Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Hi! If you haven't seen me around, I'm a 27 year old lady who was recently diagnosed with ADHD, not officially PI but I probably am. I've been trying to figure out my meds over the past month or so and I'm having a lot of trouble but it's also helped me figure out some things. I've tried Ritalin and Adderall. Ritalin made me feel very weird and anxious without helping with focus so I dropped it . . . Adderall has helped with focus but when I get to a dose that's therapeutic for my focus, my moods become more exaggerated with higher highs and lower lows. At first I thought Adderall was giving me mood swings but now I'm realizing that it's really just exaggerating the mood swings that were already there and that my emotional reactions to things are often nastier than they should be.

I get frustrated and angry really easily over small things like people being bad drivers or having to wait in line. It annoys the people around me which I hate. I hate making the people I'm with uncomfortable but I just can't help it. :(

I drop into dark sad angry moods sometimes too, usually triggered by a small thing or a worry. The meds definitely made this worse, especially Ritalin. I just feel hopless and sad and angry and beat myself up inside my head for hours and hours.

The worst is with social stuff. I often take it really hard if someone criticizes me or my work, or if we disagree about something. It's made dating almost impossible too. I get AWFUL infatuations, and when I do like a guy, I'm a total freak around him. If anything goes remotely not perfectly I get really upset and clam up, or flip out, or pout, or give him the cold shoulder, stupid things like that. No sane guy can stand it.

Firstly I guess I was wondering if this is even an ADHD thing? I don't really hear about other people discussing problems like this much. Maybe it happens more in women? Or am I probably cyclothymic or something?

Secondly what should I do about meds? Should I try Vyvanse, or just skip the rest of the stims and try Wellbutrin or something? Should I stick with a stim and add an antidepressant or mood stabilizer or something to it? I'm going to call my pdoc tomorrow and talk about it but I was wondering what worked for others like me assuming they exist.

Thanks for reading. You guys are all great! :grouphug:

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Wiz, how are your hormone levels? Are you on birth control?

I ask this because when I was about your age, I noticed very VERY similar things (symptoms?) and it turned out that I had PMDD, and this was back before anyone really knew what it was! I realized that something was very wrong when I chucked a glass at DH (newly minted DH at the time) and realized that I just couldn't control some of my anger impulses, and I was downright irrational at times. DH noticed that it was even worse around PMS time. I had to play with birth control for a few months, but found one that worked great. it leveled me out a lot. Current meds are also helping it....but I mentioned that in the other thread you started.

I've read a few things about women having worse ADHD symptoms because of that, but I haven't looked into it much myself. Hopefully one of the ladies who has experienced it will chime in and give you some input.

And yeah, talk to your doc...Hang in there! :grouphug:

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Sounds a lot like me without medication. Especially with the frustrating part. We have a lot of bad drivers here so I frequently get frustrated when I'm driving.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Little social things can make me unbearably embarrassed or send me into something like depression, especially when I'm tired or under stress. I'm not sure if medication has anything to do with it, though; I think I've been like this for longer than I've had the diagnosis. I very rarely get infatuated with anyone, but when I have it's sometimes been painfully intense. The pills, though; If I had to guess, I'd say that in my case they probably help. I like people more when I'm on them, which makes me less nervous of them. (I'm a guy.)

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Thanks Beekeeper! I am on BC yes. I'm not sure it's hormones though because I remember being pretty moody as a child too. I was really stubborn and if something didn't go exactly how I wanted I'd pout and refuse to do it. Once I didn't want to play a game in gym class and I protested so vehemently that I got other kids to join my "strike!" :lol:

I made another appointment with the pdoc for tomorrow. I'm not sure what he'll say but hopefully he can help.

I didn't take the Adderall today . . . I have to say it was kind of a relief. Not much happened to really test my mood but I think I was much more chill than I have been. On the other hand I spaced out so much that I didn't notice the traffic light had turned green and I got honked at . . . :o

Kirby: Yes that definitely happens to me too. I was debating something with a friend that I have a crush on and I ended up being totally wrong and he was not especially polite about it . . . I could barely talk to him for like a half-hour! This was on the Adderall though so it probably would've been slightly less bad in normal circumstances . . .

What meds are you on? Anything special or just Adderall or Ritalin?

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Hmm.... I can't say Adderall has ever made me moody, save for the first couple days on a new dose, then I'm cranky during the crash until my body gets used to it then I'm back to normal. How long have you been taking it for? It could just be an adjustment period thing.

Otherwise, I'd consider switching. Meds aren't really suppose to alter your moods like this.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Me, I'm on generic ritalin sr with a sort of topup of the fast acting kind. God, seems like half an hour's not a terribly long time to be upset when someone you feel intensely about upsets you. Not that I'm the picture of normative psychological health, though. Maybe we're never supposed to be upset about anything.

But then, I guess the point is, you're not used to being like this. The change would be the thing to be concerned about. If it weren't for that, I'd say you're problem might be being human.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

I've been on Adderall for three weeks I think? Just at the current dose for a week or two though, there was some time spent ramping up to it. I know that's not very long but it seemed like it was getting worse with time, not better.

I wasn't just mad at him, I wouldn't even talk to him. I really felt just like storming out and never talking to him again but somehow I managed to not do that. It's OK that I got mad, it just seems more intense than it should've been and that I didn't have much control over how I responded to it. NTs get upset but they can hide their feelings much better and not always act on them immediately and uncontrollably.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

I'm moody without meds and Ritalin balances my moods. I'm much more friendly and calm when I take my Ritalin. I have more patience too. So no, I'm the opposite.

Lx

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

I saw my pdoc today and he seems very optimistic about Vyvanse working for me so I'll be starting that tomorrow. We shall see!

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Cool, Wiz! Let us know how it goes. I really need more focus than I'm getting right now, but might need to up the dose.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Wiz -

I have similar problems, especially getting frustrated with everything. I also get started on million projects have all these ideas but never finish anything or put anything to work. I've been through the meds too, Ritalin made me anxious, Adderall works but I feel stressed, Vyvanse made my mood swings a lot worse, Dexedrine is OK and Wellbutrin XL 150mg works really well to even me out.

You may wanna try Dexedrine first before you go to Vyvanse just my 2 cents ;) also, if you haven't already -clean up your diet = no sugar, no wheat, more meats, vegetables, brown rice, and healthy fats. Eliminate caffeine if you can, I find it induces a quick "high" followed by a letdown...still working on that one myself.

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

A small update . . . The Vyvanse is going OK. I don't think it's making my mood swings worse at least. Over the weekend I decided to take a "break" from my friend for awhile so I can figure things out and stop freaking him out. It was very hard and I felt really hopeless, alone and suicidal for about 24 hours until after work where my really nasty mood lifted really suddenly, like releasing a balloon that's been held underwater. I know the thought that triggered it so it wasn't literally out of no where but it was still very sudden and weird. I do think the Vyvanse is helping my mood stay "up" more and my down moods are about as bad as they would normally be so I guess that's kind of an improvement? I'm not sure that it's helping with focus that much unfortunately. However I only took 40mg for the first time today and it was a tough day because of my bad mood so I'll have to give 40mg more time.

During my horrible sadness yesterday I decided to get a therapist. I think the meds just aren't going to be enough on their own to help with whatever is wrong with me. That and I still have no real friends in town, especially now that I had to sever with the friend I have feelings for, and I really need someone to talk to. If I had a good friend I could talk to when I get freaked out about things, I'd probably do stupid things much less often. Hopefully the therapist can help me figure out how to make some local friends, especially female ones so I don't have to worry about possible attraction! I've called around to a couple but I've only gotten voice mails so far. I really hope I don't get into another mini-depression before I get ahold of one and make an appointment. :(

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

Dexedrine is the only thing that works for me. Good luck!

Re: Moody, emotional overreactions . . . Anyone else like this?
 

If Vyvanse doesn't work I might try Dexedrine . . . does it help with focus more?

One of the therapists I called got back to me today. I asked her some questions and it sounded like she could help so I made an appointment with her to check her out. It's not for two weeks unfortunately, her schedule is pretty full except for the middle of the day when people like me have to work! I could take some personal time but I'm trying to be really careful with it because I almost ran out before due to not using it carefully. Hopefully I can hold out until then. I am feeling a bit more stable and not thinking about my "friend" as much so maybe it'll be fine.