What effect does ADHD meds have on autistic people?

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I've heard that autistic people [with adhd?] don't respond well to adhd meds, but I've never heard of an explanation of why they don't respond well and what effects it has on them.

I know some autistic people who are on ADHD-meds and it works for them.

1st of all ADHD is often times overdiagnosed in autistic people.
2nd autistic people react very often very sensitive to psychiatric meds or not at all or different. Not just ADHD-meds.

I don't think that someone knows the exact reason for that.
There are just theorys.

In my experience with my 8yo son they haven't helped at all. In fact, most of the "stimulant" type drugs such as Vyvanse, Ritalin, Daytrana have only worked minimally. Ritalin for example put him a sort of bemused stupor for about 2 hours and was followed by a 21 hour meltdown. Most of the others worked for a few hours and then his regular undesirable behaviors came back twofold. I believe it may be partly because he metabolizes them so fast so that what we get is a couple of hours of effectiveness followed by the "come down" period which is almost akin to withdrawal.

They say that every child in the autism spectrum is different though so your results may differ. I only know what hasn't worked with my hyperactive and sensory-seeking PDD-NOS child. His school considers him to be ADHD but it's a tertiary non-diagnosis followed by ASD/PDD-NOS and MR.

I'm on Concerta which is basically time released Ritalin and it works really well for me. My nephew who also has Asperger's and ADHD also responds well to the meds (but Concerta caused him hallucinate) . Everyone is different.

I'm unusually sensitive to them. I can't take regular Ritalin because if I take enough to have an effect, it just shuts me down--I sit there unable to think about how to move. But if I take low doses, it's effective; so I take the extended-release version, which prevents that zombie effect I hate.

As for the positive effects: I'm more easily able to switch tasks, stop and start things, and generally organize my life when I'm on ADHD meds. I am not officially diagnosed with ADHD, but that's only because I'm also diagnosed with autism. I have enough traits to be diagnosed with ADHD-PI, easily, and have used many of the same coping strategies that people with only ADHD use to keep themselves on track.

So yeah, if you're autistic and you're going to start taking ADHD meds, consider the possibility that you may be unusually sensitive, and insist on starting with a small dose.

[x]

My experiences when I was younger and on various stimulant type ADHD meds were-

Increased Focus
Increased Awareness/Such as more vibrance in colors/heightened sense of smell
Increase In Memory
Increased Confidence In General- Perhaps due to the increase of awareness too, but not alone.
Peace Of Mind- Much less distracting racing thoughts
More Energy For Productivity, Rather Than Negativity.

I'm not taking them currently, but when I did take them, they really helped me stay on task, be less hyperactive, and (to others) be less annoying. I'll take them again after summer ends and I need to do important tasks again (like working at one of the jobs I applied for, assuming I get hired). But right now, I don't feel a need for them, and I like myself better when not on them.

I tried Adderall once. Took it in the morning and went to work. I was more productive, had less anxiety and found it easier to have conversations with people. Overall I felt much better than usual.

I usually rarely join in in conversations with coworkers, but on that day I had a 20 minute one on one conversation with a coworker about physics and I was explaining the Schrodinger's cat experiment.

I still had issues with finding the words I wanted to use and getting them out during the conversation. I still felt like my brain was kinda bogging down, but I wasn't as anxious about talking to the other person.

I sit somewhere on the border between ADHD and AS (diagnosed ADHD as a child, suspect AS as comorbid) and Adderall works wonders on me. It helps me concentrate very well, as well as helping me with my depression and lethargy and helps me lose weight.

Really? I've gained weight on Concerta. But then, I steadily and slowly gain weight as it is--two to five pounds per year, usually. I did notice loss of appetite, but that vanished the first week.

Might be a concern for those who are underweight or not eating nutritious diets, though. If you don't get your appetite back, it might do more harm than good.

My end goal is not to need Concerta at all--to learn enough about organizing myself and directing my attention so I can do it without meds. Don't just count on the meds to magically make it possible to concentrate whenever you want; take advantage of them to learn better coping skills.

I know that it is not an ADHD med but I was wondering if there are people on Zoloft/Sertraline and what their experience is regarding sensitivity and tolerance when drinking for example.

Zoloft has reduced my anxiety and my fear (even though they are not gone) but I seem to have developed some sort of strange high tolerance to drinking or eating. I can drink and drink and do not get drunk (that's why I try not to let it go out of hand now) and I can eat and eat and never feel full up.

Your Aspie score: 144 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 77 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie


Well, I was diagnosed adhd at age 10 (I wasn't diagnosed AS until I was 17). So from the point of being 10 to the point of being 21 I was stuffed full of Ritalin and Adderall. It made me numb at the start of being on Ritalin. But it made me jumpy too in some aspects. Eventually I was switched to Adderall when I was 16. I was no longer jumpy and I had more intense focus that I wish I could have without all the side effects (and I could strangely get out whatever was on my mind). Eventually, with both medicines, your body gets used to them, so the dosage has to be upped (I was put on time release which was somewhat better). Which means eventually with a higher dosage you have lots of side effects. At my worst, I had absolutely no appetite (which also didn't go over well because I developed anorexia in my childhood/teen years, and when I say no appetite, I mean NO appetite, zero, no hunger at all), I grinded my teeth down (is a side effect), and I had the sensation of bugs crawling all over on my skin. You wanna talk about some sensory issues??? I had my skin scratched up like a meth face because of that sensation.

Now that I am off of said ADHD medicines, my brain feels more unfocussed and fried than It ever was prior to being medicated. For every mom I hear that says "my son is a totally different person on adderall!!" I gag and think of how that kid is going to turn out frazzled like me once these meds stop working and the side effects get to be too much. These medication moms have no clue.

I take Strattera which is a non-stimulant ADHD medication, and it works well for me (I think). I was on a really low dose of Ritalin when I was 13 and it made me so anxious and moody that my mom took me off it after just 2 months.