Recently diagnosed with adult ADHD-inattentive type. I was previously treated for depression by a nurse practitioner with no big difference in mood and constant daily mood swings.
I just saw a psychiatrist and after evaluation she believes I have adhd and my mood swings only happen when I am very overwhelmed by a certain situation because my brain is overwhelmed by all the different thoughts at once. I do get suddenly very emotional either crying or angry in a split moment.
I have other symptoms of adhd such as disorganization , difficulty concentrating, I lose things all the time because of my inability to focus. I space out during conversations a lot. However I am still confused my diagnosis because it went undiagnosed for so long and I managed fine up until this point. I did well in school & even finished graduate school. Recently I have had more to manage with kids and a new house plus work. Before I had to only focus on either school or work. I am wondering if the extra responsibilities are making it harder to use coping mechanisms I used before.
I was only started on a very low dose of adderall xr 5 mg which made no difference and made me sleepy. When it got bumped up to 10 mg I have insomnia, but am more productive and motivated. But since I am having such a reaction at such a low dose it is making me doubt my diagnosis.
Has anyone had similar experience or a misdiagnosis of depression?
Can adderall be masking my real depression symptoms?
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Cham845
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Have you tried Adderall immediate release ? Adderall XR gave my youngest daughter insomnia. Extended release is active longer than immediate release. You might need to take the immediate release twice a day. It is possible another type of stimulant medication might work better for you. It often takes time to find the right medication and the right dosage. You need to talk with your doctor about the side effects..
Your reaction to the Adderall does not mean you do not have ADHD.
I know an IT tech who has undiagnosed ADHD. I know of an ER doctor who was undiagnosed at the time of her studies. My wife speaks five languages, and was only diagnosed last year. Doing well academically doesn't preclude ADHD, as long as you're studying something you are interested in.
And yeah, it's a known thing that adult pressures can make ADHD worse, or expose it where it wasn't noticeable before. They call that adult-onset ADHD, which is a misnomer, because it was always there. But it is a common occurrence.
I was treated for depression due to low energy. Helped a bit. Self diagnosed eventually and my doctor and psychologist thought it likely. Doc is able to proscribe atomoxetine . A combination of a couple of years with a meditation practice, venlafaxine and atomoxetine is working. Venlafaxine has adhd benefit. Too hard to get psychiatrist to formally diagnose.
I had a very similar sequence of events re my diagnosis and treatment. I have educated myself a lot about it because my questions and conceerns were ignored or dismissed by pill prescribers and counselors with all kinds of fancy degrees and big salaries thereof, including a retired hospital chief of psychiatry whose advice was to not bother investigating possible ADHD! He obviously never had it.
I can tell you that ADHD usually does not travel alone. Depression is a common travel companion, and because "Mental Illness" and "ADHD" only became acceptable to speak of in public in the last 10-20 years, the diagnosis of depression first and ADHD later is pretty common,, especially for adults. It's usually not one or the other, it's both. I take meds for both now although I took anti depressant for decades before the ADHD got acknowledged and treated properly. I have to. I don't take aderall tho. I have a wonderful psychiatrist for the past 2 years and she has me titrating ritilin with my anti depressent for the best outcome. You need to educate yourself about it (there's lots of stuff available) and then be persistent in finding help, decent help that really knows about the ailment, and doesn't just say they do, so that they start learning about it from you. I see a psychiatrist and a counselor both. As you become more familiar with it, you will learn more and more about how your diagnosis explains parts of your behaviors throughout your life, that you never realized before.
Hello. As mentioned in other replies, it's typical for ADHD to co-exist with depression as well as anxiety. For me this sometimes manifests as overwhelm, similar to your description, but I'm managing this pretty well after experienting with approaches. I view the overwhelm moods as executive function struggles characteristic of ADHD. Perimenopause hormonal changes may exacerbate symptoms that were previously manageable. Only you and your medical team can determine what will work for you, and it takes patience. As an example: Adderall wasn't helpful. Then I tried the SSRI lexapro and generic short-acting ritalin together, and have found myself more grounded. Sometimes the effectiveness fluctuates... maybe based on stress level and health habits. I find short-acting ritalin doesn't interfere with sleep if last dose is around midday or lunch. Good luck and hope to hear how things are unfolding for you. Again, this is just my experience refined by working with several practitioners.
You sound a lot like me. It seems that the effects of an undiagnosed adhd made me develop depression and anxiety. It is very common to have anxiety or depression when you have adhd.
At first I was diagnosed with ADHD. But because I had undiagnosed/untreated generalized anxiety disorder, the aderall would make my anxiety worst. Then I was diagnosed with gen anxiety disorder. So For years I just treated my anxiety with sertraline(antidepressant). I wanted to treat my adhd with the anxiety undercontrol so last month I started concerta. I could not sleep for 1 or 2 days. But now I am ok. I sleep very well now. You might want to talk to your doctor about concerta.
This is actually a very common symptom of having ADHD - Emotional Lability. So you may not have been "clinically depressed" per se, but instead your depression was the result of the ADHD itself, if you get my drift.
For some people, adderall and ritalin are basically interchangeable, but for some of us, it makes a difference. Just because adderall didn't agree with you doesn't mean ritalin won't. You can also try the extended release versus the immediate release forms.
Also, just because the medicine doesn't work doesn't mean a person doesn't have the diagnosis. All bodies are different.
For some people stimulants don't work at all. There are other drugs now that help a lot of folks, which is also great for people with other contraindications for stimulants.
I would recommend the book "Beyond Behaviors". It is geared at teachers, practitioners, and parents, but it helped me a lot with recognizing my own emotional/functioning processes and being better able to support/scaffold myself - with or without medication.
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Finally diagnosed, but finding actual treatment feels impossible.
does anyone else feel this way?
I don't understand why I am feeling this way on Adderall
Feeling lost and hopeless
Confused about Adderall adjustment 
