I've been diagnosed with adhd 3months ago and depression +anxiety, 4 years ago. I was on 100mg zoloft am. With adderall xr 10mg, 10mg ir at 10.30am(time when I start studying) and 5mg ir as needed. The response was okay but every next day , I feel like the medication is not working or may be my dose needs to be adjusted ,it is like I'm Less productive, worried.. so I called my Dr. And she upped the zoloft to 150mg and the adderall ir (the 10.30 one) so I take adderall 10mg xr + 15-20mg ir a day. To be honest, did nothing! Okay maybe the first day was okay, but it is like taking nothing, I'm less motivated and worried about not getting more productive. I see my therapist biweekly, .
My appointment with my psychiatrist is in 4 days, so any input or experiences please?😥
I was thinking of trying may be a different med, ritalin..?
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Hopefullymoon
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Just practice reporting your symptoms and how the meds are working--totally honestly--to your provider. Let them come up with the medications. The best thing we can do is provide them detailed and rich description of our systems. The more data they get, the better the thinking they can do.
Now to back up, zoloft can take 1 to 2 weeks to take full effect. You won't get an effect the next day. Your provider probably should have told you that.
I've found that the following make my ADHD meds seem to be less effective:worry, stress, anxiety, depression, not drinking enough fluids, not getting enough rest (and probably also binging on carbs/sweets instead of eating properly).
There could be other things that are affecting you, like other people, your environment (home/work/school/etc), food sensitivities. (It could be an unknown trigger - I once knew a kid who reacted to red food dye, which was often hidden in some processed foods. It completely counteracted his ADHD meds until it was fully digested.)
While you cannot control all those things, make sure that you do what you can about what you can control.
You can practice self-care. Have a healthy, positive perspective about yourself. You ARE doing something to make your life better. Just starting treatment is the best treatment you've gotten so far.
Don't be hard on yourself for anything you do that is not good for you or that is counterproductive, because that would just add to a negative view of yourself. Accept that for what it is, and then do the next positive thing you can do, no matter how small.
As was already suggested, keep notes. Write down what you are experiencing on the medication. Bring the notes with you to your appointment with your psychiatrist.
It can take time to find the right dosage of the right medication. (Adderall only helped me a little. I was on it for a few months. Then, my doctor switched me to atomoxetine, aka Strattera, and it is way better for me. I'm lucky that we got it on the second try. It did take a few months. It takes some people a lot more time than that, unfortunately.)
Things you can control:
Try to eat properly, eat for your needs. Try to drink plenty of fluids. (If you drink alcohol or smoke marijuana recreationally, try doing less of those. Studies show that they can make ADHD symptoms more difficult to treat.)
Try to get an adequate amount of rest. You can't make yourself sleep, but you can make yourself recline. Our bodies and brain function best when we get enough rest.
Try journaling (your thoughts, feelings, observations, made up stories, whatever!) It may make your feel better, calmer.
Be kind and be positive-leaning in what you say to yourself, what you think about yourself, and what you say about yourself to others.
This next part is very important, but most of us find it to be challenging:
be patient with yourself.
It's a journey. It's a process. It takes time. But help is available.
And when you need someone to listen, when you need someone to lean on... You found us! We're right here for you.
Do you feel like the depression medication is helping? I just say that because I tried a whole bunch of depression medications including Zoloft before trying ADHD medications, and they all had little to no effect. But then once I got on ADHD medication my depression lifted. I think my depression was caused by intense boredom, and an inability to manage my life. ADHD medication helped with all those things where the depression medication couldn't. So as smart as the Doctors are I think they got it wrong. But I think a big reason for that was because of the way I explained everything to them. I literally felt like life was unbearable, and though not suicidal, I was indifferent about life. I wasn't enjoying it and so I didn't really care what happened to me. Life just felt like one big to do list. So of course they said we got to get this guy on some depression medication quick.
For many people, especially when they are dealing with other mental issues, taking ADHD medication is not like putting on glasses. It took me a while to see all the benefits of the medication. But it's night and day difference now if I am off my meds. And between the medication and therapy, I am doing much happier and enjoying life these days. It does take time, so be patient and always be as honest as you can with your doctors. And work hard to understand the root cause of things.
In what ways can you tell that the depression medication is helping?
Do you notice anything at all from the ADHD meds good or bad? You said that you feel less motivation, and procrastinate more while on the medication. I think that is a good thing to share with them. Could the medication be causing you anxiety?
Yeah I'm like you, took all kinda ssris, snri, ndri, lamotrigine ( mood stabilizer) .. trials for 4 years now, nothing helped. I was so fed up with everything and I had to change a psychiatrist to screen me for adhd, she did and put me on adderall, It helped a lot, like day and night!! Then , we decided to continue taking zoloft with adderall, as the anxiety and ptsd from my marriage is one factor that needs to be controlled.
Now, I feel like my body is tolerating the adderall, but hope for the better
Oh so it sound like the Adderall is helping? Or just helping on the first few days of taking it and then nothing? Does that sound correct?
If it's like me, when I first started taking ADHD drugs, I felt like I had a lot of extra energy and optimism. I wasn't euphoric, but I did really feel good and like I could get a lot of stuff done. But that would ware off after a couple days. I was confused by this, but found out that is normal but no one told me. I think the real benefits took longer to notice. And I think a lot of the stuff in the DSM just diagnose ADHD but the drugs don't fix all the listed problems. I still struggle with paying attention to other people and my working memory is not very good. I still interrupt and struggle with organization. And I'm pretty forgetful.
The biggest things the meds have helped me with it doesn't talk much about in the DSM. Emotional regulation has been huge for me. I've noticed that I don't take as much offense to things, and my mind feels more clear. And I don't as easily feel overwhelmed by tasks. I can get distracted easily still, but when I start working it feels more enjoyable, and I don't get burned out as easily. Less bored like I would rather doing anything else but what I have to do right now. Getting myself to go to work doesn't feel like pulling teeth anymore. And when I have to do something, but it's not on the top of my list of what I want to do, it doesn't seem so bad anymore, and it can wait. And I can feel all this wear off as the drugs wears off through the day. But I seem to do better in the evenings now too simply because I have felt better throughout the day. Because I used to beat myself at the the end of the day, calling myself a slacker, and why cant you enjoy your job like everybody else.
I don't know if any of that helps. But I guess what I'm saying is there can be a burst of energy when you start taking the drugs for the first time, but then for many people, including myself, it took longer to see the actual benefits of the the drug. My theory is that its because I had other problems going on like PTSD, trauma, anxiety, and depression that also didn't make me feel good and have many of the same, or look similar to symptoms of ADHD. But by being on the ADHD medication I have been able to get better. The other medications were like bandaids, but didn't fix what was causing the wounds. As I fix the other things through therapy the ADHD medication works better and better.
If you are not suicidal and have never been, I would ask about getting off the depression medication, and focus on the ADHD meds. I feel like there are a lot of ADHD people that get stuck on depression meds when they need ADHD meds and therapy. But don't let me sway you. If it sounds like you, ask your doctor about it. They know your situation much better than I do. Some people definitely need to be on depression medication. I did have some depression but I was also mixing up intense boredom with depression. Not the same thing. I realized that if I took a week off work, or I had an opportunity to do something fun. BOOM! the depression was gone, only to have it come back full force Monday morning. The stuff that caused actual depression was my failing marriage, and shaming myself for not meeting up to the expectations of myself and others.
Exactly! I felt the same way about adderall! First time was just amazing, I was not euphoric, but calm. emotional stable, accomplished a lot, I even remember following instructions on how to assemble things which is a struggle before. I was so happy, but that would wear off after days.
When I told my Dr about it, she put me back on antidepressant, zoloft and upped the dose to 150mg gradually, I'm like meh!! Here we go again 🙄 but stayed hopeful. My emotions are not that well controlled now, I get irritable at times, and very lmpatient.
Never been suicidal though.
I talk to my therapist about it and everything for that matter every 2 weeks, it helps.
So are you on Vyvanse or any other meds, if you don't mind me asking? What are your experiences with other adhd meds?
Thanks again for taking time to share your experience 😊
Right now I'm just taking 50mg of Vyvanse every morning. Vyvanse is basically Adderall but it stays in your system all day and has a smooth transition. I just started taking it back in November. The other drugs I took a couple years ago were Ritalin, and aderall, and one other I can't remember the name. And then I have tried a few depression medications like Buproprian and Zoloft.
I never really had the chance to see if the other drugs worked that well because I had a bunch of negative side effects. I put another post on here recently after yours about it. I believe the biggest part of it was that I was not drinking enough water.
And to be honest I still don't know for sure if I'm on the right dose or not. I'm on here trying to figure things out just like you. Right now I have been trying to do some research on what kinds of things ADHD medication help with, because apparently they don't help with all the symptoms. For example this morning we had a stand up meeting at work, and I told myself I'm going to see how well I can pay attention during this whole meeting, as soon as I had that thought I was thinking about other things the whole time oblivious to my goal I had just set. So paying attention and listening are something I struggle with. I still do have a hard time getting myself on task. I should be working but I'm writing this to you instead because it's probably a bigger dopamine hit. And by the time I finish it I'm going to look at the clock and say, did I really spend an hour writing this? So I don't know if these are things the drug can help with or not, but they are symptoms of ADHD.
But before I took the medication, the best way I can describe it was going to work felt like the worst possible thing in the world to have to do. And it felt like I was never going to have time in my life to do the things I enjoy. Just real black and white thinking. I even called my boss on 2 occasions out of the blue and without telling my wife that I quit. Because I was really hurting that bad from having to go in to work. And it's sad because I followed a career path of something that I really enjoy.
And now going to work doesn't seem like such a big deal. I do struggle staying on task, and get side tract and have a hard time pulling myself back at times. So I do wonder if upping the dose would help even more with the other symptoms, but the fact that I have already had so much improvement, my doctor doesn't think I should move the dose up. He said that it's best to stay at the minimal effective dose. Because it's crazy, I have not even had the thought that work is the worst, and I just don't want to do it anymore (these thoughts and feelings was how I used to feel daily). I mean of course I would love to have the freedom to do whatever I want to do each day, but it's not that bad that I have to do this anymore. And I am able to feel more gratitude for the job that I have and being able to do my part to support my family.
I also feel like I regulate my emotions better earlier in the day. After the meds wear off in the evening, it is easier for me to feel irritable, and have feelings of overstimulation. I think this usually happens if I don't feel like I performed to my best ability at work. And spent too much time at work browsing facebook, or researching other things rather than getting my work done. I do often think that if I had a job where someone watched me more carefully and had to stay on task all the time I would fail.
So yeah, biggest thing I've noticed is that I'm going to work everyday without complaint. And that is huge for me , my wife, my doctor, and my therapist. So I figure I'll just stay where I'm at for now.
I'm in the same boat regarding the depression meds, yes in a way the depression "quiet" down but I still have anxiety like crazy, none of the depression meds worked for it, so still struggling, and the worst is the brain fog with it, none of the depression meds "cleared" the brain fog, and is so hard to get the doctors to understand, they put you on depression meds right away
I get brain fog a lot too. It's one of the reasons I was put on depression medications. But more and more, my theory is that it is not caused by depression. Rather boredom and a lack of dopamine. If I'm not stimulated enough I get this brain fog. I think I get it when I keep trying to find little things to stimulate my brain all day, but nothing is doing the trick and then I just start feeling like a zombie. This especially happens at work, because I'm bored and I have to do all this other stuff, so I do little things here and there to try and give myself a boost. But, for example, if a friend out of the blue called me up and said were going to go do something real fun, and for some reason all other obligations in my life will allow it, all the sudden the brain fog is gone. Often times I feel like my brain fog is more created by a brain that is having a hard time finding healthy stimulation. I feel like this repeated boredom has lead to actual depression as well. And so it has been very important for me to find ways to healthily stimulate my brain.
Persistent brain fog was tied to my ADHD symptoms. Even after I was successfully treated for anxiety with Lexapro, an SSRI, I still had the brain fog. I could feel it in two distinct parts of my brain, in my forebrain, and in the rear.
The first ADHD medication that my doctor tried me on was Adderall XR. At 10mg, the best Adderall could do to treat my ADHD symptoms was about halfway, but it did clear up the fogginess in my forebrain. A higher 20mg dose of Adderall XR did not improve my ADHD symptoms any more than the original 10 mg did, but it did add the side effect of tachycardia.
I asked my doctor if we could try non-stimulant atomoxetine, which is known by the brand name Strattera. My doctor started me on 40 mg of atomoxetine. It treated my ADHD symptoms twice as well as Adderall did, and it cleared up the fogginess in both my forebrain and my rear brain. Atomoxetine is a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, an SSNRI.
The SNRI properties definitely treat my ADHD symptoms. (Without medication, I experience all the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for the Predominantly Inattentive presentation.)
I believe the SSRI properties (and counseling) helped me not to remain too deep or too long in depression or anxiety during this last year.
I see this is a few days old and there is a lot of good input here. I have a similar story with the depression/anxiety angle finally being diagnosed adhd after having kids and being the happiest I’ve been but still struggling like crazy. I take 150mg Zoloft and have been on Zoloft for 15 years. I first was prescribed Vyvanse but had an abnormal reaction with metabolism probably because of the amino acid it is bound with. So then I tried adderall and it helped immensely with calmer and more in control of my emotions. But it didn’t help much executive function, short term memory or focus. My task paralysis was almost made worse by it because I had the motivation but not the ability to sort through everything. And if I got stressed, I was mess while taking it. I switched psychiatrists and we worked out that the element of adderall that increases norepinephrine (the levo amphetamine salt) wasn’t benefiting me. Vyvanse would have been a great alternative if I metabolized it correctly. I now take dextroamphetamine (which isn’t covered by my insurance) but it’s been incredibly helpful. I had no idea just how bad my short term memory was until taking it. I’ll say that I cannot tell I’ve taken it or when it’s worn off besides my ability the think being more clear and peaceful. I just function better. It makes consistently taking it difficult to remember but I love that there is no side effects or rebound (adderall had quite a tough rebound effect for me.)
Adderall is a mix of 4 amphetamine salts. And the levo isomer will increase norepinephrine (adrenaline) which is very helpful for a lot of people but for others, it kinda makes your wheels spin in a detrimental way. Vyvanse is a pro-drug that is metabolized into just dextroamphetamine, which effects mainly dopamine. If your side effects were minimal on adderall, it might be a good idea to try dextroamphetamine before resorting to methylphenidate (I didn’t have any besides mild appetite suppression and the 20 minutes of irritability as it wore off.) Methylphenidate also contains levo isomers that increase norepinephrine so you may face similar issues. I realize everyone will say “talk to your prescriber” but my experience has been that there is a lot of information that gets overlooked and there is no harm in talking through these types of things. A good doctor will be open to new information and look into your questions or suggestions before they just assume they know everything.
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