Elvanse and lone parenting

[Millypad]

I’ve got a 5 yr old DD and 3 yr old DS. I have them six days/nights a week and their dad who lives two hours away has them 1 night and 1 day. I

i was diagnosed adhd two years ago which explained a lot of the overwhelm I felt as a parent I was prescribed Elvanse and I feel it makes life a bit easier now (although I still hugely struggle with trying to balance kids/job/house - everything’s always a mess! My worry is that I’m not the fun mum i used to be, I’m much worse at playing since I’ve been on the meds. Also come bedtime they’ve worn off and I’m exhausted and snappy - my DD pretty much only sees that part now! No idea how I’d function without it, especially with broken sleep and early risers but worrying it could be causing harm. Does anyone else have experience?

I was also diagnosed last year at the age of 40, and have found Elvanse has been life changing for me. I have more energy and focus during the day, and haven’t found that I’ve been snappy when it wears off in the evening, so can’t offer advice on that specifically. It might be worth discussing with your GP/prescribing consultant to see whether your dosage needs tweaking?

It must be hard as a lone parent and not have someone to take over when you are struggling.

is there anything else happening in the evening that is contributing to this? Is there anything you could prepare/plan for during the day to make the evening easier?

re the playing, I often found this challenging, and realised that I was trying to “control” the play, which just meant we were both frustrated.

I now set aside a specific time each day for playing with my DD, and we do child-led play so I completely follow her lead in what she wants to do in that time. There’s loads of articles about it online if you search for “special time” or “child-led play” you can read a bit more about it and see if it might work for you?

Thanks so much for getting back to me - I’m really glad you’ve found it working for you!

im beginning to think food is impacting me slightly - my diet as an adult was always great and varied but since becoming single mum it’s fast, carby food/caffeine and sugar constantly (not the kids, just me) - I wfh and was eating pasta for lunch which I think was making me tired and crabby. Avoided it today and feel better (plus had vitamin) so think I’m going to have to put some work in to overhaul diet back again, although it seems impossible!

You could ask for a small dose of instant release adhd meds to take later in the day. A parents day is much longer than the active time of Elvanse.

I have this but I’m on Concerta XL which is a different drug.

Diet is always a factor, but so is finding reasonably healthy “quick” foods so that you don’t have to think too much in the moment.

BaseDrops has reminded me that I also have Amphexa. I originally tried it as an alternative when Elvanse was out of stock everywhere. You have to take it every 4/5 hours and I found it hard to remember until I realise I had completely zoned out of a meeting mid-afternoon 🤦🏽‍♀️ now I take it around 5pm if I have a particularly long day/lots of driving etc
but might be worth exploring different options to see what works best for you?