New to adhd medication, kinda scared of doctors?

Be sure you have a doctor or psychiatrist that will LISTEN to you! If you don’t like the Dr you see first, don’t be afraid to switch! Meds are tough! What works for me and my body may not work for you and your body. It takes time and patience. It takes being in tune with your body and its reaction 100%. When you find the right med or combo of meds, you will know it and feel the relief!

One thing I wish I would have learned, and then followed through on from the beginning, is that psychiatrists are WAY more helpful than doctors! At least in my experience… I was diagnosed at 19-20yrs. and was prescribed Strattera, which instead of helping just made me feel really sick. Still, I took it for years because I was young, knew next to nothing about what ADHD actually is, and blindly trusted my doctor. After that, it was really hard for me to find a doctor that would treat anyone with ADHD at all. Maybe my RSD (that I also knew nothing about) played a part, but all of it made me feel like I was doing something wrong. It made me uncomfortable, so naturally I quit and went unmedicated for a long time. That was until my husband (at the time) said he’d leave if I didn’t do something (don’t worry, I eventually did the leaving😉). I found a really old doctor, who seemed kinda sketchy, but not only did he take me on as a patient, but was outraged that my other doctor had me on a med that made me sick for so long without trying anything else. I cried in his office because it was the first time I felt validated instead of judged. I’ll forever be grateful to him for getting me on the right path with Ritalin, but honestly he wasn’t a thorough doctor in any other capacity. I moved on to another doctor who would continue the prescription but not change it at all. (BTW, Ritalin was so much better than nothing, but it made me feel up and then down and never lasted long enough). Fast forward a few babies later… It wasn’t until I had pretty bad postpartum anxiety two years ago, that my OB got me in touch with a psychiatrist. That is what changed my life! Both of the ones I’ve had LISTEN and they are comfortable with and actually understand the medications. In the last two years I’ve gone from ritalin to concerta (little better but still not great), to Focalin (weirdly made my feet tingle🤔), and then Adderall (helps me so much more, especially with mood- no extreme high to low). I still struggle a lot though, so she has recently added Intuniv (Guanfacine). It’s still a little too soon to tell, but I am feeling hopeful. Now I’m wondering if I’ve answered the question and for sure know I’ve said waaayy too much, BUT I will probably push the send button anyway😂. But how could you expect anything less on here?! Haha! Seriously though, Good Luck! It never goes away, but it can be better…

As long as your doctor is listening to you and willing to work with you, my biggest help has been being 100% overly honest. Since it is hard to remember everything between visits, I do a “body scan” as part of my nightly journaling - that way I can take it into appointments and know all the impacts and we can make a plan.

Hi! I was also terrified to try new medications (I found out I had adhd when I was 23) I just turned 25, anyways it was tricky in the beginning only because we needed to find out the right medication and dosage, I didn’t have a horrible experience. My only downside was “crashing” when they wore off which was just a long nap. I’m now on a med that works for me and it’s a game changer, I actually feel productive and better when I take it because it helps me focus but it is not a solution or problem solved to everything (personally that’s just how I feel) I need to make sure I eat before I take the meds because it suppresses my appetite and I carry around water all day because it’ll help my mind not feel foggy , a good tip my therapist gave me is to drink a protein shake in the morning, I didn’t have any trouble being diagnosed I had some concerns and reached out for help and my intuition was right