I have an appointment with a psychiatrist that is probably going to suggest me to try a SRRI meds for seasonal depression and I’m a bit apprehensive to try it because I’m already on adderall for adhd. Does anyone have experience with this combination? I’ve read so far that it’s possible but that the breakdown rate is lower so I’d need to be on smaller dosage.
I will obviously talk with my psychiatrist about my worries but I’d just like to be prepared a bit because my experience with psychiatrists is that they’re really eager to get you on meds but don’t really give a lot of info on them.
I am open to try it because my seasonal depression is debilitating and I feel like I’ve exhausted all other options in trying to ease it without satisfying results (except moving but that’s not possible currently)
I’ve thought about the possibility of just not using the adderall in the winter while I take the ssri because maybe the ssri would alleviate some of the adhd symptoms.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Yeah, this is a pretty standard combo, I live in an area where psychs don’t really like prescribing anything harder than tylenol without you already being prescribed an SSRI. I find that (the correct) SSRIs help a lot with stimulant side effects, so that may help there. I wouldn’t suggest alternating the two for seasons, the SSRI will help with energy but doesn’t do much for ADHD, just depression energy.
Personally really love my SSRI, Zoloft. Things were really dark before I got on it. Finding the right SSRI took a little bit though, and the ones that didn’t work sucked ass. But it’s part of the journey, it’s not your doctor being a schmuck
apologies, as my situation is similar on the face of it but completely different for every single variable you mentioned, but to throw it in:
I was longer-term on SNRIs before an ADHD diagnosis (like absolutely confirmed, i’ve never passed a test so convincingly lmao) and starting Ritalin gave me a marked improvement to the point that I put off an imminent dosage increase of my desvenlafaxine (because my ADHD symptoms were being addressed).
I’m going to leave it to others who are more experienced with your combination and more versed in the literature, but if you want the anecdotal opinion of a random nerd who will be thinking about this all day: the two-pronged approach helped me immensely personally, and I would assume much more so than a simple increase of one or the other. Antidepressants though are always an inexact science, and I definitely don’t mean that in a crank way, but I mean that the prescription is issued to deal with how we feel - and even when we don’t know how we feel, no one else can know because there’s no blood tests or scans or whatever. So you’ll just have to monitor and be honest with yourself and your doctor when thinking about how much it’s helped, if anything is making you feel worse, and if the combination is suddenly making you concerned about any symptoms or issues. If it feels wrong, it’s wrong.
also, you want to know something that seems to absolutely fucking crater the effectiveness of Ritalin but there doesn’t seem to be much research on the interaction? Diabetes meds.
Dunno if it’s the metformin or ozempic (lmao) but fucking hell, i’m feeling like the ritalin hits half as hard these days.
I’m on Vyvanse and Lexapro and both are working pretty well for me. I’m sure your doctor is already aware of this, but you might need to drop your stimulant dose a bit when starting SSRIs since they can definitely interact.
I wouldn’t recommend switching to just taking SSRIs in the winter. They didn’t do anything for my ADHD before I started simulants. I’ve also had supply interruptions of my Vyvanse before and went back to just Lexapro and I almost got canned due to productivity issues.
Another thing that could just be a me thing, if I end up missing a dose (of both because I take them at the same time), I will feel like garbage. I didn’t have this problem when I was only taking SSRIs by themselves. Just something to watch out for.
Of course, your mileage may vary; I’m not a doctor, and all that.
I feel like garbage too when I miss my aderall dose so it might be the vyvanse for you as well. But the feeling disappears after a few days in my case. You’re probably right in that the combination will probably help me much more than just one of the two. I just wasn’t sure if this is a common combination but it seems like it works for some people here which is really reassuring. Thanks for sharing!
Edit: I missed that you mentioned this in your original post. Nevermind!
Big drug mixture warning: be careful mixing Vyvanse/Adderall and fluoxitine/Prozac. Fluoxitine can end up making the effects of amphetamines stronger than normal, even for Vyvanse.
Normally, because Vyvanse is a pro-drug that requires enzymatic degradation to become active, the only effect a higher dose will have is a longer effect. Fluoxitine affects interactions with the active drug and how long it is in your system, overriding the pro-drug effect. This can lead to (likely minor) overdose effects. You’ll be able to tell if this is happening because you’ll get similar side effects as are often experienced with Adderall that you normally don’t experience on Vyvanse. Think of the ones normally associated with Adderall IR.
This doesn’t mean they can’t be mixed, just that you should watch how you react to the doses of each when mixing. You may find that you need to reduce your dose of Vyvanse if you go to a high enough dose of fluoxitine.
Keep a journal and track your mood or thoughts when you start if you can, SSRIs can make you manic (bad) if you have anything undiagnosed like bipolar or borderline personality disorder.
Strattera is also a mild SNRI antidepressant that is a good substitute for Ritalin or Vyvanse/Adderall.
Good advice.
An additional substitute for consideration is Intuniv (guanfacine, different doses are used for treating hypertension). This is also a good candidate for combining with a lower dose of methylphenidate if one of these substitutes is not effective enough to replace the normal ADHD stimulants.
Anti depressants didnt do anything to me or other medication
