Hi Everyone,

I was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of weeks ago, and started on 10mg Adderall XR, moved up to 20mg a week ago. What a difference it's made. My thinking has been clearer and focused, and so far so good. (well, I had one irritable day, but since then, things are much better). I've been able to do much more, as I'm able to see my way through things.

My period started yesterday evening. I got up this morning, took my meds.......and my brain is mush. Well, not mush exactly, but super scattered - I feel like I can't even figure out my schedule for the day. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm really hoping that this is temporary, and maybe that the hormones are causing the meds to not be as effective, temporarily.

I'm on adderall xr 15mg and there just seem to be days when it's not as effective as others for me. I would love to hear other people's responses to this as well.

I know that the week before my period, it seems that I may as well save the caplets, because they just don't cut through the fog.

Do you ensure that you get enough iron just before and during your period? A lack of iron will cause inattentiveness in anyone. Other than that, maybe your doctor would have an explanation. Hormonal effects or just losing some of the drug through blood loss I imagine might be involved.

That happens to me during my period too.

Do you ensure that you get enough iron just before and during your period? A lack of iron will cause inattentiveness in anyone.
I actually have cravings for red meat the week before. I've always had emotional/brain fog problems when that time of the month rolled around. I kind of wonder if I'm going through perimenopause because the PMS is seeming to get worse lately.

Other than that, I take my multi for women and calcium everyday (along with the omega-3s)

I definitely get enough iron ( I take a chelated supplement) in fact my endocrinologist tests my iron, vitamins, etc. every three months or so. I also take omega-3, and b-12.

I didn't really even get pms, which is unusual for me. I only noticed that this morning, before and after I took my meds, that my thoughts were really scattered and I felt overwhelmed. I seem to be stumbling through the day kind of okay, but just second guessing everything and complicating things with way too many thoughts. The brain flow just isn't there.

I'll bet it's a temporary monthly thing, which is fine - as long as I don't have too high expectations for myself on these days.... I'm sure I read something on these forums about others experiencing this, and I've searched and just can't find it now.

There is evidence that estrogen levels impact how well your stim is working. I have been peri menopausal for the last ten years. I know that there is a direct correlation.

Ask your doc about using a low dose birth control pill to balance your estrogen level through the month. You'll want to ignore the "place holder" pills and take the estrogen every day. Yeah, it's off label but it works.

Another thing you can try is to increase or begin taking a B Complex supplement. B Complex helps the body cope with stress. I can't use birth control (smoker) and I can't use HRT. B Complex has a real and immediate impact.

Thanks for the responses - I think I just wanted some validation that this wasn't only in my head, or that it doesn't necessarily mean that the meds stopped working.

I think I'm okay, as long as I can anticipate that I may be "off" during this time each month. I'll just need to keep my self-expectations to a minimum for a few days.

I second your recommendation for a B complex supplement, and something else that's made a significant difference in my pms, is evening primrose oil capsules. I take three daily, and go up to four when it gets close to pms time. I took them for about three months before noticing a difference, but there's definitely been an improvement.

No, it's not in your head; it's in your endocrine system. :)

It's a well-known phenomenon for women -- stimulant medication not being as effective during the low-estrogen part of the cycle.

Endocrine system. Neurotransmitters. They're all intricately intertwined.

Dr. Patricia Quinn often recommends a little higher dose of the stimulant during that time of the month. I think she's probably posted a white paper about this on the website for the National Center for Girls and Women with ADHD: http://www.ncgiadd.org

I'm pretty sure it's covered in her book Understanding Girls and Women with ADHD.

It's hard enough to find a savvy ADHD clinician in general; finding one that is ADHD-women-savvy is pretty tough. It's self-advocate all the way.

Good luck,
Gina Pera

I have this problem, but not during my cycle; instead it starts several days beforehand. I double my dose on the five days or so before it's due (and even then I still don't feel like the meds are as effective as they are otherwise). Once I start bleeding, the meds start to get more effective.

Here's an article I found that has some interesting info:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070210185849.htm
It is known, for example, that the female response to cocaine is greater in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle(4) than in the luteal phase(5)

...and you can go to the link below for a chart that shows when each phase occurs during your cycle, day 1 being the first day of bleeding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cycle

Great information, thank you all. Interesting article too. What's really nice is that I was able to read the whole thing!

I was really jittery and anxious yesterday, it's like my brain wasn't responding to the meds, and my body was over-responding. It didn't dawn on me until about 2 a.m. as I was lying in bed with my eyes wide open, that I'd been taking midol throughout the day. Midol has caffeine in it, and caffeine and my meds do not get along! I felt like Zippy McZippperson, and not in a pleasant way. Lesson learned.

Today, much better. Calmer (no coffee or midol), still a little sluggish in the brain, but knowing that this is common made me feel better.

On another note, I need to be really careful about things with hidden caffeine for sure.

If you do a search you'll find many other threads about this.

Every month is a struggle for me. About 3 months ago my doc prescribed Dex as a booster during PMS. It definitely helps. It's fast-acting so I can take 1/4 tab and decide 30 min later if I want more. About 1-2 days it's 1 tab twice a day. Other PMS days it ranges.

My PMS (mood) seems more severe since I started Vyvanse. I don't know if it's exacerbated by the drugs, or if the bad mood feels worse when compared to Vyvanse.

Yep, it happens to me like clockwork. It's frustrating because that's when I need the med to work the most!

The Book Gender Issues and AD/HD by Patricia Quinn and Kathleen Nadeau really gets into hormones and ADHD. It might be worth buying a copy and giving it to your Doctor.

There is evidence that estrogen levels impact how well your stim is working. I have been peri menopausal for the last ten years. I know that there is a direct correlation.

Ask your doc about using a low dose birth control pill to balance your estrogen level through the month. You'll want to ignore the "place holder" pills and take the estrogen every day. Yeah, it's off label but it works.

Another thing you can try is to increase or begin taking a B Complex supplement. B Complex helps the body cope with stress. I can't use birth control (smoker) and I can't use HRT. B Complex has a real and immediate impact.


My Gp had just put me on this, mine is a mid range one. I will be skipping the sugar ones so I only have to have 3 or 4 periods a year. I get realy bad PMS and pain. The pill will hopfully help with this and the fact it will even out the ADD simtoms.

For what it's worth- it's not just stimulants. Estrogen cycling in women affects the absorption and impact of many medications. And yet, clinical trials aren't required to take that into account, nor does the FDA make any effort to give estrogen-level dependent dosing information to women.

It's one of the more overt symptoms of the huge male bias in medicine.

I have no brain at that time. I cheat. I take a contraceptive called Monofeme 28 (nordette 28 is the brand name). I take 3 cycles consecutively so I only have to have a bad week every 10 weeks

Thank God I found this tread:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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Thank you, ladies for sharing your experiences on this wonderful matter we all share on a monthly basis:
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I was just going out of my mind here asking myself «what the H..l» is wrong with me today.
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I am a 33 year old; I was just diagnosed with ADD. This is my 25<SUP>th</SUP> day on medication (Ritalin 2X20 mg) this is the second day of my 1st period while on meds)
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I just annoy myself today. …. I’m jittery and jumpy… nervous and feeling like a «tiger in a cage». I even checked if I took my meds twice…. I taught that the meds weren’t «Working anymore» I taught this was a sign that either the Ritalin was not for me or that the dosage was incorrect and has to be increased…….. I was frankly freaking out!
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Thanks to all of you, after reading all the posts, I now feel a bit calmer and I will be able to point this out to my doctor during my visit next week, because I am not too comfortable with increasing my dosage myself for now ……
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But thank you Thank you ;-)<o:p></o:p>

Hi Winne, sounds just like what I felt last month. I'm glad you found this thread.

Good suggestions here. I can't do the birth control pill (smoker), but some of the other things mentioned have been very helpful to me.

This month was actually better - I think that maybe it helped to not have expectations of my meds working as well on those days.

Good suggestions here. I can't do the birth control pill (smoker), but some of the other things mentioned have been very helpful to me.
GAAAWWWDD!! I miss smoking soooo much!!! I would rather smoke than drink alcohol (which is what I ended up replacing smoking with...). Quit 3 years ago this month and haven't lost the 40 lbs that I gained after quitting. I was so depressed yesterday ... I went to the store and when I got out, someone was smoking. I just took a deep breath and smelled that sweet, sweet tobacco and nearly cried on my way home. The only thing that stops me from lighting up again is my husband would probably kill me if I started again, and I don't want to be one of those old people dragging an oxygen container around with them all the time... :(

P.S. Anyone reading this, please don't congratulate me for quitting. It was not something I wanted to do. It was tough, but if husband were to leave me or (god forbid) die, then I'm lighting up again and not quitting ever again...

P.S. Anyone reading this, please don't congratulate me for quitting. It was not something I wanted to do. It was tough, but if husband were to leave me or (god forbid) die, then I'm lighting up again and not quitting ever again...

Okay. Just to be clear, this isn't any sort of congratulatory response, and I also want to be clear that I'm not telling you how envious I am that you were able to quit. ;) I quit last year for four months.....I guess that's the first of my quits. This was before I was diagnosed - looking back, I think I picked up again to self-medicate. I tried explaining it at the time to a friend, telling her how I wasn't actually craving the taste or cigarette itself, but more the clarity I felt when I smoked. I used the patches and I did fine for the first two months, and then went severely downhill from there - into the thickest muckiest place my head has ever been in. None of the quitters I talked to had had a similar experience....so I don't know.

I was so angry with the world when I was quitting. I wanted to throw things, kick, punch, it was like there was this rage inside of me. Fortunately I didn't do any of those things. When I quit (after numerous attempts!), my brain was in such a fog. I didn't know I had add then, but I swear I felt better when I was smoking. Even my physical endurance went down after I quit! You would expect it to go up! The only thing that got me through it was taking Wellbutrin (aka Zyban) while on the patch.

Once I started on adderall 4 months ago, the whole nicotine-add connection was crystal clear to me. I told my doctor about it and she agreed. It really hadn't dawned on her before how tough it is for add-ers to quit because of the stimulus you get from smoking.

Good luck in your future attempts to quit. It's not easy, that's for sure!

Okay. Just to be clear, this isn't any sort of congratulatory response, and I also want to be clear that I'm not telling you how envious I am that you were able to quit. ;) I quit last year for four months.....I guess that's the first of my quits. This was before I was diagnosed - looking back, I think I picked up again to self-medicate. I tried explaining it at the time to a friend, telling her how I wasn't actually craving the taste or cigarette itself, but more the clarity I felt when I smoked. I used the patches and I did fine for the first two months, and then went severely downhill from there - into the thickest muckiest place my head has ever been in. None of the quitters I talked to had had a similar experience....so I don't know.

Right there with you, sweetie! I even smoked through chemo.

I managed to quit for two months of steadily using the patch. That is the only way I would consider even trying again. And Adderall would have to be involved. I can't even imagine trying to quit without it.

Yeah, the patches helped immensely. I believe I truly wanted it, I was surprised had now it wasn't that horribly hard to break the habit part, the part of just reaching for a cigarette at the usual times, or just feeling like having a smoke.

The patches initially felt similar to when I started adderall - must be because of the stimulant thing? But as I was weaning down off the patches is when it felt like my brain started to go. I felt like such an anomaly. I know many people who have quit, and none of them experienced that sense of cognitive dysfunction like I did, as well as the mind numbing fatigue, and then horrible depression. For them it was longing to pick up a smoke and missing the taste, once they got out of the habit (a couple of months or so) they began to feel better and have more energy.

I felt so incredibly alone. I remember before I thought of picking back up, it wasn't because I wanted to smoke - I was feeling so desparate for help and thought, "I wonder if a cigarette would help this?" So I smoked and it did help. I just figured I had a worse addiction than anyone else, which seemed wierd because I've dealt with withdrawals from some serious things, and I "know" how to do withdrawal. By that I mean the midset, self-talk, reaching out for support, excercise and diet. I'd heard that nicotine was supposed to be harder than anything else, but no one else I knew of had started feeling worse months into it.

I've thought that maybe now I could try it again, but I'm concerned about using the patches with the adderall, when I decide to have another go at it I'll start a threat about that.....

Ahhhh - that feels better. I think I just needed to get that off my chest.


I now return you to your regularly scheduled period and medication thread.

I actually have cravings for red meat the week before. I've always had emotional/brain fog problems when that time of the month rolled around. I kind of wonder if I'm going through perimenopause because the PMS is seeming to get worse lately.

Other than that, I take my multi for women and calcium everyday (along with the omega-3s)

red meat is high in iron and vitamin D.

For what it's worth- it's not just stimulants. Estrogen cycling in women affects the absorption and impact of many medications. And yet, clinical trials aren't required to take that into account, nor does the FDA make any effort to give estrogen-level dependent dosing information to women.

It's one of the more overt symptoms of the huge male bias in medicine.

There is truth to this, but to be fair though its not utterly 1 sided. While prostate cancer research gets just slightly higher US government funding then breast cancer, breast cancer research get enormously higher amounts of public/private/corporate funding then testicular or prostate cancer.

Granted. Breast Cancer awareness advocates like myself are part of the reason. Early detection saves lives. Cancer is not fun. Mammograms aren't either but we tend to be remarkably compliant where getting them yearly is concerned. I'm well aware that men get breast cancer too and that it more likely to be fatal because many men aren't aware that they can get it. It's often found at Stage 3 or 4 instead of the more common for women Stage 1 or 2.

Increased awareness of all the treatable cancers is necessary. What is also necessary is a conscious decision to proactively check and insure that the disease isn't present.

I'm a survivor and I can't get my over 50 partner to get his prostate checked. It's uncomfortable and he doesn't want to do that.

In order to increase the level of public/private/corporate funding for prostate and testicular cancer research it will be necessary to make a whole lot of noise. The Komen for the Cure got nowhere until they got very vocal very publicly and recruited more and more women and men to also be vocal.

I've got just two words - FEEDING FRENZY!!! :eek:


Okay maybe a few more words. First day of my period, and criminy, it was truly disturbing how I ate yesterday. Hand to mouth non-stop from 2:00 pm on. Completely not in my mind, (not in my right mind? out of my mind?) Anyhoo, not a pretty picture. Maybe I was trying to feed my brain since it felt for the most part non-functional.


I just thought I'd share the love.

I have this!!! I often find myself doubling my Adderall during my PMSing times, and it still doesn't do a whole lot. I feel like an idiot right before my period... I drive like a maniac and could not be more forgetful and scatter brained. It's emberresing. I need to get back on birth control- that helped a lot. I've talking about doing it for a while and am just lazy as crap when it comes to making appointments.

Hey Britany, make the appointment! :) I'd love it if birth control didn't turn me into a raving lunatic and helped me!

Yep, I've been able to lower my dose of adderall during my non-hormonal days, but when the pms starts, I take the full dose for a week and a half.

Glad I found this thread!

The past few days I have felt so awful :eek: like I haven't taken any meds at all! No motivation, no focus...just nothing!! Argh!

And yep it's that time of the month...

Wish I could just go on the Pill and balance my estrogen levels out...but I can't.
Basically I did used to be on the Pill (comined one) but last year it gave me awful headaches/migraines, bad moods...so I had to come off it and switch to the mini-pill. Which doesn't have estrogen in - it was the estrogen in the combined Pill that caused headaches!
Aah! So a bit frustrating really! But even if I could go back to the combined Pill I wouldn't, the headaches were awful, nothing seemed to get rid of them :( and I felt like a monster 24/7 :p

So I'm just hoping that my psych will give me a higher dose for when it's "that time", got an appointment next week so will mention it to her then :)
Although, this is the first period I've had since starting meds...so she might say wait until my next one...which could be any time! That's the only snag with the mini-pill, things can get a bit irregular...although, I have been on it for over 6 months now, so things should really have evened out. Which makes me think that the irregular periods are something to do with me losing a lot of weight over the past few months, and stress/anxiety. Well I'm also seeing my GP next week so I'll ask her :p
Boy I've got a lot of questions to ask people!

I have no brain at that time. I cheat. I take a contraceptive called Monofeme 28 (nordette 28 is the brand name). I take 3 cycles consecutively so I only have to have a bad week every 10 weeks

I am a similar type of regimen, but towards the end of it, like right now since I've started taking 20mg adderall xr it's seems like it's been two weeks of my meds working about 60% for significantly shorter amount than usual.
Kind of bothersome :confused::(

What.The.Hell.

I've been toodling along just fine for months now, feeling very steady on my medication. Things have really improved for me since I've started taking it. But I've only recently started cycling again due to my age and the fact that I was still occasionally bfeeding my one and a half year old, so I'm not really used to the hormone/med issues in general.

The last 4 or 5 days have been just crazy awful. My hyperfocus is just uncontrollable, so I'm 24/7 on projects instead of keeping up with the house, kids, dinner, phone calls - you name it. I think I have undiagnosed narcolepsy that is pretty well gone on meds but I've been falling into dream sleep when folks talk to me in the afternoon while later on that night finding it impossible to go to bed because I can't.stop.working. I've been so bad that my husband asked me twice on two separate days if I had remembered to take my medication (I guess mr. slightly skeptical now realizes the meds DO work.)

Case in point: I actually got dinner going on Saturday. I browned the roast, spiced it, added the onion and the water, and put the lid on the pot. The oven was on, and I swore that I put the pot in the oven. I remember doing it. I was proud of myself, the roast would have plenty of time to cook.

And what did I find on the stove when I went into the kitchen several hours later to complete dinner? Yep. The pot. It had somehow not made it into the oven.

I don't remember the last time I was that bad...it has literally been months.

Now at least I know now that I should take vitamin B and possibly double my meds the next time this lovely time of the month comes around. I'm due to start today and it couldn't come soon enough!