University and ADHD,

[budma]

Would anyone have any experience of managing a situation like this, struggling with work commitments during the rebound period of the medication wearing off.

21yo is at University in London, she has ADHD and takes Concerta. She has been working on a group project with other students and they arrange meetings into late evening, as it's more convenient for most of the group, its 3+ hours long and she is unable to sustain it. When the concerta is wearing off she feels ill , headache, nausea, irritable and her appetite begins to kick in, so a meeting starting straight after the end of the day is really difficult for her. She has tried splitting the medication dose and taking a lower dose just before the meeting, but its not working and she still gets the side effects along with causing insomnia when she takes it later in the day.

She has recently excused herself from a few meetings or had to leave early and she has ended up being absolutely shunned by the group, everyone is pissed off with her and she feels they believe she is being difficult. She has asked for better times for the meeting, but it doesn't ever seem to work out, they are all under pressure and resenting heras they view her as not being flexible or a team player. She is doing the work, it is a project she loves and wants to be part of. She said the group are not even sharing the meeting information with her now and basically ignoring her input,

I suggested she explains to them why the long evening meetings don't work and they would probably be more understanding, but she does not want to disclose that she has to take medication.. Her two friends are in the group and shockingly they have now cut her off socially as well..

She feels isolated and lonely and is so distraught that I think she has gone into a depression, she is crying all the time and berating herself for having ADHD and needing medication to function, asking herself if she will ever be able to hold down a job.

I am so upset for her and just want to go there, scoop her up and tell her to just quit, she is doing a masters degree which runs through the summer and graduates this year, so it's a lot of academic pressure on top of all this now.

You have done what you can. You have suggested she tells them about the situation with her meds. This is excellent advice you have given her. She has chosen not to follow it.

Does she get disability support (e.g. a mentor to help with ADHD-related issues) like an undergrad would?

Has she discussed the issue with her doctor? Mine prescribed a smaller short-acting top up dose for the evenings to lessen the effects of the rebound - it took a while to get the timing and dosage right, but it helps quite a bit now. I also delay taking my meds if I know I'll be doing something requiring social skills, etc late into the evening so they'll last a bit longer, but it sounds like she's trying that already.

This is why universities shouldn't do group work. It causes all sorts of difficulties for students.

Your daughter needs to speak to her tutor to see if there is an alternative assessment available and also the disability team to get support put in place. And could she explain to her course mates that she is on medication which makes late study sessions difficult. She doesn't have to tell them what the medication is for.

Thank you so much for the replies.

@LonginesPrime She has reached out to her disability advisor twice in the last two weeks and she still hasn't replied, she is new and only started the job a few weeks ago, so probably still figuring it out. She has emailed her a 3rd time this morning .

She is trying to tweak the medication with the help of her doctor, but they still haven't hit on the right dose and timing. Maybe she needs to stay on the current dose rather than splitting it, and add another dose later, is that what you do ? I think she is already on a high dose though, 37mg.

@Crinkle77 Crinkle77, she doesn't want to tell them now as she feels they will think she is making excuses, I am telling her to forget worrying about what they think, but if they know she has a disability, they will have to be a bit more accommodating. She seems to be really ashamed of having to take medication, it has never been an issue up to now, and her anxiety is through the roof.

She spoke to her tutor, and explained her situation, she was lovely and was shocked about the late and long meetings, she was really supportive and told her there are no peer evaluations for this project and basically said just free ride it, but she does loves this particular project and was excited about it.

At this point I am not even sure if it is worth continuing with tweaking the medication dose, as I think that may also be impacting how she is handling things.

Thanks again.

Does she access DSA funding?
She really needs to speak to her tutor. How late into the evening are they meeting?

Short acting top up dose.

My DD has adhd and is at uni.

Her daily dose wears off by about 5. Her doctor has prescribed her a short acting top up dose.

OP, yes, it's an extra dose I take - so I take the XL (modified release) dose in the morning, then 5mg short-acting around 4pm to soften the effects of it wearing off.

But then, on the days I know I need to be very on the ball in the evening, I'll delay my morning dose by an hour or so (and accept it's going to be a slow start to the morning) and then push the 5mg afternoon dose back by the same amount of time.

I did find that it took quite a bit of experimentation to find the right timing, as everyone absorbs it at a different rate, so the dr can't say exactly what time you'll need to take it, and you want to take it just before the main dose starts to wear off, rather than once you're already in rebound territory.

I suspect the only way to get it right for her personally will be trial and error, so it's not much use for this project, but something to think about now for the longer term so she's on an even keel for the next project.

Is it because the others are not available during the day? University lecturer here, and our students often have classroom time pretty much all day except lunch break most days. If others are available during the day, can she simply say she isn’t available in the evenings and needs to meet during the day? Can she do her bit and turn it over to them to tweak? Can she ask if they can keep the meetings shorter? Realistically, I cannot imagine a whole lot gets accomplished in a 3 hour meeting. This sounds like a learning experience in being assertive, which she’ll need to be in work one day as meetings won’t just be planned around her.