Ive got ASD and now recently Joint ADHD

I think I'm more unusual on here for not having ADHD, I think theres more people with Audhd than autism alone

I'm diagnosed with both. I knew about my autism first and although I was certain I was autistic it didn't seem to explain everything about me. My therapist, who is himself AuDHD suggested that a lot of what I told him sounded like ADHD, which I was unsure about, but as soon as I read about AuDHD I realised that it described me to a tee.

I have been on medication for only a short while but have found the current dose of Elvanse that I am on to be really helpful. I can stay with things for a lot longer without getting bored, meaning I don't just rush through things to get them done and I feel generally calmer. The only downside I have found so far is that I get overstimulated in noisy environments more easily on this dose, but I am rarely in such environments so I can live with that.

Regarding work, I am self employed and usually work alone, which really suits me so issues to do with my AuDHD don't tend to come up. I used to work in an open plan office 20 years ago and I struggled with it a lot. The noise, constantly being around other people and the mundanity of the work were all difficult. I'm very lucky that I was able to escape all that.

I have both too. It is hard to manag but I am very happy that the adhd medication works well!!! 

Hi Kenny,

I was recently diagnosed with ASD and through that assessment they noticed some symptoms of ADHD which subsequently led to a diagnosis of ADHD (the Primarily Inattentive or PI type). I've been on stimulant medication (Elvanse which is a type of amphetamine) for about 3 months or so and it has helped me immensely.

The medication has hugely helped with sustained focus, with the knock-on effect that it's easier for me to overcome that sort of 'inertia' you can get where beginning something seems to take a disproportionate amount of energy. Difficult things have seemed less overwhelming and when I've been presented with something difficult or new (for example in my music production) I've had the energy to slow down and approach things step-by-step to achieve what I've needed to do. In the past I would have tried to find easy shortcuts and found a way round the difficult things by doing them 'nearly right' - that's difficult to explain really.

One thing I've noticed is that having the meds to lift some of the ADHD difficulties has left me feeling like I don't have the same counter-balance to some of my ASD characteristics. I've found it difficult to judge when I'm taking on too much or when I'm getting some of the sensory overload and autistic overwhelm. One thing that might be affecting that is the way the meds have made some of my sense more acute - sounds and tastes seem to be a bit more intense, but not in an unpleasant way! I'm getting better at recognising where the balance lies and not beating myself up too much when I need to slow down. On the whole though, the meds have been life changing. I feel so much happier even though I'm still adjusting to the new way of life.

I have both, I’m incredibly hyper active even at 61, it’s like a contradiction having both, one seems to temper the other down , I crave order and try so hard to achieve order and tidiness but in the end it all becomes once again a total, complete, unorganised mess. 

Dear Kenny_1622,

You are very welcome here. We hope you find support and friendship. I'm sure members will be along to greet you and share experiences. We do have a set of rules to keep everyone safe and with that in mind we discourage medical advice.

Please do say if there is anything we can help with. We have an Advice and Guidance section which you can find at the top of the page or by using the following link:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance

With best wishes, 

Anna Mod

hiKenny_1622 and welcome.

You don't have to have a diagnosis to be on here, everyone is welcome no matter what. I have AuDHD, I was on a waiting list for medication, it had been nearly a year when I got to the top of the list and I had to have quite a big operation so I missed my chance but it would have been interesting to see if the meds helped with concentration.

hope you settle in here soon and enjoy chatting with us.