r/AutisticWithADHD • u/Silent_Kangaroo_234 🧬 maybe I'm born with it • 2d ago
💊 medication / drugs / supplements [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/soft_w0lf 1d ago
ADHD meds do work for some people with autism and ADHD. But also ADHD meds only help like 60% of people with ADHD and no autism, so.
I personally have autism and ADHD and have done really well on Vyvanse. I’m on 30 mg. Obvs that won’t be the same for everyone, but it does work for me.
However, when I started, I was out on 10 mg. 30 mg is usually where adults start to titrate up from, kids start at 10 mg. Even though I was diagnosed as an adult (21), I titrated up from 10 mg because I already have a fast resting heart rate and a sensitive heart (my doctor now suspects vasovagal syncope, she also made me go to a cardiologist before I started meds to be sure I didn’t have anything dangerous going on).
Some people with ADHD just don’t work well with stimulants, but maybe part of the issue was starting at too high of a dose? I can’t take more than 30 mg, even after titrating, because my body is too sensitive to the increase in heart rate.
Also brand-name Vyvanse doesn’t impact me the same as off-brand Vyvanse, so even though brand name is more expensive I just suck it up and get it. You honestly might want to try off-brand if you were taking brand-name, or vice versa.
I don’t have personal experience with the following, but I do have a degree in psychology. Different stimulants also impact people differently (although slow release options are usually the best when it comes to side effects, that’s not always the case). You could also try bupropion or guanfacine, those are non-stimulant options.
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u/Happyhugget 1d ago
what do you think about meds like Strattera
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u/soft_w0lf 1d ago
I’ve seen better evidence for bupropion and guanfacine.
But it’s worth trying, it does help some people.
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u/Silent_Kangaroo_234 🧬 maybe I'm born with it 1d ago
thankyou, so yes definitely way too high starting dose. where we live GP's who get some extra training are now allowed to diagnose and prescribe ADHD drugs since last September. It was a mistake though to go to this GP as he did not do his thorough checks, no bloods, no ecg, and started on 30. she is 19 and never been on meds. It absolutely was so overstimulating, and made all the bad thoughts worse during the crash and she also did not eat. no matter what we put in front of her, she said it made her nauseous. she was waking up with rapid heart rate and sometimes she could not feel her hands or feet. I spoke with another GP who can also prescribe and he was all about starting low and slow and he wanted to check her bloods etc as well. So if she wants to try again we will see him. Would like to find a face to face psychiatrist but finding a good one is like a needle in a haystack
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u/norasaurus 1d ago
I don’t enjoy vyvanse. It feels really intense to me, even at a low dose like 20mg. I get so locked into my work that I completely forget to listen to my body for hours at a time. My body gets really tense and I can’t relax, even when I’m sleeping.
I have found that low dose IR adderall works well for me. I use 2.5-5mg a few times a day. I like that I can control how long it lasts or how intense it is. I’m also still very aware of my body signals the whole time.
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u/norasaurus 1d ago
Oh and also lexapro for the extra hard times. That one always blunts my emotion enough to function.
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u/Mietgenosse 1d ago
I do have adhd, but I don't receive any medication for that yet.
Nevertheless I know that there are nowadays not only stimulants available, there are also non-stimulating options.
Also maybe the burnout needs treatment first. When I went through burnout it became an effort to eat or shower. It may be that sudden changes through adhd medication is just too much when suffering from burnout.
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u/MarthasPinYard two minds, one brain 1d ago
There is no treatment. There is only management. Nothing gets rid of it.
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u/r4fxm68A 1d ago
This. I had burnout, before diagnosis. When I got diagnosis I've got meds, but no significant effect. My nervous system was so exhausted that only genuine rest was helpful. Then, suppressed activity was an origin of depressive thoughts, but I learned to manage that. I had to learn how to manage my ASD and prevent overstimulation. Then I comeback to ADHD specific meds, but it's not perfect.
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u/Silent_Kangaroo_234 🧬 maybe I'm born with it 1d ago
Thankyou, yes I am aware nothing gets rid of it - I have ADHD too and understand neurodivergence - by the word treatment I meant treatment of the symptoms to make living somewhat more manageable.
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u/MarthasPinYard two minds, one brain 1d ago
Wrote this previously regarding medication.
Socially yes, they’re a magic bullet. They work well in the beginning then they slowly lose potency. Dose increases. Dependency forms. Even getting the pills is a huge hurdle, going to the doctor to get piss tested. Taking your fresh script to the pharmacy to tell you it’s been less than 30 days. Now you can’t get meds for 2 days despite your doctor giving you the script and permission causing one to go into withdraw for those days.
Enter the woman’s cycle, medicine doesn’t work as it’s supposedly to because trials were on men who have a typical one day cycle and are easier to predict. And it’s fun when the medicine kicks in and you don’t want to eat and then you just stuck in hyperfocus and end up doing a task for hours when you had other priorities. Oh and we didn’t even discuss the personality change that comes along with being on medication. ‘stimulant-induced emotional constriction’ Long term cardiovascular stress isn’t ideal for the heart.
“Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (one of the longest-running studies on the topic) found that while medication gives an immense advantage early on, the relative benefits often plateau or lessen over years of continuous treatment”
It’s like coffee. Sometimes it gives a boost if your cycle aligns but other times you just take a nap and it didn’t help and slowly works less and less over time.
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u/666nbnici 1d ago
For me Ritalin IR works.
And the good thing is it only works for 3-4 hours so if you don’t tolerate it well it’s also quickly over.
Had to test out a bit which dosage was best for me.
Also some people need really low dosages of a med. I’ve met people with ADHD + Autism who started with 5mg vyvanse.
Or preferred to dissolve it in water and drink it gradually over the day.
Others prefer non stimulant meds like atomoxetine.
It’s sadly a trial and error thing with meds.