Hi everyone, I was diagnosed 3yrs ago at age 49. My Drs kept putting me on anti anxiety or anti depression medicines for years without any success. Finally sent me to a therapist who diagnosed me with ADHD. I was prescribed Adderall XR and it made such a difference. My husband was especially happy.
My question, after taking for 3yrs it doesn’t seem to be working as well. My brain thoughts are everywhere and I catch myself interrupting people (my husband) more and more. Is there anything more effective that my Dr could give me?
In your adventures with antidepressants, did you ever come across one called Zyban, or buproprion? (it has a third name too, I can't remember it right now)
While most antidepressants are SSRIs, which means they increase serotonin in the brain, Zyban increases dopamine. Stimulant medication increases dopamine. I have a lot of success with a combination of the two.
I was misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety instead of ADHD for years too, and bounced between different antidepressants. Zyban was the first one that ever made a positive difference.
It’s been so many years since I was last prescribed any I couldn’t tell you which ones they were. I just came to conclusion that this was just how I was til I went to a Dr who has known me for many years and asked if I had ever been tested for ADHD. I thought only children had this, not adults but once diagnosed and treated, not only could I tell difference, everyone close to me could too.
Well, when I was bouncing between different antidepressants, none worked, obviously. Except Zyban. And I noticed that Zyban treated symptoms that I now know to be ADHD.
It's not unusual for the medicine to feel less effective over time. So there are a couple of options. One, increase the dose ... or two, try another medication. I've moved between Adderall and Ritalin (methylphenidate) ... and I have to say: I LOVE methylphenidate. It actually acts as an antidepressant for me in addition to an ADHD medication. It gives me energy and focus.
Another thing: make sure that depression is not dragging you down. Depression that isn't fully in remission can undermine the best ADHD medication.
And we do have to help the medications through sleep, exercise, developing habits. If we don't do our part, it can drag the medicine's effective down.
Finally, any chance you're actually doing more since you went on Adderall. It often happens that people take on more tasks and responsibilities and follow through on them much more .... but the more responsibilities you take on, the harder the medication has to work.
Therapy could be really helpful in figuring out how to clean up your lifestyle, which makes the medications most effective.
Also Wellbutrin can be a good antidepressant that has an ADHD effect for some people. So don't despair. You need a medication adjustment and possibly some lifestyle adjustment.
I have actually less responsibilities in a way since I sold my business in 2019 and retired with my husband. With that being said… in that time we built another house (we actually did it ourselves) next to the one we were living in and moved my 88 yr old mom-in-law into our old one. So maybe I do take on to much. Thank you for your advice.
Well I don't know exactly your situation, but the sense I get is that building a house is a staggeringly complicated tasks with dozens and dozens of small decisions and timelines ... that totally taxes your executive function. With ADHD, we have to be very protective of our executive function (the number of detailed tasks we are involved in) because ours is more limited than others.
There is also in my experience a kind of hangover when I do major tedious work. Actually recently I've been doing Power of Attorney work for my sister, who had a stroke. Days of phone calls, meetings, consults with lawyers, nurses nursing home administrators, doctors, funeral home and burial folks, life insurance folks ... I actually did quite well but afterwards, my brain was fried, mood fried. I don't mean fried and tired for a day either.
So again I don't know the details, but I've read stories about people losing their minds when building homes ... negotiating with contractors, late contractors, getting contractors to cooperate with other contractors ... even dumb decisions like what color are you going to paint the room--all of those kinds of decisions totally tax ADHD brains.
Make sure you have recovered from that house building. Vacations are great for that. And tell your provider that the med doesn't seem to be working as well. Everytime I've done that, they have basically proposed an adjustment, sometimes in dose, sometimes in a new medication.
I can see where you would think that, but my husband has been a contractor/construction for many years. The best part married to me many years so knows what I like. Basically he makes most decisions and I LOVE it. The only decisions I make is what color granite on countertops, picked out my kitchen appliances, and any furniture we need. I will say this, my husband knows I have a hard time with too many tasks, so he’s very understanding. We are through with the house and living here now. My problem is I seem to be falling back to when my brain has so many thoughts and sometimes my mouth outruns my brain. Also my hyper focus seems worse lately. I am more aware of it now, so I try real hard to control it, but… some days that don’t work out.
Your doctor could adjust the Adderall dosage. He could also prescribe other medications. Have you discussed your current dosage no longer working well ? If not, you need to.
No, I haven’t because, as silly as it might sound, I thought once medicine was prescribed to me and worked for these 3 years, that it must be me. I am definitely going to talk to him now. I am so appreciative of everyone for listening, and giving me the advice I needed.
Also check with your doctor and/or gyn about menopausal hormonal changes. I’ve had to adjust my medication doses throughout perimenopause as my estrogen levels changed and eventually added HRT. Good luck! chadd.org/adhd-weekly/chang...
BTW: it is you when the medication stops working as well--as in it's your entire body and brain system and chemicals and hormones and life demands and stresses and mood states and state of your anxiety, depression, existential challenges and on and on.
Of course it's YOU! ... Life changes. Our responsibilities change. Our brains chain, our cognition changes.
I just had my ADHD medication dose increased a few months ago. I simply updated my provider on how I was doing and where I was doing well and not so well. And she recommended I try a higher dose. She and I had talked about covid as an ongoing stressor, and I love the new dose. I feel much more supported. My mood is definitely better and my energy stronger.
So we actually have to update meds (all meds) ... in an ongoing way. I just turned 60. I love to exercise. I have to continually adjust my exercise routines to accomodate sore knees and arthritis and slower recovery from hard workouts than in my younger years and changed metabolism and on and on. Yes, it's me! I can't do the exact exercises I did 20 years ago with the same effects I got 20 years ago. And my goals are different. I'm not trying to look all strong and tough like I aspired to when I was younger. I want to feel energized and flexible.
My dentist added a prescription toothpaste to my regimen recently ... I was worried that dry mouth was going to cause cavities and the like. I added Waterpik use to my dental routine ... I changed the floss I used ... I'm going to get my eyes checked in a bit. It's been a few years and I sense my eyes have changed. A friend of mine notes that for some people over 40, there are periods when you vision can suddenly improve!
So yes, the dose and medication effectiveness is related to ME!--and that's the way it should be. We're not machines. We all need to tinker with doses and meds. I have friends who are older who are on a lot of medications ... every additional med can interact with a previous med. Yes, so every prescription has to deal with what's going on in their body (and brain is part of the body) right now, not two years ago.
And often we may not know the cause of a decline in medication effectiveness. That's fine. You adjust the medication and then monitor what's going on.
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