Real Adult ADHD Patient Video
Listen to Sam, an adult with ADHD, share his personal ADHD journey, including his path to a treatment plan and starting a nonstimulant ADHD medication.
Sam: My journey in getting diagnosed for ADHD was a little difficult. We had suspicions that I might have ADHD when I was in college. I was achieving enough, so I scooted along by without anyone realizing there was an issue.
When I finally joined the workforce, that's when it became a real problem. My consistent procrastination, with deadlines piling up. Consistent and, I mean, utterly paralyzing procrastination. Due tomorrow meant do it tomorrow. I would often wait until the very last second and then, in a flurry of activity, spend all night doing whatever the assignment was. I had a lot of thoughts going in different directions. Even when I was having a discussion with someone face-to-face, I would often space out and not pay attention to the conversation. A nurse practitioner and I together worked to conclude that this was ADHD.
When I found out I had ADHD, it was bittersweet. There was an instant relief in knowing like, “Oh, oh my God. All these problems—there is a label. There is a reason. There is literature. There are other people that experience the same thing.” But at the same time, looking back through my life about going through undiagnosed, it made me question, like, how long did I have to live and suffer, and did I need to do that? if I had only been diagnosed earlier, how much of my life would be different now?
So I'm taking Qelbree.
Narrator: Once-a-day Qelbree is a nonstimulant prescription medicine used to treat ADHD in adults and children 6 years and older. Pay close attention to changes in your or your child's mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings, especially within the first few months of treatment or when the dose is changed, as medications like Qelbree may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in some adults or children.
You or your child should not take Qelbree with or within 14 days of taking a medicine for depression called a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). Qelbree can increase blood pressure and heart rate. Your or your child's doctor will monitor these vital signs.
Sam: Qelbree is a nonstimulant medication. It lasts for 24 hours, which works for my day. First week I took 200 milligrams. Second week I took 400 milligrams, and we stayed there steady for, I want to say, about 3 weeks before deciding, “Yeah, this is really working. We'll try the 600.” I went up to 600, and now I take 600 milligrams every morning.
I now remember to respond to texts after putting the phone down for 2 seconds, whereas before it would be a full month before you heard back from me. My tasks at home, the split task that you're supposed to do with your partner—you know, doing the dishes, remembering to do the chores, all of those have become easier to do. Not leaving them undone in the middle of a task because I saw something else that caught my attention. Being focused in conversations is easier, particularly towards the end of the day where I was otherwise dragging, and remembering the things that I did discuss, especially in those evenings. The plans that we're making for the future is easier to recall. A lot of those issues have, I won’t say go away—t's not a panacea—but it, everything that was harder is just that much easier now, For the very first time, I can sit down when I have the time and say, “Let me do the thing.” It's not that I love doing the thing. It's not like, “Oh, this homework I'm doing for grad school is so wonderful.” But I can sit down, and I have the control to sit down and actually do it when I tell my brain I want to do it.
I use the copay card every month. I pay $20 a month. It's worked since I got my first prescription and I haven't had any problems with it. I like that Qelbree can be written with refills so you don't have to follow up with your provider every month. It's pretty convenient to have a medication that you don't have to constantly manage and micromanage with your provider.
I think I see my ADHD as a bit of a double-edged sword: Neither blessing nor curse. And having ADHD, and having found the blessing of my job where I'm active, I get to talk to different people and really feed my appetite for personal interaction and movement and different things throughout the day. I find that I can really put my ADHD to work for me. I'm a pharmaceutical sales representative for Qelbree. I travel around to office to office, speaking to various health care providers about Qelbree. I really believe in the medication, and I find a lot of meaning in getting to talk about ADHD and speak to patients like me or the little Sam that never got diagnosed.
If I can help one patient that is like me find a treatment, that's a good day. The best analogy I've come across in finding treatment for ADHD for the people who say, “Oh, just, just try harder, do the thing more.” It's like telling someone who needs glasses to squint more. It doesn't actually solve the problem. It might make it a little bit clearer in that brief instant, but it doesn't really get to the root of what was at stake. Giving someone a pair of glasses can really help them. Getting treatment for ADHD can really help you. ADHD can be more manageable when you have the diagnosis and an effective treatment plan to tackle it.
Indication and full Important Safety Information scroll at end of video.
