ashleyspencer

ashleyspencer, 5 hours ago to random

First day of the new dosages of Strattera. Don't notice a difference.

There are numerous factors that could have stopped it from working today, so process of elimination. Will try removing factors tomorrow and see if it gets any better.

Side note:
Maintenance came by to replace my bathroom light, and I hid the fish tank behind a bunch of boxes lol

ashleyspencer, 1 day ago to random

My fish aquarium is complete!

Time to add water and start cycling the tank!

Lucky little Betta fish will get a big pretty 20 gallon home.

And 6 different kinds of food to choose from with shrimp, fish, insects, and bloodworms.

Shall be a very spoiled betta living a lavish lifestyle lol

ashleyspencer, 1 day ago to random

Finally got my ADHD meds!

Walked in the grocery store and instantly

✨ meltdown ✨

Zero cashiers. Only self-checkout. My hands are shaking a lot from the heat and struggled to bag my small amount of groceries. Kept dropping everything.

Going in grocery stores: zero stars, do not recommend 👎

ashleyspencer, 1 day ago to random

I got so mad at all these cold emails and 4 to 6 cold calls every day Monday through Friday. Yesterday I basically told them all to F off and stop emailing me. Today my phone has only rang once.

ashleyspencer, 2 days ago to actuallyautistic

Autistic burnout + untreated ADHD =

impulse control issues + inability to force yourself to do anything + drained by no ability to function

Lots of walking pass a mess unable to make yourself clean it, then blame yourself for it.

Distracted, can't focus enough to do fun things and/or take care of yourself.

Forgetting everything. So burned out you can't remember important things + made worse by ADHD.

1/3

@actuallyautistic
#AuDHD

ashleyspencer, 2 days ago to random

Got my 20 gallon fish tank. It looked so gigantic in the store, and looks so tiny on my counter lol.

The fish will go from a tiny closet (the cup) into a 900sqft apartment (the tank).

I’m getting a neat house thing with lots of little caves in it to put in the tank.

Good living space for one fish. :)

ashleyspencer, 3 days ago to random

I went to the pet store to get some water treatment stuff for the fish tank.

The 5 gallon tanks looked too small to me. It would be cramped in there still.

However, the 10 gallon is the perfect width for my counter and it's like penthouse apartment size. Couldn't take it home myself, but the lady said they could do same day delivery.

Saved a bunch of money buying the tank online vs in the store.

My cats are so much happier in a big apartment, so I'm sure a fish would feel the same.

ashleyspencer, 3 days ago to random

I haven't left my apartment for long periods of time in weeks.

My cats refused to eat while I was gone, and eating is Nikita's favorite thing. As soon as I got home, she ate all her food.

Dinah was yowling a really sad sounding cry when I got back. 😢

ashleyspencer, 3 days ago to random

Think I’ve figured out the secret to calming myself down when I get a bit revved up.

I got a little too ADHD hyper, so I drank half a Red Bull and now I feel sedated and need a nap lol

ashleyspencer, 3 days ago to random

ADHD hyperfocus + Autism special interest mode

= spend all morning watching videos about everything in betta care

How to change water, reasons they die, how long their lifespan is (it’s a really long time!), aquarium cycling, water testing and conditioning

I will be prepared! 😄

ashleyspencer, 5 days ago to random

Adventures in trying to get my Strattera.

Insurance won’t pay for the new dosage, so put in a request last night to have my psych send a prescription to the pharmacy down the street. Except I think he start his vacation already and he doesn’t come back until end of June.

So now I called the pharmacy to have them call my insurance company’s pharmacy to get it transferred. Now I wait. She said it can take 24 hours to get it from them sometimes.

Meanwhile I’m struggling hardcore trying to work😭

ashleyspencer, 6 days ago to random

My new ADHD med dose went into prior authorization with my health insurance.

I was told this can take anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks and still be denied.

I think they are fighting it because the copay covers 2 pills a day, but he prescribed 4 pills a day to get me to 100mg a day.

If I use GoodRx, I can get a month's supply for less than my insurance copay, and get it tomorrow.

UGH at US health insurance.

ashleyspencer, 6 days ago to random

I broke down crying yesterday because I really miss doing fun things.

I miss my bunny gardening game, my Steam Deck games, the climbing Jusant game.

I miss being able to read a book and watch a TV show.

My cognition is so bad, that I can’t do anything fun. I’m stuck on the couch playing FarmVille all day, and only doing bare minimum business work.

So I emailed my psych about an ADHD assessment. He said to schedule one for June when he returns to work. :) Then we can get me on ADHD meds.

ashleyspencer, 7 days ago (edited 7 days ago) to random

Google said Strattera goes up to 100mg but it was wrong. Psych said it goes up to 200mg.

Apparently I can also take a low dose stimulant together with Strattera.

I've been diagnosed 2x with ADHD, but he has to do an assessment and legally can't take my word for it, so totally understandable.

Raising Strattera to 100mg a day from 80mg and in 1.5 months if it isn't helping, we will do an ADHD assessment and he will prescribe me low dose stimulants + strattera.

Solutions! Yay!

ashleyspencer, 7 days ago to random

My cat Dinah will only drink out of a cocktail glass on the kitchen counter, so I ordered her some margarita glasses for her water lol.

It’s more wide brim for her whiskers, and thicker stems for stability because she likes to stick her paw in the water.

I had a cat who would only drink out of a martini glass on the bar counter. He also had a placemat and chair at the table where he would eat his wet food. He was a demanding little jerk lol

ashleyspencer, 8 days ago to random

I suspect, based on what my psychiatrist told me when he raised the strattera, the medication I take in the morning for depression blocks dopamine and serotonin receptors.

ADHD is made worse by low dopamine levels.

So I think my morning med is making the ADHD worse.

But it's either take it and stay out of chemical depression, or be depressed and struggle less with ADHD.

I have an appointment with him tomorrow and will find out more and see if anything can be done.

ashleyspencer, 8 days ago to actuallyautistic

I think it’s safe to assess the results of my poll.

Totaled across 3 social media sites:

583 people voted

I’m autistic / I’m ADHD - 165 votes

I’m autistic / Have ADHD - 360 votes

Have autism / Have ADHD - 53 votes

Have autism / I’m ADHD - 5 votes

There’s no right or wrong answer with how you choose to identify yourself.

@actuallyautistic @audhd

ashleyspencer, 8 days ago to random

The manufacturer sent me photos of my Heart chew necklace pendant with the necklace string attached.

They added the adjustable necklace string, made the hole bigger so it would fit, and raised the little dip part up a little so it won’t fall off.

It’s perfect! I love it! 😍

I’m going to order the dark pink and red colors.

The heart chew pendant and adjustable necklace string.

ashleyspencer, 9 days ago (edited 8 days ago) to actuallyautistic

For AuDHD:

Which terms do you prefer to use?

Do you use ‘have’ or ‘I am’ to describe your autism and ADHD?

Personally, I’m the first one and use ‘I am’ to describe both.

Just curious to see how common each one is. 🙂

#AuDHD

@actuallyautistic
@audhd

ashleyspencer, 9 days ago to random

Me and my little husky plush went to the store to get snacks and other stuff.

I made myself leave because I haven’t gone anywhere in a few weeks. Only open the door to put out the trash.

Brought the plushie along on my lap for moral support.

ashleyspencer, 10 days ago to random

I saw someone say today that cats are a reflection of their owners.

Must be why every cat I've ever had becomes needy and affectionate after I adopted them. All of them also bossed me around, and gave me lots of cuddles in exchange for my servitude.

ashleyspencer, 10 days ago to random

I’m exhausted from a long hard day of doing nothing.

ashleyspencer, 10 days ago to random

I put my LinkedIn account into Hibernate (deactivate). It’s nothing but trash. All connection requests and InMail messages trying to sell me their business services and organizations/charities wanting money from me. Got tired of deleting connection requests and blocking messages, so just deactivated.

Good riddance.

ashleyspencer, 11 days ago to random

I’ve been thinking maybe it’s time to raise my dosage of my non-stimulant ADHD med.

Looked up the max dosage of Strattera (100mg) and I’m already at 80mg.

I can’t take a stimulant because it would make me manic, and that’s very very bad.

Oh well. Just have to learn to manage.

ashleyspencer, 12 days ago to random

I got the strangest store message today. Someone emailed me straight up asking for the manufacturer name and catalog number of a chew necklace in my store. All that falls under the trade secrets and privileged information. Such a strange question.

Just said they were trying to buy the chew necklace and needed the manufacturer info for their procurement team, which is who purchases directly from manufacturers to sell in their own stores. Why on earth would I give a random stranger that info.