Fresh diagnosis this week

[Fluff155]

Hello all. I am 53yrs old and this week was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD. Eye opening to look back on my life and see the effect it has had when undiagnosed. Hoping to start medication next week and get off the antidepressants because I don't have depression and anxiety . Glad I have found a group to chat with. Jon. Sheffield.

[STEM_Dad]

Welcome to the Adult ADHD forum!

I got my ADHD diagnosis a couple of years ago, at 45 (though I had suspected for a few years before then they I had ADHD). I also have the Inattentive presentation. It was going to a counselor for treatment of the anxiety, and I asked her to also assess me for ADHD.

The very moment she confirmed that I do in fact have ADHD, all my struggles in life made perfect.

Medication helps me, for sure, but it took several months to get it right. My doctor started me on Adderall first, and it helped a little, but when he increased my dosage I saw no improvement and developed a concerning side effect (tachycardia). I'm now on atomoxetine (I take a generic, but the brand name is Strattera), and it treats all my symptoms. It's twice as effective for me as Adderall was. It's a non-stimulant SNRI (selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) with mild SSRI effects, so I believe it helps to keep me anxiety in check.

The advice I give when starting on medication is to keep a daily log to track how it makes you feel, any changes, and any side effects.

[Fluff155 in reply to STEM_Dad]

Thank you. Jon

[Gettingittogether]

Actually many of us on this forum got diagnosed as middle-age adults. I was 48 when I got diagnosed. It's a game changer, a shocker ... and like you, suddenly so much of life made sense, including especially all those boring tasks that I could never do well ... or skip that, that I could only do HORRIBLY. In the old days of pen-paper tax returns, I would have the most simple return imaginable. No special deductions of all kind. No investment income, and I could spend all day, multiple days, filling out the form and I would have scratch-outs from entering the wrong info in the wrong slot and so on ...

I think back to one of my early jobs when I just couldn't make a deadline to save my life.

I remember relief (Now I understand!), compassion for myself, a sense of loss, grief over missed opportunities and over all the struggles and pain and frustrations that I had no explanation for. But then I got busy with meds and therapy and reading.

Just a clarification here: people with ADHD have high high rates of depression and anxiety. It's so high it's almost predictable, and treating the ADHD does not necessarily fix depression and anxiety. You would think so, and yes, I think treating the ADHD helps for sure. But apparently brains that have ADHD are brains that have a tendency towards depression as well. It's Not just that we get depressed because of the frustrations of ADHD.

So you really have to treat ADHD AND the depression/anxiety.

Also going to therapy is great for ADHD because meds do not treat the pain and grief and loss. And meds do not treat the hopelessness we have developed or the sense of failure we have developed. CBT therapy is excellent for ADHD. And that's along with meds.

Good luck and welcome. Read below, you'll see tons of people writing about what you just describe: a diagnosis in middle age.

[lostphone in reply to Gettingittogether]

Ugh the forms!!! You mean everybody doesn’t need to grab 2-3 extra tax forms from the post office (or any other form)to practice?

[mrsm68]

I was diagnosed a few weeks ago age 54 and have also been treated for depression.

I’ve been on anti depressants for 19 yrs but once I get on the right medication for adhd then I am going to come off the anti depressants.

It’s like the missing piece of the jigsaw. So many things make sense now.

I am about to try my 3rd medication but will try them all if I have to until I find the right one.

Yes, depression, anxiety and adhd often go hand in hand but it can also be that living with adhd causes the depression and anxiety.

As Stem_dad said document how each medication makes you feel. I didn’t bother at first but it is really usual if you need to try a few.

Good luck x

[adburger]

I was 40 when I started reading about it and wanted to find out if my life long struggles were related.

[AlphaGeekBoy]

I was officially confirmed my ADHD at 52 in December 2021. It was a game changer for me. It was something I knew about since my 30’s. I’m on Adderal XR. It’s helped motivate me and have drastically changed my life for the better. Every day is a new experience and opportunity for me to figure out what works best for me. Some days are better than others. My advice at this point is take advantage of your first few months on medication and put practices in place that will help you in the future. I still struggle with this. In my experience medication is only one of the missing pieces. Now I have to find the others and move towards something bigger. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more.

[Tim_Othy]

I can only imagine that our ADHD attributes going unknown and untreated and wonder why we are different from most people. Without knowing that you are unique yet similar to us can be an isolating and have us question; why is it so hard to start, stay focused and finish a task, some so simple for neuraltypical people. I think that it is important to learn how very special we are. I notice many more things, people and senses than people I go out with. I am very creative and a great deal of people here are. IQs of ADHD people are on average superior to neural typical. We have our challenges, but we are amazingly unique and have special gifts that I choose to celebrate. Welcome, I’m happy that you have seen your life more clearly, I hope that you find medication that works for you. We are here to support your highs and lows.

[lostphone]

Welcome! I was diagnosed at 49 with inattentive type. I’d been on one anti depressant or another for about 16 years for depression and anxiety. Most recently I’d been on bupropion ( a dopamine and nor-epi reuptake inhibitor) which is not indicated for anxiety. It did help me with anxiety though. I have come to understand that my anxiety is entirely ADHD driven because I must keep moving and it feels like there are so many things each getting in the way of the other. I would constantly interrupt one task with another and one thought with another, and never stopped, insufficiently slept, etc. I never felt like I’d done enough to be able to rest.

The combination of bupropion ( at the ADHD dose) and a low (ish) dose of Adderall XR was the secret sauce for me. The depression although an entity of its own was exacerbated by the anxiety which in turn was caused by the ADHD(in my case). If there is depression (and or anxiety) a multi-modal approach may be necessary, or at least it has been for me and many others with ADHD. Of course you are not me, so….

K

[Migrantfilmworker]

I was diagnosed last year at 52. It's unreal the effects. Vyvanse is working really well for me. But it is learning about my emotions and how to deal with the years of shame and grief associated with my struggle that is hard for me. Good luck. There is so much to learn.

I signed up for this site looking for others going through this.

[sharkticon]

I was on different depression medications for a while. None of them seemed to do much. I was always uncertain whether they were doing anything at all, even as the doses increased. After going off depression medication and getting on some ADHD meds I finally got some relief. I think a lot of what I thought was depression was just intense boredom, and lack of interest in the things in life (which is definitely a symptom of depression). I told the doctor that I've never felt suicidal, but I wouldn't care if I died. Most the time I just felt like I was living in a fog, just trying to get through the day. Or feeling like I was trapped in a life that didn't allow me to do anything that I enjoyed. So of course the doctor put me on depression medication.

After switching to ADHD meds, a lot of things got easier. It wasn't so hard to get up and get going in the morning. I felt more emotionally regulated, and was able to deal with emotional issues in my relationship and family. Started feeling like a much better father. I was also able to make a habit of running on the treadmill in the mornings (not sure if that was due to the ADHD meds or the ifit app I subscribed too, probably both). Never thought I would be able to make a habit out of anything positive, let alone running. So I'm pretty proud of that. So all in all doing much better, though I am still dealing with a lot things and going to therapy. But my wife and I are in love again and working through stuff, and I have no problems getting myself to work in the mornings.

I'm currently taking 50mg of Vyvance incase your curious.

Usually if people have ADHD and Depression, I think the recommended thing is to treat the depression first. But for me it made a much bigger difference to treat the ADHD first.