Hi all -- I love this! I was FINALLY diagnosed 4 years ago at the age of 41 and, after some trial and error, was put on Concerta! I love it. For years I was told - You have depression -- take ___ [fill in the name of an anti depressant] and that will fix it! -- Adults do not have ADD! Women do not have ADD! But you can't be hyperactive, you must be Bi-polar because women are not hyperactive! You grow out of ADD! Wrong!! I am classic AD/HD - Life is becoming quite interesting.

Got my Concerta! Groovy! Only it didn't work very well 2 or 3 days before my period. PMS = Ritalin not working. I could deal, everyone else does, right? Besides it was predictable, etc....

Then bang! last year I started to have "female" problems and my period went all over the place. The doc says peri-menopause. Merde! So, then my Concerta was not working and I was hating life again! (snatched from the jaws of death only to be thrown back again!!!) More ritalin did not work, dexidrine did not work & HRT made my body stablize in PMS --- AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH. The doc says she can just put me in menopause and I will be hormonally stable. But I keep thinking, where will I stabilize? With meds working or not?

So, 6 months ago, I stopped the HRT and began Black Cohosh and Soy. Wahoo! So far, so good. Not perfect but much more stable (Now I get night sweats as a warning 4 days before my period - instead of drowning my boyfriend and the cats everynight!) The Concerta works again! BUT for how long? Gotta go through it sometime.

That, my friends, is the crappy part of being the first generation of actually diagnosed female ADDers! "They" have NO idea what is going on with us, so we are kinda stuck helping each other along with as much information as possible. Oh well, it always seems to go like that! Thank God we are good at that!

Anecdotal info is great! I have found that most of my anecdotal connections and observations get validated by other women (and later by the "official" medical community!) -- we are the pioneers --- sucks huh! (yes, I could be positive and say how exciting it all is -- but I am kinda tired of schlogging my way through the mud to survive all my life so I am not in a chipper and cheerful moods these days -- sorry if that is off putting -- but please do not scold, lecture, or judge.)

Please share your experience with the rest of us?

So...........what happens to you all around your periods and/or menopause? What helps? What does not?

XXXOOO

Well, I'm 31 and I have baaaaaad PMS. I always have. I get really bad anxiety right before my period, and during. The medication makes the anxiety and all the PMS symptoms worse! I tried getting rid of my cycle by taking Depo provera. It has been a nightmare. I spotted the whole 3 mths. I'm now on the nuvaring, and have had no side effects, but I've just had it for a week. My Dr. says my body needs to get rid of the depo and adjust to the nuvaring. My Psych says she can prescibe prozac for the pms. I don't like taking so many meds. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I just know my PMS wreaks havoc on my body and family every month.

I was dx a few months b4 my 45th BD & I started out on Ritalin & 4 months later went to Dexerdrine. I'm 52 now. & the Dexerdrine is still working (Thank God). My PMS got worse as I got older, I also had 6 kids & I often wonder if it was that the PMS really got that much worse or if it was that in addition to hubby I had 6 other voices telling me what a b***h I was being.....of course the kids didn't say the actual word, there words were more colorful. I did find that the specific amountof Calcium recommended to help PMS was indeed a Great help for me.

Heritatary is the reason I've been given for the Menopause part being easier for me than most.....well, so far (Thank God). My Labor & Delivery with all 6 of my kids was fast & easy, the smallest I had was 9lbs & the biggest 10.lbs 1oz & I got back to 125 lbs after all 6. My mothers side of the family was the same way. And when it came to Menopause they just stopped having periods. My Dad had 1 sister & she told me that she just stopped having periods & when I asked about my Grandmother my aunt said that she went through it the same way.

I often wonder if Menopause being as difficlt as it is now days has more to do with the different things we've put in our bodies over the yrs because the drs said we need it or it would make things better/easier than it is the Basic Natural Change of Life
BlessedLady.

Always had a bit of PMS, but it's gotten progressively worse since I got into my 30s. Like a week to 12 days of up and down, tiredness, anxious, hyperscattered, focus goes way down. (Just recently diagnosed ADD (self disgnosed, but my psychiatrist, albeit not too knowledgable about ADD seems open to the possibility enough to prescribe me ritalin)...

Prozac REALLY helped, I was on 20mg for a while, symptoms went way down, then switched to wellbutrin to try to combat smoking, and symptoms returned full force.

Does anyone out there have any feedback on prozac (or SSRI) and ritalin?

HappyMonkey, Depression and anxiety can cause those symptoms too. If Prozac is helping a lot those issues are definately something to look at. Wellbutrin is frequently more helpful for ADD than Prozac since it is a stimulating antidepressant, so I'd be careful with the self diagnosis. It's worth it to get a proper work up done. Ritalin can increase anxiety if the anxiety isn't caused by ADD. It's also possible to have both going on.


Scattered

So, 6 months ago, I stopped the HRT and began Black Cohosh and Soy. Wahoo! So far, so good. Not perfect but much more stable (Now I get night sweats as a warning 4 days before my period - instead of drowning my boyfriend and the cats everynight!) The Concerta works again! BUT for how long? Gotta go through it sometime. I recently started Estroven Extra Strength which has the ingredients you mentioned and there was a big improvement! I'm hoping it lasts. Thomas Brown talks in his book Attention Deficit Disorder --The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults about the effects of menopause on women with ADD. Apparently some studies are indicating the estrogen may have a role in the release and reuptake of dopamine which is one of the big things that goes wrong with ADDers.

I'm delighted to hear this combo has worked for someone else besides me. I guess we do get to be the guinea pigs!:eek:

Keep your chins up little piggies!:)

Scattered

Scattered, thanks for the tips. Yeah, I definitately have some depression here and there. But the symptoms I described are like clockwork, focused in the later half of my cycle (I can pretty consistently predict my period +/- a day, just based on the occurence of my symptoms). The ritalin's going well so far, definitely calmer than wellbutrin and more focus. But yeah, I agree, I want a diagnosis confirmed. My psych's a bit of a pill pusher, but Kaiser can do nothing else for me as far as diagnosis or support--they have no ADD specialists, and the one psychologist who screens for ADD will only do it for 'important/emergency situations, like a kid who's failing in school'. (Gee, thanks, knowing nothing of my situation it was summarily judged 'unimportant') So I'll have to go elsewhere and pay for it myself. But at least they'll pay for the medication. (Kinda messed up, huh?)

www.pmdd.factsforhealth.org/what (http://www.pmdd.factsforhealth.org/what)

This is a site the someone recently gave me to learn more about PMDD -- prementral dysphoric disorder -- you might check it out. Some interesting information there.

I'm glad to hear the the Ritalin is working well for you! Sometimes if you know you're going to be having a certain kind of response you can plan a bit around it. Schedule as little as possible, exercise a bit more, plan more relaxing activities especially with good friends. No perfect solutions from me I'm afraid -- still working on it myself, although things are MUCH improved I'm happy to say!:D

Scattered

Found an article about thyroid and AD/HD.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=93196685&dopt=Citation

i'm 43 and just diagnosed... ALWAYS had terrible pms, severe cramps...have always been a little on the scattered side, easily bored, kinda moody, daydreamy.....THEN,i had a hysterectomy due to endometriosis and WHEW!!!! talk about hormones going CRAZY
oh my goodness!!!! that was 13 yrs ago and i have struggled so much with so many things ever since 6 months post op- fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, stomach problems, mood swings(been told i am Bipolar 2, who knows??), PTSD, anger, crying spells, more emotional and sensitive than i was already(which was very), more sensitive to chemicals, smells, lights, noise, easily overwhelmed by the world and life in general...its like having the surgery, which of course threw me into immediate menopause just intensified and exacerbated everything that was already apparent or brought underlying problems to the surface where they exploded.
my marriage ended, strained relationships with friends i'd had for years and years, job problems, fears....basically i've been a big jumbled mess...and i didn't even know about the ADD!!
i have been on 3 different estrogens-am currently on estradiol 1 mg, but would like to wean off that and be on a natural progesterone cream instead. this will be a process of seeing if the cream will stave off the hot flashes and other post-meno problems.
i am also weaning off of 30 mg cymbalta, which made the depression worse. this has been pretty difficult due to the withdrawal symptoms. but i am taking it slow.
i woud like to give my body a break, as i have been on alot of meds for quite a while before i consider ADD meds. i would prefer to attack this naturally with herbs, diet, counselling..if at all possible.
hugs,
Nita

Hi all,
I went off of medications when I got pregnant -- pregnant due to the fact that I can't take hormonal birth control, it makes me mental and angry and depressed. PREGNANCY WAS GREAT, my ADD went into somewhat of remission for the whole time and I was stable and happy -- and nursing/having no period has been great, since I suffered absolutely wretched PMDD since I was 13. I love not having my period, and have no plans to wean my daughter (13 months) and hopefully I'll get preggo before I wean her so I won't have to have my period for a very long time!

i hate it when they try to find an easy solution to pmdd with prozac.. it is not about the cerotonin levels.. it is dopamine isnt it? so why r they messing our brain by playing with its cerotonin mechanism?

I've been prescribed buspar for pms in the past. It's a low dose that I can take on the peak psycho days. It takes the edge off.

Several years ago I thought I was going into peri-menopause because of hot flashes and irratic hormonal stuff. I started taking black cohash, grape seed extract, b vitamins and natural progesteron cream. It made a huge difference and then I went on a diet and lost a bunch of weight. Hormonally I started evening out to my younger days and went back to the buspar fix.
Now I just suffer through it unless I catch myself screaming at people.

Hi all -- I love this! I was FINALLY diagnosed 4 years ago at the age of 41 and, after some trial and error, was put on Concerta! I love it. For years I was told - You have depression -- take ___ [fill in the name of an anti depressant] and that will fix it! -- Adults do not have ADD! Women do not have ADD! But you can't be hyperactive, you must be Bi-polar because women are not hyperactive! You grow out of ADD! Wrong!! I am classic AD/HD - Life is becoming quite interesting.

Got my Concerta! Groovy! Only it didn't work very well 2 or 3 days before my period. PMS = Ritalin not working. I could deal, everyone else does, right? Besides it was predictable, etc....

Then bang! last year I started to have "female" problems and my period went all over the place. The doc says peri-menopause. Merde! So, then my Concerta was not working and I was hating life again! (snatched from the jaws of death only to be thrown back again!!!) More ritalin did not work, dexidrine did not work & HRT made my body stablize in PMS --- AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH. The doc says she can just put me in menopause and I will be hormonally stable. But I keep thinking, where will I stabilize? With meds working or not?

So, 6 months ago, I stopped the HRT and began Black Cohosh and Soy. Wahoo! So far, so good. Not perfect but much more stable (Now I get night sweats as a warning 4 days before my period - instead of drowning my boyfriend and the cats everynight!) The Concerta works again! BUT for how long? Gotta go through it sometime.

That, my friends, is the crappy part of being the first generation of actually diagnosed female ADDers! "They" have NO idea what is going on with us, so we are kinda stuck helping each other along with as much information as possible. Oh well, it always seems to go like that! Thank God we are good at that!

Anecdotal info is great! I have found that most of my anecdotal connections and observations get validated by other women (and later by the "official" medical community!) -- we are the pioneers --- sucks huh! (yes, I could be positive and say how exciting it all is -- but I am kinda tired of schlogging my way through the mud to survive all my life so I am not in a chipper and cheerful moods these days -- sorry if that is off putting -- but please do not scold, lecture, or judge.)

Please share your experience with the rest of us?

So...........what happens to you all around your periods and/or menopause? What helps? What does not?

XXXOOOWell, I'm 41 years old, recently diagnosed with ADD and have had depression and anxiety most of my adult life. I been experiencing real bad periods, especially when it comes to the way my medication (Adderall) works. It doesn't work as well during this time and my anxiety gets way out of control. When I started reading this thread I was relieved that I don't have to suffer with this alone and that other women are experiencing the same thing (although I would not wish this on my worst enemy). But its good when people understand what you are going through.:)

Thanks for posting this thread. It first caught my eye a few months back when I was considering HRT to help with low energy and cyclical depression (after a nightmare experience with Zoloft and the "brain shivers"). So I checked out some books by Dr. Elizabeth Vliet and here's what I learned:

Doctors recommend progesterone to prevent uterine cancer or endometriosis. If you lack a uterus, why bother taking it? The worst time of the month for most women is when progesterone levels are highest and binding up the androgen, testosterone, in your bloodstream. Why would you want to replicate that hormonal state?

If you don't have enough testosterone free in your bloodstream, and enough estradiol to prime your receptors for it, your energy plummets, along with your sexual libido. Women typically decrease androgen production along with estrogens as they advance past middle-age.

It's only recently that women have enjoyed much of an active life past middle age. It's up to every woman to decide for herself whether avoiding the sketchy chance of dying a year younger from a cancer is worth spending the second half of your life in utter misery. Yet most doctors won't even consider HRT for women until it's too late to prevent major problems, such as heart disease and bone loss (not to mention disrupted mental health and personal relationships).

I'm in my mid forties with a preschooler. I eventually discovered my ADD/ADHD when the "postpartem depression" didn't go away and PMS got ten times worse. My levels checked out low a few months ago, so I bullied my gyn into giving me some low-dose testosterone and estradiol cream. Libido improved 100% and I suddenly had the energy to do auto mechanics (something I used to enjoy but haven't done in years). I still get affected by the progesterone boost at cycle's end, but it seems a lot less severe.

It's hard to tell with ADD rage and depression thrown into the mix. I use Adderall when I want and Xanax for emergencies, (as well as certain herbal medications described in California SB 420). I'll update you next time I get my levels checked and meds adjusted.

One thing to note: Energy and libido alone won't help your sex life much if your relationship sucks, but it's awfully hard to work on the relationship if you have no energy or libido in the first place!

I found natural progestrone helpful in the past.

http://www.johnleemd.com/

http://www.health-science.com/yam.html

http://www.immunesolutions.net/suggested_reading_resources/ingredient/ProgesteroneCreme10_97Rph.pdf

I found natural progestrone helpful in the past.

What did it do for you?

Black Cohosh and Soy.

I don’t do the soy but started the black cohosh about three weeks ago. I just began my period this morning and didn’t see it coming. This is the first time in years I have NOT known it was almost “that time”. What a wonderful thing almost like being 20 again. :D

I also use the omega-3 daily this seems to help the depression I was getting before my menses.

I have been on vit B-complex with ascorbic acid for a long time because I am allergic to citrus and the vit B seemed to help my energy levels stay level, I take calcium when not constipated, the only other things I take is ginseng because it seems to help my hypoglycemia.

My grandmother took a lot of vitamins are herbal remedies which come to think of it is odd because she was doing this long (way long=1960’s and 1970’s) time before the herbal thing was even a consideration to most .She used to have to order her herbal supplement via mail because local drug stores and department stores didn’t carry much more than a few vitamins. She lived to be 80 some thing so I guess she was a woman before her time. (Being before your times) A family thing as I have been diagnosed ADHD for over 13 years now. Back in 1993 there was almost no literature on adult ADD and nothing about women and ADD. 1993 was a year before “Driven to Distraction” came out!

Welcome to my world ladies it is an interesting place to be when the answers have to come from your own experiences. Much of the stuff I learned about vitamins was from my grandmother but I have different problems so I have had to learn what was good for me on my own. The learning about what is good and not so good took lots and lots of reading medical lit.

have been on 3 different estrogens-am currently on estradiol 1 mg, but would like to wean off that and be on a natural progesterone cream instead. this will be a process of seeing if the cream will stave off the hot flashes and other post-meno problems.

YIKES!!!!!! Progesterone is what is the highest during PMS :eek: so STOP! Please don’t quit taking estrogen and add progesterone here is why. Increase progesterone without estrogen is NOT a good thing unless you want PMS.

See women have their period when hormone levels drop, as our menses is ending we begin having increases in estrogen, the first week to ten days after our period estrogen levels are high progesterone levels are low. About two weeks after our period ends just before ovulation our estrogen levels begin to drop and our progesterone levels begin to rise. When we are PMSing our estrogen is low and our progesterone levels are high!!!! . . . . . . :faint:




The worst time of the month for most women is when progesterone levels are highest and binding up the androgen, testosterone, in your bloodstream. Why would you want to replicate that hormonal state?

Exactly!




i would prefer to attack this naturally with herbs, diet, counselling..if at all possible.
hugs,

Before you do this please do some medical studies about how hormones work or you may end up making things worse for your self. My grandmother was a nurse (as am I) she understood what hormones did she had a basic chemical and biological understanding, she wasn't "flying blind folded".

I am not against herbal supplements I just don’t want to see any one make things worse. Herbal supplements like medications can make things worse instead of better. I choose Black codosh because it is supposed to assist estrogen. I feel the best when my progesterone is low and estrogen is high. I also worked this out with the doctor that treats my ADD so I wouldn’t be screwing myself up worse. See vitamins supplements can actually prevent ADD medications from working.


Vitamin C especially citric acid actually decrease the effectiveness of Adderall which is why I take my vitamins either way before my medication time (at least two hours) or at the end of the day when I am fixing to go to bed. I am one who uses both medications and herbal supplements, because this isn’t an all or nothing proposition.



I'll get preggo before I wean her so I won't have to have my period for a very long time!

I am hoping you wanted more kids for another reason than not having periods. You may do some studies and see which hormones are higher which ones are lower during pregnancy. You may be able to induce a similar state without being pregnant as you can not stay pregnant forever, besides children are expensive.





I found natural progestrone helpful in the past.

All I know is when my progesterone levels are high and my estrogen levels are low IE just before my period I feel like crap and want nothing to do with increasing progesterone levels naturally or other wise. (PMS is a naturally occurring state is it not?)

exra liver helps more vegs just befor pried you feel much better an cos to slow down for them few days if you can dorm ;l.)))

i'm 43 and just diagnosed... ALWAYS had terrible pms, severe cramps...have always been a little on the scattered side, easily bored, kinda moody, daydreamy.....THEN,i had a hysterectomy due to endometriosis and WHEW!!!! talk about hormones going CRAZY
oh my goodness!!!! that was 13 yrs ago and i have struggled so much with so many things ever since 6 months post op- fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, stomach problems, mood swings(been told i am Bipolar 2, who knows??), PTSD, anger, crying spells, more emotional and sensitive than i was already(which was very), more sensitive to chemicals, smells, lights, noise, easily overwhelmed by the world and life in general...its like having the surgery, which of course threw me into immediate menopause just intensified and exacerbated everything that was already apparent or brought underlying problems to the surface where they exploded.
my marriage ended, strained relationships with friends i'd had for years and years, job problems, fears....basically i've been a big jumbled mess...and i didn't even know about the ADD!!
i have been on 3 different estrogens-am currently on estradiol 1 mg, but would like to wean off that and be on a natural progesterone cream instead. this will be a process of seeing if the cream will stave off the hot flashes and other post-meno problems.
i am also weaning off of 30 mg cymbalta, which made the depression worse. this has been pretty difficult due to the withdrawal symptoms. but i am taking it slow.
i woud like to give my body a break, as i have been on alot of meds for quite a while before i consider ADD meds. i would prefer to attack this naturally with herbs, diet, counselling..if at all possible.
hugs,
Nita

Hey Nita, Sounds a lot like me. I had my hysterectomy at 38-1992. Changed my life for the better. had an adhesiolysis in 1996 and no surgery since then! Last year my doc prescribed the estrogen patch. Vivelle Dot. It bypasses the liver, reducing some of the risks of HRT.

You are on a high does of Estrogen. Why not try a lower dose. You don't need progesterone after a hysterectomy. Why are you on it. It is only for women with intact uterii.

Premarin is made from pregnant mare's urine-estradiol is made from yams or other plant sources. I am a vegetarian and also had problems on premarin. The thought of horse urine grosses me out anyway.

My ADD symptoms get worse if I forget my patch which happens too often. The HRT also makes a dif in my Fibro symptoms.

I am in the process of getting new docs after moving-I have been referred to several GP/internists who treat Fibro and see a psychiatrist monday, female, who lists ADD as an area of specialization. Not all psych's specialize in ADD. I am going to a teaching hospital where both docs practice so it is easy to work with both of them and get the big picture of my health and treatment.

If you are still on the forum, I look forward to sharing what works, and coping strategies w/you.