[Starfly]

I am a 38 year old female and I feel my ADD is getting worse. My mind feels too overwhelmed at times and I find myself blanking out and staring off into space more. I do not notice people talking to me during these times. They usually give up (hard to keep and make friends) or they have to yell or shake my arm. I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I don't really want to up my meds anymore as I am already taking 40mg of Adderall a day. Is this ADD related or could it be something else. If it doesn't get better I will be addressing it with my PDOC on next f/u apt.

[Claire2015]

Do you have caffine or sugar these can exacerbate the symptoms more. Exercise is very useful and is a natural remedy for a lot of mental illnesses. Do you have anxiety? I have it but not ADD however i find my mind stuck on worrying thoughts now and again. If i exercise or do something i like such as watch tv, play guitar, be creative etc i channel my thoughts into that.

Maybe you need to speak to your doc if you can switch meds as i know people with ADHD who have different meds as they handle it differently to one another.

Claire

[behappynow]

Originally Posted by Starfly

I am a 38 year old female and I feel my ADD is getting worse. My mind feels too overwhelmed at times and I find myself blanking out and staring off into space more. I do not notice people talking to me during these times. They usually give up (hard to keep and make friends) or they have to yell or shake my arm. I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I don't really want to up my meds anymore as I am already taking 40mg of Adderall a day. Is this ADD related or could it be something else. If it doesn't get better I will be addressing it with my PDOC on next f/u apt.

Definitely tell your pdoc about it. I take Vyvanse and it seems to work, maybe you could try switching to Vyvanse, or a methylphenidate-based medication, such as Concerta. All the best!

Originally Posted by Starfly

I am a 38 year old female and I feel my ADD is getting worse. My mind feels too overwhelmed at times and I find myself blanking out and staring off into space more. I do not notice people talking to me during these times. They usually give up (hard to keep and make friends) or they have to yell or shake my arm. I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I don't really want to up my meds anymore as I am already taking 40mg of Adderall a day. Is this ADD related or could it be something else. If it doesn't get better I will be addressing it with my PDOC on next f/u apt.

hope it gets better for you.

i don't really know much about it (just knew at 1 stage a few people with ADHD)

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by Claire2015

Do you have caffine or sugar these can exacerbate the symptoms more. Exercise is very useful and is a natural remedy for a lot of mental illnesses. Do you have anxiety? I have it but not ADD however i find my mind stuck on worrying thoughts now and again. If i exercise or do something i like such as watch tv, play guitar, be creative etc i channel my thoughts into that.

Maybe you need to speak to your doc if you can switch meds as i know people with ADHD who have different meds as they handle it differently to one another.

Claire

Yes I have dx of anxiety for which I take 5 mg of Valium as needed. I don't like to take it too often. I also have a dx of depression for which I take 150 mg of Wellbutrion. So, to answer your question I do get quite anxious a lot and my mind thinks of a million different thing at once. It is so hard some times to differentiate my anxiety from ADD. It is like they go hand and hand. Kind of like the chicken and the egg question, which came first? I find it strange how I behave at times. Like I put things off, like work tasks, so they can build up. Once it is built up enough then my mind is totally stimulated to do a superb job. When I don't have, what I think, is enough external stimuli then my mind goes to a completely different planet!!

I do need more exercise. I get some but with pretty much everything in my life, I am bad at procrastinating. I think, yes...yes I will walk today then I make too many excuses not to!!

Thanks for listening to me. I find it helpful just to talk about. I have come to terms that my mental illness will be with me for life. I am just constantly trying to reach out and learn better coping mechanisms.

The world sees me as an intelligent, strong, hard working person but it totally contradicts what I have going on in my head!! I guess over the years I have done a good job hiding things. But the stupid ADD has always interfered with relationships with others. People think I am a snob or ignoring them or just a weird o that stares a lot...lol

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by behappynow

Definitely tell your pdoc about it. I take Vyvanse and it seems to work, maybe you could try switching to Vyvanse, or a methylphenidate-based medication, such as Concerta. All the best!

I guess I get scared of switching meds. My insurance does not cover much, only Ritalin which I am terrified to try. I can get my Adderall for 25 dollars out of pocket. Perhaps maybe I need to try uping it just a bit more?

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

hope it gets better for you.

i don't really know much about it (just knew at 1 stage a few people with ADHD)

Thank you. I have good days and have bad days. Thankfully I do think I have more good than bad. But darnit, when it is a bad day it is a REALLY bad day!!

[xiare]

How's your sleep been?

[behappynow]

Originally Posted by Starfly

I guess I get scared of switching meds. My insurance does not cover much, only Ritalin which I am terrified to try. I can get my Adderall for 25 dollars out of pocket. Perhaps maybe I need to try uping it just a bit more?

Concerta is a longer acting version of Ritalin, do you think your insurance would cover that? See your pdoc soon and suggest upping the dosage, hopefully that will help

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by xiare

How's your sleep been?

I fall asleep easily each night but usually wake up two or three times a night but then go right back to sleep. On the odd occasion I have troubles falling asleep or I am up at 4 am. It all depends on my anxiety and chronic pain.

[xiare]

Originally Posted by Starfly

I fall asleep easily each night but usually wake up two or three times a night but then go right back to sleep. On the odd occasion I have troubles falling asleep or I am up at 4 am. It all depends on my anxiety and chronic pain.

I find that my concentration is completely completely shot if I have poor sleep + high stress.

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by behappynow

Concerta is a longer acting version of Ritalin, do you think your insurance would cover that? See your pdoc soon and suggest upping the dosage, hopefully that will help

Nope, since I am over 18 with a dx of ADD my insurance will only cover Ritalin .....it sucks!! Yes I am definitely gonna talk about my dosage. I really hate having to take bigger doses of Adderall but I can't stand falling off the planet by around 2 or 3pm!!! The Wellbutrion is supposed to help with depression and ADD but I can only tell a difference with the depression. I get really strange out of it dreams from the Wellbutrion. Maybe that is why I wake up 2 or 3 times during the night.

[Starfly]

Originally Posted by xiare

I find that my concentration is completely completely shot if I have poor sleep + high stress.

Gotcha! I possible may not be getting "proper" sleep even though I think I am.

[Claire2015]

Originally Posted by Starfly

Yes I have dx of anxiety for which I take 5 mg of Valium as needed. I don't like to take it too often. I also have a dx of depression for which I take 150 mg of Wellbutrion. So, to answer your question I do get quite anxious a lot and my mind thinks of a million different thing at once. It is so hard some times to differentiate my anxiety from ADD. It is like they go hand and hand. Kind of like the chicken and the egg question, which came first? I find it strange how I behave at times. Like I put things off, like work tasks, so they can build up. Once it is built up enough then my mind is totally stimulated to do a superb job. When I don't have, what I think, is enough external stimuli then my mind goes to a completely different planet!!

I do need more exercise. I get some but with pretty much everything in my life, I am bad at procrastinating. I think, yes...yes I will walk today then I make too many excuses not to!!

Thanks for listening to me. I find it helpful just to talk about. I have come to terms that my mental illness will be with me for life. I am just constantly trying to reach out and learn better coping mechanisms.

The world sees me as an intelligent, strong, hard working person but it totally contradicts what I have going on in my head!! I guess over the years I have done a good job hiding things. But the stupid ADD has always interfered with relationships with others. People think I am a snob or ignoring them or just a weird o that stares a lot...lol

It is good you are treating the anxiety and depression hopefully that will make it easier to manage the ADD, i'd defo go and check with your doc if you're able to try different meds for ADD which should hopefully work. That is a really good comparison with the chicken and the egg, i have an understanding that ADHD like other mental conditions have comorbid conditions so it is brilliant that you're aware of them and are able to treat them all consecutively.

That is pretty cool that you can motivate yourself once it builds up just be careful you don't overwhelm yourself doing so otherwise you may go back to square one. I think a lot of people have that same idea of exercise where you delay it... I know i do haha, the thought of effort and hard work is daunting so i end up telling myself i'll do it another time... Then forget i even planned to do so by which time it is too late so i plan the next day and the next so on so fourth.

I am glad i did cause talking things out can be very therapeutic. I understand it is like you have a computer but no manual, you try and use someone elses but i doesn't work so you make your own. Once you find those coping mechanisms you'll be able to use your ADD to the best of your ability.

I had a friend like that, she was often judged before people understood her and took the time to get to know her, it was heartbreaking to watch. I fully believe ADHD'ers are intelligent just have so much going on at once it is hard to convey it to others. You're constantly multitasking so don't take it personally if someone judges you or misunderstands you cause people like that you don't need in your life.

Best wishes

Claire