Anti-depressants (alone) might not work if you have ADHD

[NZkiwi]

mods please remove if not allowed

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TL;DR
Anti-depressants (alone) might not work if you have ADHD
- may needs meds and/or therapy

There is also a significant overlap between ADHD and PTSD syptoms.
And ADHD meds (alone) may not work if you have PTSD
(PTSD = nightmares +/- flashbacks) e.g. childhood sexual assault, car crash etc

ADHD meds (alone) may not work if you have boarderline personality disorder


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I am on a train heading to another city, so I have some time to kill.


Disclaimer:
- I am not a health professional on this forum
- I am just some dude on the internet
- Please take everything here with a grain of salt
- this is just my perspective, please don't flame me <3

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I am assuming y'all know anti-depressents are prescribed by doctors to those who are anxious and/or depressed
I guess that's why we're on this forum.


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Definitions
- ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
I call it, executive planning disorder, easier to understand
Has 3 subtypes (DSM-V)
- hyperactive/impulsivity (bouncing off the walls)
- inattentive (day dreaming) -- common and often missed in women
- Mixed (both of Above)

Treatment:
- Stimulate medications (ritalin, adderal, dexamphetamine) are commonly prescribed
- Therapy has been shown have similar efficacy to medication
- Often not responsive to most anti-depressents (i think atomoxetine is the only one I am aware of that is used for some ADHD)
- people often self medicate with lots of energy drinks, and ciggies/vapes
- fun fact, in USA, the "final line" medication for ADHD is methamphetamine


If you think you have ADHD, common anti-depressants (SSRI's TCA's, SNRI's) alone may not work for you
bupropion and lithium have showed partial efficacy for ADHD (these both also don't interfere with your sex life from personal experience)
atomoxetine (anti-depressent) is used for ADHD treatment altho unsure how common this is used overseas.

For me the ADHD meds I got as an adult were so helpful and I wish I was on them when I was younger.
Your milage might very

This is also not against anti-depressants, I think it's whack-a-mole to find the right one.
Anti-depressants (to my limited knowledge) don't neccisarily take away suicidal thoughts.
To my limited knowledge, they commonly increases someones energy level first, and then their mood later on.
I think Lithium has been shown to be the one of the few medications to reduce suicidality, I guess that's why I am on it.
Anti-depressants have been shown to work for pure melencholy and anxiety, but I guess a lot of sadness can be situational.


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There is also a significant overlap between ADHD and PTSD syptoms.
And ADHD meds may not work if you have PTSD
PTSD - post traumatic stress disorder.
- Often has nightmares and flashbacks
- Cause of traumatic event (e.g. Childhood SA, car crash etc)
- Mentioning here is overlap between ADHD and PTSD hence mentioning here
- Novel treatment includes EMDR (oversimplification: moving eyes rapidly and then talking about your deepest feelings/thoughts)
- there are some meds here but I won't mention them in this post as I am not a health professional here :P


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ADHD meds may not work if you have boarderline personality disorder
I prefer the term "relational affective disorder" ie bad experiences at maintaning relationships
Treatment here is DBT -- ie talk therapy (feel free to vent away in this forum, I think it's a safe space for it)


Happy to try to answer some basic questions. Again I am not a health professional on this forum. I might need to ask a few more questions to you to understand what you mean before responding.


Wishing you all the best regaurdless of what ever choice you all make

 

[timf]

Some practice psychiatric medicine with a sort of, 'Let's throe this at it and see what happens" approach. This can be rough on those with side effects or for whom a particular medication is inappropriate. Each person has to be their own advocate to make sure that what is given actually works.

 

[dwindull]

SSRIs have always made my attention/focus worse. If I didn't need to be on them for my current issues Id have stayed off permanently.

Wellbutrin in my experience works really well with Depression and ADHD though. 8/10 experience if side effects weren't a thing for me

Adderall/Vyvanse are gigabased, hope to get back on one day.

 

[Ticket]

Thanks for posting this. I'm tired of how common it is for health professionals to not be educated enough on ADHD and it's a constant struggle to have to advocate for myself.

Kudos on the mention for women too. ADHD is commonly missed for girls because symptoms can show up differently compared to boys and women often go undiagnosed until later adulthood...

If this helps anyone consider this angle with their medical professional, that would be great. Sometimes it's ADHD that's the primary issue rather than depression or other.

For me, being medicated for ADHD definitely makes my life easier rather than being additionally depressed because I can't do things even when I desperately want to. (I get asked by health professionals if I wanted it so much or if I was struggling so much then why didn't I get help sooner or consistently... It's a complete disregard of the symptoms itself.)

Wellbutrin/bupropion is one of the good ones when it works. Unfortunately I started getting rough side effects and they outweigh any remaining benefits for me... I had no idea but it can cause hallucinations and psychosis.

I also have (c)PTSD among other things. There's overlap and they can also be comorbid.

Good luck to anyone finding the right cocktail of medications or just the right medication with their healthcare professional to make this life easier.