Women's Network
Daisy’s story
With the help of her ADHD360 clinician, Daisy was able to explore how medication could help her navigate school, GCSE's and her ADHD hormonal fluctuations.
Case study: Daisy
For the purposes of this case study and to protect confidentiality the patient will be referred to as Daisy.
When Daisy started her ADHD360 journey she was 15 years old.
At her assessment with us, she was diagnosed with combined ADHD.
This is her success story.
Schoolwork stress
Daisy had recently started studying for her GCSE’s and had found that her symptoms were impacting her ability to engage with her studies and focus during lessons. She was experiencing significant difficulties, including:
- issues with her time management,
- struggling with her concentration, and
- failing to meet the demands made by her teachers.
Mental health impact
Initially Daisy struggled to open up but thankfully her mum was able to be an advocate and help her fully share her struggles. Together they were able to explained that not only were her ADHD symptoms impacting school but also her mental health.
For many years Daisy had been experiencing thoughts of self-harm. Her mum had been a great support through this but since starting her GCSEs these thoughts had become more consuming. Thankfully, she had never acted on them.
Starting treatment
Daisy decided to start medicated treatment commencing with 30mgs of Elvanse once a day, to then be increase to 40mgs of Elvanse daily for a further two weeks. Daisy’s mum would monitor her mental health during this time to help provide a clearer picture in her follow up appointments.
At her first follow up appointment it was clear that Daisy was doing very well on 40mgs Elvanse. She was excited to share that:
- she was able to focus,
- she was studying,
- she was able to retain the information she was taught in class,
- and this all gave her hope for her upcoming GCSE’s.
She was still having thoughts of self-harm, but her mum felt they were not as frequent.
With all of this in mind her medication was increased to 50mgs Elvanse, once a day with mum continuing to monitor her mental health.
Daisy was also asked to track the luteal phase of her menstrual cycle.
What is the Luteal Phase?
A woman’s menstrual cycle consists of two main phases, the Luteal phase and the Follicular phase:- Luteal phase: this is after an egg is released until the start of the period – typically 14 to 16 days in duration.
- Follicular phase: this starts on the first day of the menstrual period and ends when you start to ovulate – typically this takes up half of the menstrual cycle duration.
Treatment optimisation for ADHD hormonal fluctuations
At Daisy’s next follow up appointment – thanks to the tracking she had done and the observations from her mum – it became very clear during the month that 50mgs Elvanse daily was optimal for around 18 days.
However during the 10 days of her luteal phase the medication was not lasting all day.
On the run up to her period, Daisy wasn’t able to fully focus and her self-harm thoughts were only apparent during this time.
Daisy continued on 50mgs Elvanse once a day for 18 days with an increase to 70mgs Elvanse daily during her luteal phase.
Stable and optimised
At Daisy’s final follow up appointment, she was stable and optimised.
Daisy reported all her goals were met:
- she was managing her studies well,
- she was more sociable,
- she was able to focus more on her friendships, and
- she hadn’t had any thoughts of self-harm during her luteal phase on the increased dose.
Mum said this has been life changing for Daisy and for the whole family.
At ADHD 360 Daisy’s success is not unusual.
We are so proud that we are tailoring our treatment plans, acknowledging the interaction between hormones and ADHD.
That’s why We hope the new onboarding questionnaire will also encourage these conversations.
