I managed to get a final consultation with the psychiatrist that diagnosed me with ADHD (I’m switching to another cheaper practice). They suggested mood stabilizers as the most promising route, which also came up in my own personal research a couple months back after I have stopped taking any regular medication for ADHD or GAD.
I have been put on SSRIs (sertraline and citalopram), Stimulants (Lisdexamfetamine and long-acting methylphenidate), and non-stimulants (atomoxetine) from different doctors. I had been titrating ADHD medications concurrently with citalopram but stopped taking either a few months back.
All of them had mixed to negative results, in emotional instability, (low) mood changes, crashes, insomnia and/or physical side-effects (palpitations and other heart-related effects). Most are not manageable.
I’m becoming to learn that my symptoms face a sort of cyclicality, in which there are periods (day to day, week by week, but also season by season) where executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation especially are more pronounced. This makes it difficult to manage my chronic illnesses, necessary day-to-day chores, and university.
mrfugu [he/him, any] - 9mon
not sure how helpful this is since I’ve never engaged in any SSRIs but I switched from adderall to straterra a couple months ago and not taking an amphetamine for adhd has helped a lot for my mood issues. Honestly my theory is that my instability is likely heavily tied to shitty eating habits as a result of the amphetamines.
TBF my adderall dose was already pretty low (2 x 7.5mg) and the straterra definitely has much milder effects. But it’s not like the amphetamine effects guaranteed productive work, I’d often get hyper focused on shit I didn’t need to do so even tho the effects are lesser I’m not sure it’s a net negative at all.
3
peripateticpeasant [none/use name] - 9mon
Honestly my theory is that my instability is likely heavily tied to shitty eating habits as a result of the amphetamines.
Yeah eating habits plays a large role in my mood aswell, but what I noticed when I was on amphetamines was that even though it lowered my appetite, it was offset by better mental clarity to just eat when you’re supposed to and not get distracted, while also reducing the increased irritability and anxiety I get when hungry.
Strattera was a weird one for me, I didn’t try it for longer than a week because it had some extreme personal side-effects.
1
KnilAdlez [none/use name] - 9mon
I'm not a doctor, far from it, but have you been screened for or considered that you might have bipolar disorder or Cyclothymia? Mood stabilizers would help a lot in that case.
3
peripateticpeasant [none/use name] - 9mon
It’s been on my radar for sure. I’m suspecting comorbidity if anything, because I do fit the inattention bill of ADHD and the cyclicity of Bipolar disorder.
I’ll see what the new doctor says.
3
BadTakesHaver [he/him, they/them] - 9mon
i have some experience with them. when I was on ADHD and emotional meds similar to yours I found I was able to manage day to day chores exceptionally well and my emotions were stable.
that doesn't mean my emotions were perfect, though. Negative emotions were much less noticeable but also I felt much less Joy in many of my hobbies and the things that normally made me happy.
Also, in my relationships, I found that I perceived people in a very different way. I still made decisions with people based on logic and empathy etc but I felt like I did not care about people as individuals as much. I felt uncaring about other people's emotions slightly.
Your experiences may vary. For some people that kind of dose might be exactly what they need. For others, that kind of emotional change can be upsetting and disturbing
3
peripateticpeasant [none/use name] - 9mon
Thanks for this. I felt the same when I was on stimulants + SSRI, being better able to do daily chores. However I had great emotional instability when I was running with both. Lisdexamfetamine in particular triggered manic episodes, methylphenidate was a bit lesser in intensity but the crashes were too intense and mood changes were still there.
There was a few times where I was only on citalopram that lead to the “blunting” of emotions that you describe. I would also add that my emotions were more stable, but I had quite a persistent depressive episode throughout, with a greater anxious “low”, if that makes sense.
After stopping any ADHD meds and going back to Citalopram only, was when I realised that SSRIs and other anti-depressants were not the way to go, reaffirming a prior conclusion I had a few years back but wanted to try again to see if it actually helped this time.
Now being “sober” from any medication, I think mood stabilizers/anti-psychotics + a stimulant is probably the way forward.
3
HootinNHollerin @lemmy.dbzer0.com - 9mon
I went to a psychiatrist again and he said I’m bipolar 2 and took me off antidepressants as they increase instability. Put me in mood stabilizer then after a few months started on low dose of adhd for executive disfunction and adhd symptoms. A few months later added low dose of welbuterin for depression symptoms. He wouldn’t do anything without the mood stabilizer first as you have to get things stable then can shift that baseline up
peripateticpeasant in neurodiverse
Any experience with mood stabilizers for ADHD?
I managed to get a final consultation with the psychiatrist that diagnosed me with ADHD (I’m switching to another cheaper practice). They suggested mood stabilizers as the most promising route, which also came up in my own personal research a couple months back after I have stopped taking any regular medication for ADHD or GAD.
I have been put on SSRIs (sertraline and citalopram), Stimulants (Lisdexamfetamine and long-acting methylphenidate), and non-stimulants (atomoxetine) from different doctors. I had been titrating ADHD medications concurrently with citalopram but stopped taking either a few months back.
All of them had mixed to negative results, in emotional instability, (low) mood changes, crashes, insomnia and/or physical side-effects (palpitations and other heart-related effects). Most are not manageable.
I’m becoming to learn that my symptoms face a sort of cyclicality, in which there are periods (day to day, week by week, but also season by season) where executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation especially are more pronounced. This makes it difficult to manage my chronic illnesses, necessary day-to-day chores, and university.
not sure how helpful this is since I’ve never engaged in any SSRIs but I switched from adderall to straterra a couple months ago and not taking an amphetamine for adhd has helped a lot for my mood issues. Honestly my theory is that my instability is likely heavily tied to shitty eating habits as a result of the amphetamines.
TBF my adderall dose was already pretty low (2 x 7.5mg) and the straterra definitely has much milder effects. But it’s not like the amphetamine effects guaranteed productive work, I’d often get hyper focused on shit I didn’t need to do so even tho the effects are lesser I’m not sure it’s a net negative at all.
Yeah eating habits plays a large role in my mood aswell, but what I noticed when I was on amphetamines was that even though it lowered my appetite, it was offset by better mental clarity to just eat when you’re supposed to and not get distracted, while also reducing the increased irritability and anxiety I get when hungry.
Strattera was a weird one for me, I didn’t try it for longer than a week because it had some extreme personal side-effects.
I'm not a doctor, far from it, but have you been screened for or considered that you might have bipolar disorder or Cyclothymia? Mood stabilizers would help a lot in that case.
It’s been on my radar for sure. I’m suspecting comorbidity if anything, because I do fit the inattention bill of ADHD and the cyclicity of Bipolar disorder.
I’ll see what the new doctor says.
i have some experience with them. when I was on ADHD and emotional meds similar to yours I found I was able to manage day to day chores exceptionally well and my emotions were stable.
that doesn't mean my emotions were perfect, though. Negative emotions were much less noticeable but also I felt much less Joy in many of my hobbies and the things that normally made me happy.
Also, in my relationships, I found that I perceived people in a very different way. I still made decisions with people based on logic and empathy etc but I felt like I did not care about people as individuals as much. I felt uncaring about other people's emotions slightly.
Your experiences may vary. For some people that kind of dose might be exactly what they need. For others, that kind of emotional change can be upsetting and disturbing
Thanks for this. I felt the same when I was on stimulants + SSRI, being better able to do daily chores. However I had great emotional instability when I was running with both. Lisdexamfetamine in particular triggered manic episodes, methylphenidate was a bit lesser in intensity but the crashes were too intense and mood changes were still there.
There was a few times where I was only on citalopram that lead to the “blunting” of emotions that you describe. I would also add that my emotions were more stable, but I had quite a persistent depressive episode throughout, with a greater anxious “low”, if that makes sense.
After stopping any ADHD meds and going back to Citalopram only, was when I realised that SSRIs and other anti-depressants were not the way to go, reaffirming a prior conclusion I had a few years back but wanted to try again to see if it actually helped this time.
Now being “sober” from any medication, I think mood stabilizers/anti-psychotics + a stimulant is probably the way forward.
I went to a psychiatrist again and he said I’m bipolar 2 and took me off antidepressants as they increase instability. Put me in mood stabilizer then after a few months started on low dose of adhd for executive disfunction and adhd symptoms. A few months later added low dose of welbuterin for depression symptoms. He wouldn’t do anything without the mood stabilizer first as you have to get things stable then can shift that baseline up