Late diagnosis ASC and ADHD( fears about ADHD medication)

[Hi11Bi11y]

I’m 55 and have recently been diagnosed with autism and adhd. I think I’m more autistic than adhd however I find the disorganisation, procrastination, holding things in my brain during meetings/ conversations, brain leaping etc hard. I have a lot going on in my life atm and both conditions impact it hugely. I struggle a lot with anxiety from the autism.Could tick off literally everything on the NHS adhd list. Both diagnosis are nhs and I was referred for adhd diagnosis after my autism diagnosis. My Dd has both too.

I knew medication would be part of the conversation but didn’t realise how soon. I should have probed other coping strategies but didn’t. I have the prescription and the person who diagnosed me thought it would really help. He also said it wouldn’t treat the anxiety but alleviating the adhd symptoms might have a knock on effect with the anxiety. However I’m too scared to take the medication or try it.It might be the autism anxiety.I’m scared my brain will change forever and of my heart racing, being out of control, reliant on drugs , that I’m not trying hard enough, that it might increase the anxiety etc I guess too. I really would like to see if they help out of interest but irrational fear is stopping me.

Has anybody else been late diagnosed and tried the medication? Is there any balanced advice anywhere? Has medication helped anxiety as a knock on effect?I have the number of the person who diagnosed me but it’s for medication monitoring. The time for discussing these worries was in the assessment and I didn’t think.

Has anybody else been late diagnosed and tried the medication? Yep, diagnosed a few years ago in my 30s. On Concerta and it's drastically improved my daily life.

Has medication helped anxiety as a knock on effect? Yes - aside from the first day or so, when I felt a bit jittery and my jaw felt tight, my anxiety has reduced a lot. I feel more able to cope and more confident about the future. I pull my hair less and skin pick less too. My emotions are far more regulated and I have less ruminating/intrusive thoughts.

Re: being "reliant" on medication - ADHD medication is not addictive - I still have to have reminders on my phone to tell me to take it each morning, so there are obviously no cravings or withdrawals for me at all. I take it most days, but occasionally I skip it completely if I don't remember to take it early enough (mine lasts 12 hours so I want to avoid being kept up too late because of it) or if I'm having a day at home where I don't need to be particularly on the ball, and I just self-medicate with strong coffee instead.

Forgot to add - I regularly check my blood pressure and pulse rate at home on my own machine, to make sure it's not too high as that is a potential side effect of stimulant medication. It's never been high so far. Might be worth getting one OP, they're about £25-30.

Also best to avoid/cut down on caffeine at first, or you could find you feel a bit jittery on it - often ppl with ADHD drink a lot of coffee as a way of self-medicating, and medication reduces the need for this.

Be aware also that stimulant medication can reduce your sensitivity to alcohol - so you don't feel as tipsy as you might normally, and therefore might drink more than usual, and suddenly it can hit you (I presume when the medication wears off at night) and you can suddenly feel very drunk. I've not experienced this myself but I've read about it. Personally I feel much less desire to drink alcohol/smoke weed/drink coffee/overeat than before, I think because I was doing those things to boost dopamine, and now medication is doing the job properly instead.

Late diagnosed here too. Meds have been life changing but it's important to think about what you want from the meds and keep in contact with your doc throughout. Don't be afraid to tweak things. I've found a great balance between low dose ADHD meds and anti anxiety and I'm more me than I've ever been.