I have avoided meds for most of my life as I am an anti-meds person generally (but not an anti-vaxxer, if that makes sense). I always felt that I "just need to get it together". I have seen various doctors on and off since I was a young child and had various diagnoses.
Both ADHD and MDD have been fairly pervasive in my life, with the MDD fading into a dull background noise when things are going well.
I finally gave in and agreed to try Wellbutrin a year ago when I just couldn't beat the depression after a series of major life events (including nursing my mom in the final months of life and her death). I have to work and support my teens/20s kids (8yrs separated single parent with absent co-parent - he has mental health issues). It had little effect. Doses were increased over a multi-month period until I couldn't walk or think straight (and definitely shouldn't drive).
After 10 months I was switched to Concerta to see if addressing the ADHD might reduce the depression and anxiety by giving me a sense of control. Low-dose Concerta was fine, but addressed neither to any real extent. Increased doses left me with deep crashes and genuine difficulty with word recall and short-term memory. Booster doses only exacerbated the memory issues and added irritability to the mix. We gave it 5 weeks on Concerta.
Vyvanse was next. If there is a side-effect of Vyvanse, I had it. I waited them out, week after week. Dose increases resulted in irritability (snapping at customers at work, unprovoked), rudeness, and absolutely crushing depression deeper than I had ever experienced. There was no ADHD relief. We gave it 4 weeks.
Adderall is next. I've been on it for 3 weeks. Minimal, if any, ADHD symptom relief. But, also zero negative side effects. I do notice some mood improvement from about 1hr after taking until about 3-4 hours after taking. No noticeable crash. No change with the dosage increase from 10mg to 20mg. If you told me that I was taking a placebo I would believe you ... sort of. The effects are that mild.
The depression is still crushing - I never want to leave my house, I don't see people, I have lost all of my friends and my long-term (6yrs) partner has left me because "it's all too much" for him. I'm now on a mental health leave from work.
My family doctor is obviously fed up with me.
No psychiatrist is available after one single diagnosis visit that I was sent to at the point of the switch from Wellbutrin to Concerta. The psychiatrist suggested treating the ADHD first. Here, Psychiatrists diagnose, but they don't treat or counsel outpatients.
The family doctor emailed me yesterday and told me that he wants me to take Venlafaxine.
I am scared. This sounds like a medication that I might never get off of. And it sounds like it is always going to be a danger factor combined with the Adderall.
I don't get any drug counseling other than what the pharmacist tells me when I pick up the prescription. I don't even know where to ask questions (the doctor won't answer any as he "doesn't have time"). Changing doctors isn't an option as we have a doctor shortage here. I'm just lucky to have one!
I feel like my brain is messed up more than it has ever been. And although I am not suicidal (I would never abandon my kids), I don't even want to be alive anymore... if that makes sense. I am so tired of fighting it and the idea of ever being free of this and being "normal" enough to have a functioning life feels impossible. Everyone is sick of me, and I drive people away with my nonsense.
Where do I go? This feels like more than a regular "counselor" is equipped to deal with. I have enough benefits coverage for 3 hours of therapy.
Has anyone else run into this drug combination?
I am so sorry to whine. I am a nuisance to the world. I am trying so hard to "get myself together", but I am stuck in quicksand.
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I can only speak for myself, so 1 person, but I am on Adderall XR and was previously on regular Adderall (both generic), plus venlafaxine XR, without issues. I have no heart or blood pressure issues. I am so sorry you're feeling so bad and hope things improve for you.
Thank you. I'm relieved to hear that this isn't just a random "pull another name out of a hat" medication being prescribed to me. I don't have heart or BP issues either.
I don’t think it’s a random combination of medicines or symptoms/conditions. Many people with ADHD have anxiety and/or depression (like 40-50% at least). It’s a rare person who has only ADHD without another disorder. You are definitely not alone at all in your challenges. I have had to accept that these medications help me feel my best, even though ideally I would have a brain that didn’t need them. However, I try to remind myself that, at least we have some options nowadays I can try to level the playing field better. I say that not to sound like I’m minimizing your distress! Don’t give up & you are not the only person who struggles with inertia, motivation, etc. Hang in there 💕
Lots of us are on an antidepressant and an ADHD medication. Totally normal.
Venlafaxine is just Effexor, which is one of the highly regarded antidepressant medications.
Now, are you in therapy. Hard core depression in my experience, requires therapy and meds. Or better said, really good therapy (not mediocre) and meds. Sometimes it might requires 2x a week sessions until you can break the severe despair and hopelessness.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT )is great for this. But any good therapist using a variety of methods can help you. The key thing is to not stick with a mediocre therapist. Keep switching to you find the right one.
On side effects, I have a slightly different view. Concerta made me irritable and a bit too intense and rude at the start. But hey, if you're depressed, then you're way too passive and reactive and quiet and unassertive. So one of the meds made you rude to customers. I don't know how to say this other than to say, there's something GOOD there going on. Because when people are depressed (in my experience) they are way to "nice" and accommodating to others. Now it was too strong, but the reaction (and your bit of aggression--as long as it wasn't physical) I can't but wonder if that is a sign that the med had potential for you.
My aggressiveness on Concerta definitely declined over time.
Anyway, you really do want to get to therapy. And to be clear--therapy AND meds.
Thank you for this. I did go and fill the prescription today and I will give it a go. It seems hard to believe that there is ever going to be a way to feel "normal" and not always be broken. I am genuinely afraid. Reading your words is a reminder that I need to trust a little...
I am going to have to figure out a way to afford therapy. And a way to get myself to participate in the process.
My mother was a therapist, but also not particularly balanced in her own personal life (abusive and controlling at the flick of a switch, heavy drinker, a verbal rager and emotionally manipulative to everyone close to her), so my overall "trust" of therapists has been tainted by a lifetime of watching her and wondering how she could possibly teach other people how to manage their lives and relationships when she had so many issues of her own that she just couldn't accept enough to try and resolve. Essentially, I grew up with a therapist trying to manage my life and denigrating me for any failure or weakness that I had. I'm hesitant to pay someone to break me down further.
I was never allowed to consider therapy because there was a good likelihood that any therapist that I saw would know or tie me to my mother and I would "ruin" her "good reputation". My family was full of secrets that we all had to keep... or else. When I was violently raped at age 14 (by a man who later spent years in prison for aggravated assault and attempted murder of a stranger who didn't move out of his way on the sidewalk), I was told that I needed to be quiet about it because it would bring shame to the family and that I must have done something to bring it upon myself. I was 14, on my lunch break from school, but it must have been my mistake. Likewise, medication was shameful and dangerous and no one could know that I was broken. I only started medication at age 54, ten weeks after my mother died, despite having had several diagnoses of MDD, GAD, OCPD, and whatever the term was for ADHD in the 70's (I did have the H part too). The only "diagnosis" I was allowed to share with anyone was the "Gifted" one - because my Mom was okay with having created a gifted child. Getting past the shame of having a broken brain is going to have to happen before anything else.
Typing this out, I recognize that I have a looooong way to go. And I have absolutely no support network - thanks to the violent and controlling man that I was married to for 24 years (who still won't let go, nearly a decade after we formally separated) and my own self-defeating personality.
I am so sorry to be such a whiner and a downer and to focus on my own selfish issues. I do appreciate your response.
I don’t know the UK resources, but I would also encourage you, whenever you can afford to and have access to it, to see a mental health professional trained in trauma. I finally did this (I’m in the US) after not making progress in regular CBT therapy. I’m finally getting somewhere, I think. It has been hard work but I think it will be worth it. I’m 51 & still suffering from the impact of childhood emotional & physical abuse & having witnessed domestic violence as a child. I’m sorry if I am mentioning something triggering to anyone. I say this because it has truly affected me for 40-45 years. You deserve to feel validated and get some healing. Sending you big hugs.
You are depressed and reporting on it quite clearly. Praise to you. Whining. That's just your depression talking. You're thinking aloud about your issues and the next steps. And you just made a reminder-discovery that you had some serious trauma in your past that was not acknowledged.
I know a couple of people who were sexually assaulted (one in their family and other later as an adult by someone they knew) and both got a lot of help from a therapy called EMDR. Have no idea if that would fit your agenda.
You might first need to just forgive yourself and learn how to be super compassionate for yourself (not call your very clear description of depression and your traumatic history a form of "whining.") FYI: this entire board is us coming here to report our struggles. And yes, we report on triumphs, but we're here to share and learn from others because we are struggling with ADHD and often additional conditions as well.
Communities like this can be highly informative. Can be encouraging. Can really provide safety and an outlet and education for people who use it. That's not whining. Honestly I'll be blunt. I'm not sure there is such a thing as "whining." Every time I've heard someone say "I'm just whining" in my mind the person was reporting on a serious and frustrating struggle to improve their lives. I think the mention of "whining" is a probably just a symptom of depression when we just don't feel worthy. And yes, I've been there. Depression tries to tell us that there is no hope, that we will be humiliated if we acknowledge our pain and say how bad we feel. All of that is nonsense.
You are to be commended for fighting on in the midst of that depression, of keeping yourself (you mention your children). And
Hi WhatRemainsofMe, I'm sorry to hear you are going through this it's really tough.
You have the same diagnosis as me, ADHD, Anxiety and Depression. I'm in the UK.
I have taken venlafaxine for over 10 years and it has been excellent for me. It's known to work quite well for people with ADHD and depression as it affects noradrenaline as well as serotonin. It's a medication that needs to be taken everyday and only withdrawn from slowly by tapering the dose, often over a few months, just like most antidepressants.
It is very effected by how quickly a person's body metabolises it, some people need a high dose 300-375mg/d) some people a low dose (37.5-75mg/d), and some in between. It tends the affect noradrenaline at the higher doses, so needing a high dose isn't a sign that you are 'more ill'.
I've not taken it with stimulants (Adderall, concerta etc), check with your doc that this is ok.
You may want to try inpatient therapy. Professionals there will get you to a place where you are not having these adverse thoughts. It took me getting on the right meds to be in a better place, and it seems like it’s taking you longer to do.
Another idea is to do a gene site test. That is where they swab your cheek for genetic material, then they test it with various medications for adverse reactions.
I’m currently on Vyvanse and Venlafaxine. I started on Venlafaxine in 2020 and it helped my anxiety a lot. Then I started on vyvanse on 2022, and it also helped after being diagnosed with adhd. But here we are now in 2023 and I’ve been hospitalized once due to their combination. At that time I was on 50mg of Vyvanse and 100mg of Venlafaxine. We tried to wean me off Venlafaxine but the withdrawal is a lot!! We’ve talked about if I should be hospitalized when we finally take me off of it. Currently I’m on 40mg of Vyvanse and 25mg of Venlafaxine. I told my drs that it’s been such a mess of all this that I’m cool with this regime for awhile because I finally feel stable, but at some point the 25mg of Venlafaxine needs to be tapered to 12.5mg and that does scare me. From what I understand the tapering has to be done slowly.
I take venlafaxine and Vyvanse. In addition to ADHD (not diagnosed until I was 49), I also have anxiety and depression (diagnosed in my 30s).
I have tried a lot of the most common antidepressants out there, and this one has been the best for me so far! I’ve been taking it for 13 years and have even come down in dosage 3 years ago.
The nice thing about venlafaxine is it also helps anxiety a great deal; I’ve been able to significantly reduce my use of my anti-anxiety med (Xanax).
Remember, most all antidepressants take at LEAST 4-6 weeks to actually start working, so give it some time. I will tell you though, like another poster mentioned, make sure you don’t miss a dose once your body gets used to it! I have done this several times and I get really dizzy if I skip/miss a dose on the next day. Due to my prescriber being hard to get a hold of (too often), I have learned to “squirrel away” a couple of pills from each refill to prevent this from happening again☺️
Take a deep breath, feel comforted by knowing that there are others out here like you, find some therapy (online Zoom sessions maybe, even a Facebook group might be some help until you can find proper therapy), and know we’re all rooting for you!
Hi, I’m on Vyvanse (elvanse here in UK) and Venlafaxine. When I started on Vyvanse I was on sertraline which I’d been on for at least 15 years but my anxiety was still stupid high so I was switched to Venlafaxine which has definitely helped on the anxiety front. I take 60mg Vyvanse and 75mg Venlafaxine. I hope that is reassuring, good luck.
I've been on meds since I was 24 and I'm now 60. I wouldn't still be around if it weren't for meds. Whatever drug you mention, I've tried it.
The combo that works for my severe depression and adhd is effexor, wellbutrin, and adderall. Ive been on the effexor for almost 25 years and NEVER want to come off!
The part that disturbs me the most about your post is your resistance to medication. Almost a holier-than-thou attitude.
Would you not want chemo if you had cancer?
Should I feel bad about myself for being on medication for over 35 years?
Why do you care if you never come off of the effexor and the most important question, why do you want to subject those around you to your problems when there are obvious solutions?
Your attitude about your disease is more destructive than the disease itself. It is almost as if you want the depression and the adhd symptoms to control your life. Until you correct your attitude about the medications you need, not much will change and your doctors will probably get fed up with you.
Wish I could say there is a magic remedy but I'm sorry there is not. I'm currently on 225mg of venlafaxine and 100mg of Strattera. The combination is a struggle but for the most part it works. Venlafaxine helps the adhd med work better. They help each other. Hope you get the answers you are looking for.
Unbelievable! I'm going thru and have been thru the EXACT same thing(s). I wish I could put it into words as eloquently as you. If it wasn't for my son I would hate to think where I would be or buried. I've only been treating it for a year and I'm already ready to give up! We have to hang in there. I just want you to know you're not alone in you suffering, I say that because I sometime still can't believe this real. I've lost my job of 20 plus years, can't find a good therapist or group. As matter of fact, I think most groups think adhd is a joke? Their usually there for abusive or substance abuse and I don't think that people realize mental health that leads to suicide is a mental health condition that won! I hope you keep fighting; I am .. I told myself there is no option B.
47M diagnosed with ADHD and mood disorder 3 years ago. Have tried Adderall, Vyvanse, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and finally Trileptal. Haven't really felt like anything helped all that much, except maybe the combination of Vyvanse and Lexapro. Not really any side effects on anything either. Seems I question whether or not anything helps, or maybe I just don't know how to judge myself well. Ran genetic testing through Genesight, which says I have MTHFR and COMT gene mutations, but didn't really point to any problems with the meds I've tried. Psychiatrist just switched everything to Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine) which is similar to Effexor (Venlafaxine). I haven't started the new prescription yet, but wanted to reply here to say I'm with you in the struggle.
I have to tell you that you need a new psychiatrist. Have they had you do a DNA test yet? A simple DNA test from Genomind will tell the psychiatrist what medications will work for you and which ones won't. This would have saved you tons of time.
Now I need to tell you a couple of other things that I've come to learn about ADHD. The first is you need to understand how the brain works for someone with ADHD. Your psychiatrist should be educating you on this because once you know, things get much easier to tackle...even without medication.
The one thing that I think you need to know is that ADHD is really just someone who loses a connection to their pre-frontal cortex. That's where your rational thinking happens. If you stay connected, then you feel "Normal" so to speak. The most common disrupter to the pre-frontal cortex is your Opiate Receptors. They always divert your brain neurons away from the PFC because they always want attention and comfort. This is often why those with ADHD resort to recreational drugs to try and cure themselves. They don't work and basically just create more of a dependence on something that ends up destroying your brain vs. training your brain. So with that being said, you need to focus on filling up your opiate receptors. Sure stimulants can do that, but many other things can do that too. For instance, hard exercise, meditation or yoga can be beneficial for this. There are other medications that are non-stimulant based that might help too. Naltrexone is one of them.
You got this. It's all about understanding the function of how your brain works.
BTW, suicidal ideation is a normal part of ADHD. Many of us have it, but will never do anything remotely to hurt ourselves or our families. You aren't alone.
I am on Venlafaxine ER. I can say, for my anxiety, IT IS A GODSEND!!! I have treated my anxiety as depression with my PCP for 20+ years now. I was on Prozac. It had worked for my mom, and some other family members, so that's what I went on. it worked most of the time, but also, I could handle a majority of the time without anything in several spells I would take myself off it (because I felt like I could handle it own my own, I just need to tough it out and be a man). Well, even when on it, because of my, still undiagnosed, ADHD, things would pile up and get overwhelming and I'd have panic attacks and suicidal ideations. since being on Venlafaxine, I have not had any issues like that. I have felt real improvement. I don't get panic attacks. I can handle stress. IT'S BEEN WONDERFUL! Now, I just need to sort out if I have ADHD or not, and find help to fix that.
Hello, im a little late but i was taking 75 mg of effexor (venlafaxine) with 30 MG of adderall and my experience wasnt great. my heart was racing my resting bpm was 90-100 and while doing light work my bpm was 120+ i am a 6'1" 170 pound male the year prior before i fell into a rut i was running 20+ miles a week and going to the gym 5+ days a week. i had racing thoughts, my brain fog was terrible, it wasnt good at all. i was experiencing the flat effect from effexor. This last summer is a blur and i dont remeber anything but a few things. I am now coming off effexor thankfully i havent had much issues. i am now taking less than 37.5 by taking beads out and im almost completely off. i can take 30mg of adderall and those side effects no longer exist and it works like a dream. You might not want to hear this but i was taking effexor 75mg and requested a refill i was given the same dosage but from a different manufacturer for 2 weeks i had flu like symptoms and any time i would turn my head i would get brain zaps like crazy. wishing you the best of luck!
Thanks for sharing, cannot be easy I also had to go through nursing a parent then bereavement and it's a hard time especially with kids work and everything else, and throw in mental health and wow, seems like your still standing, I think that reflects a strong character.
I believe life has seasons, seasons of great sorrow and effort, and other seasons of great joy and love and they come and go like the tide. But underneath it all is a peace like the sun is always there above the clouds. So thanks for your vulnerability here.
As medication has been covered by others, I wanted to say something else, which for me works better than medication, (I'm not anti drugs I have a tub of vyvanse in the cupboard) but for me if I personally need to look after the basics, do you run/exercise a few times a week to release those juicy brain chemicals we all need? Do things that excite you for more chemicals? I'm sure sleep isnt easy but have you got a good mattress? What food is in the cupboards, loads of wholegrains and food good for the brain like olive oil etc, drink loads of water for that extra 20% concentration? Morning mindsets and meditation to trigger hope and optimism, and then again for the afternoon to help try and keep the mindset working well, I know that sounds lame as an answer to what drugs will work, but for me, having the core fundamentals working as well as they can helps me function and deal with life's struggles and be present and see the good things in life too. Which then have a sort of building effect where I then want to go out and see people too.
I know it's hard and I hope this wasn't annoying, it's just I always start with the foundations, and then for me theropy is always a good one.
Big love to you friend, and I hope this season is a point of change and growth into something great, albeit it tough at the moment.
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