Real Adult ADHD Patient Video

Listen to Megan, an adult with ADHD, and her best friend talk about her ADHD journey, including current treatment with a nonstimulant medication.

Megan Bailey: I was 28 years old when I found out I had ADHD. 

Megan’s friend: I met Megan in the fifth or sixth grade, and we’ve been friends since then. Before Megan was diagnosed with ADHD, she was disorganized and spreading herself far too thin, not just at work, but in her personal relationships. 

There was a lot of times that I could see you feeling inadequate, and you weren’t. But it was just because you couldn’t… 

Megan Bailey: Right.

Megan’s friend: …complete the tasks that you know how to do, that you are absolutely capable of doing…

Megan Bailey: Right. 

Megan’s friend: …all because you had way too many thoughts going on in your head and way too many deadlines and goals and things to meet.

Megan Bailey: I do agree. My life was just kind of chaos, and I needed to get it under control to understand what was going on. Everything was just not organized, creating a giant catastrophe. I went to a psychiatrist and we did extensive testing, and then turns out it was ADHD.

I was surprised to find out my diagnosis of ADHD, because I wasn’t educated enough on all the symptoms and everything that came along with it, and I did not know that’s what I was feeling, was connected to my ADHD. 

I feel like ADHD is like doing laundry. It’s never ending, it will pile up, it’s dirty. Sometimes it’s clean, but it’s still never ending, and you never want to deal with it.

Once I got it figured out, I got it figured out pretty quickly. My psychiatrist prescribed Qelbree for me.

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.

Megan Bailey: Qelbree has affected my life in a positive way. I feel a lot more calm. I have become more organized. I get my tasks done in one fell swoop, I don’t jump around from task to task. I wake up at a decent hour and I don’t sleep in as much anymore. I feel like I have a jumpstart to my day I didn’t before. 

Now that I am on medication, my head is a lot less chaotic. I can be more focused and I have a lot better skill at being organized. I always had to be doing something. I was always moving so fast. I do see a difference now. I really feel a lot more present, in the moment, than I did before. 

For work, I am a litigation paralegal. I have been able to really pay attention and focus on one case at a time, opposed to jumping around from job to job.

Megan Bailey: My doctor writes prescriptions for my Qelbree, and then I use the co-pay plan. The co-pay plan makes Qelbree very affordable for me.

Now that I’m on Qelbree, I can take time to really understand the things that are important to me. I would say that it’s ok to feel disorganized and have running thoughts, but it doesn’t have to control your life. It can be managed.

I think living with ADHD is a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have the best of both worlds, to know what it’s like to live in chaos and to know what it’s like to live in an organized mindset.

If I had any advice for anybody feeling the way that I felt, I would say that it’s okay to reach out and see if there is anything that can be done for the symptoms that you are having, because you’re not alone.

Indication and full Important Safety Information scroll at end of video.