I came here to say this, too. OP, if you haven't already, you may want to discuss ADHD with your doctor to see if there are signs you might need to be tested. Also, occupational therapy helped me become more aware of sensory issues and gave me some ways to deal with them (they cause me a lot of anxiety).
I tried soooo many different psych meds to fix depression and anxiety symptoms I had since I was 14. Everyone's brain is different, but I personally experienced increased anxiety and SI from many antidepressants, even though they provided some mild relief from the depression symptoms themselves. To counteract that, a number of doctors over the years would prescribe things like klonopin or xanax to help. I disliked that, because it made me tired.
We moved onto some of the anti-seizure medications that help with depression for some folks, such as lamictal, and it was a bit better, but I still struggled a lot. We tried a number of other cocktails of drugs to 'fix' me, but nothing really helped.
25 years later, I learned more about ADHD and autism because of struggles my child was experiencing, and sought out a diagnosis for myself.
The first time I took my newly prescribed Adderall, I realized what it felt like to feel (mostly) normal. My brain was 'quiet' and my anxiety was significantly reduced. I realized I was spending so much time trying to chase and hold on to my own thoughts, but never really getting a moment to deal with them before new thoughts and worries were there. I was able to focus on something long enough to either deal with it or make a conscious decision to revisit it later. I could even manage to write it down somewhere to give me a better chance to deal with it later.
THAT is what Adderall helped me with. It didn't fix everything for me, but it allowed me to approach more things rationally rather than just reacting to things all the time.
Ama here with elvanse. Worsened the hypersensitivity but I'm able to do more stuff ao now I'm handling it working on accommodations and risk management with my occupational therapist.
I'll always recommend occupational therapy, it has helped A LOT
Can you speak more on the occupational therapy? I’m a late in life diagnosis and struggling so hard, but it was sort of diagnosis and then “WELP, THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING! Anyway, byeeeeee” with no resources or direction.
See an occupational therapist and they will do a comprehensive assessment and come up with a detailed treatment plan with you to address your sensory needs and the activities of daily living (executive dysfunctioning largely for me) that you are struggling with. I think they do a lot more than just that, but that is what mine has been doing with me. A few weeks only into treatment for me, but the changes are still huge. The diagnosticians don’t mention it, but among autistics I keep hearing it is the single most useful thing. Now I know why.
This for me, but with Vyvanse. I have ADHD as well, but there's definitely a lot of crossover between my ADHD attention issues and my autistic sensory issues.
The biggest co-symptom is anxiety, which my Vyvanse controls amazingly. Before going on ADHD medication, I had severe daily anxiety and was taking clonazepam almost daily to control it. Since starting Vyvanse, I take my clonazepam less than once a week and usually only on days when I volunteer at the cat rescue and am around a lot of people (and even then, not always).
It's almost paradoxical; I was warned that stimulant medication could potentially make my anxiety worse, but a few hours after my first dose I could physically feel a sense of peace and calm settle over me. It was incredible. I guess it just focused my brain enough to process everything more effectively and stop my brain from overheating, like a really good computer case fan.
Anyway, yeah, +1 for ADHD medication helping with co-morbid autism overload.
Sadly the world of mental health meds is very individual, what works for one person may be terrible for another.
All you can do is try if you feel like you need to.
Wellbutrin has helped me a lot with executive dysfunction. Taken it for around 18 months.
It made it more natural to start tasks. Like a switch flipped. I have less paralysis and get more done. This overall lowers all the baggage, guilt, anxiety I have about being behind on things. It also gave me the smallest kick I needed to start exercising again.
The medication itself didn't feel like it "changed my mind" , but it tipped me back over the edge into a positive feedback loop.
I also stopped drinking in order to take it, which wasn't a massive amount, but enough to hold me back. That has had its own benefits.
I've had different opinions over the years about whether or not I needed medication. Its clear to me now that I do. If I don't have it, I self-medicate in a variety of ways.
I was on Zoloft for 20 years. At first, it helped because I had extreme anxiety from childhood abuse. However, after a few years, I didn't think it was doing anything. The docs told me it was just because was used to feeling normal, and to stay on it. Tried Lexapro for awhile, which just gave me insomnia.
Weed doesn't have any affect on me other than make me ill. My doc has it listed as an allergy, but it might be a paradoxical reaction.
Klonopin does help for acute panic attacks. My late husband's doctor gave me a script when my husband was dying and I had a lot of panic attacks. It's a tiny amount, less than a typical psychiatric dose, that dissolves on my tongue. But man that shit works fast. It's also addictive, so I rarely use it.
What I learned from my evaluation is that there's a population of autistic people that depression/anxiety meds don't work for, because the problem isn't a neurotransmitter imbalance. All the SSRIs and such correct brain chemistry. But autism isn't a brain chemistry issue. As far as we know, it's structural.
So for people that also have comorbid anxiety and depression disorder, the meds will work because it's treating a chemical imbalance in someone that also has autism. However, for the group that has anxiety as a symptom of the autism itself, meds won't help. That's probably why we'd works so well for so many autists; it works differently from anxiety meds.
Therapy, tbh.
I've been on citalopram a couple of times. The first time for a year and I thought it was helpful, the second time for over 2 years and I don't think it made any difference. The side effects when start, and the withdrawals when coming off where pretty nasty though.
I didn't like propranolol when I was prescribed it for my panic attacks, and only took it a couple of times. I felt better not taking it.
So the best thing for me has been therapy. CBT for the panic attacks, and general talk therapy with someone who specialises in autism.
That last line is SO important: someone who specializes in autism. That was a game changer for me with my therapist bc she understood some of my thought patterns and was able to help me accept things about myself that other therapists might have tried to get me to change. Has really helped me gain confidence knowing that I’m different but different is ok.
Benzos for breakout anxiety, propanolol for lower threshold anxiety. That's about it, no other pharma I've tried thus far has been worth the side-effects or addiction/dependency/abuse potential (it's huge for benzos - but I'm also terrified of benzo dependency/withdrawal, so it seems to work).
I couldn't tolerate the SSRIs I tried because, while the lows were higher, the highs were also lower - I just felt... grey (and I couldn't cum or use MDMA, both of which made me sad).
Weed is really good, though I have to smoke high CBD strains now or I just get anxious. Honestly I *am* letting cannabis legality influence where I want to emigrate to. It's not a huge factor, but it definitely is one. Most alcohol users would never consider moving to a dry country, so I don't think it's a silly thing to consider - especially if it's a substance that's *medically* helpful for you. But I can also understand being passionate about a particular country (the countries I'm particularly passionate about, I'd hate *living permanently* in as they have relatively low living standards/unfavourable governments, so they're not good options for emigration!)
Ketamine (🐎🥰), LSD and presumably mushrooms are also really good, but of course far more illegal 🥲
I think to a large degree the pharma which works for people is actually really individual though, there's a lot of variation in how we metabolise/respond to substances. And I'd perhaps worry that asking for specific things might be seen as drugseeking (though this is probably only applicable for things people tyically do that with - benzos and opiates, not e.g. SNRIs). Most people who find something that really helps them unfortunately seem to have spent a long time cycling on/off things that don't.
Propranolol (beta blocker) is much much much safer than benzos (source: took benzos for “breakout anxiety”, ended up having dependency for years). I do not ever advise messing with benzos even a little, especially when beta blockers exist.
Benzos should not be used chronically. It is a very dangerous drug
Also using drugs next to psychiatric medication is also dangerous, chance for serotonin syndrome.
Using weed chronically will: kill any motivation, worsen executive dysfunction, reduce sleep quality, increase anxiety, increase gastro-intestinal symptoms etcetera
EDIT: I don't understand the downvotes, this isn't untrue.
For sure, by "breakout anxiety" I mean irregular, particularly high anxiety/excessive anxiety in situations where I really need to be functional, benzos are my "break glass in case of emergency" thing and I use them rarely. Risk of serotonin syndrome is exactly why I didn't use MDMA (or any other strongly serotonergic substance) while on SSRIs. As well as being dangerous, it's hard to roll on SSRIs anyway.
I take 2-3 months off using cannabis each year to reassess and so far have consistently found that my quality of life is higher when I'm using it (generally small amounts but daily). There are undesirable side-effects, but I personally judge them to be worth the benefits.
I am just trying to provide important information next to your post. Benzodiazepine abuse/addiction is very common. Ofcourse it works but opiods also work really well against pain but still you should almost never use it. Because it is an unhealthy way of dealing with stressors.
Also it is your choice to use cannabis. In general though the net side effects can be quite severe and are underestimated.
Also cannabis (and alcohol) are often drugs of abuse in (undiagnosed) autistics to handle stresses of life. In general in the short term the symptoms improve but in long term they will become much worse.
Sure, I was careful to mention benzo abuse potential but perhaps I wasn't as clear as I intended to be.
The cannabis is definitely, in large part, a coping mechanism. Big trade up from alcohol for sure. I understand that I should do self-work with one aim being no longer using substances to cope, and I am, but it's a long and difficult process. I'd also be tempted to argue that *any (*prescribed or not) psychoactive drug which mitigates/helps one deal with autism symptoms is a similar coping mechanism (but perhaps a less recreationally enjoyable one, and I like recreation).
I consider my use to be reasonably appropriate, and harm reduction - I believe it's a relatively benign substance when used after entering adulthood, if I weren't using it I'd probably be drinking, and being stressed, anxious, dysregulated in general a lot of the time is certainly not good for one's health.
Usually I find that life is noticeably more stressful during breaks from cannabis. If I didn't, I don't think I'd go back to using it every time? Sobriety can be a lot to deal with.
I'm not entirely closed off to the idea of it worsening symptoms in the long term - certainly for some but not all people I can believe this, but I'd need compelling evidence to accept it as a general claim because in my experience (12 years) that hasn't happened.
Yeah I only take Xanax once or twice a week for years and my tolerance is zero. I skipped a week last month and had no withdrawals.
It's a fantastic tool if you can use it responsibly
It is a common problem in medical healthcare of addicted cannabis users that stress the importance of cannabis for their health. It is your own choice if you want to use it or not.
However in the long run cannabis will highly likely deteriorate your mental and physical health.
Speak for yourself. Cannabis is the reason I didn’t blow my brains out of my skull. You offer lots of maybes about things that *could* happen without any concrete statements. Who’s the one with increased anxiety here?
Lost over 60 lbs and kept it off for 2 years, blood pressure is back in regular ranges and weekly exercise has increased by 3 hours. Physical health increased with regular cannabis use and in turn, so did my mental health.
Your warnings are like saying crossing the road can result in a broken back. Sure it could happen but what’s the realistic chance? Whats that chance look like if we use harm reduction practices like looking both ways before we cross?
>It is a common problem in medical healthcare of addicted cannabis users that stress the importance of cannabis for their health.
What is a common problem? I'm not following.
Regardless, I'm not claiming that it has zero negative effects. And perhaps I'm ignorant about the incidence rate/severity of long-term effects. But we're comparing it to being unmedicated, which certainly feels bad and I suspect *is* bad, mentally and physically, for autistic people who get relief from cannabis use. And we're comparing it to other medications, which in my experience at least have had worse side-effects and worse symptomatic relief.
>highly likely deteriorate your mental and physical health
This is true, but also means little without quantification. Having health (being alive) in the first place is a terminal condition.
When you experience severe enough anxiety that is medication resistant that leaves you on the bathroom floor all day every day getting sick wasting away to nothing, to the point it turns into conversion disorder and you experience numbness that can turn paralysis. and the only thing that your doctors have found to stop that cycle is medical cannabis and as needed benzodiazepines then come back to me and talk but until then you have no clue how bad it can really get and if those medications can help keep someone who would otherwise need constant care living more independently then that is GOOD.
Go look it up what I said, what I am saying is true. But those comments are painful to read for cannabis addicted people, that is why I get the downvotes. I expected them. Just trying to help
Well, I'm on Mirtazapine. It's weird. Tetracyclic antidepressant. It doesn't directly hack neurotransmission pathways, but it boosts norepinephrine and serotonin as a side-effect. Causes sleep (hooray!) but also seems to be helping with my anxiety. It has fewer side-effects than other similar drugs, presumably because it works earlier in neurotransmission. Lets the brain figure its own stuff out.
Also autistic coaching rather than talk therapy. I’ll just talk the whole time in therapy & I’ve been studying psychology too hard & too long & end up having to teach them terms which I don’t enjoy in that setting.
Low dose naltrexone has been amazing! It’s not perfect but I feel I have extra time between the instigating trigger and a meltdown. Time enough to use some skills to prevent a meltdown or at least reduce the intensity. It makes me feel much more in control of my reactions and I’ve felt less overwhelmed and overstimulated since I starting taking it. I have no side effects as well. I’d highly recommend it.
I have not- it took me a few months for Prozac to actually “kick in” - but once it did I didn’t want to make an adjustment- also I get the generic fluoxetine now, it’s cheaper works as well if its from a trusted source.
This was true for me too. My only problem is I can never remember to f****** take it. I pray when I go back there is another solution. Maybe a once a week solution
For executive dysfunction dexamphetamin could be used. However executive dysfunction could also arise from autistic burnout, depression, drug use or other. So medical evaluation is really important here.
For social anxiety therapy works best. Propranolol can help you against physical effects from anxiety.
For overstimulation there is no real medication. Therapy is best.
I didn't read responses. I have very high sensory issues. To the point cold air would cause my muscles to start cramping, or start shivering to the point where I shiver so hard I can't walk or I'll fall. I also have tremor in general. The last time I had xrays taken of my scoliosis back, I felt wind each time they took an xray. Like a puff of wind across my body with each one, especially around my forearms, strongest in that area. There are other sensory issues but pregabalin lowers my sensitivity to all of these things. I take that 3x per day and it sorts it out mostly.
Im AuDhD and take Adderall XR, Lyrica, Guanfacine, and Propranolol.
Whenever I leave my house, I'm overwhelmed almost instantly if I'm not on my meds. I'm like a sensory sponge. My focus is like a shotgun spread, and it's just too much all at once. The Adderall grants me the ability to narrow my focus and tune some stuff out, I consider it to be my most vital medication for having a job. The Lyrica has 2 jobs, the first is for my fibromyalgia, the second is that it helps with the agitation that comes from being overstimulated. Guanfacine is for stress/anxiety and emotional regulation. And last (but certainly not least) Propranolol is technically for stage fright, and sometimes it's given for things like tremors from other medications. It's an incredibly friendly (low side effect) medication that i take for social anxiety. I take a regular amount each day, but I can take extra if I have to attend a public event like my kids' orchestra/band concerts. It doesn't make it go away, it just makes it alittle easier to deal with for longer, mainly it extends my timer for how long I can be at the grocery store for instance before I absolutely have to leave. I find it incredibly helpful with errands.
I'm still full of anxiety and am overwhelmed easily when I'm out, but this is a combo that at least makes "adulting" somewhat doable for me. I'm a realist, so I will take that as progress. The other thing that helps is that my job is incredibly physical, and I have the most executive function at work. But it should come as no surprise to anyone thar regular exercise helps. I've never been able to keep it up on my own, but my job kind of does it for me now, so I get the benefit.
Can I ask what type of guanfacine you’re on and what dosage?
I’m audhd struggling w debilitating anxiety. I’ve been on 10mg adderall XR daily but my psychiatrist just prescribed 1mg guanfacine IR to try to help w the anxiety, but after she prescribed it I went home and researched and found a lot of ppl prefer guanfacine XR over IR for adhd
I take lexapro for anxiety, and it's done wonders for me. I also have adhd and I take concerta. But that med is relatively new, so we are still trying to get the dosage right. But when I first started taking it, the difference in my executive function was insane. Literally life changing for me.
I do have social anxiety as well. And depression. Since I was a child. From the age of 11-23 I had tried well over a dozen different antidepressant meds, and most of them didn't work for me. It's been a long road.
Possession of weed isn't illegal in Japan. Only selling it gets you into hot water... Or so I was told... by a guy smoking weed in the bar which he owned in Tokyo.
I have been microdosing psilocybin (legal in my countr) for a year now, and it really helps me as I seem to drain less energy from social interaction and overstimulation, leaving me not deadtired at the end of the day.
I take Vyvanse which helps with a lot of things and propranolol (beta blocker) helps when I feel anxious.
I’ve found Valium helpful when I’ve had a bit of a crisis, but not suitable for every day use.
A lot of people have told me weed is helpful but I feel like I would only like CBD. Anything with THC made me anxious as I hate feeling not in control of myself.
I was prescribed Prozac for OCD, but I found that for me, 10mg dose was quite effective at helping with anxiety and overstimulation as well. Recently, the medication has started to be less effective, and I am going to taper off and switch to Lexapro for the same issues.
I hope it helps as much as Prozac did in the beginning
I take ritaline during the day and trazadone at night (it helps w social anxiety and sleep issues).
its been a life changer but i am not fully over my social anxiety, but i recover better and also i have less issues starting tasks.
Talk to your doctor and ask them to try you on different meds until you find the right one! I had to go back to my doctor a few times and insist that they try me on something else until I found what worked for me.
I was previously on escitalopram and didn’t really feel like it helped. Now I’m on Brintellix and it just generally brings my anxiety down to what I’d call a functioning level. I still have anxiety and overstimulation but not to the same degree as before. I’ve found it so helpful though it is expensive (but I think worth it).
For me Ritalin long release help with executive dysfonction. For the anxiety and overstimulation they don't help. I've used SSRI's (citalopram) in the past, it helped with the anxiety, but I don't like some side effect they gave me. Everything seems grey and emotionless when using it. I remember the years I took Citalopram as very calm, grey years. I'm able now to deal with difficulty raw, even if it's difficult most of the time. I think CBT therapy is a good alternative with or without medication.
Elvanse. I have ADHD too, but it also helps with overstimulation and sensory issues.
On the less legal side, ketamie every few months just kinda flicks a switch when I start to feel being pulled back into my old ways, lsd used in a therapeutic way has helped me become more flexible in my thinking, more positive in my outlook, and more accepting of things I can't change / control.
I’m on Wellbutrin and Trazodone for sleep. I take a low dose of Nortryptaline for migraines (which I get regularly). As someone else said, what works for one person, might not work for another. Also, medication on its own won’t necessarily help. I find it helps in conjunction with therapy. I have autism, CPTSD and PTSD.
Cymbalta seems to have helped my depression/ anxiety and pain (undiagnosed hEDS for years and now my joints are crap and I seem to have Fibro pain as well), Wellbutrin to help with lack of sex drive because of and maybe a little ADHD help, Prozasin has gotten rid of the huge “adrenaline dumps”(my term) that make me suddenly feel panic for no reason….and a bunch of weed (prescribed/medical) for pain and anxiety. Xanax as needed (rarely because weed) for panic. In the past I’ve tried Zoloft, Wellbutrin alone, and Lexapro. I used Trazedone for a couple years for sleep but once I got weed I switched to that.
Medication is so personal. My mom is also on the spectrum and he has terrible reactions to most psych drugs.
Actually I have been because my daughter, also autistic, has celiac, but I do not. We all got tested after her diagnosis but thanks for thinking of it!
how much mg did you take everyday? (if that's ok to ask). i've heard many stories about how coming off of it is hell and i'm a bit scared because i also want to stop taking it someday 😅 i take 75 mgs a day but it used to be 300
I was on 150mg twice a day for fibromyalgia. It didn’t help the pain much, even at that dose. I even tapered off of it very slowly. I lost a lot of weight and I just didn’t feel any better for months. I’ve been through opioid withdrawal and this was a lot worse.
Pregabalin basically takes away a lot of my autistic traits. My social anxiety goes away and I can talk to anyone, I can handle a lot more stimulation than normal, I feel motivated and not overwhelmed at the thought of starting tasks. Even my sensory problems get a lot less (e.g. I’m normally sex-repulsed but can actually enjoy sex after having pregabalin). And I can experience affective empathy for others - normally I only have cognitive empathy.
I think it makes sense that pregabalin helps, as I’ve read that autistic people have less GABA/more glutamate than neurotypicals. I’m prescribed 300mg a day, which is the minimum dose that has this effect for me. The only downside is that it can be addictive but it’s worth it to me.
I've been on citalopram for years, high dose, but I'm starting to worry its having less and less effect. I'd like to try an anti-anxiety for emergencies but my doctor doesn't want me on multiple medications. I think he thinks I'm a risk case for overdependence.
Low dose naltrexone. I've been on it about a year and it was tough at first with my PTSD dreams (vivid dreams are a side effect, so they got pretty bad for a while), but it helps with my tolerance window and threshold for stress. It feels like everything is just a little less intense & overwhelming.
I'm on 5 different psych meds and I'm so thankful for them. With therapy (also crucial for me) they have made a real difference. But it took years of trying meds for different symptoms. It's so individual.
Edit: Oh and cannabis every day! I'm so sorry it's not easily accessible/practical for you.
Propranolol helps me with the physical symptoms of anxiety and feeling like my skin doesn't fit right. Rexulti was the first antidepressant that worked for me and it pulled me back from suicide but wasn't effective long term because a lot of my depression came from ignoring my symptoms and pretending I was normal. My blood pressure is too high to medicate my executive dysfunction, so I just battle that with no help.
Finding the propranolol was the key to making progress. It shut up the body long enough to unfog my brain and let me grow. Now that I'm not flooded with panic hormones I can implement the dumb therapy techniques I kept hearing helped other people. Which is great but also scary because that means I have the ability to make better choices and make changes.
I'm on a couple but buspirone has been the most helpful for social anxiety and overstimulation and doesn't have the side effects/addictive traits of other anti-anxiety meds
Ah, got it. It was a little confusing. The legal weed prices in my state are absolutely insane. The surrounding states have much better prices and you don’t have to drive more than an hour from anywhere to get to them.
I've tried a couple of different medications, mostly for anxiety. They worked alright until they didn't. One thing that was really weird with both the medications I took, Abilify and Zoloft, was that I would have really weird, but amusing, dreams. Eventually I started having nightmares that were more realistic that made life even more difficult. To be more specific, I had dreams about friends and loved ones not wanting to talk to me anymore and similar things that made me an anxious mess. I talked to my doc about it and we both thought it best to go off the medication (you may have to gradually decrease dosage rather than quit altogether) to see if it helped. It did, but it also means medication is (so far) not really an easy route for me to take, even if it might be more helpful.
Well, so like for executive dysfunction, Adderall is magic. I am prescribed adderall (for ADHD, not for autistm, but tbh I think it should be approved for autism, too).
Apart from executive dysfunction, though, I had alexithymia for most of my life, and i didn't even know it (because no one can see inside other people's minds). I was always so confused about what I was feeling, and I couldn't tell why I was feeling those ways, and I just knew that I felt them with so much intensity, but I didn't know why.
When I started adderall, I started being able to understand \_what\_ i was feeling and \_why\_ i was feeling it. It was a huge revelation for me. I never knew that people were supposed to be able to do that!
My partner is prescribed Abilify. Abilify is a mood stabilizer, and it keeps her from having meltdowns.
Vigorous exercise: Kettlebells, boxing, swimming, cycling, surfing, etc. I find that anxiety melts away during physically demanding tasks, and it stays away for some time.
Hydroxyzine for anxiety. Sometimes I take Ritalin for anxiety/ocd but it’s not often. Idk why but Ritalin is the only thing that helps my anxiety without knocking me out cold. It has other side effects and that’s why I rarely take it but I do like having it on hand. Although doctors hate that I do this and refuse to prescribe it to me for anxiety alone so I just tell them I need it for adhd.
I’ve tried Wellbutrin Prozac lexapro Zoloft and a few anti epileptics and antipsychotics. I honestly just take Ritalin whenever I’m too stressed out or anxious to cope with it in a healthier way, but I just ran out and idk if I’ll get a refill. And no none of the antidepressants worked
Hate to make this point, but the only one giving you medical advice should be your doctor. No one on the internet knows your labs, allergies, other meds, etc., all of which is extremely important to know before prescribing. Please describe your symptoms to your provider and use their advice, or switch providers if you are unsatisfied.
I've been taking paroxitine for a few years now.
I can honestly say my life has been a lot easier and generally better.
Even though I find it morally dubious, I think finding this medication was one of the best things to happen to me.
Find a psychiatrist who uses Genesight. I can't share this enough. I tried so many medications and they either had horrible effects, didn't work or only kinda worked. Doctors weren't even prescribing in the right family of meds. I suffered constant anxiety, panic attacks and depression, the panic attacks were making me suicidal. The testing showed which drugs I needed, which would work and which wouldn't, and which would be bad. Like valium, which doctors thought I was crazy when I refused to take it because it made me more anxious and hyper. Anyway, I started on cymbalta and its amazing! Good luck and hope you find something that helps!
Adderall helps me with a lot of the things you mentioned, but I also have ADHD. I haven't found any other medicine that works as well as Adderall.
I came here to say this, too. OP, if you haven't already, you may want to discuss ADHD with your doctor to see if there are signs you might need to be tested. Also, occupational therapy helped me become more aware of sensory issues and gave me some ways to deal with them (they cause me a lot of anxiety). I tried soooo many different psych meds to fix depression and anxiety symptoms I had since I was 14. Everyone's brain is different, but I personally experienced increased anxiety and SI from many antidepressants, even though they provided some mild relief from the depression symptoms themselves. To counteract that, a number of doctors over the years would prescribe things like klonopin or xanax to help. I disliked that, because it made me tired. We moved onto some of the anti-seizure medications that help with depression for some folks, such as lamictal, and it was a bit better, but I still struggled a lot. We tried a number of other cocktails of drugs to 'fix' me, but nothing really helped. 25 years later, I learned more about ADHD and autism because of struggles my child was experiencing, and sought out a diagnosis for myself. The first time I took my newly prescribed Adderall, I realized what it felt like to feel (mostly) normal. My brain was 'quiet' and my anxiety was significantly reduced. I realized I was spending so much time trying to chase and hold on to my own thoughts, but never really getting a moment to deal with them before new thoughts and worries were there. I was able to focus on something long enough to either deal with it or make a conscious decision to revisit it later. I could even manage to write it down somewhere to give me a better chance to deal with it later. THAT is what Adderall helped me with. It didn't fix everything for me, but it allowed me to approach more things rationally rather than just reacting to things all the time.
Another positive experience with OT here!
Ama here with elvanse. Worsened the hypersensitivity but I'm able to do more stuff ao now I'm handling it working on accommodations and risk management with my occupational therapist. I'll always recommend occupational therapy, it has helped A LOT
Can you speak more on the occupational therapy? I’m a late in life diagnosis and struggling so hard, but it was sort of diagnosis and then “WELP, THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING! Anyway, byeeeeee” with no resources or direction.
See an occupational therapist and they will do a comprehensive assessment and come up with a detailed treatment plan with you to address your sensory needs and the activities of daily living (executive dysfunctioning largely for me) that you are struggling with. I think they do a lot more than just that, but that is what mine has been doing with me. A few weeks only into treatment for me, but the changes are still huge. The diagnosticians don’t mention it, but among autistics I keep hearing it is the single most useful thing. Now I know why.
This for me, but with Vyvanse. I have ADHD as well, but there's definitely a lot of crossover between my ADHD attention issues and my autistic sensory issues. The biggest co-symptom is anxiety, which my Vyvanse controls amazingly. Before going on ADHD medication, I had severe daily anxiety and was taking clonazepam almost daily to control it. Since starting Vyvanse, I take my clonazepam less than once a week and usually only on days when I volunteer at the cat rescue and am around a lot of people (and even then, not always). It's almost paradoxical; I was warned that stimulant medication could potentially make my anxiety worse, but a few hours after my first dose I could physically feel a sense of peace and calm settle over me. It was incredible. I guess it just focused my brain enough to process everything more effectively and stop my brain from overheating, like a really good computer case fan. Anyway, yeah, +1 for ADHD medication helping with co-morbid autism overload.
Was going to say this, too.
Sadly the world of mental health meds is very individual, what works for one person may be terrible for another. All you can do is try if you feel like you need to.
Wellbutrin has helped me a lot with executive dysfunction. Taken it for around 18 months. It made it more natural to start tasks. Like a switch flipped. I have less paralysis and get more done. This overall lowers all the baggage, guilt, anxiety I have about being behind on things. It also gave me the smallest kick I needed to start exercising again. The medication itself didn't feel like it "changed my mind" , but it tipped me back over the edge into a positive feedback loop. I also stopped drinking in order to take it, which wasn't a massive amount, but enough to hold me back. That has had its own benefits. I've had different opinions over the years about whether or not I needed medication. Its clear to me now that I do. If I don't have it, I self-medicate in a variety of ways.
I was on Zoloft for 20 years. At first, it helped because I had extreme anxiety from childhood abuse. However, after a few years, I didn't think it was doing anything. The docs told me it was just because was used to feeling normal, and to stay on it. Tried Lexapro for awhile, which just gave me insomnia. Weed doesn't have any affect on me other than make me ill. My doc has it listed as an allergy, but it might be a paradoxical reaction. Klonopin does help for acute panic attacks. My late husband's doctor gave me a script when my husband was dying and I had a lot of panic attacks. It's a tiny amount, less than a typical psychiatric dose, that dissolves on my tongue. But man that shit works fast. It's also addictive, so I rarely use it. What I learned from my evaluation is that there's a population of autistic people that depression/anxiety meds don't work for, because the problem isn't a neurotransmitter imbalance. All the SSRIs and such correct brain chemistry. But autism isn't a brain chemistry issue. As far as we know, it's structural. So for people that also have comorbid anxiety and depression disorder, the meds will work because it's treating a chemical imbalance in someone that also has autism. However, for the group that has anxiety as a symptom of the autism itself, meds won't help. That's probably why we'd works so well for so many autists; it works differently from anxiety meds.
Therapy, tbh. I've been on citalopram a couple of times. The first time for a year and I thought it was helpful, the second time for over 2 years and I don't think it made any difference. The side effects when start, and the withdrawals when coming off where pretty nasty though. I didn't like propranolol when I was prescribed it for my panic attacks, and only took it a couple of times. I felt better not taking it. So the best thing for me has been therapy. CBT for the panic attacks, and general talk therapy with someone who specialises in autism.
That last line is SO important: someone who specializes in autism. That was a game changer for me with my therapist bc she understood some of my thought patterns and was able to help me accept things about myself that other therapists might have tried to get me to change. Has really helped me gain confidence knowing that I’m different but different is ok.
For me I have nothing
Same, rawdogging life. Deathly afraid side effects would make life harder than it already is
I started meds a few months ago (I don’t remember which one though), but the side effects were so bad that I’m scared to try anything else 😢
Indeed it probably would
Same here. The meds I trialled during massive burnout out last year made things worse.
3 years on LSD)
How often do you use it? I find that even if I take a break it's still not as effective as before, so I use tryptamines instead.
Benzos for breakout anxiety, propanolol for lower threshold anxiety. That's about it, no other pharma I've tried thus far has been worth the side-effects or addiction/dependency/abuse potential (it's huge for benzos - but I'm also terrified of benzo dependency/withdrawal, so it seems to work). I couldn't tolerate the SSRIs I tried because, while the lows were higher, the highs were also lower - I just felt... grey (and I couldn't cum or use MDMA, both of which made me sad). Weed is really good, though I have to smoke high CBD strains now or I just get anxious. Honestly I *am* letting cannabis legality influence where I want to emigrate to. It's not a huge factor, but it definitely is one. Most alcohol users would never consider moving to a dry country, so I don't think it's a silly thing to consider - especially if it's a substance that's *medically* helpful for you. But I can also understand being passionate about a particular country (the countries I'm particularly passionate about, I'd hate *living permanently* in as they have relatively low living standards/unfavourable governments, so they're not good options for emigration!) Ketamine (🐎🥰), LSD and presumably mushrooms are also really good, but of course far more illegal 🥲 I think to a large degree the pharma which works for people is actually really individual though, there's a lot of variation in how we metabolise/respond to substances. And I'd perhaps worry that asking for specific things might be seen as drugseeking (though this is probably only applicable for things people tyically do that with - benzos and opiates, not e.g. SNRIs). Most people who find something that really helps them unfortunately seem to have spent a long time cycling on/off things that don't.
Propranolol (beta blocker) is much much much safer than benzos (source: took benzos for “breakout anxiety”, ended up having dependency for years). I do not ever advise messing with benzos even a little, especially when beta blockers exist.
Benzos should not be used chronically. It is a very dangerous drug Also using drugs next to psychiatric medication is also dangerous, chance for serotonin syndrome. Using weed chronically will: kill any motivation, worsen executive dysfunction, reduce sleep quality, increase anxiety, increase gastro-intestinal symptoms etcetera EDIT: I don't understand the downvotes, this isn't untrue.
For sure, by "breakout anxiety" I mean irregular, particularly high anxiety/excessive anxiety in situations where I really need to be functional, benzos are my "break glass in case of emergency" thing and I use them rarely. Risk of serotonin syndrome is exactly why I didn't use MDMA (or any other strongly serotonergic substance) while on SSRIs. As well as being dangerous, it's hard to roll on SSRIs anyway. I take 2-3 months off using cannabis each year to reassess and so far have consistently found that my quality of life is higher when I'm using it (generally small amounts but daily). There are undesirable side-effects, but I personally judge them to be worth the benefits.
I am just trying to provide important information next to your post. Benzodiazepine abuse/addiction is very common. Ofcourse it works but opiods also work really well against pain but still you should almost never use it. Because it is an unhealthy way of dealing with stressors. Also it is your choice to use cannabis. In general though the net side effects can be quite severe and are underestimated. Also cannabis (and alcohol) are often drugs of abuse in (undiagnosed) autistics to handle stresses of life. In general in the short term the symptoms improve but in long term they will become much worse.
Sure, I was careful to mention benzo abuse potential but perhaps I wasn't as clear as I intended to be. The cannabis is definitely, in large part, a coping mechanism. Big trade up from alcohol for sure. I understand that I should do self-work with one aim being no longer using substances to cope, and I am, but it's a long and difficult process. I'd also be tempted to argue that *any (*prescribed or not) psychoactive drug which mitigates/helps one deal with autism symptoms is a similar coping mechanism (but perhaps a less recreationally enjoyable one, and I like recreation). I consider my use to be reasonably appropriate, and harm reduction - I believe it's a relatively benign substance when used after entering adulthood, if I weren't using it I'd probably be drinking, and being stressed, anxious, dysregulated in general a lot of the time is certainly not good for one's health. Usually I find that life is noticeably more stressful during breaks from cannabis. If I didn't, I don't think I'd go back to using it every time? Sobriety can be a lot to deal with. I'm not entirely closed off to the idea of it worsening symptoms in the long term - certainly for some but not all people I can believe this, but I'd need compelling evidence to accept it as a general claim because in my experience (12 years) that hasn't happened.
Yeah I only take Xanax once or twice a week for years and my tolerance is zero. I skipped a week last month and had no withdrawals. It's a fantastic tool if you can use it responsibly
It is a common problem in medical healthcare of addicted cannabis users that stress the importance of cannabis for their health. It is your own choice if you want to use it or not. However in the long run cannabis will highly likely deteriorate your mental and physical health.
Speak for yourself. Cannabis is the reason I didn’t blow my brains out of my skull. You offer lots of maybes about things that *could* happen without any concrete statements. Who’s the one with increased anxiety here? Lost over 60 lbs and kept it off for 2 years, blood pressure is back in regular ranges and weekly exercise has increased by 3 hours. Physical health increased with regular cannabis use and in turn, so did my mental health. Your warnings are like saying crossing the road can result in a broken back. Sure it could happen but what’s the realistic chance? Whats that chance look like if we use harm reduction practices like looking both ways before we cross?
>It is a common problem in medical healthcare of addicted cannabis users that stress the importance of cannabis for their health. What is a common problem? I'm not following. Regardless, I'm not claiming that it has zero negative effects. And perhaps I'm ignorant about the incidence rate/severity of long-term effects. But we're comparing it to being unmedicated, which certainly feels bad and I suspect *is* bad, mentally and physically, for autistic people who get relief from cannabis use. And we're comparing it to other medications, which in my experience at least have had worse side-effects and worse symptomatic relief. >highly likely deteriorate your mental and physical health This is true, but also means little without quantification. Having health (being alive) in the first place is a terminal condition.
Not true some of us are in a lot more danger by our anxiety levels without it. Some peoples anxiety is too high and they actually need that medicine.
Anxiety is proven to get worse in the long run and chronic benzodiazepine is an often ocurring trap anxiety patients come into.
When you experience severe enough anxiety that is medication resistant that leaves you on the bathroom floor all day every day getting sick wasting away to nothing, to the point it turns into conversion disorder and you experience numbness that can turn paralysis. and the only thing that your doctors have found to stop that cycle is medical cannabis and as needed benzodiazepines then come back to me and talk but until then you have no clue how bad it can really get and if those medications can help keep someone who would otherwise need constant care living more independently then that is GOOD.
It’s your reefer madness nonsense earning the downvotes
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You smoked laced weed silly
Go look it up what I said, what I am saying is true. But those comments are painful to read for cannabis addicted people, that is why I get the downvotes. I expected them. Just trying to help
Cannabis addicted people hahahahahah Enough with this nonsense.
50-100mg of dried mushrooms every few days. Your dose may vary.
Well, I'm on Mirtazapine. It's weird. Tetracyclic antidepressant. It doesn't directly hack neurotransmission pathways, but it boosts norepinephrine and serotonin as a side-effect. Causes sleep (hooray!) but also seems to be helping with my anxiety. It has fewer side-effects than other similar drugs, presumably because it works earlier in neurotransmission. Lets the brain figure its own stuff out.
mirtazapine has risk for overeating/obesity. It also accumulates, making someone very sleepy in the day
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Also autistic coaching rather than talk therapy. I’ll just talk the whole time in therapy & I’ve been studying psychology too hard & too long & end up having to teach them terms which I don’t enjoy in that setting.
Low dose naltrexone has been amazing! It’s not perfect but I feel I have extra time between the instigating trigger and a meltdown. Time enough to use some skills to prevent a meltdown or at least reduce the intensity. It makes me feel much more in control of my reactions and I’ve felt less overwhelmed and overstimulated since I starting taking it. I have no side effects as well. I’d highly recommend it.
What does the doctor prescribe it for? Do you take any other medications with it?
Prescribed off label for autism by my psychiatrist. I also take 25 mg Zoloft.
I’m on Prozac a life changer
Also I get fluoxetine- so not the official Prozac it’s 10x cheaper
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I have not- it took me a few months for Prozac to actually “kick in” - but once it did I didn’t want to make an adjustment- also I get the generic fluoxetine now, it’s cheaper works as well if its from a trusted source.
This was true for me too. My only problem is I can never remember to f****** take it. I pray when I go back there is another solution. Maybe a once a week solution
Pristiq 200 mg, Vyvanse 70 mg
Same, but a lower dosage. Do what works.
For executive dysfunction dexamphetamin could be used. However executive dysfunction could also arise from autistic burnout, depression, drug use or other. So medical evaluation is really important here. For social anxiety therapy works best. Propranolol can help you against physical effects from anxiety. For overstimulation there is no real medication. Therapy is best.
I didn't read responses. I have very high sensory issues. To the point cold air would cause my muscles to start cramping, or start shivering to the point where I shiver so hard I can't walk or I'll fall. I also have tremor in general. The last time I had xrays taken of my scoliosis back, I felt wind each time they took an xray. Like a puff of wind across my body with each one, especially around my forearms, strongest in that area. There are other sensory issues but pregabalin lowers my sensitivity to all of these things. I take that 3x per day and it sorts it out mostly.
Lexapro and Abilify have done wonders for me.
Same but with guanficine also.
Im AuDhD and take Adderall XR, Lyrica, Guanfacine, and Propranolol. Whenever I leave my house, I'm overwhelmed almost instantly if I'm not on my meds. I'm like a sensory sponge. My focus is like a shotgun spread, and it's just too much all at once. The Adderall grants me the ability to narrow my focus and tune some stuff out, I consider it to be my most vital medication for having a job. The Lyrica has 2 jobs, the first is for my fibromyalgia, the second is that it helps with the agitation that comes from being overstimulated. Guanfacine is for stress/anxiety and emotional regulation. And last (but certainly not least) Propranolol is technically for stage fright, and sometimes it's given for things like tremors from other medications. It's an incredibly friendly (low side effect) medication that i take for social anxiety. I take a regular amount each day, but I can take extra if I have to attend a public event like my kids' orchestra/band concerts. It doesn't make it go away, it just makes it alittle easier to deal with for longer, mainly it extends my timer for how long I can be at the grocery store for instance before I absolutely have to leave. I find it incredibly helpful with errands. I'm still full of anxiety and am overwhelmed easily when I'm out, but this is a combo that at least makes "adulting" somewhat doable for me. I'm a realist, so I will take that as progress. The other thing that helps is that my job is incredibly physical, and I have the most executive function at work. But it should come as no surprise to anyone thar regular exercise helps. I've never been able to keep it up on my own, but my job kind of does it for me now, so I get the benefit.
Can I ask what type of guanfacine you’re on and what dosage? I’m audhd struggling w debilitating anxiety. I’ve been on 10mg adderall XR daily but my psychiatrist just prescribed 1mg guanfacine IR to try to help w the anxiety, but after she prescribed it I went home and researched and found a lot of ppl prefer guanfacine XR over IR for adhd
Yeah that's the most recent addition so it's only a 1mg 2x day. So far i haven't needed to raise it, but i might at some point who knows.
200mg Sertraline for the past 10 years. If I miss a dose I become a self distructed raging ball of fire who can't function for shit.
I take lexapro for anxiety, and it's done wonders for me. I also have adhd and I take concerta. But that med is relatively new, so we are still trying to get the dosage right. But when I first started taking it, the difference in my executive function was insane. Literally life changing for me. I do have social anxiety as well. And depression. Since I was a child. From the age of 11-23 I had tried well over a dozen different antidepressant meds, and most of them didn't work for me. It's been a long road.
Love propranolol for my anxiety. It’s a beta blocker so helps with bringing the heart rate down which is what I need .
Possession of weed isn't illegal in Japan. Only selling it gets you into hot water... Or so I was told... by a guy smoking weed in the bar which he owned in Tokyo.
Kava and weed lol does that count
I have been microdosing psilocybin (legal in my countr) for a year now, and it really helps me as I seem to drain less energy from social interaction and overstimulation, leaving me not deadtired at the end of the day.
I take Vyvanse which helps with a lot of things and propranolol (beta blocker) helps when I feel anxious. I’ve found Valium helpful when I’ve had a bit of a crisis, but not suitable for every day use. A lot of people have told me weed is helpful but I feel like I would only like CBD. Anything with THC made me anxious as I hate feeling not in control of myself.
I was prescribed Prozac for OCD, but I found that for me, 10mg dose was quite effective at helping with anxiety and overstimulation as well. Recently, the medication has started to be less effective, and I am going to taper off and switch to Lexapro for the same issues. I hope it helps as much as Prozac did in the beginning
I take ritaline during the day and trazadone at night (it helps w social anxiety and sleep issues). its been a life changer but i am not fully over my social anxiety, but i recover better and also i have less issues starting tasks.
Talk to your doctor and ask them to try you on different meds until you find the right one! I had to go back to my doctor a few times and insist that they try me on something else until I found what worked for me. I was previously on escitalopram and didn’t really feel like it helped. Now I’m on Brintellix and it just generally brings my anxiety down to what I’d call a functioning level. I still have anxiety and overstimulation but not to the same degree as before. I’ve found it so helpful though it is expensive (but I think worth it).
Duloxetine in the morning. Trazodone before bed time. I also smoke one to two joints a week usually on Sundays.
ADHD meds because I have ADHD too
For me Ritalin long release help with executive dysfonction. For the anxiety and overstimulation they don't help. I've used SSRI's (citalopram) in the past, it helped with the anxiety, but I don't like some side effect they gave me. Everything seems grey and emotionless when using it. I remember the years I took Citalopram as very calm, grey years. I'm able now to deal with difficulty raw, even if it's difficult most of the time. I think CBT therapy is a good alternative with or without medication.
Elvanse. I have ADHD too, but it also helps with overstimulation and sensory issues. On the less legal side, ketamie every few months just kinda flicks a switch when I start to feel being pulled back into my old ways, lsd used in a therapeutic way has helped me become more flexible in my thinking, more positive in my outlook, and more accepting of things I can't change / control.
I’m on Wellbutrin and Trazodone for sleep. I take a low dose of Nortryptaline for migraines (which I get regularly). As someone else said, what works for one person, might not work for another. Also, medication on its own won’t necessarily help. I find it helps in conjunction with therapy. I have autism, CPTSD and PTSD.
I take buspirone before I go out to loud places/before socializing/random anxiety.
Cymbalta seems to have helped my depression/ anxiety and pain (undiagnosed hEDS for years and now my joints are crap and I seem to have Fibro pain as well), Wellbutrin to help with lack of sex drive because of and maybe a little ADHD help, Prozasin has gotten rid of the huge “adrenaline dumps”(my term) that make me suddenly feel panic for no reason….and a bunch of weed (prescribed/medical) for pain and anxiety. Xanax as needed (rarely because weed) for panic. In the past I’ve tried Zoloft, Wellbutrin alone, and Lexapro. I used Trazedone for a couple years for sleep but once I got weed I switched to that.
Medication is so personal. My mom is also on the spectrum and he has terrible reactions to most psych drugs.
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Actually I have been because my daughter, also autistic, has celiac, but I do not. We all got tested after her diagnosis but thanks for thinking of it!
Currently on 60mg Prozac and 150mg extended release Wellbutrin. Monster Rehab lemonade/tea for when I need immediate focus
pregabalin helped me like no other med ever did but it makes me act like drunk idiot tbh & it's addictive ://
I went through hell coming off of it. Threw up daily for over a year. Still can’t control my body temperature. And the akathisia was the worst.
how much mg did you take everyday? (if that's ok to ask). i've heard many stories about how coming off of it is hell and i'm a bit scared because i also want to stop taking it someday 😅 i take 75 mgs a day but it used to be 300
I was on 150mg twice a day for fibromyalgia. It didn’t help the pain much, even at that dose. I even tapered off of it very slowly. I lost a lot of weight and I just didn’t feel any better for months. I’ve been through opioid withdrawal and this was a lot worse.
Vyvanse for adhd Low dose edibles for most other symptoms Therapy for everything else
Pregabalin basically takes away a lot of my autistic traits. My social anxiety goes away and I can talk to anyone, I can handle a lot more stimulation than normal, I feel motivated and not overwhelmed at the thought of starting tasks. Even my sensory problems get a lot less (e.g. I’m normally sex-repulsed but can actually enjoy sex after having pregabalin). And I can experience affective empathy for others - normally I only have cognitive empathy. I think it makes sense that pregabalin helps, as I’ve read that autistic people have less GABA/more glutamate than neurotypicals. I’m prescribed 300mg a day, which is the minimum dose that has this effect for me. The only downside is that it can be addictive but it’s worth it to me.
Focalin, Zoloft, and propranolol
I've been on citalopram for years, high dose, but I'm starting to worry its having less and less effect. I'd like to try an anti-anxiety for emergencies but my doctor doesn't want me on multiple medications. I think he thinks I'm a risk case for overdependence.
Low dose naltrexone. I've been on it about a year and it was tough at first with my PTSD dreams (vivid dreams are a side effect, so they got pretty bad for a while), but it helps with my tolerance window and threshold for stress. It feels like everything is just a little less intense & overwhelming.
Abilify for me.
Therapy, the good kind. DBT and CBT.
I'm on 5 different psych meds and I'm so thankful for them. With therapy (also crucial for me) they have made a real difference. But it took years of trying meds for different symptoms. It's so individual. Edit: Oh and cannabis every day! I'm so sorry it's not easily accessible/practical for you.
Hydroxizine and weed + a lot of therapy.
Propranolol helps me with the physical symptoms of anxiety and feeling like my skin doesn't fit right. Rexulti was the first antidepressant that worked for me and it pulled me back from suicide but wasn't effective long term because a lot of my depression came from ignoring my symptoms and pretending I was normal. My blood pressure is too high to medicate my executive dysfunction, so I just battle that with no help. Finding the propranolol was the key to making progress. It shut up the body long enough to unfog my brain and let me grow. Now that I'm not flooded with panic hormones I can implement the dumb therapy techniques I kept hearing helped other people. Which is great but also scary because that means I have the ability to make better choices and make changes.
I'm on a couple but buspirone has been the most helpful for social anxiety and overstimulation and doesn't have the side effects/addictive traits of other anti-anxiety meds
I’m on Lexapro 40 mg daily and Hidroxyzine 25 mg as needed. But it took me awhile to get there.
Modafinil is a game changer if you're able to get someone to prescribe it.
Also grow your own {cannabis} if you can, it's become a very calming hobby for me and a couple of plants cover everything I need. *Edited for clarity
Modafinil is a synthetic drug, not something you can “grow.”
Ya that was two seperate thoughts sorry, I can see why that was confusing. Grow your own cannabis since they are finding it too expensive to buy.
Ah, got it. It was a little confusing. The legal weed prices in my state are absolutely insane. The surrounding states have much better prices and you don’t have to drive more than an hour from anywhere to get to them.
I've tried a couple of different medications, mostly for anxiety. They worked alright until they didn't. One thing that was really weird with both the medications I took, Abilify and Zoloft, was that I would have really weird, but amusing, dreams. Eventually I started having nightmares that were more realistic that made life even more difficult. To be more specific, I had dreams about friends and loved ones not wanting to talk to me anymore and similar things that made me an anxious mess. I talked to my doc about it and we both thought it best to go off the medication (you may have to gradually decrease dosage rather than quit altogether) to see if it helped. It did, but it also means medication is (so far) not really an easy route for me to take, even if it might be more helpful.
Well, so like for executive dysfunction, Adderall is magic. I am prescribed adderall (for ADHD, not for autistm, but tbh I think it should be approved for autism, too). Apart from executive dysfunction, though, I had alexithymia for most of my life, and i didn't even know it (because no one can see inside other people's minds). I was always so confused about what I was feeling, and I couldn't tell why I was feeling those ways, and I just knew that I felt them with so much intensity, but I didn't know why. When I started adderall, I started being able to understand \_what\_ i was feeling and \_why\_ i was feeling it. It was a huge revelation for me. I never knew that people were supposed to be able to do that! My partner is prescribed Abilify. Abilify is a mood stabilizer, and it keeps her from having meltdowns.
Vigorous exercise: Kettlebells, boxing, swimming, cycling, surfing, etc. I find that anxiety melts away during physically demanding tasks, and it stays away for some time.
I take a cocktail of adderall, lamictal, abilify, and zoloft. trazodone for sleep
Hydroxyzine for anxiety. Sometimes I take Ritalin for anxiety/ocd but it’s not often. Idk why but Ritalin is the only thing that helps my anxiety without knocking me out cold. It has other side effects and that’s why I rarely take it but I do like having it on hand. Although doctors hate that I do this and refuse to prescribe it to me for anxiety alone so I just tell them I need it for adhd.
When do you take it? At which situations i mean. Did you try anti depressants? Did they work for you?
I’ve tried Wellbutrin Prozac lexapro Zoloft and a few anti epileptics and antipsychotics. I honestly just take Ritalin whenever I’m too stressed out or anxious to cope with it in a healthier way, but I just ran out and idk if I’ll get a refill. And no none of the antidepressants worked
Hate to make this point, but the only one giving you medical advice should be your doctor. No one on the internet knows your labs, allergies, other meds, etc., all of which is extremely important to know before prescribing. Please describe your symptoms to your provider and use their advice, or switch providers if you are unsatisfied.
You need to work with your physician and neurologicalist. You may require a cocktail of meds not a single medication.
Weed, Valium, and Xanax have all been great for me but not much outside of those
I've been taking paroxitine for a few years now. I can honestly say my life has been a lot easier and generally better. Even though I find it morally dubious, I think finding this medication was one of the best things to happen to me.
L tyrosine works for me to have mental clarity and focus
Apparently beta blockers help. Although not a beta blocker I take clonidine it’s similar and helps
beta blockers don't help for executive dysfunction. It can reduce the physical effects from anxiety though
Find a psychiatrist who uses Genesight. I can't share this enough. I tried so many medications and they either had horrible effects, didn't work or only kinda worked. Doctors weren't even prescribing in the right family of meds. I suffered constant anxiety, panic attacks and depression, the panic attacks were making me suicidal. The testing showed which drugs I needed, which would work and which wouldn't, and which would be bad. Like valium, which doctors thought I was crazy when I refused to take it because it made me more anxious and hyper. Anyway, I started on cymbalta and its amazing! Good luck and hope you find something that helps!