Hello everyone! I am a 41 year old female, and was recently diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive type at age 40. For the past few months, I've been trying to find the right medication to help me focus. My doctor had me try Concerta and Adderall. 10MG of Adderall did not work much, so she bumped it to 20mg Extended release. It's been a weird mixture of roller coaster emotions. I get focused and energetic, then anxious/ or really sleepy. I almost wish I had never started these stimulants! I should also tell you that I suffer from anxiety and depression (which I am being treated for by the same psychiatrist.) I stopped taking the 20MG of Adderall yesterday, and I was so fatigued and brain fogged the entire day. Is this withdrawl? If so, how long is this going to last? To be honest, I am really scared of having to take stimulants for the rest of my life. I'm scared of having a heart attack, and scared of having to rely on them forever. Can someone help me see things the right way? My exhaustion is a bit better today, however I'm a teacher and need to focus on doing lesson plans for Monday. I took my 27MG of Concerta instead. I want to see if that will help, without causing anxiety. My doctor said I should not be switching back and forth (otherwise we will not know which one is working.) Please help!
Sara
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I’m 44 and I was diagnosed early last year. I also have anxiety and low grade depression. I take Aderrall 20mg and Wellbutrin 150mg every day.
At the beginning, it took me 2 days to adjust to Aderrall. It was increased from 10-15-now 20mg. I only felt wired the first couple of days. But when I was put on 15mg, I was unusually, very sleepy 💤. I was also much more distracted. Then it was increased to 20mg and I feel fine...no more sleepiness.
I have a combination type ADHD that I just figured out why my life went the way it did. I’m a full time nursing student and a mom of two independent young adults. My ADHD takes away emotional regulation and impulsivity which made me a very aggressive person when upset and also easily upset. This affected my relationships with my husband and children. Had I known better, I would have taken meds and not put my family through hell. And because of my Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde effect, I want to keep taking meds.
Depending on how your body reacts, your meds will need to be adjusted. It takes a bit of time for some. For others it works quite fast. I also know that there are adults that manage their ADHD without meds. It really depends on what you would like to accomplish. There are tons of resource videos on YouTube (how to ADHD, Totally ADD). It helps to understand ADHD better.
Basically, ADHD is a spectrum and only you can make a decision whether you want to keep meds or not. It is possible with proper support. In my case, I’m a horrible person without meds. I need and want to keep taking them.
Finally, be patient with yourself. You just found out and you will learn each day what your limitations are. As far as your provider, go with your guts if you feel you need to see a different psychiatrist or psychologist. I didn’t vibe with my first psychologist so I changed him with someone I feel more comfortable with.
Thank you for your quick reply! It's been super helpful. Part of the reason I was evaluated was due to my husband. He is a school counselor, and has suspected ADHD in me during our entire marriage. I don't finish projects, don't want to tackle anything hard. My brain is always foggy, etc. I do trust my psychiatrist. I thought of asking for Wellbutrin, but I've herd it can cause anxiety. I take Effexor instead. Thanks!Sara
Hey 👋🏼 yeah you bet. I was prescribed Wellbutrin and mirtazapin for anxiety but it knocks me out cold. I am always doing something and getting knocked out like that was very inconvenient for me. So I don’t take it. It took me a while to get use to Wellbutrin. But as soon as Aderrall was added to the menu, I feel pretty balanced.
That's good to know. I'm glad you feel more balanced. I'm just afraid of having to take stimulants long term. What if they are bad on the heart? I have an appointment with my doctor this week, so I need to write down my concerns.
Hi Sara. I was also diagnosed in my 40s. It’s been a couple of years, but I definitely can relate to the feelings of being on a roller coaster, and the concerns about taking stimulants. The first medication I tried after I was diagnosed was Adderrall (IR only), and it wasn’t a great fit for me. It did help with focus, but I just didn’t like how it felt, and it raised my blood pressure (more than just slightly). Concerta was a bust for me—no motivation, and I felt like I was operating behind a veil of fog. A low dose of Ritalin has worked well for me. I find it more subtle than the Adderrall, and I don’t have the noticeable increase in heart rate. Stimulants, when taken as prescribed, and at low doses, are unlikely to cause heart problems in someone who doesn’t have an existing heart condition. If you’re worried, you could always get a BP monitor to check it occasionally. Having said that, I also don’t like the idea of taking medication long-term (nor do I care for the ups and downs of taking it twice a day, or even having to decide whether to take it or not each day), so I’m currently taking a break from it. I can manage OK with diet, exercise and meditation since life has slowed to a more manageable pace for me. But I do notice a slight increase in feelings of overwhelm without the medication.FWIW, when I asked to stop Concerta after only a few days, my psychiatrist told me that was enough time to decide if it was working, since in theory you are getting all the benefits and side effects of a stimulant in the same day (I’ve heard one ADHD doctor suggest titrating “low and fast” since you can figure out quickly if a dose is working or not). I imagine it’s more difficult to find the right fit when you’re trying to balance multiple medications, though, so it’s important to continue to bring all these concerns to your prescriber. Good luck figuring it all out. It’s definitely a process, and a frustrating one at times!
Hello! Thank you for replying to me, and for telling me your story. It’s so good to know that I’m not alone. Did you have any withdrawal symptoms after your stopped taking Ritalin? I’m just concerned my brain is used to the stimulant feeling and will need it to function. I took a low dose of Concerta today and don’t like the way it makes me feel. Energetic, sleepy, then energetic, sleepy, anxious, etc. thank you.
No, not at all. I would regularly skip a day or two on weekends just to take a break from it, and I stopped it for the entire summer since I don’t work then; I didn’t have any issues stopping and starting again.
Sure thing. One thing that I have learned is that the stimulants will mask how tired I am, so if I’m not getting an adequate amount of sleep (i.e., 7-8 hours), I will feel *exhausted* when they wear off (or if I skip them after a few days of taking them, I notice the tiredness more that day).
I'm 56 and was diagnosed this past summer. I've only tried Vyvanse and I experienced a similar roller coaster. I have an appointment coming up and we'll see what happens next. Hang in there.
Hello 👋, Adderrall gave me the same side effects, at first it was good but then it started to interfere with my workouts! Especially when it came to lifting waits! I would shake as I was doing a squat or lifting weights. I mentioned it to my doctor and she prescribed concerta but that didn’t go so well with my insurance! So he decided to prescribe Ritalin which it work a little better but I felt like I was walking with sleepy eyes all the time. It didn’t give me the energy adderrall did, but it definitely made me feel less anxious, more calm. I took Ritalin for quite some months until a friend suggested Vyvance and explained how the way the prescription is manufactured has to do a lot with how it could make you feel and so on... I then asked my doctor to switch me to Vyvance and he didn’t have a problem with that. The first day I took Vyvance
1. I felt more energy
2. Less anxious
3.focus
It’s a matter of finding what works for you! And is not picture perfect when it comes to the side effects of medication. Yes! You will sleep all day and eat all day when you’re not on medication and feel lost not focus!
It is scary to think that this could be a long term thing because you realize how stupid you feel without it! But that is not true. You can find ways to get yourself back on track without medication by finding ways that work with you when it comes to organizing your home, set reminders on your phone, exercise in the mornings to create more dopamine. Hope you find what works best for you! And remember, you’re not alone!
I am from Germany so I'll hope that you can understand what I am talking about..
I can tell you, that its totally fine to have respect for the medication... it shows, that you're treating it respectfully!! Could it be that it's the wrong medication for you? It should calm you. And it's not likely that you'll get a heart attack.. do you think it could help to test yourself with a blood pressure machine? Or would it cause even more anxiety to you? You can also dispense on coffee or other thinks that may cause or caused anxiety in your life. Everything is going to be fine and you are not going to die!! Trust your doctor or connect with us.
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