Medication Woes

[TheOtherMike]

I am on the Autism spectrum. Anyone have issues with their medication having a fine line between giving you the ability to concentrate but then a couple of mg higher it then sends your anxiety thru the roof and then your brain gets cloudy again? I take Adderall XR and it seems to be giving me issues. I was taking Ritalin for ADHD and Nuvigil for falling asleep at inappropriate times. I was getting Ritalin rage and Nuvigil worked too well in the fact it would make it hard at night to get myself into bed. Fell asleep fine when I got into bed but could not get away from what i was doing. Got extremely hyper focused before bed. I have been diagnosed with Asperger's since I was 11 years old (now 32) but was convinced I was misdiagnosed by people who said that I was too normal to have it. That was after high school. Well that was not how i was before that. I had been given great skills to deal with it. It caused me to quit the GFCF diet (not that I was 100% adherent to it.) I also stopped running everyday. Well this meant I have not received any therapy, counseling, or medication from 18 years old till about 31 years old. Then was said to be bipolar and then got bipolar meds and then entered into the worst period of my life. I am now off the bipolar meds and on ADHD meds and just started seeing a different phsychiatrist. My old pshychiatrist did not like her patients being involved in their own mental health. New psychiatrist likes his patients involved. I am just well all over the place right now. Anxiety skyrocketing and just feel like I will not get things fixed in time before I have my life come crashing down again. Not like it has not happened before. I have 6 kids that depend on me keeping my job and my life together. I am going thru getting divorced.

UPDATE: So last several days have been rough but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Found out the combination of Adderall and Effexor in me causes Serotonin Syndrom. This apparently has happened more than once before with other medication combinations. So though I am going thru Effexor withdraws due to emergency immediate stoppage my hope for a better tomorrow is very high. Also the fact that I have gone to a game night with other Aspies has shown me that life does not always suck and I just have not had the help that I needed for a while.

[emmasue]

I am sorry to hear that you are going through a rough time. I think it is best to speak to your doctor. I don't have any experience of autism medications, although I am on anti-depressants. I have the problem that the anti-depressants make me sleepy which make it harder for me to keep up which makes me depressed. However, when I tried to come off of them, I found I couldn't cope. It's a tricky balance. Be kind to yourself and I hope you find your balance.