Ugh hope 😫!!!: Zoloft 150mg and... - CHADD's Adult ADH...

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Ugh hope 😫!!!

Hopefullymoon profile image
6 Replies

Zoloft 150mg and adderall 20mg xr plus 20mg ir was helping a bit, but now I'm not functioning well enough. I feel tired and sleepy. Gotta take a nap in the afternoon even if it's an hour after my doses.

Been feeling depressed, Frustrated and impatient.

My family is losing hope, I feel like nothing is helping 😞.

I emailed my Dr. a while ago and waiting for a response. But I'm here for ideas and supports you may have. I can't talk about it with my husband, he is fed up. He doesn't care anymore. But said he will help me financially until I'm done with my exams. I'm not happy but I have to stay for the sake of my daughter ,the health insurance which is through his job. I'm doing schooling full time. So real time focus and concentration is what I need to get the job done

😥😥

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Hopefullymoon
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6 Replies
Fred2001 profile image
Fred2001

Hang in there! It's a hard road for people like us and mostly neurotypical people just don't get it. I think you need to slow down and give yourself what you need. Possibly better meds that suit you like you said you are trying to look into. A lighter school workload (I did my degree undiagnosed and totally burnt myself out) try and spread it out. Spend time researching what foods and exercise and the other things you can do to keep yourself stable. I have heaps of things that have worked for me that I can pass on if you are interested. Just let me know. Adittude mag was a great resource. All the best, you can do this. But advocate for yourself and do it smart!

Hopefullymoon profile image
Hopefullymoon in reply to Fred2001

Appreciate it !!! Yes I'm interested to learn what has been working for you.

I can imagine how frustrating it is to feel like you are doing your best, but still not feel yourself. If you haven’t already, maybe speaking to your doctor or pharmacist about the daily schedule which each medication should be taken throughout the day. Especially the adderall IR. I take half the pill first thing in the morning, an hour later my antidepressants, late morning adderall XR, around 2ish the other half of adderall IR, and antidepressants before bed. Aleep is such a problem with me, too. Constant struggle with always wanting to sleep or not being able to sleep or stay asleep. I have found if I stick to a consistent sleep schedule it helps with my overall well-being. I hope you find some helpful tips to help you in your journey.

Fred2001 profile image
Fred2001

Hi Hopefully, sorry I'm late in replying. So the things that have worked for me are an ongoing discovery. I feel like I've been forced to slow down with my latest injury situation. Like my body has finally said enough and when you don't listen to me, I will make you listen. I think this is key and it's very hard to put into action because if you are anything like me all of my good intentions go out of the window with my extremely poor working memory.

But slowing down is key. I have two daughters and life would have been so much better for them if I had been diagnosed and well managed. I was diagnosed last year. Being diagnosed and well managed mostly has been really powerful for all of the relationships in my life.

Being medicated is not a silver bullet it takes a lot of other things to put it all together. But when you do, it may help things with your Husband too. I find that I can talk to mine about some things but not about others. You are seeking out help from other sources which is excellent. Keep on doing that, I find it very helpful to talk to a good listener. Someone who is sensible and understands is what you want. Having ADHD is very hard on your family and it's not your fault but it's still hard on them. I try to understand that and use I statements. I find that trying to understand them helps them open up to me.

So I'm quite a bit older than you, I'm half way through menopause now and having the usual issues with low estrogen. You sound like your in your late 20s-30s so you will be having hormonal issues just different from mine. Every month your estrogen changes quite a lot during your cycle which really really affects your medication.

A friend sent me a great link to a talk from Attitude mag. "Why ADHD Is Different for Women: Gender-Specific Symptoms & Treatments" [Video Replay & Podcast #337]

additudemag.com/webinar/adh...

This talk was extremely helpful and explained how stress cortisol etc stops our meds working.

I can also recommend a great book about balancing your hormones through diet and supplements. The Hormone fix by Anna Cabeca. This book also illustrated how important it is to reduce stress because as soon as your body over produces cortisol the stress hormone it stops producing estrogen which is the memory hormone. It also had a great very healthy take on the keto diet with lots of greens etc.

I am pretty careful what I eat. I can't eat food colourings especially orange and I can't eat chocolate. I turn into a horror to behold. So know yourself. Work out through a process of elimination what you can and cannot eat if you think diet affects you. I also have an ongoing challenge with sleep and some bad picking behaviours which I scare myself out of doing by looking at images of others who have. I tried to work out the most important things to tackle and I am whittling down all the rest.

I only ever have one coffee a day first thing in the morning or I won't sleep if I have more. I also take magnesium citrate every day or I do not sleep. I write out lots of lists and work through them constantly.

I exercise every day or I will not sleep and my mood could be fowl. I either swim for 23 mins at the moment as I am working it up again but full on dog paddle. I used to interval train on a spin bike to Global cycling network. The exercise has to be strenuous to release the dopamine if you are physically able to. This helps enormously with depression. I used to have a lot of depression. My medication seems to help now but I suffered for years. A very good book was recommended to me by a medical doctor it's called The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs by Stephen S. Ilardi

I have been trying to put into place a meditation practice because I know this would help. Not going so well but I am working on it.

I would try to stand back and take stock. See what the most important things are to balance yourself and start there. If you give yourself what you need everything else will fall into place. Keep on asking questions and seeking out ways to help yourself.

I hope that helps. 🙂

Hopefullymoon profile image
Hopefullymoon in reply to Fred2001

Thank you for taking your time to walk me through all the things I needed to know. It means a lot to me!!!

You are right, im in my 30s. The hormonal imbalance and Adhd thing is true around that time if the month. It's like nothing works!!!

I used to exercise but has been a while. That is one of the many things I need to work on.

Fred2001 profile image
Fred2001

Your welcome! It's pretty easy to get overwhelmed with it all though. So start small and build up to bigger changes. Best of luck. And feel free to reach out if you need to talk.🙂

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