Here’s my anxiety/ADHD journey:
Lexapro: Could not orgasm. My elbows became weirdly restless and I couldn’t sleep for more than four hours. Started becoming manic. I didn’t want to commit suicide, but the idea didn’t really upset me, either.
Zoloft: Everything with the Lexapro except the anorgasmia.
Wellbutrin: Angry as all hell for two weeks, then that gave way into a drooling stupor where I was content to just do nothing. At least with my ADHD I could do half of something.
Duloxetine: Ever wanted to sleep more than a day? Take this. I couldn’t stay awake for more than two hours at a time before sleeping 5-10 hours again. Also had a side effect called “excessive, disrupting, and disturbing yawning”. I’d have yawn attacks that would last 20-30 yawns. They were actually kind of frightening.
In the end I wound up going back to Kratom. None of the above worked for me. I seemed to have every side affect in the book.
Edit: I will make an honorable mention for Hydroxyzine. Its like a super benadryl. Its like… part anti-histamine, part anti-anxiety, and part pain reliever. Its generally super safe; it doesn’t mess with your body’s chemical balance.
That means you can take a hydroxyzine with most other meds and safely drink on it (it does compound the dizzyness and sleepyness so do NOT drive). Here’s the good part: with ADHD one standard pill will put you into a calm focus and you’ll feel awake (roughly 4-6 hours). Two at bedtime has the severe side effect of pillow drooling. You’ll go night night and it won’t force you to sleep (which tends to give me even worse panic attacks).
And it is EXTREMELY easy to get a prescription for, since its probably one of the safest and least mind altering anti anxiety you can take.
Having them was really nice. I had such an easier time staying on top of my health and fitness, the tidiness of my home, getting my work done, and working on hobbies. I didn’t love feeling drained at the end of the day when I crashed, but on balance, it was an improvement to my life.
Then there was a shortage, so I couldn’t get it, and my doctor said that she wouldn’t prescribe it for me any more anyway, until I stopped using cannabis (even though it’s legal here). And now my new doctor can’t get any of my diagnosis paperwork and doesn’t want to prescribe it until I get tested again.
It’s like the process for getting ADHD meds is uniquely designed to be difficult to navigate for people with ADHD.
I didn’t love feeling drained at the end of the day when I crashed
That can be eliminated completely: Don’t let the loss of appetite fool you, eat by exact calorie count & clock, against all instincts. Don’t take it in the morning without enough food either. After anything that would require a rest otherwise, such as a long walk, even after lunch when you didn’t have enough sleep at night, certainly after a workout, take as much rest as you’d normally need, even when you don’t feel like it. Even 20 minutes cleaning, 10 minutes rest; don’t go into a cleaning frenzy.
It goes to zero. (Experiences may vary, but I went from crashing after 3 - 4 hours to no crashes at all, being happy and productive after 14 minutes awake, then fall asleep instantly.)
she wouldn’t prescribe it for me any more anyway, until I stopped using cannabis (even though it’s legal here)
For what it’s worth, don’t discount that type of advice. Get a second opinion if you think they’re wrong, but it’s just that there really are a lot of medications that can have unintended interactions with other substances, legal or otherwise.
And now my new doctor can’t get any of my diagnosis paperwork and doesn’t want to prescribe it until I get tested again.
FML thats a thing?!
They won’t prescribe you your meds if you use cannabis? What the fuck?
Cannabis is the only way I can function anymore even with my ADHD (I also have EDS and I’m constantly in pain, the ADHD is probably related to the EDS actually, and not a proper manifestation of ADHD)
Yeah, I didn’t particularly like that doctor. After I had a bad bout of depression, she started treating me like I was an addict drug-seeking, even though I used my meds at work and never used cannabis at work because, you know, rules and stuff.
I have a hard time believing that she was that critical of prescribing to people who use alcohol on a regular basis.
The double standard is real, that really blows friendo, I hope you’ve found a better doctor now, or are at least seeking one out.
It’s wild the spectrum of doctors, my psychiatrist gave me the go-ahead to keep using my psychedelics of choice as long as I do detailed trip reports (psychedelics can be super helpful for depression and (c) PTSD, but you need to use them right)
Ahh man, I’d almost missed my appointment with the psych’ recently. At least my new one is local and easy to schedule with, get along well and are happy to trial Dexies’ (been on Ritalin for ~1yr)
Previously I could only find someone to prescribe me remotely, I’d spent ~10 months waiting for an appointment for the Psych’ to quit that clinic. Waited another 6 months and landed a script.
For me it’s been a significant improvement to my life, just took me until I was almost 40 to get diagnosed.
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You’re out of your fucking mind.
To anyone reading: don’t do this. Ever.
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It’s not witchcraft though. I too have put a lot of hope into getting my medication, but honestly it just keeps my mood in a healthy range and makes it a little easier to get on with things / stay on track.
It still requires personal effort and discipline to get anything done as I imagined
The process to get medicated is so tedious, but can be absolutely worth it!
Ritalin didn’t do much for me, even at the highest dose it helped me spend a little less time on the phone while getting distracted by other things instead, while completely killing my appetite.
Since ~2 months I’m on Lisdexamphetamine, and it really made a massive difference. Writing papers used to be an absolute struggle against myself, while now it’s just something I don’t enjoy but push through. Downside is the crash in the evening, when the symptoms come back in force. But part of it is definitely the fact that I still try to use every minute of focus like before, with the difference now that I am much more focused in general
They don’t fix anything, they just make it a bit easier to change habits. But, sometimes that’s all people need. I hope they work well for you. ＼(^_^)／ Protein, exercise, hydration and good sleep are important for them to work right.
I tried them. It fucked with my gut, my sleep, and my personality… same thing happened to my son who was encouraged to take them by his mom.
Bottom line is almost anyone I’ve ever known who was prescribed ADHD meds didn’t want to keep taking them and stopped at some point; only exception being my sister who is on more of a broad spectrum anxiety/depression med that also may treat ADHD.
Yep, same story for me. Was on them for probably a year and it changed my mood in ways I did not like. It became noticeable to my wife and she hated how short I would get. It also made me hyper-fixate way too hard on things.
Same story when I was a kid too. They misdiagnosed me as hyperactive but I am not. So the meds I got basically put me the fuck to sleep. I quit using them after like 1-2 uses because I was sleeping in class, which was completely out of character for me (I was never a great student but I never slept in class).
best I can do is off-label use of Welbutrin
Lets try every alternative and off label med first, even though I can already see you’ve done that several times.
Throw some Strattera on top of that for even more fun!
Welbutrin did nothing for my ADD, but Strattera and Welbutrin together do an OK job of managing it. The side effects of the Strattera aren’t great (no appetite, occasional decoupling of orgasm and ejaculation, mild ED), but it does make living easier overall. I’ll probably get stimulants again at some point but for the meantime the combo is working well enough.
I love beging not in them. 🫸
I was on meds and quit. Hated the mood changes.
