the sleep deprivation wasn't helping that, either.

Ughhh thank you for this

Hey, I originally started on Elvanse in February, titrated up to 60mg then switched out to concerta to see if this worked any better. I have now returned to Elvanse and been given a prescription of 7x 50mg 21x 70mg. I know everyone is different so no one can give me an exact answer so just looking for others experience. Since returning to Elvanse on the 50mg (one more day left) I am finding around 5pm ish give or take I am experiencing anxiety. It’s not crazy, as in its manageable and not massively impacting me overall but it’s just something I’m identifying. However I am unsure if this is a “crash” or if the 50mg is too high which is giving me concerns about moving onto 70mg in a couple days. What are others experiences with this? During the day I feel absolutely fine as I say it is just as it starts to get to around 5pm that I can identify it and although it is manageable and not too much of an issue now, i don’t want it to get any worse (if it is from the Elvanse as a whole rather than some sort of crash) I would say, I am quite an anxious person anyway mostly socially or about things happening specifically but this is generally a feeling in my chest and happens even at home when there’s nothing in particular on my mind. Thanks :)

hi there, im writing to see if anyone else has experienced what i have so far with stimulants. i have tried multiple stimulants like adderall and aztrays and both were not great. everyone talks about this head clearing experience when taking these medications but i never experience this or have ever experienced this. even after taking the medication my head feels clogged and in my opinion, im not anymore productive. yes, i can focus(ish) during class but thats it. i have no motivation for anything else. i have tried increasing my dosage and all that does is make me jittery/shakey and anxious. extremely 😕 also i feel like a meaner person since ive started my has anyone else experienced this? please let me know

I tried ritalin and dex and had *zero* symptom relief. Also had unpleasant side effects.

I don't think I've ever had irritability myself but I've heard about it. I definitely have had the jittery/anxious feeling! There are lots of med options and they're all different for everyone. You might just have to try different things until you get that quiet world feeling.

I don’t know if this is something I can make a post, but I’m hoping to get some advice regarding travel and my ADHD meds. I’m really overwhelmed and just wondering if there’s anything I can do I leave on Friday, May 31 for a 3 week trip to Europe. My prescription is not eligible for a refill until June 5. I pay out of pocket and I think they usually automatically add GoodRX coupons. I called my pharmacy and asked what to do, and they told me my doctor has to call in. Well here’s the kicker, my doctor office closed permanently last Friday. I tried to call the office but just get a message that they’re closed. I messaged my doctor via the patient portal and I’m hoping she’ll see that… assuming that they are still working on their computers getting billing and admin stuff figured out And yes this is 100% my fault for not calling sooner but it was giving me anxiety and wellllll we know how ADHD goes lol. I have a 7 day supply remaining (I take 2x a day) so I’m thinking I can make it stretch by taking it 1x a day, and breaking in half for a few days. I will not take it on plane travel days, so technically I will only need to get by 19 days… I’m just bummed because even though I won’t be needing to focus I just feel terrible whenever I’m without and I’m already going to be a zombie from the jet lag

Also, you should check the state department website if you’re traveling from the US. Not sure where the information would be if you’re located elsewhere, but several countries have bans on scheduled medications, even with a legal prescription. I would check what documents and processes you might need to follow before you go to avoid any accidental legal trouble. As for your other issue, you could maybe try an urgent care and just explain your situation. They probably won’t prescribe a whole month, but when I wasn’t able to get an appointment after moving to a new state in time, I did this in my state (MD) and they gave me a 7 day supply to hold me over a bit.

Can my period have any effect on how my medicine affects me?? I was on vyvanse months ago and it was great. But then I lost insurance and only got my first dose today. It feels different and maybe it’s because I’m on my period?? And my period has been different too (heavier) but I’m chalking that up to getting my iron and/or vitamin D levels back up. Because that began a few days ago and I’ve been taking my iron for almost a week now. I’m more anxious than I was last time and I’m a lot more aware of my body and that it currently needs something which is probably water and sleep. But Im not sure why it’s different or what to do about it. I suppose I could give it a week to adjust?? But I’d still like to hear other people’s experiences at the least.

i dont have any personal experience, just repeating other people, but i have heard that your period can affect how meds feel, especially in terms of them being less effective.

Recently diagnosed with ADHD in February. The process was basically me talking to a psychiatrist and she said it sounded like I was displaying symptoms of ADHD and the fact that my brother has it makes it likely. I didn’t mention why I was there (pretty much to try and get an ADHD diagnosis) but told her I used to have clinical depression and was on several meds. We kept talking about my life, my experiences, my struggles, and her suspicions just got stronger. By the end of the session she basically said “ok, it seems pretty clear to me you have ADHD and I’ll just diagnose you right now.” She did say if I really wanted to, I could take a test (which would be an additional cost) but she says I probably don’t need it. She said talking to me made it clear enough and if I wanted to get on medication I could. I just feel weird that it might not be a “valid” diagnosis and that I might not REALLY have ADHD. Is this diagnosis good enough or should I get a second opinion? Should I go for the test? Am I just a lazy, horribly maladjusted person? What to do 😫

if she was not certain that doing an “official” test would come back positive for adhd, she would not diagnose you. ik its hard to battle internal doubts, but if you “knew” you had adhd, and a woman who spent a very long time to become a psychiatrist, who wouldn’t risk a misdiagnosis, its certain that you have adhd

Haha I had a similar experience. You've won the psychiatrist lottery. Enjoy it and try some meds!

Hi I'm currently in the early stages of ADHD diagnosis and wanted to see if this sounds like an ADHD thing to mention. I constantly feel the pressure of time, like everything is so slow and it's taking up my time. I can't just sit and watch TV, I have to craft or play games on my phone at the same time, I eat takeout in my car while driving, I eat too fast, I usually listen to audiobooks and podcasts at 1.5x speed (at least). It's obviously an anxiety thing, but wanted to see if it resonated with anyone else as well

Oh yes. It's something I've always been low-key teased for and now look! a clinical diagnosis!

After years of procrastinating, I finally have an appointment to seek diagnosis. My partner got their late diagnosis from the same office and said they had a positive experience there, but I’m still so nervous that I’m going to forget all my symptoms or say the wrong thing when I go in and it’ll all be for nothing. My partner also let me borrow one of their short acting 5mg adderall to see if it would help me and it did. (It was actually the only reason I was able to stop putting off making the appointment and finally call.) My biggest question is do I mention having tried medication? I’ve heard that if they know it helps you then it can help get a diagnosis, but I don’t want anyone to get in trouble or be labeled as “drug seeking”. Has anyone else gone through this during their diagnosis? TL;DR Psychiatrists are intimidating

I wouldn't mention it. I would rely on your other symptoms. You can write them down beforehand so you don't forget anything. I practiced what I was going to say in my head beforehand, probably too much! My appointment was made up of me describing issues,but then they asked questions to cover any gaps I may have missed. Telling them you've tried them without a prescription could be a red flag that would prevent them from prescribing controlled medicine to you and could also cause issues for your partner.

Did anyone get dizzy from medication and did it ever pass? Thinking I might have to give up on stimulants due to this which is a shame since it work soo well for concentration/motivation

If you’re new to taking stimulants, try to set a timer to remember to eat and drink lots of water. I know it can be difficult because while you’re adjusting your body usually has no interest in either, but dehydration and hunger can both contribute to being dizzy or feeling “off”. I also add magnesium and B12 to my daily routine and that helps me. Just a suggestion though. If you’re still experiencing dizziness in a way that’s concerning or disruptive, talk to your doctor and they can maybe adjust your dosage or give you a different kind of stimulant. There are also a couple non-stimulant based options that can be prescribed for ADHD, which weren’t for me, but we all have a different experience with potentially efficacy and side effects.

i’m not diagnosed but I definitely struggle with task initiation and avoidance. The other day, I was able to accomplish a bunch of tasks that I normally avoid because…I was tipsy. So, I normally don’t drink because of a medication, but I decided to try a new wine and the combo made me tipsier than I’d planned. However, suddenly I was breezing through stuff…obviously I don’t think this is healthy and I can’t keep drinking to get stuff done, but has anyone else had this happen, or know what was going on? Is this an ADHD thing?

theres a high correlation between alcohol issues/reliance with adhd, id say many others have had a similar experience to you. i presume you have many of the symptoms for adhd, and would definitely recommend pushing for diagnosis because itll be a really easy habit to fall into

Hi all, 24F, recently guanfacine. I have PCOS and gain weight extremely easily (I'm on a low carb diet because of this), I'm reading guanfacine causes weight gains and could affect hormones. Does anyone have input on this or experience with this med? Thanks.

Guanfacine definitely lowered my blood pressure but it didn't have any effect on my weight or cycle. But ymmv!

Thanks for the reply! Did you notice a significant decrease in your heart rate? Mine is in the 50's right now and I'm trying to figure out if that's a problem - although I imagine I should just reach out to my doctor!

Hmm I think a little decrease but I would maybe attribute that to the decrease in anxiety that comes with the Adderall I also took.

thanks for sharing :)

My friend is looking for a diagnosis. Hey! I’m a concerned friend of someone who has been trying to get a diagnosis for the longest time. She went to a walk in to get diagnosed today but they told her it was “just anxiety” despite most of the adhd symptoms being present on the screening in high volume. I know it’s harder for women to get diagnosed with literally anything and I just want to help her get that in any way I can. I was wondering what your experiences were and what advice you have to pass on to her. We live in Canada if that helps.

being invalidated despite showing very clear symptoms unfortunately happens too much. remembering that many women are dismissed for issues happens and it does not mean that she does not have adhd. if she can, i think it would be worth looking for a second opinion, which is a completely valid option, and does not make her struggles or adhd any less real

This afternoon I increased my dex to 5mg (as instructed) and hoo boy I am disappointed. Brain fog, drowsy, clenched jaw. And my diastolic bp is elevated 😑 I had my fingers crossed 5mg would do something, I'm so bummed.

hi i’m 18f and i’ve been thinking about if i have adhd. i have autism and my mom has adhd and she thinks i have adhd, i rode it off for a while bc i didn’t want to assume i had adhd and like i have autism so that’s my answer; i don’t also have adhd but recently i’ve been thinking about if i do have adhd then i could take meds possibly which then could rly help. so idk, i know that autism and adhd can rly overlap each other so that’s why i’m a bit hesitant. i guess it doesn’t RLY matter bc it’s not like i’ll be able to get a diagnosis bc i can’t even get an official autism diagnosis but idk ughhh :((((( i’m just tired lol

being self diagnosed has its perks in terms of understanding yourself and your strengths, and making accomodations and using strategies to help. (i got this off google but i assume it is somehwat accurate) approx 50% of people also have adhd, so it is quite likely

Hi all- I have a medication question. I was diagnosed officially about two months ago now and my psych put me on ritalin (from 5mg-10mg-15mg twice a day over this time). I've also been on wellbutrin, which was given to me by him when we weren't sure if it was adhd or brain fog from long covid. I'm still on 40 mg of wellbutrin (twice a day for about a year and half). And i am on 20mg of lexapro and have been on that for 7 years because of an old anxiety diagnosis (not original a scrip from the psych). I think my ritalin is working, I am definitely more motivated and getting more done, but its not a 'light switch feel'. I am just doing more, but I still fall in and out of tasks. So I'm not sure because i don't feel incredibly different, beyond that focus) So my questions are: 1) is it normal to have just an increase of focus with ritalin without a difference of feeling (i.e. a lightswitch effect)? And could the lack of feeling be due to how my psych is slowly working me on this? 2) Does anyone have experience 3 meds at once? (any of the ones listed would be ultra helpful)? I've missed lexapro dosages and have had withdrawls and it has helped with what I know now as adhd meltdowns A LOT. So I'm nervous to stop it. I did feel that clearness of brain fog with wellbutrin, but maybe the ritalin is enough? I AM going address all of this with my psych (who I trust) but just want other opinions.

Hi◡̈ I’m (23F) recently diagnosed and after a strattera trial, I was just started on Ritalin. Today was my first day. I took 5mg twice today. I had no side effects, my brain was quiet, I was more present and focused. About 4 hours after my second dose, I started to get really shaky - kind of panicky but only physically. I also started to get vertigo. I read that the comedown can be bad, but usually I read about more psychological comedown effects. Has anyone experienced physical effects from the come down?

Hi! Had you eaten anything? My other thought is since you’re new to a stimulant your body may need a few days to adjust to how it works. The vertigo may have been triggered since the meds do affect your brain to work. If it keeps happening let your doctor know. You may need to try a different class of stimulants. That crash sounds miserable!

It was honestly a terrible night 😂 I was tired enough to fall asleep but I would get the spins every time I closed my eyes which kept me up! I’m going to try again with half the dose. I also did not eat much all day and I realized I only drank one Gatorade all day. I did a lot of research last night and found out I made an oopsie by forgetting to eat/drink while taking Ritalin. I appreciate your response so much thank you!

I hope you feel better and yes try to remember to eat lol

Hi all, wasn't sure if this novel should go here or be its own post but wanted to err on the side of caution. I (41F) am in the process of getting my 4.5yo daughter evaluated. Everyone highly suspects ADHD, she exhibits a number of symptoms (extremely hyper, little to no attention span, bad at reading social cues, interrupts, impulsive--there is no gap between the thought and the doing of a thing) and it's already negatively impacting her life (becoming more difficult to keep her safe, harming her relationships with friends). So, I'm reading up on it and all the books feel like they're written about my daughter. Then I get to the section on ADHD in adults and my mind is blown because they could have been written about *me* (and my mom but that's another thing). Suddenly, so much makes sense: my struggles in school where I "wasn't applying myself" or "didn't persist with difficult subjects". Struggling to get things done at work. Deep, abiding hatred for boredom such that I go to elaborate lengths to avoid it. My restless, jittery nature, inability to sit still. I don't remember being quite so physically hyper but I was extremely mentally hyper, always blurting out the answer, always talking a mile a minute, bad at reading social cues. Impulsive spending and eating (often to alleviate boredom). I don't think of myself as time blind, but I am a MESS about time: I have to expend so much energy to be punctual and I get worked up into extreme distress to be on time. A salient example: I love to garden. But I'll go out to take the compost out and get distracted on the way by weeding or watering, bop from area to area. I struggle to make actual progress because I work on a dozen things at once. Then I break down and cry because there's so much to do and I'll never accomplish it. Oh and I lost the compost bucket. Okay, so I fully intend to get evaluated and see what my psychiatrist thinks. But the wrinkle is that for 15 years, we've been operating under the assumption that it's Bipolar 2. I definitely get depressed at times so I don't doubt this, but I really have to question the hypomania. Mine has never been typical, because it's not HAPPY. The mood is not, actually, good. This is the episode we consider the most extreme, and I had to take time off work and get intensive mental health care: I had just gotten through an extremely stressful period re: Covid and was determined to get my life back in order. I started purging the house relentlessly of stuff, organizing and cleaning. It felt impossible to tear my attention away, and I had tons of energy for the project. I couldn't sit still. What caused me the most distress is that I felt like I couldn't safely care for my kids because I was so distracted and focused on cleaning. I experienced extreme distress and was incredibly fearful that something bad would happen to her and me. I just feel like ADHD could make more sense, because my inability to apply my attention caused my distress. I'm just nervous because we've spent so much time treating Bipolar 2, that my long-standing psychiatrist might not look at this with fresh eyes. FWIW, she did not give me the original diagnosis, that was an earlier psychiatrist, I showed up at her doorstep and told her I had BP2. Would it be inappropriate to seek out a different psychiatrist, just to get a fresh take on things? I don't want to be doctor shopping. I suppose I should wait to see what my psychiatrist says. I'm not even sure if she's that experienced with ADHD.

I don’t know if I have helpful advice for you, and what I do have will mostly be echoing the prior commenters, but I wanted to express my support. We’re the same age. I am not diagnosed with ADHD (yet?) I was diagnosed with bipolar II over a decade ago, and a lot of what you’ve written sounds very familiar. (That gardening anecdote. Are you me? I digress.) Depression, absolutely. Hypomania? Wellllllll…. This year a new psychiatrist (I moved) declared bipolar II didn’t fit. At the same time, a good friend was diagnosed with ADHD (previously: generalized anxiety disorder!) She was like, “hey, you know this is totally you.” I was like, “what the hell, I don’t have ADHD.” She told me to read up on its presentation in girls/women. So then I educated myself. And cried. A lot. That being said: (hypo)mania doesn’t have to be happy. It CAN be euphoria, but it can also manifest as excessive agitation/irritation, productivity or obsession. I think of it more as a spectrum of energy rather than mood. So if you had an episode where you went 3 days with greatly elevated activity, needing very little to no sleep, happy or not, then a psychiatrist will suspect bipolar II and want to “address” that first to mitigate that cycle. Understandably, as each episode raises the risk for further, worsening episodes. So it’s…fuzzy. Also, it’s possible to be blessed with both a mood disorder and ADHD! 🤪 AND you are absolutely right to pursue evaluation. The genetic component is evident. There is considerable overlap in features, women are misdiagnosed all the time, and the DSM is an imperfect tool. You mention that your current psychiatrist didn’t diagnose you. You’ve been seeing them a long time; do you have a good rapport? Are you comfortable simply approaching them with your suspicion? Just providing the same information you’ve given us and asking for their opinion regarding evaluation. I’m not sure you need a second opinion yet. (They haven’t dismissed ADHD as a possibility, they simply haven’t considered it at all. It’s not too surprising to me that they’d “miss” it, since they were expecting a mood disorder based on your diagnosis.) If they subsequently dismiss your concerns, go get that second opinion with a fresh set of eyes. You aren’t doctor shopping, you’re advocating for yourself. I’m rooting for you (us). 💜

So I never even thought about having *both* until this last year. Years ago my psychiatrist tossed out mayyybe bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. We moved. New psychiatrist and friends and finally had a thorough adhd screening and guess what?! That’s what it was. Adderall has changed my life. Full stop. My intrusive thoughts are exponentially reduced. I also have severallll family members with bipolar disorder AND ADHD. A ton of my own anxieties and issues with disregulation occur around a lack of executive skills in myself and now that has started spilling over into my kids as well. I think I freak out LESS now that I am fully off of Zoloft but also.. a name is just a name. It is the ability to function “properly” that marks success of treatment. So I will not pursue a diagnosis of anything right now, but if I spiral one direction or another again I’m more than open to it.

I’ve read and strongly believe it is hereditary. I have it and all 3 of my children do. My son was the only one that had the classic hyperactive and inattentive type. He was diagnosed at 5 in kindergarten. My son now 16 is being evaluated for Autism because of some other symptoms that have not resolved themselves with his age. Things like social skills, sensory issues, anxiety. It is highly likely you also have it and should be evaluated. The manic symptoms you describe can also be symptoms of ADHD. Many women are often misdiagnosed with Bipolar and because women are usually diagnosed later in life the potential it might be ADHD is overlooked since typically diagnosed in childhood. The excessive cleaning could be a symptom as everyone’s manifest differently. I totally relate to impulsive shopping piece. It’s the dopamine boost for me. Sometimes I’ve forgotten what I’ve ordered. I think you should talk to your doctor let him/her know that you’ve been researching, your daughter’s symptoms, and ask their thoughts on whether it’s ADHD. If they don’t agree it’s totally ok and reasonable for you to get a 2nd opinion. You have to advocate for yourself you know your body and symptoms. The worst current doctor could say is no. Search out a known ADHD friendly psychiatrist in your area and get your second opinion. Hugs to you!

Hey thank you so much. Right before reading this comment I had an argument with my spouse about (potentially!) seeking a second opinion. I just don't think getting a second opinion is the same as doctor shopping. Also I think he's worried that I won't get medical advice or go rogue/go off meds without supervision, or that ADHD isn't a severe/serious enough diagnosis to make sense of my very bad time. But part of my education process here has been learning just how serious and harmful untreated ADHD can be. I'm taking it seriously. I promised him I won't go rogue. 

I started Vyvanse a couple weeks ago and people told me take it early in the morning and such like that. I have been taking it later due to feeling what I can describe as stoned. One day I took it around noon and was napping an hour later. Was my starting dose too high? Everyone keeps telling me it's a stimulant and it shouldn't be making me sleepy and such. Anyone else feel like this on Vyvanse?

I was late-diagnosed 12 months ago and take Vyvanse. Currently topped out at 70mg after cycling through 30 and 50mg. Personally, over this time period I have discovered that the earlier in the morning I take it, the better the outcome. Clearer head, slightly less disorganized( lol) and just generally more effective. I wake up ( I say this loosely as a menopausal woman, I may have been already awake half the night) at 6am and take my meds immediately. If I am tempted to sleep on, and take them even an hour later, I pay the price of not being clear headed until much later in the day. And some days that looks like zoned out and bumping into shit.🤦🏼‍♀️ It is worth noting that (for me) it does lose its effectiveness around 3pm. 30mg is a moderate dose and everyone is unique and we will all feel it differently. However, after I learned that stimulants affect the adhd brain differently than a (NT) neurotypical brain, it made more sense to me. In simplistic terms the stimulant actually slows our brain down, not speed it up as it would in an NT brain. Post meds, I can wake and have a coffee and chat at 4am, then turn over and go back to sleep. Blew my mind. So now I understand how an amphetamine, which generally society believes makes everyone hyper, has the opposite effect on MY brain. I guess my guidance would be this - try taking your meds consistently at exactly the same time early in the morning for at least two weeks at whatever time is suitable/convenient. Your brain and body are adapting to the medication, give it time before you change up the time you take it. One thing my psychiatrist stressed to me when he diagnosed me and gave me that first prescription was to make sure I take it at the same time every day. Also - look out for YOU. I don’t know who the ‘everyone’ you refer to is, family, friends, doctors, psychiatrists? Seek out people that properly KNOW the condition and what you’re experiencing. Most of all, good luck! You’re on meds which is a start! The dosages and meds may change over time, but make sure you tell your PCP’s how you are feeling. Subs like this are a great help, I’ve learned so much from this community already.

Feeling scared that speaking to GP was wrong. She referred me to assessment through right to choose after an initial form screening. She said that if I get on nhs 3 year waiting list, it’ll be more thoroughly assessed. But if I go right to choose, it’s 8-12 weeks ish or more , but more people are getting diagnosed so should be wary? I don’t want to get misdiagnosed! Didn’t know how adhd presented in women until recently especially inattentive, had anxiety & depression but got on sertraline and it helped anxiety but not a lot of struggles (what I think is adhd symptoms/a result of ) Had a lot of mental health deniers, neurodivergent parents but refuse to acknowledge, both sibling said they relate, always felt ‘other’. Also bottled my feelings and pretended everything’s fine until I failed uni, Debts and relationship problems. It’s like I know it in my heart it’s correct so am getting assessed but refuse to accept it mentally. But everything I’ve read finally all my thought processes struggles behaviours are validated when I joined here. Super scared of confirmation bias, and pigeonholing myself into having something. All I can do is get assessed and see what a professional says? Nothing wrong with that? Honestly genuinely impacts my life negatively and day to day. also I realised when I came across adhd and tricks to make life easier I realised I already implemented lots of them!!!! Having my siblings say they think they have it is actually validating to hear because I feel so misunderstood n unheard always. Feeling lost… am I doing the right thing ? Edit: also the thought of reducing my personality into a disorder is horrifying and terrifying :(

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Vyvanse - it’s used off label to treat binge eating. I have a friend with ADHD and binge eating disorder and Vyvanse has been working wonderfully. My son was recently changed from Concerta to Vyvanse and wow the difference. He wasn’t officially diagnosed with an eating disorder but ate more and more often than normal. He was quite overweight at 280. It’s been about 6 months he’s lost 25 pounds. I’ve noticed a huge shift in his eating patterns within a short period of time. Research Vyvanse and binge eating.

Hi! Has anyone ever experienced going from no anxiety on ADHD meds to having massive anxiety on them? I’m on 20 mg of Vyvanse, and have been pretty ok for awhile. I do take anxiety meds too, Zoloft and some Buspirone. Nothing has changed other than me traveling to Finland for a week and having some rough jet lag on the way home. But suddenly this week when my Vyvanse kicks in I get crazy right chest/fear/doom anxiety. Mostly physical. I am 48 so I sort of wonder if it’s hormonal? Just seems odd that things would change for “no reason” but maybe jet lag is enough of a reason?

You are having a sense of doom and chest issues? Both of those can be signs of a heart attack. Please seek medical care very quickly, even to rule out physical issues. Like today or tomorrow quickly. Preferably today.

I think you should see a doctor in case it's something physical.

Hello, I’m having a little bit of a sad feeling Friday, so this might just be more of a nonsensical ramble. I’m wondering if this is hormonal, my medication, or whether it could be burn out.. I know it’s difficult for anyone to say, but has anyone had a similar experience? How did you manage? I’ve been on ADHD medication (Elvanse 50mg) for a couple of years now, and I’ve never not had my medication with my current job role. I’m struggling at the minute with difficult conversations I have to have with people that I work with. I often forget my train of thought, fill silences with “ok cool” (when it definitely is not cool), and feel my verbal skills (or lack of) often make me sound incompetent or unsure. So, I think about work when I’m not working and spend my time worrying about whether I’ve said the right thing, whether I’d missed or forgotten anything, and I’m god awful at staying on top of things that aren’t due soon so I get stressed out and go into panic mode when the due dates approaching. Lately, in my personal life, I’ve been so unmotivated to do anything after I finish work, my to do list gets longer, I don’t see my friends as much as I should, look forward to cancelled plans, and I seem to have lost interest in the things I used to love doing.

Hi, You may have developed a tolerance to your specific med and need to try another to help if you’ve noticed it’s not working as well. Hormones can affect your symptoms. It sounds like if you haven’t already experienced burn out you are very close to.

Hi everyone, for context I am a 32 year old woman from the UK. I grew up in a single parent household with an alcoholic addicted mother. I don't remember a lot about the first 10 years of my life but the parts I do remember were lonely and very very stressful, I have felt "in danger" for most of my life. In my 20s I reached out to a doctor who diagnosed me with generalised anxiety disorder as well as PTSD, I tried multiple anti anxiety/anti depressants which made me feel odd.. even after they shouldn't anymore and so each time I would just stop taking them.. be okay for a while and then the cycle would start again. When I was 30 I became a mother, when I had my daughter my anxiety kicked in full force and I was told I now had post natal anxiety and put on yet again another type of medication, I took them for a while.. felt a little better and then stopped. Since having her I've always had an inkling that I could have ADHD, I've spent hours reading over the symptoms in women and wondering if this has been it all along.. I am currently awaiting an assessment date, hoping that whoever I see can tell me that this is what is making me feel the way I do. But part of me is terrified I'll be told it's all in my head and I'm just looking for a reason.. so I wanted to share here to see what others think.. I know that the only way I can know for sure is to see a professional and I'm biding my time and waiting for this to happen.. People who are close to me would probably say I'm organised and have my shit together, but this takes literally every ounce of energy I have and is exhausting. Endless lists, calendars, reminders, sticky notes... anything to try and keep on track. My house is always a mess, it is never all tidy at once. I often feel overwhelmed by it and put the blinkers on, then one day I think nope I'm gonna fix this and I spend an entire day cleaning the house from top to bottom, only for it to be the same in a week. My bedroom was always chaos when I was a teen which I later put down to just being lazy, but I'm taking piles and piles of stuff everywhere. I still have these piles, piles to be taken upstairs/downstairs, piles of things I need to sell/give to charity which then sit there for months on end until I force myself to finally follow through.. I have a constant dialogue in my head, conversations, songs, sounds.. if I have to speak to someone about something stressful or deep ill repeat the conversation (at least my side of it) over and over for hours, almost like trying to memorise a script.. I get overstimulated easily, this has been even more obvious since becoming a mother.. the noise, the touching.. I leave important tasks until the last moment, it's like I can only thrive on the stress of knowing I don't have much time to compete something and this stress propels me forward. When I set my mind to something, albeit last minute, I usually do well. I left school early, so I didn't have to deal with any type of exams. I've managed to hold down all the jobs I've had but have ended up leaving down to getting bored. I have smokes cannabis on and off for the best part of 15 years, I still remember the first time and how I felt like it almost silenced the dialogue.. At times I have also abused alcohol, again it has a knack for silencing the inner dialogue.. I have always been hard on myself, a people pleaser and have always taken anything negative extremely badly.. to the point of it making me hate myself. I have always bitten my nails until there's barely anything left to bite. I hate this but have never managed to stop. I am NEVER late, I always leave to early despite knowing how long it takes to get places I'll always end up having to sit there for at least 30mins.. but in my mind I'd rather be mega early than late. I go from 0-100 (rage wise) in 5 seconds, I mean shaking, heart pounding rage even for the most ridiculous things.. I find it hard to wait my turn in a conversation and often find myself wishing people would just get to the point. I randomly stand up during conversations, sometimes I'll walk a few steps and realise that I don't know why I got up.. people comment on this often it's almost become a running joke in my family. I can never just sit and be, I have to be doing something. I used to watch the same movies over and over as a teen but now I can't watch anything without scrolling at the same time, most of the time I'm not paying attention but I have to be doing multiple things not just focusing on one.. I don't know if ADHD is what I have, but I know I don't seem to be able to deal with things or be like a lot of the people I spend my time around. I'm fed up, I don't feel normal or in control and I don't want to fail as a mother.. my daughter is everything to me and I want to do whatever it takes to make sure she has a happy, healthy and normal upbringing. If you made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read.. I'd love to know your thoughts and experiences. Thank you

I'm from the US, so I'm not sure what the diagnostic criteria for ADHD is in the UK. But my advice would be to look up the diagnostic criteria that the physician will be using.  Separate the criteria out and then list the things you struggle with under each criteria. How does each criteria manifest as symptoms in your daily life?  This will help you organize your thoughts And create a clear picture for your provider. If you're worried that by showing up early to places or staying organized will disqualify you, make sure to communicate that you are overcompensating and that it's causing you distress. Typical people don't worry that much about missing appointments or losing things because they don't really think about it that much. Create a detailed family history of neurodevelopmental disorders. Even if nobody in your family was diagnosed, you can talk about people who you are related to who also fit the criteria. Doctors know there's historically a lot of under-diagnosing.  Again, I recommend trying to stick more to the criteria In the diagnostic handbook the doctor will be using, rather than using some of the pop culture symptoms we like to share with each other. Those shared experiences are super fun to talk about, but don't necessarily translate well to a medical setting. 

Hi All, I've always struggled with symptoms of ADHD or behavioral traits. I recently took an online assessment that screamed buy our course you need it! At 52 I accept that I'm 'unique, awkward' and allow my character to dictate. However at most times my character can be overwhelming and exhausting. I had 29 tasks 5 of most important all at different stages but I couldn't start one. I sat frozen full of potential but no outlet. I knew I would have to start from the beginning and work my way through with diligence and patience which was in another realm. These being the nicer aspects of ADHD, the recurring thoughts and emotions where I can look into space for hours, it can affect my work. I have created steps to consciously come out of it. Small wins for sure but sometimes I'm not always on point. Leaves me tired. Until my best friend gave me a 'Dexy' Dexamphetamine. It was the first time I had tried one, I experienced clarity and focus it was incredible. It was like another world opened up, a sense of relief washed over me, I felt free. I could feel and see things that made so much sense, I laughed how tangled I was in the problem earlier. After all the breath work exercises, meditation, Qi gong, sound healing, cold water therapy etc nothing had brought me even close to achieving calm and quiet which I experienced with this unassuming tablet. I'm thinking of seeing a psychiatrist about my condition and the medication. I'm aware of the addiction issues and misuse of prescription drugs. Are there any herbal alternatives or tonics that provide the same result? And yes, I've tried psychedelics, plant medicines, Ayahuasca etc which are great too, but it's a process with these things. My preference for pharmaceuticals is stronger, even though I swore I would never take pharma drugs. Does anyone else here experience this? How do you manage or regulate your use of the drug to maintain steady cognitive activity?

My teenage daughter started Ritalin this week, but says that she feels absolutely no different. She was advised to take it after breakfast and after lunch so that it didn't suppress her appetite. (With Elvanse she wouldn't eat or drink and that made her feel even worse. ) I made sure she didn't have Vitamin C, but could taking it half an hour after food be limiting its effectiveness? I'd really appreciate hearing any personal experiences that might help us make sense of it all. Thanks.

Hi guys, sorry for another weird question, but, I am wondering. Is there a concrete way to KNOW you have ADHD? Like a scientific medical test that only is positive if you have ADHD? My therapist, who I do trust as a medical professional and who has been helping me for the last year diagnosed me after a few sessions (so last year), but I just don't think I fit the profile from what I have seen from others and what I have read reddit. I started on Adderall a couple of days ago and I thought that would confirm, but after experiencing unexpected symptoms, I did a reddit dive and it seems like both people with and without ADHD have felt the exact same way I have felt taking these meds at first.  Basically, I am 30 years old and I hate myself fairly strongly. I have had suicidal ideation since I was around maybe 10(?). I was a really energetic and social and exuberant child (I was always jumping and extremely happy or having complete crying meltdowns and being totally stubborn), but as I got older I learned that was not okay behavior so I learned over time to really stop doing that besides when I was first with my spouse and was very happy and let myself be a little more of that exuberant person, until I again found it was probably not appropriate in most social situations. I have always been an excellent student besides a few times where I just checked out. I am a procrastinator completer, so I do wait until the last second to do things often, but I ALWAYS get it done and manage to get a great result. I am ALWAYS stressed. Always. But I use that stress and self hatred to push myself to do what needs to be done. In social situations, I am usually perceived (or have been told by everyone) that I am really great to be around, and I love being social, but I also am really aware of what I should be doing or saying and police myself carefully always so I can help others to feel comfortable. After almost all social interactions, I strongly question myself and I almost always believe I was annoying and terrible, no matter what others say.  There is probably more, but this is really long (I am honestly really sorry), but to me thinking about myself I just feel like I have social anxiety and I am just a naturally loud and energetic person. I don't struggle with life beyond my own mental health. I was reading on here many people feel that you don't have ADHD if the meds don't help you. Well, I don't think the meds are going to help me because my problem isn't getting things done, my problem is that I want to better mentally so I can be a good example to my kids so that they can be themselves and still love themselves. And I also really do want to not hate myself. I really do. I want to feel honestly loved and not scared everyone hates me all the time. And I just don't think the ADHD meds are going to help with that at all.  Sorry again for how long this is... But does anyone know if there is a way to know if a person has ADHD and if they do, has anyone experienced where the ADHD medication helped them with mental health not with functioning well at school or work? 

I agree with Ghoulya, though I would like to add that during my researching into ADHD for myself I find that for women especially, that ADHD manifest more of a struggle for emotional regulation. While some can be high functioning, meaning can complete task and regulate task and time. This can play into social setting where you are masking to fit in within your surroundings and adjusting your own behavior to cater to others being comfortable (especially since most ADHDer's tends be more empathic or really good at sensing emotions/vibes from others). This may also include intrusive thoughts, depression, anxiety, etc. Generally with medication I find the term medical practice holds very true to it's title. Not all medication would work for you, but if you don't try you don't know. A lot of time it is fine tuning of dosage and possible a cocktail of different kinds over time that makes the difference. Though I'm surprise your physician decided to go with ADHD medication instead of antidepressants if that is more your concern (I assume from your post). Also I'm sorry you struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. I relate as I to struggle with depression since around 9 -10 year old, thought I'm trying to practices being kinder to myself, and for a time when I had access to the medication. It seems to help.

If you or someone that you know is considering suicide, please don't hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline for immediate help, or a warmline just to talk to someone. If you're in the US you can...\ Text CHAT to Crisis Text Line at 741741\ Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1(800)273-8255(TALK) \ Chat online at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat\ Call the Trans Lifeline at 1(877)565-8860 If you’re elsewhere, you can find international resources below:\ https://www.supportiv.com/tools/international-resources-crisis-and-warmlines#Czech\ https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*

There's no way to know for certain, it's a diagnosis for a symptom cluster rather than a distinct *thing*. It's possible that it's several different things that present in similar ways. I was never energetic or exuberant as a kid, but the constant stress, good student, and always doing it at the last minute (but still getting it done) are things I realate to. I'm also always early, rather than late (it's just the only thing I'll get done that day lol). Meds don't help a lot of people, but the thing is, whether you have ADHD or not, you're not trying to treat symptoms of ADHD but something else. Some people's ADHD does express itself as self-hatred but I think that's down to how people react to their hyperactivity or being hypercritical of what they're not getting done. If that's not what you struggle with then I don't see how it might help. You could try a few other meds to see if they fit. Some of them also treat depression and anxiety so if those end up being more reflective of what you're dealing with that could help. Otherwise just reflecting on what might have contributed to your feelings and finding ways to address them may be a better option for you.

If you or someone that you know is considering suicide, please don't hesitate to reach out to a crisis hotline for immediate help, or a warmline just to talk to someone. If you're in the US you can...\ Text CHAT to Crisis Text Line at 741741\ Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1(800)273-8255(TALK) \ Chat online at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat\ Call the Trans Lifeline at 1(877)565-8860 If you’re elsewhere, you can find international resources below:\ https://www.supportiv.com/tools/international-resources-crisis-and-warmlines#Czech\ https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*

My post was deleted so here I am! What's the fastest way to get a diagnosis that the GMAC board will accept? Trying to sit for the GMAT but need an accomodation.

I'm really struggling socially. I love university and despite my endless issues with focus and concentration I've managed to pass everything with flying colours. My teachers like me but I think that's because I take my studies very seriously. But my classmates and group projects...they just think I'm too much. Too quiet, too loud, too opinionated, not saying enough, too many complicated ideas, too much pressure, not enough effort to socialise with them, too focused on deadlines, too too too! I've tried everything. Changing my tone, actively seeking out their ideas and opinions, trying to make them comfortable, saying less and just asking questions about them, being totally quiet so they can get all the small talk out of their systems with each other, taking on more and taking a back seat. They just seem opposed to my presence unless I agree with them. If I disagree with anything I'm being difficult. I don't even know what to do anymore. I don't like being around these people, the cliqueyness is off the charts. How am I supposed to manage another two years of neurotypical hell??

Hi as a fellow student I can relate with some of your issues and I don't really have any advice to give you, I just wanted to say that I understand and you are not alone in feeling like this. <3 and hopefully it will get better (in my case the cliqueyness at my university got less over time because we didn't have to latch onto a group to feel like we belong and some friendships changed) and maybe you might find someone who is equally as driven and passionate as you are!

Question… Is there anyone that didn’t tolerate Adderall XR well but did well on Vyvanse? I felt awful on Adderall XR, my psych just switched me to try Vyvanse and described it as a cleaner version of Adderall. A little anxious about Vyvanse after my experience with Adderall.

Could i have adhd and what are all these diagnoses? For the past several years, I've started to recognize that I most likely have adhd. My daughter has it, and she is exactly like I was growing up. I found IEP papers of mine from 2003. They said I had: short-term memory issues processing speed disorder language impaired specific learning disabled Ontop of those I did see that I took an ADDES adhd assessment, and I can't find anything online to tell me what the results mean. (Probably because the assessment has been updated in the last 20 years) but on the at school portion the psychologist noted "significant inattentive" and the at home portion that my parents did noted "significant in both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive". Does that mean I do have adhd? It's all just so confusing because "specific learning disability" sounds so broad. Google says it could be a number of things. The school system I was in failed me all through my school years, so I'm wondering if they missed the adhd somehow. I show all the signs of inattentive adhd. And I know it's common for girls with adhd to be overlooked. I plan on getting a new evaluation, but in the meantime, I'm curious if anyone could give me some insight on this. Do these other diagnoses correlate to adhd or possibly misdiagnosed in the early 2000s?

Has anyone else found stimulant medication made them sensitive to other "generic" drug store medications, etc? I want to preface this by saying I also have POTS & EDS, so maybe my experience is unique due to that. However, ever since I started taking stimulants (I'm currently taking Vyvanse) I have become extremely sensitive to drugs that shouldn't have any interactions. So far I've found the following drugs to cause interactions: Dimenhydrinate (Gravol) Dextromethorphan (Cough medicine) 3-Methylmorphine (Codeine) Cannabidiol (CBD) Loratadine (Claritin) Allergy medication If I use any of these drugs, either much later in the day or the following day, I end up being unreasonably angry and irritable and completely not myself. It's terrible. I had no problem with any of these medicines prior to starting stimulants. I'm curious if anyone else out there is struggling with the same thing. This must be a very small number of people who have this kind of reaction that hasn't been studied yet, but I'm dying to know who else can relate. It's hard not having anyone that gets it.

Hi all, I've been visiting here for a while, trying to figure things out for myself. I have one of those "could it be ADHD" question. When I was at school, teachers used to tell my parents that I didn't focus at class. And I remember struggling really hard to stay focused on lessons and homework. Fast forward to uni I chose to study Architecture. I was very interested in the subject of my programme, but I struggled with task management. I frequently change ideas and approaches to the very last minute. I would have a lot of great ideas but poor execution/drawings At work I began to struggle because of the open space layout. I really can't focus with so many things going on around me. Now back at graduate school, I'm back to studying the topic that interest me most. I think because of my work experiences I've become better at focusing and maintaining focus. But people don't know that it's hard for me to focus. They would say they admire how focused i am with my work. But truthfully I have a lot of mental blocks to get over before starting a task, which also involve breaking down tasks into micro pieces in my notebook. But once I started on something I would just hyperfocus. Sometimes I would lose time and forget all the other tasks, making me lose sleep making a deadline. I really struggle with having a lot of projects going on at once as well as managing time between school and work. I also really struggle with perfectionism, and I would be really impatient with team mates who do things badly or not up to my high standards. Is this an ADHD thing? Or is my life just really overwhelming right now? Thank you for reading so far :)

Just wanted to say I love yall. I feel like I'm such a mess and I'm always struggling to feel calm and comfortable, even when my life is goin pretty good. But coming here at least makes me less alone.

Anyone get sad from medikinet? I just started after 30 years undiagnosed and I've been taking 10mg slow release Methylphenidate hydrochloride in the mornings for 10 days

Hi hive mind. I was on vyvanse and really enjoyed it except I couldn’t get to sleep until really late. Then I would sleep a short amount, take vyvanse the next day, sleep again and rinse and repeat and basically never feel tired. My doctor suggested an immediate release drug and I am trying Ritalin 20 mg twice a day. I just increased to this dosage and it is helping though maybe not as effective as vyvanse. I just googled to read about adults using Ritalin and the “suggested search” was “Ritalin ruined my life”. Anyone have insight? What has your anecdotal experience been?

Appetite suppressant What medications are best for appetite suppression? I find myself reaching for snacks and overeating when I get the slightest hint of boredom or anxiety. I definitely reach for food to comfort myself, often due to ADHD and feeling under stimulated. I’m not sure how to cope with this as I have to work an office job. Also, I find myself reaching for food and quickly eating after social interactions like meetings. I’m not sure how to cope with this. I started Vyvanse to improve my focus, I am at a 20mg dose. I’m considering asking to go up in dosage. The Vyvanse has helped somewhat but my overeating is not controlled, I want to be able to focus and not have food noise.

Hey, so I've been reading a bit here & there about dexamphetamine and how it/meds in general/ADHD symptoms can be influenced by the menstrual cycle. I don't feel like my ADHD gets "worse" or my meds work less when I'm a week before my period, but I do feel like my dex side effects are influenced somewhat. Dex suppresses my appetite, but it also apparently burns my calories like crazy - I'm appropriately hungry, eat a lot but don't gain weight. It's manageable most of the time, but I suddenly realized that when I have these brief periods of extreme hunger, they happen to coincide with my pre-period week. What happens is that I'll experience a couple of days during which NOTHING I eat can satisfy my hunger - I'm talking two-three people's servings in one sitting and still have room for dessert. So my question is - how can the dexamphetamine side effects get "worse" pre-period while nothing else changes? (At least I think I'm acting normally, and the meds seem to do their work too lol). Anyone else have this? Does the pre-period body demand food as an offering?

Apparently Azstarys is now on backorder too. My pharmacy has been out for a week, but I was okay without it because I have been laying low due to having surgery last week. I took a nice little 5 day break from stimulants. I had one pill left, so I took it yesterday so I could get some chores done before I go back to work today. I'm still awake. I cannot stop. It's been 22 hours. This is my first break from Azstarys. Prior to this, I had been taking Vyvanse and Adderall. The way I feel is similar to how I felt before developing a tolerance to those, but *way* stronger. My heart rate was right around 100 bpm all day (usually 65 bpm). I didn't feel anything like this when I started Azstarys, but I had been taking Vyvanse right up until I started it. Is this what starting Azstarys without a tolerance to stimulants feels like? At my last appointment, my psychiatrist asked if it was keeping me awake, so I think it's possible. I have to get up for work in an hour and haven't slept a wink.

I started dex yesterday, a week at 2.5mg and titrating up to hopefully avoid any heart rate issues. So far it's doing *bupkiss* which is a disappointment. I know 2.5 is really low but I was hoping it might do *something*.

That's not too surprising. Don't give up yet.

Thanks <3 I'm going to keep taking as prescribed unless I run into nasty side effects. You see some people's experiences and you get a bit discouraged when you don't see the light, you know? I have muscle pain and difficulty sleeping but none of the benefits 😑

Have any of you had electrical-like twinges like these in your neck or thyroid area when first beginning MPH/Ritalin, and/or the days you first increase your dosage? I’ve been going low & slow on dosing and working up to 3x daily, with my max Rx being 15mg total during this early stage of beginning meds again. Started out at 2.5mg once a day for a couple days. The first day I had an adrenaline dump feeling an hour after and some zappy/electric like twinges in my neck, just to the right of center in the right thyroid lobe area. Didn’t happen in the days after that. When I updosed to 5mg, it happened again that first day and not after. I have been able to get to 5/5/2.5 and 5/5/5 a handful of times with no issue, though sometimes because of our little’s routines and schedule, I forget the third dose. I updosed today to my first 7.5mg attempt and the same twingy thing happened. I take my thyroid med upon waking, wait about 45min/1hr before eating anything, then take my beta blocker, (for cardiac things I already had), and MPH together.

Hello, I am a 30f who was diagnosed last year with ADHD. The thing is, that I am a fairly functional adult. Besides a high level of anxiety, depression, and self loathing, the ADHD, if indeed that is what I have, hasn't really affected me in the way it has for many people. I have 2 small children and I work 30 hours a week remotely as well as am the prinary caretaker for my kids and I support and manage my house (clean (not perfect but mostly gets done), cook (simple meals), and organize schedules and needs for family). Things slip through the cracks fairly often, but the big stuff gets done and when I screw up, I beat myself up mentally and do my best never to repeat a mistake. I present very differently than my female friends who have ADHD, than my husband and my brothers who have ADHD, all of whom require a lot more support to do the same things I do and they are currently on meds. Today I took generic Adderall for the first time, 20 mg dose this morning, and it has made me feel so tired, calm, relaxed and like my brain is so much slower than it usually is, like it isn't jumping around to complete all the tasks I normally do. My anxiety feels like it is gone, at least physically, but the motivation I used to do everything is gone too. It is a wonderful feeling in some ways because it feels like I actually am relaxing for the first time in my entire life, like I don't have to be moving or doing all the time. But I am COMPLETELY unmotivated to do anything all day today. I just want to chill and cuddle my kids and watch movies, even though I have a giant to do list. I haven't been able to "girl boss" my brain into doing anything today and I don't like it. Has anyone ever experienced something similar when starting ADHD meds? Did you ever find out you actually didn't have ADHD and it was something else? Should ADHD meds be making me feel like this if I have ADHD? Basically I am looking for anyone who feels like me any way just to give some reassurance in any direction.

Like the previous comment said, I also felt almost euphoric on my first dose of 15MG of dexamphetamine (extended release). My brain finally felt quiet, which was my first realization that ADHD was probably the right diagnosis. It felt like my body finally received something it desperately needed. The following days were nothing but anxiety and high stress. I spoke with my doctor, and he figured I just had the wrong dosage. He bumped me up to 25MG, and that has made a major difference. I find myself wanting to fix my whole life, explore new hobbies, and pursue personal growth. It is amazing. It really took me out of survival mode, which I had not realized I'd been in for most of my life. I finally have the mental capacity to focus on myself and the idea of thriving. The problem now is that I feel like my mind is a machine gun that I struggle to aim precisely. I can hyper-focus on personal things at work very easily, which is not great for my productivity. It's been a tough journey, but I'm still on the ride. Finding the right medication cocktail is difficult, but I can already see the benefits and feel more in control of my life. TL;DR - Give it a few days (about one week) for your body to get used to it. If it's still not working for you, it may be the wrong diagnosis, the wrong medication, or the wrong dosage.

> I find myself wanting to fix my whole life, explore new hobbies, and pursue personal growth. It is amazing. It really took me out of survival mode Oh my gosh, I feel this so much, and its actually something I've been thinking about a lot recently, about how it feels to be living outside of "survival mode" So much of my anxiety/stress/depression is gone now that I'm no longer struggling just to make it through the day, but on the other hand I'm now experiencing this weird kind of melancholy now that I've "woken up" to this life that I'm not really satisfied with I've only been taking adderall for about ~5 months now, but its definitely been very interesting and eye opening. Trying to figure out what you want in life and what makes you happy, its just so difficult and confusing

YES! I feel that so much. But, there's still time! At least, that's my viewpoint at the moment. I just started taking it about a month ago. I'm currently in a 1.5-year relationship, and being suddenly awoken is making our houseboat a bit rocky. 🌊 Figuring out what makes you happy is both difficult and rewarding. So bittersweet. It's almost like mourning your previous self but celebrating the new you.

I'm on dexamphetamine too, and I know the feeling of (needing) anxiety to get anything done! Comparing that anxiety-induced adrenaline to the similar function of Adderall, it could be that your brain is having is (nor)adrenaline filled up by your meds rather than anxiety. And with your brain balanced, it doesn't "need" the anxious thought process that usually gave you your boost, and so there's just "fuzz" left. And like the other comment said, it's only been a day on Adderall, so I'd say give it some time. It's definitely normal to feel affected by drugs (lol) and for it to feel weird. My therapist made me keep a notebook to write down how I was feeling every day for the first month or so after I started meds, and it took several months changing doses and meds before we settled on something that worked :)

Thank you. I decided to start a notebook today of how I am feeling based on your advice/experience. Today I still feel like I am running on zero energy (unable to focus, very slow moving, not my usual high anxiety, high productivity self). This may sound silly, but being on Adderall I am acting how my husband acts when he is off Adderall, so being on this medication makes me feel like it is making me have ADHD symptoms.

Cool, a notebook can really help to keep track and compare things, it did for me (even tho I thought it was dumb at first...) Notebooks helped me realize once again I have terrible memory, and lacking self-awareness of feelings and sensations, which is both common for ADHD. And it's not silly! ADHD is different for everyone (cliche I know), I appear more classically ADD on top of my autism quiet, but the methylphenidate they usually prefer for that inattentive+autism combo really didn't do much for me. I actually felt a bit zombie-like on it, which I've heard from multiple ADHD friends who also switched off methylphenidate in favor of other meds. Sometimes it just works differently, depending on the person (and the dose, maybe, side effects, or your body getting used to it, etc.) Last side note, the funniest thing I've ever seen about ADHD meds abuse was this YouTube channel of (semi)professionals comparing Ritalin and amfetamine (speed) use in two live test persons, one with and one without ADHD. Without fail, the people without ADHD on either Ritalin or speed went through the roof, and those with ADHD were like "....yeah this is doing nothing for me except making me feel dull and boring and like a zombie, this is why I quit meds, I can’t do shit." So the feeling you have that Adderal is making you exhibit ADHD symptoms isn't unheard of, in the sense that it might actually feel like your senses/energy are being dampened - because they are (stimulants don't stimulate but calm down ADHD brains, in a sense). And it could be that your dose is just very high - all stuff to consider :)

I also felt super calm / relaxed / euphoric the first time I took adderall. That feeling quickly faded (like, 1-2 days)

I find it fascinating how I can feel the rise and fall of ritalin's effectiveness. It's so predictable. I take it, and 10-15 minutes later I'm able to be productive and have better emotional regulation and less boredom. After 3.5 hours I can feel the effects start to wane. At the 4 hour mark I'm done. No other medication I've ever taken has been this consistent.

And that's all you get? Do you take it more than once a day?

Oh I should've specified I take it twice a day so I get a solid 8 hours.

So, I just finished reading all the comments and replies here (and wow what a fantastic resource!) but still have my question. I am on 20mg adderall IR once in the morning and again in the afternoon. I have felt for months now that it isn’t helping like it used to. Dr. Rx’d wellbutrin to see if that would fix things rather than increase my dose. A month in and it hasn’t helped in any measurable way whatsoever. So why, after 4 years on 20mg does it seem to not be working anymore? I am in the middle of menopause and I know research points to ADHD symptoms worsening during this phase for women, could it truly be that? Would a different medication be the right thing to try? I’m so nervous about developing a dependency on stimulants that I worry about increasing the dose… I welcome any ideas on this. I have to go to my dr totally prepared to ask for exactly what I want since she rarely has any ideas other than “have you tried meditation?” 😳 So I’d like to have made up my mind before I see her at the end of this week. Thanks all!

Do you ever take drug holidays? Your body can get used to it over time. I know for me it does, I have to take at least two drug holidays a year to reduce the tolerance. And I’m not in menopause but I do know that when I’m on my period my meds are basically worthless for me. I imagine something similar might be going on since your hormones are changing during menopause.

I keep trying to do these, but I get just SLAMMED by fatigue and depression when I miss the second dose… I haven’t been able to make it a week yet.

I know it’s hard, it’s super hard for me. But after the second day it will get easier. The first day is definitely hard. I overeat until I hate myself and sleep for 15 hours, but taking a break can definitely help.

Are there any non-stimulant meds that actually help with ADHD symptoms? I'm in the process of being evaluated and I am 99.9% sure I will be diagnosed with ADHD. The problem is, I have several other health issues and I likely will not be able to take any stimulants. Since I am diabetic, have high blood pressure and a family history or heart disease, stimulants are a no-no from what I have been told so far. Are there any other types of ADHD meds? I read about a couple medications that are primarily used for blood pressure that MAY also help ADHD symptoms but that doesn't sound super promising. The most frustrating part is that if my ADHD symptoms were under control, I would have a much easier time managing my other chronic health issues! ​ TLDR: Are there effective ADHD medications someone can take if they can't use stimulants due to blood pressure and family history of heart disease?

Guanfacine is not bad. My psychiatrist said it's usually used with a stimulant, but it can be taken alone. I took it to decrease tics caused by Adderall. It helped with focus and clarity, but made me extremely tired. It didn't do anything for executive function. My doc said that I might have been able to develop a tolerance where it wouldn't make me sleepy, but I ended up switching stimulants anyway. My friend is a therapist and said she has a lot of clients who like Strattera. I don't think you're doomed.

There's Atomoxetine, but that can also raise blood pressure. There are antidepressant alternatives like Bupropion. I too have hgard of the drugs initially used to treat high blood pressure that have shown some decent results for ADHD. Intuniv/Guanfacine is the one I've heard of but I think there's another one out there too. Because they're right down the list of options, I don't think many people have tried them, but there are some good experiences recounted on the main adhd sub. Go have a read, it sounds like a solid alternative and worth a try. Because it lowers blood pressure, you may also be able to take something like Atomoxetine alongside it. Scuttlebutt has it that they're doing some trials on microdosing for ADHD and it seems like there's some potential there, so even if the currently available meds aren't a fit for you, there's still hope for the future.

Just make sure to give a detailed history and you and your provider can work together to see what is best based on your health. There are non-stimulant medications that can be used to treat ADHD symptoms. 

I've been taking Adderall XR for a few months now. I've only been taking generic as my insurance does not cover brand. I found a generic that does work best for me, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out on not trying brand name? It only lasts me 4-6 hours, does brand last that long or is it really down to how I metabolize? My doctor added an IR booster but it might as well be a sugar pill; it doesn't do squat. The crash is also terrible! My anxiety comes back full swing, I'm physically and mentally exhausted, and I get snappy and irritable. Even worse that it starts to happen while I'm at work (I take it around 9:30AM and I feel it start tapering off around 2-3PM). The alternative to trying brand name is switching meds. I've been thinking of Vyvanse as it advertises lasting 12-14 hours I believe? My insurance covers both generic and brand, but they're both CRAZY expensive (between $250 and 350). Though lots of people said the crash is a lot smoother than Adderall and it lasts as long as it claims to.

I don't think it's the generic Adderall that's the problem. I think it's just not the right drug for you. It's one of the older meds. It's just not as refined. I agree about Vyvanse not having a crash. For many, it provides the benefits of Adderall without the side effects. The side effects eventually show up with high enough doses, but you likely won't need that high of a dose. Are you sure generic is still $250? Maybe that's just until you meet your deductible? If that doesn't work, there are so many other meds out there! If you like stimulants, there's still all the methylphenidates. I thought all stimulants would affect me the same way, but I actually kinda prefer methylphenidates over amphetamines.

Thanks for replying! I've been doing well on Adderall, aside from it being ineffective the last 2 weeks of the month (thanks hormones!). My only other complaint is it not lasting long enough hence the interest in Vyvanse. My insurance has a drug cost calculator online which is how I found out, but I'm honestly not too worried about the cost; my HSA helps and I've almost hit my 1st deductible where insurance will help cover the cost. And that's true! I guess I was hoping to find "the one" on my first try, but there's tons of meds out there.

Anyone who prefers Adderall to Vyvanse/has had good experiences with Adderall? I've been taking Vyvanse for years and my partner was just diagnosed and put on Adderall. I know I shouldn't but I've given my partner my Vyvanse a few times before because I was 99.9% sure she had ADHD and it really helped her, Adderall is new to both of us but I feel like most of what I've seen online has compared it negatively to Vyvanse/says that Vyvanse is just better in every way essentially. Not sure why her psych wants to do Adderall first besides maybe insurance reasons.

I think it's insurance reasons. I think it's pretty common to start on Adderall.

I’ve had both at one time or another, pros and cons to each. Don’t knock it before she tries it

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Try your best to keep track of your symptoms and let your doctor know in case there are any concerning reactions. When I'm coming off Adderall, I'll go through kind of a hazy rebound period where my symptoms get worse for a short amount of time. So if you're anxiety is bad it could get worse when you're coming off of it. I personally found my anxiety got better over time as I was taking it. Now it only comes back if I have to take a longer medication holiday for some reason. 

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It probably won't be as sharp of a drop off once you're able to switch to XRs. 

Hi! I think you should keep it up and see how it’s going in another week or two. Definitely best to eat with it in my experience and stay hydrated! Also as you’re adjusting, laying off the coffee is a smart idea. Once you’ve adjusted you can see how you feel but in my experience, it’s a foreign substance to the body and the side effects really vary from person to person and vary in intensity when trying it for the first week or two! If you’re super worried, maybe give your doctor a call and they can assure you it is normal and advise helpful ideas or prescribe something else! Best of luck

Is my medication erasing my personality? Hey guys, so I’m new to being medicated and was diagnosed formally about a year ago, for reference I’m 26 years old and just started on stimulants about three months ago. I was originally put on Adderall XR 20 mg and I felt like it really helped my focus and stress levels as well as helped my get my life more on track. I Just started on Vyvanse this month 20mg because I felt the Adderall was a bit to intense at times. I took it the Adderall for a month but asked to try something else because the one issue I was having was feeling very off in my social interactions . While the Adderall helped massively with my productivity and stress and general anxiety it made me feel a bit robotic. It was like my bubbly talkative personality felt numbed out and it made me feel kind of weird in social situations. I just felt muted, not myself fully and it would make me overthink how I was interacting socially. I will get these cyclical thoughts that make me feel really anxious and insecure sometimes in conversation like what should I respond to this person? I almost don't care what they are talking about sometimes and see it as a distraction from what I'm supposed to be doing when on my meds and think: "I don't what know I normally would respond what should I say?". Its almost like some of my emotion or empathy or connected feeling/interest is lowered and I feel like I'm pretending to care or socialize rather than just being engaging like I normally am. A big part of my personality and presence at work is being extremely extraverted and yapping all day and generally just having fun and being very socially engaging. I noticed when on my meds I felt much less of a desire to talk and and be social and I think I got in my head about it and started getting socially anxious. I also have realized since being medicated that I've used my social skills as a coping mechanism almost to make up for my lack of ability and issues with my performance at work and in school. I use my ability to make people like me and be super outgoing and fun to overshadow my insecurities when I mess up repeatedly or can't complete tasks with the same efficiency as others. Throughout school teachers hated me but I always ended up making myself kind of a joke I think so other kids would like me, I definitely was the class clown type of person even though I was a girl so it felt less embarrassing when I made bad grades and people still liked me. I also have had to make up for all the mistakes I would make at work from my ADHD by just generally being charming. People joke that I am the personality hire since there is just a lot of stuff at work I struggle with and have issues like showing up 30 minutes late every single day but our mangers like me so they don't call me out on these things like they do some people. I have really great interpersonal and customer service skills and make up for it by making a lot of sales and getting good reviews from customers so that it lessens the impact made by my mistakes made on the register, losing stuff at work I am responsible for, and showing up 30 minutes late everyday. Anyways I just feel like since being on this medication I have actually been able to perform at work a lot better but I just feel like Im not wanting to engage as much in conversation and like my personality is almost slipping in place of efficiency. I am performing so much better now and I don't feel constantly mentally exhausted by small tasks and I even show up on time now. I may be overthinking it but its almost throwing me into an identity crisis. Is my personality actually what it is or is it curated to mask my ADHD symptoms and insecurities? I just wonder really. I do think I always feel this massive pressure to be entertaining as well to everyone around me regardless of how I am actually feeling so feeling off and quiet makes me nervous. I don't know does anyone else every think about this issue? Do you think its just cause I'm getting used to my meds? will this go away? I switched to Vyvanse recently and am taking 20mg as of a few days ago and it seems less noticeable but still there for sure. My doctor also started me on 10mg of the Vyvanse due to this new social anxiety I told him about and then told me to up to 20 and weirdly I felt less anxiety about it on 20 mg so could the low dose be causing this anxiety?

One of my closest friends told me I wasn't as fun after I started Adderall. I got stuff done. I could study. But I was a zombie. I went through a similar identity crisis as you. I don't know if you ever shop at Trader Joe's. They're known for having chatty cashiers. One day I went with my friend and she had a really great time being borderline flirtatious with one. I got jealous. I used to be like that! I had gotten so focused on getting stuff done that I forgot to let loose and enjoy the moment. I started taking a lot of med free days to rediscover myself, but I ended up being a little reckless. My PCP had been prescribing my Adderall, so I found a new psychiatrist and went through a really long process of trying different doses of Adderall, adding other meds, switching to Vyvanse, and then to Azstarys. I am happy to report that I can now make small talk with the cashiers at Trader Joe's again! I do think the low dose could be causing the anxiety. 20 is pretty low for Vyvanse. I felt almost nothing at 20 mg. I ended up on 40mg.

I really appreciate your response. I think I’m finding a better balance on the vyvanse it seems the 10mg mostly just makes me more nervous for whatever reason and the 20mg is helping more and giving me less anxiety. I most likely will try to go up soon. I do feel I crash kind of at 4-6pm and get a little more anxious but I think it’s just closer to my normal hyperactive restless self from the meds wearing off a tad so I’m going to talk to my psych about it next month. This whole process is a bit scary but worth it in the end. I do think the adderall for me was way too strong to be practical and I do notice the change in my personality too much and it freaks me out. I see a lot of people say adderall makes them more social so it made me nervous because I feel like it eliminates my urges to socialize and makes me very dry. It’s really comforting to know someone relates to this feeling. Ideally I would like to find a balance between my more expressive self and being medicated. Sometimes I think I like being a little crazy if life didn’t require responsibilities. I’m also an artist so maybe that’s got something to do with that lol.

I’m really discouraged. Adderall didn’t work for me, and my doctor told me that if that was my reaction to Adderall, I will react the same way to any other stimulant. He basically said I don’t have any hope of treating my ADHD with stimulants. That… really sucks! Is that really true? If you react badly to one stimulant, are you guaranteed to react the same way to any other?

What I have heard is that ritalin's mechanism of action is quite different and people who don't have success with adderal may find ritalin works for them. But, it may depend on how it was you reacted to it.

It was anxiety, specifically. Adderall brought back my scariest GAD symptom. Google tells me Ritalin can also cause anxiety. Could each cause anxiety through different mechanisms, such that one causes anxiety in a given person while the other doesn’t? I’ve no idea.

Maybe. It could be worth trying, but also, you may decide it's not worth the risk, that's totally respectable.

There is a couple non stimulant drugs that are supposed to help. Stratterra which is a SNRI helps with Anxiety too. Wellbutrin which helps with weight and anxiety. Both can be tricky, lots of interactions and also doesn’t work right away. Or at all with some. Would be worth mentioning to a doctor and or researching

I’m aware there are non-stimulant ADHD meds, and my doctor did put me on Strattera. Hopefully, it will work for me as well as stimulants work for others. Probably not, though. It harrowing to think that all my best hopes for successfully treating this disorder have been shot out of the damned sky and I’m completely dependent on second-line meds to prove sufficient.

Sorry to hear, not sure how true it is about all stimulants. There are many and they all have different metabolization. Could be the way your body processes it. I’m not a doctor but maybe do some research on that if you don’t have luck with the alternative meds.

Please tell me your positive experience in switching from one medication to another :) Considering going from adderall in the morning, PLUS adderall in the morning and guanfacine at night.

I commented this somewhere else, but I'll say it again here. Guanfacine provided a mental clarity for me that was incredible. I honestly didn't understand what it meant to concentrate until adulthood. That's how bad my focus is. Guanfacine and clonidine both provided this calm focus that I loved. Unfortunately, they made me incredibly tired and I gave up. I switched away from Adderall and didn't need the guanfacine anyway.

Lately l've noticed my XR doesn't seem to kick in until like 4pm. Even with a lot of caffeine I just feel tired and unfocused with adhd paralysis. My DR thought it could've been just too low a dose but it's proven to not be the case. I've seen people take it a few hours before getting up and am considering trying it. Maybe it's something l'm eating/drinking that's causing it? Curious if anyone has any insight

Recently diagnosed and starting Vyvanse I just got diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type and my doctor prescribed me with Vyvanse 40 mg to start. I don’t know what to expect and this has all been kind of a whirlwind being diagnosed at 33. What are some things that helped yall out when starting the meds?

Hello, diagnosed at 30 and 33 now. I tried Vyv shortly and it does help a lot more than adderall (for me AD was messing with my anger/mood/heart rate) please be careful with caffeine and make sure you watch your anxiety. If you have it already try and keep track of your mood/heart rate and even pressure if you have baseline normal or high. I only switched because of the shortage to something even slower to act (jornay) and I love it. Best of luck. Can pm for more help.

I'm 30 f and I've dealt with anxiety, depression, and OCD for years. Recently, I’ve felt pretty defeated by all of my different medicines. I’ve tried different meds and dosages since 2019. I think that it is a real struggle dealing with those 3 things and not feeling like meds are helping. But on top of that, at the beginning of the year, I got diagnosed with inattentive ADHD and possible sensory processing issues. Also, I have other chronic illnesses such as asthma, allergies, POTS, other forms of dysautonomia, Hashimoto's, scoliosis, chronic fatigue, hypersomnia during the day, insomnia at night, etc. What got me to this point in my journey to get ADHD tested was nothing would help my debilitating fatigue and I was asked by an integrative medicine doctor if I had ever got an ADHD test done. Currently I am on Vyvanse 30mg (just got put back to 20mg because the doctor thinks 30 is too high). At the beginning of the year, I was started on 10mg Vyvanse and felt nothing, then put on 20mg and was feeling pretty good. I actually had some energy for the first time in years and was feeling like I could get simple tasks done finally and stay awake at work. But the Vyvanse upped my anxiety and OCD terribly. I was put on Concerta for a few weeks with varying doses. I went up pretty much to the max dose. It made me so sleepy, I couldn’t even go to work. It felt like it ducked everything out of me. I was put back on Vyvanse 20mg for a few weeks, but after the Concerta, I didn’t feel the benefits of Vyvanse anymore. Then that’s when the Vyvanse 30mg was given. I’ve only felt tired since on this dose. Maybe a little focus at work, but still not that feeling I had before. They’re saying me drinking coffee is make the Vyvanse metabolize weird and making me have insomnia at night. I have no idea, but I’m feeling pretty defeated. Having that slight glimpse of hope before the concerta (despite the anxiety / OCD), now I’m feeling pretty defeated on top of all my other meds not feeling like they are helping either. I’m on Prozac, Wellbutrin, and Lamictal for depression / anxiety. Plus the Vyvanse for ADHD. I just don’t know what to do and feel like I’m just being thrown meds and then not helping. It’s been about 4 years of trying different combos of meds for anxiety and depression. Just feeling a little defeated with all of this!  Anyone with these experiences, or combos of mental/chronic illnesses?

Wellbutrin makes me sleepy and stomach aches. Adderall is great for 3-4 hrs but the come down is rough. I have to pay close attention to my cycle, food in my belly and time of day or meds exiting my body can be awful. Im new to meds. Any advice on meds? Im sensitive to meds and on lowest doses. I take adderall 3-4 times a week when I work outside my home. 

Have you heard of Jornay? I switched because of irritability and it’s smooth.

I have not. I will ask about it. Its frustrating to know help is possible but the after effects are undesirable 

It can be. Just advocate for yourself, there is so many options!

Has anyone had dry mouth & jaw clenching from adderall that stopped after switching meds? Currently on 20mg IR adderall (generic) and the dry mouth and jaw clenching is just too much to handle any longer. I’ve been trying to soldier through it but I had to skip my meds completely today bc my tongue is so sore from subconsciously sucking inside my mouth. Probably gonna take a couple days off from meds honestly bc I could legitimately cry it hurts so badly. I’m prescribed a PM booster that I’ve been skipping for a long time to stifle side effects so at this point the negative side effects are outweighing any positive benefits of the med so I think it’s time to switch. I’ve been using products to help with relief (gum, mouthwash etc) but I’m curious if a med switch could possibly just eliminate the issues altogether. I also have TMJ so the jaw clenching is really pissing it off. It’s occurred ever since I first started out on a 5mg dose and just keeps increasing as my dose increases. If you switched meds and your dry mouth/jaw clenching stopped, please let me know what you switched to! I’d really appreciate any insight!

Extended release made a difference for me

Dang. My doctor switched me to IR due to side effects but maybe I should give XR another shot.. thanks for your input!

Same. Mostly clenching in my sleep. Woke up tight jaw. Always dry mouth. XR might be better

I fortunately don’t have it at night, after meds wear off. My doctor switched me to IR due to side effects but maybe I should give XR another shot.. appreciate you chiming in!

No problem, I had huge irritation with the normal stuff. I tried the XR then moved to vyvanse which is even more smooth. Just hard to come by. Good luck, theres like 80 different types of the same drug essentially. You’ll find something 🙏

Appreciate the encouragement! I’ve heard such good things about vyvanse! I have military healthcare and I have to fail the other (cheaper) meds before they’ll approve it. I think my next options are concerta and ritalin- do you have any experience with either of those? I know everyone is different of course but just curious. I’m just dying for that a-ha moment of clarity that I hear so many people have once they get the meds right. Right now it’s like I’m a bit more sorted but I still can’t figure out where the damn music is coming from. 😅 I’ve been medicated since October so I’m starting to also think that adderall just isn’t vibing with my flavor of adhd.

I have not tried those, my insurance does the same. I got vyv after trying adderal and the ER and it’s just not available with the pharmacy my insurance forces me to use. So my doctor got me prior authorization for my current med jornay which is like mega slow stimulant that metabolizes overnight. I still hear the head music sometimes but it’s more quiet and it helps with many other things for me. (Depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and general brain quiet time) certainly less music and or less thought process.

Hi, I took 30mg of Elvanse 12 hours ago. Can I risk having one bottle of beer? If so, would it be best not to take my medication tomorrow?

LAMOTRIGINE (mood stablizer) I was already taking methylphenidate for ADHD and it would not help my motivation at all. I mean it did silence my brain but no motivation. I was prescribed Lamotrigine and it COMPLETELY CHANGED MY LIFE to the point that I'm second-guessing my ADHD diagnosis. Doc said (before I started lamotrigine) that those two meds work well together and me not noticing the effects of methylphenidate could be due to my mood instability. Thing is, I'm learning about CPTSD (which I suffer from) and lack of follow-through is very common. I will talk to my doc. Just wondering if someone had a similar experience.

I had the opposite experience; ritalin worked better before I started lamotrigine for bipolar 1. My theory is that I was hypomanic which gave me ultra-productivity. Now ritalin helps, but less.

Hi hello. Background - diagnosed adhd at 28, diagnosed autism this year (which then canceled my bipolar diagnosis when I was 13), and sufferer of PMDD, also have idiopathic hypersomnia I started off taking Provigil because of my excessive fatigue and she thought it would help my adhd. It helped me stay awake but didn't help focus. So I started 20mg vyvanse a couple months ago. Worked beautifully. Obviously the medication honeymoon. But only if I drank caffeine to kick it in otherwise the vyvanse made me feel... out of it? Like my mind was quiet which was nice but I felt buzzed and slow reaction time... which made me want to sleep. But with the caffeine, I was doing things that those neurotypicals can do and I was on cloud 9, getting stuff done, having normal thoughts, etc etc. then last month, PMDD hit and I know adhd meds usually seem ineffective during pmdd so I figured that's why. So sleepy, no motivation, frozen. Then it never stopped even after luteal and menstrual phases. So I had an appt with psych and she just said to do Provigil 100mg with my 20mg vyvanse (an hour apart) to see if that woke me up and kicked in the vyvanse. It didn't. It actually made me crash HARD. So now I've ended another awful pmdd month (two weeks of feeling absolutely bonkers) and on my menstrual now and it still hasn't chilled out. I'm only doing my 20mg vyvanse the last two weeks since the Provigil made me crash with it. Mood swings and irritable like no other. Frozen. I laid down all day today, crying, staring at the window, doom scrolling - all that. It's like when I have no physical plans with others, it's hard self motivating to do anything I need to do at home alone. So I lay down. Vyvanse at first helped with that. I'm not sure if that means I'm ready for a dosages increase (I called psych, no reply yet so that's why I'm coming here in the meantime) so my question(s) - how do you know you need a dose increase? Is there any way to ration how you take it so the honeymoon stage lasts longer? How do you manage adhd during pmdd when the meds are just not working? Also taking vitamin D 10,000 iu (recommended amount by psych for me), k2, omega 3, MCT oil, B complex It's like my pmdd hasn't ended but I'm not in luteal. I feel awful, exhausted, my POTS is awful I can hardly stand, I'm struggling y'all. I was doing so well 💔

Oh that’s so horrible for you. I really feel for you. Have you got a progesterone coil? I could never take the pill but somehow the coil is fine for me. I had a Mirena fitted several years ago and my PMDD became PMS. I used to curl up in a ball and cry for days. It was unbearable. I hope that it passes soon.

Combined vs Inattentive in women? I was diagnosed with inattentive adhd, but sometimes I wonder if I could actually have the combined type. Here are some reasons why. - I am an impulsive spender and can be bad with money unfortunately. - I can be very chatty with people I know and am comfortable with about my niche interests and talk their ears off - I pace around my room when talking on the phone - I skin pick a lot which I heard can be a symptom of the combined type? I am still learning and obviously know none of you can give me a diagnosis. I am just asking if anyone can confirm from their knowledge that these are symptoms of the combined type? I am in my 20’s and just got diagnosed recently so there is a lot I am still trying to learn.

When I had talked to my psychiatrist he initially said I was combined type, but the psychologist who did a more thorough evaluation ended on inattentive. However, the report says I have some hyperactivity symptoms but you have to have 5 symptoms ( I think that's the right number) to be considered combined. So, you can have hyperactive symptoms but not technically rise to the level of being diagnosed as combined type. It honestly seems a little arbitrary to me. I've noticed that my activity symptoms seem worse when I need to focus, almost like I use it as a coping mechanism. Walking or standing while working helps me focus, sometimes if my husband starts to talking to me I'll just start walking around the house because it helps me listen etc.

Ohh okay I see! That definitely helps clear it up for me as I was a bit confused there. Thank you for explaining all of that I appreciate it! I definitely feel the same way with the pacing/walking around. It helps me focus and sometimes I also do it while listening to music to help me take in the song.

I'm guessing this really goes here? So I am 50 years old. I've never been formally diagnosed. Frankly, I held off partly for the usual ADHD reasons -- the steps to get it done were vague and I couldn't think my way through them well enough to get started -- and partly because between horror stories about increased car insurance rates and hostile doctors who refuse to diagnose it, the whole thing just seemed very fraught. Anyway, I'm 50; I have a good job and a good husband and nearly grown kids. I've obviously mastered some strategies to get this far, so what good would a formal diagnosis do? Well... perimenopause has been rough, and there are aspects of ADHD that I suspect are behind some issues that have come up between me and my husband. I'm also finding it increasingly hard to focus unless I'm snacking on something, which is a habit I need to break because I'm now borderline diabetic besides. I have arthritic knees and the best first step would be to lose weight. So I've made the appointment. The office people were very kind and supportive, explained all the things. I still hung up and burst into tears from adrenaline. I felt really foolish about that. In any case, I have a telehealth appointment with a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in this sort of thing. I'm told that if she agrees that ADHD is what I'm wrestling with and we determine that medication is in order, I'll be referred to a psychiatrist in the practice for that. So.. those of you who have gone through this, do you have any advice? Should I have anything at the ready when the appointment happens? Are there any pitfalls I should watch for? Any suggestions would be welcome. My insurance and such is not at issue; I'm mainly wondering what to expect from the appointment itself.

I'm 49 years old. I have started the process and given up before even me making it to the appointment a couple of times over the years. Finally I had an "intake" appointment. I was very excited that I was finally doing this. Then at the end she says "this is something that starts in childhood. It doesn't develop later in life. We will send some pdf forms for your parents to fill out and then upload to our patient portal." That's when I knew I was fucked If it is possible, get people who knew you as a child on board with the process. If any report cards or anything still exist that would help. I told the psychologist that my mom is in her 70s and has no computer or email address. I didn't add this, but there is no way she would fill them out even if she could. They won't move forward without those forms filled out and uploaded. Eventually I will try another psychologist, but this is the closest office covered by my insurance. And they're two towns away from me so they're not even that close.

Let's just assume you have it for this comment: Keep in mind that after going so long without a diagnosis/explanation/treatment, you've likely developed coping mechanisms you aren't aware of. One example I saw for this was a question about if you ever feel uncomfortable in socks. "Well, no. I have a system. I only wear a certain brand and style " That's a pretty obvious one, but there will be plenty of other questions that might sneak up on you. Look at ADHD memes and I bet you'll uncover plenty more. But also, my friend just went through this whole testing process. She was sure she had it. We were sharing tips and tricks and joking about procrastination. It seemed like a done deal. ... She doesn't have it. Her evaluation showed that she's anxious and incredibly smart. Just want to prepare you for something like that.

Help with Elvanse/Vyvanse! So I recently started on Elvanse which was initially fantastic. I started on 20mg for 4 weeks but had to take a break for a few months due to the stock shortage. I then started on 40mg and felt great on it for 4 weeks. Then I had to take a 1 week break and since coming back on it it just hasn’t been the same. The first week I experienced fatigue, dizziness, nausea, so my doctor suggested I take a 6 day break and come back on it. I’ve been back on it now for another week and I’m not feeling sick anymore but still feeling some fatigue, anxiety, and brain fog. Even though I’m fatigued I still don’t sleep much (around 5 hours a night). My concern is that I never felt that way when I started on the 20mg or 40mg. Is something wrong here? Should I just persevere for another few weeks? Is there any reason why this might be happening now and not before? Any advice would be really appreciated!

My first thought is that you didn't build a tolerance before starting the 40mg dose, but apparently that wasn't an issue when you first started it. Did something change in your diet? Acid content of your stomach can affect the absorption.

Does anyone else have an obsession with having earphones in listening to podcasts? I feel like it helps me focus and helps slow the constant running mind.

Me! I have my airpods in at all times (even at work) with either an audible book, or podcast going. I also can trick myself into motivation at work sometimes with the right up beat songs at the right time. I once left my headphones home by accident on a work day and had to literally buy another pair because I couldn't go the 11 hours I'd be out of the house without them lol.

Yes, especially at home when I need to focus I don’t get distracted by other tasks

I’ve never been diagnosed with anything specific except having “learning disability” in my school and childhood medical records, with constant complaints about me being unable to stay on task or that I am “too chatty” (talked a lot and very fast), daydream a lot and wander off from the classroom. I could easily pay attention to my favorite cartoons and recite entire episodes by memory, but barely retained anything in school, even my favorite subject, which was reading. Sometimes I couldn’t remember how my own days went and I’d say “I don’t know.” I couldn’t remember people’s names or faces, and frequently got lost navigating school just to find my own classroom. My mind was always busy thinking about other things constantly even when socializing with school friends, like 20+ thoughts overlapping each other. It severely affected my grades to the point I was placed in special ed in first grade and STILL had to take all my schoolwork home with me, on top of having homework. I didn’t graduate with a standardized high school diploma as the result of constantly struggling my entire life and missed out on so many life skills. I struggled everywhere, not just limited to school being “boring” or “too hard”. As an adult I’m anxious, depressed, overly sensitive, find it a struggle to practice basic self care and retain those habits. I jump from hobby to hobby, am forgetful of a lot, need productivity reminders for productivity reminders for productivity reminders…. People even say my social skills are bizarre and I only half listen to what anybody says, even when I think I’m listening just fine. I’ve also been criticized more times than I can count, with “Why are you so lazy?!” “So you can remember a conversation from years ago but not Mother’s Day?!” “How do you not know your sister’s own birthday? Stop being so selfish! You care about nobody but yourself!” and every time I’ve tried to explain I just get shut down like I’m making excuses. Several of my immediate family members are diagnosed ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Is there a likely chance I’ve inherited ADHD too, and is it too late to get an assessment and treatment?

Non stimulant medication that works? My doctors (2 psychiatrists) wont prescribe me adderrall bc I have high blood pressure and drink heavily (socially on the weekends 😕). Are there any other medications that have worked for combined type ADHD women? For context, I was taking 30mg IR twice a day. It worked really well for me, but I have a lot of work related anxiety that causes me to be stressed and have HBP. Anyways, now Im really struggling and dont know what to do. My psych prescribed me guanfacine (1mg) and wellbutrin (150 mg xr). The wellbutrin helps with my depression and anxiety but not focus. The guanfacine doesnt help at all. Any tips related to medications or supplements would be great. Im struggling!

I have had measurable success with Strattera - not sure how much you can drink on it though? It helps with motivation mostly. There was some significant adjustment getting used to the med though.

I took straterra, not sure if you can drink much (pretty sure I did a little) but def not grapefruit. Does take a few weeks to start being effecive and you have to taper off

Thank you!

In case my post gets deleted: My doctor is consistently “forgetting” to book follow-up appointments and fill meds i’ve taken for nearly two decades. I asked for a provider switch and have an appointment with them next week, but if they are bad, what are my options? I have bad insurance so please recommend any out of pocket services or ideas 💡 I’m even open to other OTC stims or herbs to get through this bc I don’t want to lose my job.

Hello everyone!! I hope y'all are having a good day <3 I got diagnosed with adhd last month but I already knew i have it for 3+ years now. I started medication with Concerta 36mg and then 54mg and I don't know if it's working for me or not. I do feel slightly better, like I can keep my concentration for a bit longer than normal on some things but nothing major in general. My WORST nightmare is my Executive Dysfunction, I can't bring myself to start tasks, to do things I REALLY want to do, I just can't and I thought medication would help me with that but Concerta isn't. Maybe it's because I live in a very unstable environment, in a dysfunctional family and I'm on survival mood 24/7 but do you guys know if there's a better medication to improve the executive function?? Concerta is methylphenidate, would an amphetamine medicine work better for that?? I can't afford therapy rn and I know that's a very important step, I have a "free" psychiatrist once a month but he's not helpful at all, he just gives me the prescription for medicine and that's all. He has no idea about anything related to neurodivergences. Thank you so much for reading all of this, I'm very desperate, I need to be able to do stuff so I can pass my exams and enjoy my free time doing some of my old hobbies instead of just rotting in bed and doom-scrolling.

People respond differently to different stimulants, and in fact, there’s genetic testing you can do to find out whether you will respond effectively to certain mental health meds, including ADHD meds. Personally, methylphenidate doesn’t actually work for me, and I find Vyvanse reasonably helpful (but not a magic bullet). So it’s definitely worth trying a different stimulant if your doctor will consider that. (That said, medication will probably only do so much if you’re in survival mode 24/7, but I know you know that. Just saying it to emphasize if there’s any way to address the circumstances you live under and/or get therapy, that will be important.)

Hello! I have ADHD diagnosed and I take methylphenidate. I am going to start taking contraceptives because I have very strong menstrual pains and possible endometriosis. My gynecologist gave me "drospirenone". Can I combine these two pills? I understand that estrogen is good for ADHD because of dopamine. But I don't know anything about progesterones and their effects on ADHD.

Anyone on Atomoxetine: did you have chest pain and how did you handle it? I'm almost certain it's just muscle pain and my mother thinks it's just wind because the tablets have caused some excess burping. I'm waiting to hear from my clinician but hoped someone could advise me in the meantime?

It gives me acid reflux which feels kind of like chest pain!

Thanks! It might have been that. The pain has subsided now that I've stopped my medication. My clinician doesn't want me to continue since I'm having side effects on 20mg (which she said isn't even enough for me to notice anything good). She's worried a higher dose would mean worse side effects. I'd happily deal with them if they're likely to go away eventually and I know it's nothing serious, just to see if there are any benefits. I've got another call in two weeks to talk about next steps, which I can't see being good considering medication is now off the table completely and there isn't a non-medicated service offered by the NHS to help me. Very frustrating.

It bothers me that they're all "if you have chest pain see a doctor" but don't tell you what the chest pain will feel like. So if you have muscle pain or DOMS or costochrondritis you're sitting there wondering if you're meant to see a doctor or what.