How do we handle ADHD and comorbidities?
Q: What do we do with the co-morbidity stuff? The menopause brain fog, the ADHD, the post-viral COVID-19 “long hauler”, and just plain old anxiety/depression from all of it. When all of the “manageable conditions” gain up on you and now nothing works.
Looks like you are aware already of the common co-occurring conditions. As they say, ADHD never travels alone.
I’m not a clinician, but what I’ve always been told is that we should determine (along with our providers) what is having the most negative impact.
Sometimes when you start treating ADHD the anxiety and/or depression get better. But there are times when we must manage some other more emergent condition before we can pivot to the ADHD.
This is not a satisfying answer, but it’s the one I hear again and again.
Anecdotally, I had a huge increase in anxiety/panic after I had Covid and my psychiatrist told me he has heard that from several patients. No idea if I had long Covid or not. What’s long? Feels like we’re all living in a simulation at this point.
We are now starting to understand the interplay between women’s hormones and ADHD. I suppose it will take a bit longer for the research to catch up with what we already know: Menopause makes ADHD symptoms worse. Hormonal fluctuations of almost any kind make the symptoms of ADHD harder to manage. There is a book coming out in October by Dr Kathleen Nadeau that you can pre-order – Still Distracted After All These Years: Help and Support for Older Adults with ADHD. My other go-to is Linda Roggli at https://addiva.net. She’s well known here at ADDA and has done some wonderful presentations about women’s hormones. Also check out the work of Dr. Patricia Quinn.
And if I haven’t loaded you up with enough stuff yet, this article on comorbidities popped-up the same day I got your question – Dr. Rostain knows his stuff!
When you say “nothing works” it sounds like you need more support than you’re currently getting. ADDA is a great place to start; we have online peer support groups that are included in your membership. If you have the resources, check out ADHD coaching.
ADHD isn’t something you can manage alone.
Hope this helps!
-liz
Tag:anxiety, comorbidities, depression, menopause
