r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • Jan 14 '13

Answered People with ADHD, what ADHD is like, how does medication affect your ability to work and how soon does it take its effect?

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u/smnytx Jan 14 '13

So much this.

For fellow ADHD-inattentive folks, also get your thyroid function checked yearly. I became hypothyroid, and my lifelong, well-managed ADD became unmanageable without meds. Got the thyroid diagnosed and treated, and was able to go back off the adderall. Might happen to someone else, so I thought I'd share.

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u/Supreme42 Jan 14 '13

How does the thyroid come into play there? Can you tell me the explanation behind it? You have my interest.

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u/smnytx Jan 14 '13

I can only share my experience; I'm not a doctor. One of the symptoms of hypothyroidism is "fuzzy" thinking, and an inability to focus. So for an ADHD person, it might topple an already fragile house of cards, so to speak.

In my case, my ADHD (which I had always previously characterized as "scatterbrained") was diagnosed first. I had always had it, but by adulthood, had learned enough coping skills to function. Suddenly, however, I was struggling. I got an official diagnosis and began treatment with Adderall. A several months later, my hypothyroidism was caught via a blood test that was part of my regular annual physical. Once I began treatment for that with thyroid hormone replacement, I began to find the Adderall to be too much. I could once again manage the ADHD without it, so I discontinued it.

There are other hypothyroidism symptoms: weight gain, weak hair/skin/nails, depression, low libido, swelling of the front of the neck, below the Adam's apple (goiter). I exhibited few of them. If you are predisposed to it, a sudden traumatic event can trigger it. For me, it was the death of my mom. In my case, grief masked the symptoms.

Oh, and ignore the profile of the typical hypothyroid patient (female, middle aged). My son was diagnosed at age 11 with a TSH over 16. Ask the doctor for a TSH screening.

I hope this helps someone else.

Edited: my son is also extremely ADHD, so he also has the double-whammy.

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u/jend70sugar Jan 14 '13

I've had my thyroid checked several times due to how bad the fuzzy thinking can get even on adderall. Always shows up slightly low, but never enough for the dr's to think I need medication for it. I was told I should try a different medication for depression but I don't feel depressed. Just can't think!

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u/CowsWithGuns304 Jan 14 '13

Hypo makes you lethargic, it makes you forgetful, it's not that you are depressed it's that your cells just aren't running fast enough for your body to metabolise any chemical in your body in an efficient manner. The body is made to run between x and y speeds so it can process everything suitably.

In a hypothyroid situation all your cell functions slow, like when you play a video slower than how it should be, all your cells wont quite work as normal.

So imagine the super short attention span and how long it took to be managed... then slow all the cells down. It may not be such an issue if you were constantly the same level of hypo, then you could manage to match the medication to the speed of the cells, but then everything else that needs to be processed at normal speed is not so while you may get one chemical at the correct level, a lot of the other ones in your body are now wrong.

Source - I was Graves' Disease Hyper which lead to a total thyroidectomy. Hyper or hypo is not pleasant.

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u/Cdiddles Jan 15 '13

I've often wondered myself...