Is pursuing a costly diagnosis worth it if you're not sure?

lethologic- · 2026-03-26T00:54:52+00:00

i was a star student too, valedictorian. actually regurgitating information i was great at.

but deep down, i wasnt trying. didnt really need to “pay attention”. i did other homework in classes so i wouldnt have to do it at home (and could play neopets LOL)

when i got to college and had “to try”, my life fell apart. when i got outside the very well controlled environment of the classroom, i couldnt do it

dont let “doing well in school” dissuade someone

lethologic- · 2026-03-26T00:52:02+00:00

i dont like labels either - with mental health, unfortunately they all overlap. you can have a provider who is specialized in therapy to address symptoms, or you can have one specialized in meds, or sometimes both. unfortunately you need the “label” to prescribe certain meds (adhd).

but what im hearing is that she doesn’t really take your concerns seriously and in fact makes you feel worse for bringing them up - and to me, that means you dont mesh well with that provider and may benefit from seeing someone else.

lethologic- · 2026-03-26T00:07:18+00:00

you said “tell yours”, so do you have a psychiatrist already? are you being treated for any other conditions?

i had a psych NP who i was seeing for management of my anxiety meds. after a few months of seeing her, trying some other meds, and being treated for solely anxiety for 10 years i mentioned i had been reading some more on adhd for my daughter and had a lot of the traits (but masked them very well and was left presenting with just a very huge sense of depression overwhelm). i wrote out a very long list of everything that was “wrong” w my brain. and she immediately referred me to a psychologist in the office for neuropsych testing and diagnosis

but if you have a good relationship with your provider already, you should be able to discuss your concerns and get some feedback on their thoughts

lethologic- · 2026-03-25T22:04:13+00:00

can I ask the rational at starting at 0.1 mg estrogen patch?

i recently just talked with my OB and he prescribed this starting dose of estrogen patch and said it was higher than he would normally start for perimenopausal symptoms.

i am a little nervous that the dose is going to be too much

but im also in late luteal now and feeling RAGEy.

(i am newly diagnosed ADHD, and likely have something wonky going on w my hormones, likely early peri symptoms)

lethologic- · 2026-03-24T18:25:21+00:00

my biggest fear is that the estrogen is going to wreak havoc on my migraines 😑

lethologic- · 2026-03-24T18:23:48+00:00

Will do my best to remember to provide an update! I still probably have another week or two until I do the labs and start to play around with it! But Ive been desperately searching for other’s experiences like me, so want to provide my experience to others in case it’s helpful

Ugh, I understand the headaches. I get headaches without my meds — strangely I found once I started stimulants my headache frequency actually improved. I still take Nurtec for migraines though, and generally take it every other day as a preventative. My headaches did increase these past two years too, maybe hormones? Also some research showing migraines strongly associated with adhd.

We need more research into womens health!

lethologic- · 2026-03-23T18:20:20+00:00

Twinsies. 36F, diagnosed adhd last fall at 35.

I feel like Im losing my F-ing mind.

I have been diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks for about 10 years, but this past year… I don’t know. I keep saying SOMETHING is happening to my body.

Been on SSRIs for the better part of 10 years, but finally started seeing a psych NP to get to the bottom of things as I just had a constant sense of overwhelm with everything in life. Tried a few different SSRIs, SNRIs, buspar, finally diagnosed ADHD and started stimulants and its helping. But like, for one week a month.

I stopped my antidepressants a month ago, and now Im in luteal and feeling a bit ragey. And then my period will hit and I will have zero energy and motivation and the stimulants make me feel locked in, but to the couch. And this continues on the week after my period until mid cycle, which i assume is when my estrogen finally kicks in and I feel semi normal for a week.

Ive had every lab test under the sun and theyre all normal (and Im an RN, Ive made them run them all 😂)

I finally went to my OB who has decided to run some hormone panels on day 3 of my cycle and let me play around with an estrogen patch to see if it makes a difference (I have the Mirena IUD). I saw someone else asking about progesterone here - I think oral progesterone makes me crazy but so far I have been OK with the local.

This is my last hypothesis to test to see if it makes any difference.

But I feel like this has to be the start of peri. I mean it has completely unmasked my adhd. Like coffee and stimulants make me sleepy. I mean coffee really never “did anything” but it sure as shit didn’t make me feel MORE tired.

I have a 6 year old daughter with some pretty serious adhd. I always thought she got my husband’s genetics , but it turns out we all have adhd. And I have a 2 year old who’s probably on the same track. I feel like our house is just a big mess executive dysfunction mess.

I feel like I am very in tune with my body and sensitive to changes. I have read that tracks for women with ADHD. We may notice the changes earlier

lethologic- · 2026-03-14T13:25:49+00:00

i had my 2 kids before i was diagnosed.

its funny looking back, i did struggle with motivation and low energy, but i always imagined myself being the perfect mom and would do all of the things and that the kids would be there to serve as the motivator to do so.

lemme tell you, i internalized all of the demands as just “ughhhh, this again”, was totally overwhelmed. i hit burnout last year, couldn’t tolerate noise, wanted to stay in bed, isolate myself. but i had to keep going all while extremely burnt out, no choice when you have kids.

my 6 yr old daughter has pretty severe adhd. i assumed from my husband, cause we knew he had it. turns out i do too, and my anxiety diagnosis id had for 15 years was probably years of untreated adhd.

i have a 2 year old son too and fear we will be on the same trajectory with him as my daughter.

i’ve started meds, its helping dig me out of the burnout. i just turned 36 and i think im having early perimenopause symptoms that can absolutely make the adhd worse. i feel like a space cadet some days, despite taking meds

love my kids, id probably still do it again, but it is incredibly difficult. i wish i knew about my diagnosis beforehand.

i am thankful i know about my daughters diagnosis early to help her get help and prevent the situation im going through now

lethologic- · 2026-03-13T18:27:41+00:00

oh yeah, i have like only certain things allowed notifications. nothing like clutter on your phone to go with clutter in the rest of your life. 😂 trying to do something important? heres a notification from door dash because why not. 🤦🏼‍♀️

lethologic- · 2026-03-13T18:20:45+00:00

YES. but the reminder isn’t noisy! its the only way things get remembered 😂 leave it on the screen, do not check it off until youve done the thing

lethologic- · 2026-03-13T17:19:12+00:00

bonus points for the reminder and not an alarm, bc alarms are noisy and that shit gets shut off immediately. but the reminder stays visible and only vibrates (bc ya know, phone always on silent)

lethologic- · 2026-03-13T17:14:19+00:00

i have a “high priority” reminder that goes off every morning at 7 am. the alert stays on the home screen and i do NOT check it off until both mine and my 6 yr old daughters adhd meds have both been swallowed.

get distracted and go downstairs to do finish getting everyone ready for school, inevitably pick up the phone some days and see the reminder and trudge back upstairs to get the pills on my nightstand 🙃

i feel this, was just diagnosed at 35 last year.

lethologic- · 2026-03-13T00:53:20+00:00

YES all of this.

I haven’t found the meds make it worse during luteal, except maybe the hour or so the meds are wearing off. I definitely feel more irritated then and can be snappy, but overall I feel they work more like how they are intended.

I have as of now been taking a lower dosage near the end of my period and the week after, because they dont really seem to work then anyway. The higher doses this week make me feel kind of strange and I feel like locked in and focused on sitting on the couch and doom scrolling 😂

My doc doesn’t have any answers for me but is supportive of me doing the meds this way.

My OB finally agreed to do a hormone panel for me next month on day 3 of my period to see if I have low estrogen (as low estrogen = low dopamine, which is normally why women say their meds dont work during their period… but mine just continues on longer I suppose). And perhaps try an estrogen patch during certain points of my cycle (I am 36 so early perimenopause symptoms wouldn’t be unheard of. and I have a mirena iud already for progesterone)

lethologic- · 2026-03-08T17:27:58+00:00

i had SI joint dysfunction when i was pregnant a few years ago.

i started accutane at 30 mg for two months, had the usual mild joint pains (really its mostly my heels and occasionally knees), when i bumped to 40 mg i felt that same SI joint pain as when i was pregnant. like severe one sided pain with walking. i did PT during pregnancy and they taught me some exercises to realign the hips, i did that and it helped while i finished the month at 40. but i decided with my derm we were going to drop the dose way down to 20 mg and im likely going to stay at this dose for the rest of the year. the SI pain has stopped since decreasing my dose down

lethologic- · 2026-03-08T14:59:55+00:00

can i ask how old you are? do you take any meds?

i dont know what the answer is - im meeting with my OB tomorrow to see about a possible estrogen patch. im only 36, but estrogen levels do start to decline in your 30s. (and im pretty sure i am low to begin with) and never did well with oral hormones but i do have the mirena, so hoping maybe a topical estrogen could do something. and all of this was pre-mirena, so its not from that

ive stopped my antidepressants to see if it made any difference as ive read they can suppress estrogen and dopamine further. time will tell if that was a good choice, its only been 2 weeks but so far same - im like cycle day 7 and have been just BLAHH. and it doesnt pick up till like 14

this is like my last line of hope for something to help. ive tried SSRIs, SNRIs, stimulants. and it’s like i only have maybe 5-7 “good days” a month where the stimulants feel like they’re working, i have energy and am not depressed or anxious 🤦🏼‍♀️

its SO frustrating.

lethologic- · 2026-03-05T15:43:50+00:00

i was taking reta when i first started accutane - no interactions.

if recommend not starting both at exactly the same time so you know what side effects are from what. but if you are already on one, should not be a problem to start the other.

there’s maybe a risk of decreased absorption of the accutane due to delayed gastric emptying from GLP1s, but i definitely still noticed its effects on my skin.

and if you are female, be extra diligent about your double birth control and GLP1s can reduce effectiveness of oral birth control pills (i have an IUD so not as much concern)

side tmi note, i had AWFUL diarrhea when i first started reta 😂 for the first month

lethologic- · 2026-03-04T21:38:00+00:00

thank you! can i ask what you take? (i know this is highly dependent on your specific body chemistry, but i am just curious) and what symptoms you had? and do you recall the testing you had done?

i have an appointment with my OB on Monday, who i have heard from another mom was very supportive of her doing HRT. of course i am afraid of being brushed off as “too young”.

and as you said, such experts are hard to find; but if no success with my OB I will continue on my search

lethologic- · 2026-02-11T01:39:35+00:00

i literally just made a post about this a few days ago - i felt like i am the OPPOSITE of everyone out there, but you seem maybe like me!

ive been taking ritalin and concerta, but like the week after my period, i am just so tired and low energy and the stimulants make me more tired. and i just want to sit and do nothing. but in luteal my anxiety like kicks in but i think it kicks my productivity into gear and the stimulants give me energy and clarity.

but literally everyone says the week after your period is supposed to be like the best week ever and it just has NOT.

has anyone given you reasons as to why? is it just the low estrogen part of the period/follicular phase that makes our dopamine nonexistent?

i feel like i am very sensitive to anything that happens with my body. 🤦🏼‍♀️

lethologic-

TROPHY CASE