[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?
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Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?
My therapist wants to explore an ADHD diagnosis, run tests and dive
deep. My question to you is; how did this help you or impact your
life? I am in the later half of an adventurous and successful
career. I continue to grow, have a long-term stable marriage, good
savings, great life. I went to my therapist to handle a lingering
family issue and now we've come up to the ADHD talk. They want to
run neurological tests, said I'm 'twice exceptional' and I see this
as an expensive and time consuming diversion of my goals. I do
admit that there is some validity in the idea, I do see symptoms,
but how would this help me at this point in my life?
Author : codpiece
Score : 176 points
Date : 2021-06-15 11:58 UTC (11 hours ago)
| jedimastert wrote:
| Slightly different perspective: I was diagnosed as a child, but
| had assumed I had "mastered it" and went off meds and let it go
| for several years. What I've come to realize is that I've still
| had it, just that I've structured the parts of my life that I
| could around it and let other parts suffer for no real reason.
| That kind of fell apart (the rest of the way) when my wife had
| her second child and a few days before I was suppose to come back
| from paternity leave the my office shut down along with the rest
| of the world.
|
| I had to come to terms with the fact that I had not grown out of
| it, I just subconsciously geared everything (my environment, the
| kind of work I took on and was good at, my compartmentalization)
| around it, and honestly not in a very healthy way.
|
| (P.S. I just recently wrote a piece about my experience with ADHD
| and how it presents to me
| <https://aarontag.dev/2021/05/13/adhd.html>)
| intpx wrote:
| ADHD is a disease/difference of executive function-- how your
| internal world interfaces with your external world. It totally
| makes sense that you had a tough go of it when you experienced
| major life changes.
| jedimastert wrote:
| Yeah, my world would have been flip-turned upside down as it
| is. The real kicker was realizing that I had not considered
| remote work at all when we picked our apartment. We've just
| bought our first house and it's much better now, but trying
| to work at ALL for the first 3 or 4 months was truly awful.
| gwbas1c wrote:
| > I am in the later half of an adventurous and successful career.
| I continue to grow, have a long-term stable marriage, good
| savings, great life.
|
| If you're happy with your life, why change anything?
|
| Assuming you're considering medication, be careful. Remember that
| ADHD medication often very similar to methamphetamine, (or is
| methamphetamine.)
|
| Those drugs are addictive, and when prescribed incorrectly, it's
| often hard to be objective about if the drugs really benefit you,
| or if you just enjoy the drugs.
| kmarc wrote:
| Living in Europe, my perception (AKA: anecdotal / unscientific /
| non-measured) is that most of the ADHD-diagnosed people I know
| live in the US, while I only know one European person in my
| network who received similar diagnosis from a professional
| psychiatrist. Counterintuitively, I know way more European people
| than Americans, which makes my perception feel even more skewed.
|
| I very well know that my sample(ing method) could be wrong, it
| can be a coincidence, etc etc.
|
| So my questions are:
|
| * anyone else have similar experience in their friend circles?
|
| * is there a higher number of ADHD diagnosis in tech / wealthy
| population? (considering that most of my American
| friends/colleagues are from tech, this would somewhat explain)
|
| * do I miss something obvious? (e.g. maybe Europeans would never
| discuss their diagnosis with friends, etc.)
| pjerem wrote:
| I've been diagnosed in France at 29. I had the chance to find a
| therapist that was aware of ADHD and transferred me to a
| specialist at the local hospital.
|
| But it looks like I had been really lucky because France health
| authorities does not currently acknowledge the existence of
| adult ADHD.
|
| That would explain why no one in Europe talks about it. I would
| add that since symptoms are really vague when explained, there
| is some sort of taboo when you talk about it because ADHD is
| just a sum of symptoms that, individually, are very common
| amongst the population.
| [deleted]
| nomadiccoder wrote:
| tech / wealthy people have more access to healthcare in the USA
| mijoharas wrote:
| That might explain why in america more people in tech are
| diagnosed with ADHD, but would provide evidence against fewer
| people in europe being diagnosed with ADHD than in america
| (which is what the poster is asking about) since they have
| more access to healthcare, and it's not income dependent.
|
| To answer the OP's question, I seem to recall that people
| with ADHD are more prone to be entrepreneurial (I believe a
| higher appetite for risk is the general explanation). Here is
| an article [0].
|
| This would explain things if the people you know in tech
| happen to work for tech startups.
|
| [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/dalearcher/2014/05/14/adhd-
| the-...
| macksd wrote:
| I have similar observations, and your suggested explanations
| seem reasonable but I have nothing but anecdata either way. I
| have known a lot of people in tech in the US from whom I've
| gotten the distinct impression they are formally diagnosed with
| ADHD and perhaps on medication.
|
| I have also known a lot of people who tend to self-diagnose
| problems that I suspect they don't really have and then talk
| about them a lot (such as ADHD). They're usually the people who
| are fixated on vaccines and 5G as the cause of many health
| problems, but they typically won't have much interaction with
| "establishment" doctors on these issues. It's my impression
| that this is more common in the US than Europe, but it's a
| distinct issue. Not sure if some of that is mixed in to your
| observations?
| fb13 wrote:
| At American universities, reading the DSM and acquiring an
| Adderall script is a right of passage, unless you're wealthy
| enough to buy them from other kids to avoid having that on your
| medical record.
| kolinko wrote:
| Fellow European here - at least in Poland it is virtually
| impossible to get diagnosed as an adult, and there is very
| little knowledge of ADHD among mental health prpfessionals.
|
| ADHD affects around 5% population, as various studies have
| shown. In Poland we have virtually 0% adults diagnosed an on
| treatmnt, and I don't know a single therapist that wI could
| confidently recommend to a person seeking diagnosis/treatment.
| (And I looked and asked around a lot).
|
| By comparison, in SF there is a dedicated clinic for adult
| ADHD, not to mention therapists aware of such thing.
| jspash wrote:
| American here. Lived the first 30 years of my life in the
| States, the next 20 in France/UK and have worked (temporarily
| at least) in most major European cities.
|
| I think you are on to something with you last point. One long-
| standing joke about Americans is that within 5 minutes of
| meeting them you'll know more about their bank account,
| hopes/fears/dreams, and their lower colon than you'll ever know
| about your best European friend in a lifetime.
|
| I'm not judging. We (Americans) are simply open about lots of
| personal details to everyone. We're a bit like the golden labs
| of humankind. If someone will listen, we're happy to talk about
| anything.
|
| Europeans on the other hand (this is another BIG
| generalisation) are definitely much more private especially
| when it comes to health. I've been in the UK for quite a while
| now and I struggle to even learn the names of my neighbours two
| doors down. Good luck borrowing a cup of sugar around here. In
| the states I actually let someone use my shower! I knew him
| from passing in the hallway and he had a job interview in an
| hour but lost his keys.
|
| Anyhow...I digress. #4 is my choice. Access to good healthcare
| is NOT a cause. But I don't want to go there and start a
| discussion on the pros/cons of socialised medicine. It always
| ends in shouting. :D
| adhdthroway wrote:
| > Access to good healthcare is NOT a cause.
|
| It is one of the causes, Europe is more than France/UK.
| danielharan wrote:
| There's a genetic component - as there is for Openness, which
| is higher on the West than the East Coast of the US.
|
| So, maybe ADHD types were the first to leave Europe for the
| Americas?
| nefitty wrote:
| I'm American in the tech industry. A majority of my close
| friends and I are diagnosed with ADD (I count 4 off the top of
| my head). Some people on my work team are open about their
| diagnoses as well.
|
| It was difficult for me to admit to my family, friends and
| colleagues that I was being medicated for ADD. It took me four
| months before anyone besides my wife knew. The reason I came
| out with it is because some of the struggles reared their heads
| again. I realized that the people around me who have struggled
| with similar problems might also need a sympathetic ear, as I
| do.
|
| Ultimately, my hesitance to discuss my diagnosis is due to fear
| of judgement (will people think I'm lazy or a druggy?) or fear
| that people may begin attributing my successes to the drugs.
| adhdthroway wrote:
| I live in a smaller EU country and I tried to have a
| professional check me out, as I have a lot of problems with
| procrastination, productivity, paying bills on time etc.
|
| I tried asking around (including asking some organization that
| deal with ADHD in children) for a recommendation for a
| psychiatrists that deals with ADHD in adults and couldn't get
| any.
|
| After months of deliberation I finally hyped myself up to get
| an appointment with any psychiatrist in the local hospital,
| just to see if they will be of any help and could maybe refer
| me to someone else. They didn't even seem to know what I was
| talking about, said that I was obviously fine as I managed to
| graduate from a university and recommended that I have children
| to give me a sense of direction in life. So, yeah, good luck to
| anyone who has adult ADHD here.
| rjh29 wrote:
| The obvious answer is that in America drugs are advertised on
| TV, and if you see a lot of ads for ADHD medication you might
| be more aware of the possibility that you have ADHD, and it
| could be normalised. After all the stereotype of American
| zombie kids on Ritalin was being bandied about 10-20 years ago?
| Whereas ADHD is still relatively not well known in most
| European countries.
|
| The UK was the same for autism about 10-15 years ago, it was
| barely talked about, now every class has 10-20% children
| diagnosed with autism and we have autism-friendly hours in
| cinemas/shops etc, nobody blinks an eye if you go out wearing
| big headphones etc. The same may happen for adult ADHD too.
| jnovek wrote:
| One hypothesis is that, in the country where you live, there is
| more stigma around ADHD in adults and it is more frequently
| ignored or dismissed.
|
| It is an easy condition to ignore --- adults with ADHD are
| frequently not very "hyperactive" because even if they were as
| children, they've learned to modulate that behavior through
| experience.
|
| The traits of inattentive-only ADHD are often written off as
| laziness when in reality that person is experiencing executive
| dysfunction that makes prioritization of tasks difficult. A
| common feature of ADHD is to be frequently paralyzed by
| indecision.
|
| It's not uncommon for those first diagnosed as adults to be
| completely blindsided by the disorder.
| kmarc wrote:
| Which raises another question:
|
| - How bad can it be, if it stays undiagnosed?
| webnrrd2k wrote:
| How bad can cancer be, if it stays undiagnosed?
|
| There are lots of serious conditions that, if left
| undiagnosed, are quite damaging or fatal.
|
| Plus, it's often especially difficult to see how
| psychological/psychiatric problems affect oneself. It's
| easy to misattribute causes or misunderstand conditions.
| There are posts in this very discussion that tell how
| damaging undiagnosed ADHD has been.
| midasz wrote:
| My wife was diagnosed with ADD (ADHD-I) at 20 (no points
| for H at all, literally none).
|
| When all stimuli hit you at the same level it's really
| tiring. Someone clicking their pen, bird chirping outside,
| someone coughing in the hallway or the classroom next to
| you, someone picking his nose in the corner of your eyes
| etc. She isn't able to filter them at all.
|
| I've come home to the place being flooded because she ran a
| bath but remembered she needed to do something in the
| kitchen, and that prompted something else, etc. We've
| fought because of little things, but those little things
| combined with having to process every single stimuli the
| world throws at you is difficult. If you're focusing on
| work, or just sitting around do you even register the
| things going on outside? She does. At the same 'volume' as
| the thing she's trying to focus on.
|
| In high school she missed more classes than she went to.
| She was deemed lazy, dumb, and uncaring. We have three
| levels in the Netherlands and she barely completed the
| lowest one. Mainly because she was home sleeping, or just
| wandering off with her mind, migraines - you name it.
|
| When she had to write school reports for a specific class
| the teacher would be baffled by the report. It went from
| the actual subject to a few pages of an English report,
| then a chapter of economics. I always imagined it as her
| having to go to the bathroom, coming back and remembering
| 'Shit I needed to write that book report for English
| class'. Because, obviously, this was only started just
| before or even after the deadline.
|
| You'd think the schoolsystem would raise an alarm right?
| Nah, she wasn't exactly 'trouble' as in being busy /
| shouting / name any typical bad behaviour. She was just
| chaotic and 'dumb'. Real easy conclusion, especially when
| you have kids getting in fights and smoking joints - at
| least she was trying to do her homework.
|
| So she missed a lot of opportunities, felt really bad about
| herself to put it lightly, and the migraines are a bitch
| too. I don't know if that's how bad it can be when
| undiagnosed but yeah. When the psychiatrist did the
| sessions / tried medications they also took an IQ test
| which indicated that when the world is not throwing stimuli
| at her (well it still is, but with the help of the meds she
| can filter it) she's actually really fucking intelligent
| (remember the lowest level she barely passed, could've
| easily done the highest level and moved on to university).
| After years of hard work catching up she did complete a BA
| and I couldn't be prouder. It's not easy believing in
| yourself after so many years of people saying you're dumb
| and lazy.
| nefitty wrote:
| She sounds lucky to have someone that would take the time
| to understand her experience. Good job man.
| kmarc wrote:
| Thanks for the elaborate answer.
|
| > If you're focusing on work, or just sitting around do
| you even register the things going on outside?
|
| I actually do, and took me a while to realize that not
| everyone experiences surroundings as I do. Definitely can
| relate to this, and some of the other patterns you and
| others described here.
| username90 wrote:
| Its the difference between being capable of joining Google
| and being unable to get anything better than McDonalds or
| similar. Sure you can go through life working minimum wage
| jobs and never see a doctor about it, but I certainly feel
| my life is better on medication. Basically it is the "I
| could do it if I just wanted/tried', and adhd was what
| prevented the person from wanting/trying.
| brunoc wrote:
| It's kind of like needing to wear glasses; all you know is
| that everything looks blurry, and as far as you know that's
| how everyone sees. And if you struggle to see clearly,
| well, that's your problem.
|
| My guess is that it stays undiagnosed because doctors
| aren't trained to make the connection between untreated
| ADHD (as an adult) and the disparate consequences it has on
| one's life.
| phendrenad2 wrote:
| In Europe, drugs cost the government money. In America, drugs
| cost you (and your employer) money.
| j-pb wrote:
| It saved my life.
|
| I went from always being clouds in the sky, never finish any
| project, always in my head, wasting days away on social media,
| both kind and loud and inconsiderate, and seriously depressed, to
| somebody I can face in the mirror.
|
| It's not a cure all and it took a lot of counselling and some
| time to find the right medication but it turned my life 180
| degrees.
|
| I no longer feel like all my dreams are running through my
| fingers, and that every new endeavour I start will end in
| failure. I have much better personal relationships, and am a much
| better listener with the same kindness I had before.
|
| I've learned to appreciate things that I never thought I could
| appreciate before. Working on a project for an extended period of
| time with progress so small you barely see it, and then realising
| how much you've accomplished over a long timeframe is such a
| rewarding experience. Before I couldn't study, either I was
| immediately gifted at something or I just couldn't bring myself
| to invest time into it. Simple things like, being able to read
| without getting bored or distracted by every little breeze, or
| not spending every night coding because you didn't get stuff done
| during the day and feel like you have to make up for it, is just
| nice.
|
| Don't fear medication, there's so much stigma around it, but it
| helps more than anything else. If you got an inflamed thumb you
| also get antibiotics. The ones I tried first were making me
| emotionally very detached, but me and my doctor tried around a
| bit and found something that works really well, it's part of the
| journey.
|
| Without the meds I feel like a prisoner in my own head. With them
| I still suck at cleaning my place, I still talk over people when
| I'm excited, and I still procrastinate regularly, but at least I
| got enough of a fighting chance to feel like I'm in charge of my
| life and no longer feel like a leaf in the wind.
| hammock wrote:
| What meds worked for you?
| j-pb wrote:
| Keep in mind that different ADHD medication might have
| completely different effects for different patients, and that
| what works for me might not work for you and vice versa.
|
| That being said, I started with two doses of Ritalin
| (Methylphenidate) with 30mg in the morning and another 20mg
| past noon. And then switched to Elvanse(Lisdexamfetamine)
| with a single 30mg for the entire day.
|
| I'd describe the difference between the the two (personally,
| again, mechanisms of action and cause of illness differ
| between people), as my ADHD being like driving a car with
| flat tires. The Ritalin gave me a more powerful motor, so I
| could simply power through the flat tire, while the Elvanse
| is like a spare tire.
|
| Also as a general note, I prefer to be slightly under-
| medicated than over-medicated. Ideally I'd take barely enough
| to make me overcome my inner barrier, and then work from
| there with taking breaks, going by my own timing, doing
| sports e.t.c. which then act as a compounding and self
| reinforcing positive feedback loop.
| nomadiccoder wrote:
| My doctor tells me that there is some theories that ADHD may be
| an evolutionary response to dangers in our environment. (like
| avoiding lions or being alerted to changes in weather) When I
| think about it this way I feel better about rejecting medications
| (or accepting them). Personally just understanding the pros/cons
| of ADHD has helped me identify some of my shortcomings. For
| example, I can focus for days on the _wrong_ topic, so I need to
| be aware of this so I don 't work on something unimportant and
| then get burned out. When I don't know the right thing to work on
| and break it into concrete steps I find myself unable to
| accomplish anything at all for days or weeks jumping from task to
| task every 5 mins.
|
| So I suggest you explore this to learn about yourself so that you
| can take the newfound information to make the best steps toward
| your personal/career/etc goals. That may be disregarding
| everything they suggest and refusing treatment, but understanding
| more about yourself and how your mind works cant be a bad thing
| can it?
| Ensorceled wrote:
| > So I suggest you explore this to learn about yourself so that
| you can take the newfound information to make the best steps
| toward your personal/career/etc goals. That may be disregarding
| everything they suggest and refusing treatment, but
| understanding more about yourself and how your mind works cant
| be a bad thing can it?
|
| I did that for 50 years before the diagnosis, I decided to try
| what my therapist suggested.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you! I do agree that, researching, I see that there are
| things that have been nagging me for years, but not enough to
| really need a fix. I work in technical and creative capacities,
| so I don't to dull an edge with medication.
| Azeralthefallen wrote:
| Without it i would have never been able to succeed in life. For
| me it was the single greatest decision i have ever made in my
| life. I simply could not focus on anything important, I was a
| miserable mess.
|
| I was a consistent grade D student in high school, I was that
| werido in class who everyone hated. In my final year my parents
| realizing I was not going to have a great future, decided to
| bring me to our doctor, I was prescribed Dexedrine for ADHD.
|
| That Pill completely and utterly changed me in my final year, i
| could think clearly. I understood what was being said, it
| completely changed me. I suddenly decided to go to University for
| CS, forcing me to do a victory lap in high school. I was able to
| get into University on an amazing scholarship.
|
| However the biggest thing was the few people who i was vaguely
| friends with me praised my 180 personality change, they liked
| being my friend.
|
| I am now 36 years old taking the same dose of meds i have been
| for the last 20 years. It works for me, immensely. At the same
| time there is a huge stigma around ADHD medication. My ex hated
| the idea of me taking meds saying its big pharma pushing this, i
| don't need this, i just need exercise, etc. She changed her tune
| after she saw me not on my medication.
|
| I know there are probably people out there that don't need this
| or abuse it. Sure, but that is true for almost everything.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| You may have "non-problematic" ADHD, or not consider it a
| problem. But there may be a few things you struggle with that you
| aren't telling.
|
| Emotional stability. My girlfriend had massive ups and downs,
| almost bipolar; the medication (slow release, concerta or its
| cheaper but equivalent alternative) evened things out. I have a
| friend who doesn't want the diagnosis or treatment because he's
| fine with it, and you can tell he struggles with keeping his
| emotions under control. He mainly gets really frustrated and
| loses his patience if things aren't going as fast as he wants to.
|
| The other one is getting overwhelmed and/or having meltdowns,
| because one comorbidity of ADHD is sensory processing disorder.
| It's things like grocery stores with music and children screaming
| that can get too much.
|
| Another one is things being "loud / busy" in your head,
| maddeningly so. I've heard that taking the meds quiets things
| down, and it's a relief.
|
| Anyway, a diagnosis won't hurt, it'll improve your self-
| awareness. You won't be forced to take medication or anything if
| you don't want to. A diagnosis is usually a questionnaire and a
| "take this ritalin and tell me how you feel in a bit".
| toxik wrote:
| So you, a non-professional, casually diagnosed your friend with
| ADHD, and then went on to explain his behavior with this.
|
| If there's one thing my psychologist friends tell me not to do,
| it's exactly this: make up diagnoses for myself and others
| around me to explain behaviors post hoc.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| >> Another one is things being "loud / busy" in your head,
| maddeningly so. I've heard that taking the meds quiets things
| down, and it's a relief.
|
| This is a big one for me. I pretty much always have a podcast
| or audiobook going because otherwise my head is just so loud
| and non directed. I'll have some fragment of a song repeating
| in my head for 9 hours straight and I don't even realize it
| until my partner tells me to stop humming it.
| codpiece wrote:
| Getting overwhelmed is totally spot-on. I do need to remove
| myself on occasions. My family always remarks on my sensitive
| hearing and sense of smell.
| jbotz wrote:
| Hypersensitive sense of smell and hearing, plus need for
| solitude, and you mentioned in another comment "hyperempathy"
| when listening to people... could be autistic spectrum. Often
| comes hand-in-hand with some ADHD symptoms as well. Do you
| have difficulty reading people's facial expressions, or at
| least did as a child?
| codpiece wrote:
| I don't. In fact, people often look to me for more nuanced
| interpretations during meetings and social interactions.
| okprod wrote:
| What kind of doctor to you go to to get a diagnosis?
| RyJones wrote:
| Restored my sense of agency, which has changed my life for the
| better
| mlac wrote:
| I spoke to my doctor last year about this, was referred to a
| therapist, and was diagnosed (I'm a bit younger (32) and like you
| continue to grow, have a long-term stable marriage, good savings,
| great life. There were a lot of signs, but primarily I had
| trouble staying focused even for a few minutes. To have a
| productive morning and not get derailed, I would need to have an
| app like Routinery to walk me through what I needed to do step by
| step before work.
|
| I decided against medication for a few reasons, but to deal with
| it is a daily exercise. I have to put up guardrails or I can lose
| hours / day with distracted activity. I find it's tightly
| correlated to how much time I spend on technology.
|
| Meditation, prayer, down time from technology (physical news
| paper and Economist in the mornings) all help to start the day
| focused. I'm considering re-arranging the house to have a room
| dedicated to technology and everything else in the house be low-
| tech, higher quality forms of recreation (books, musical
| instruments, board games, etc). That will, in theory, allow me to
| put time boundaries on how often I'm around technology. Another
| big thing I did was stop drinking. I did an A/B test at the start
| of 2020 - 2 months not drinking followed by 4 months of drinking,
| and by June I decided I was done. I still taste different things
| if my wife has one or I'm making drinks for others, but haven't
| had a full drink since last June. NA beers have been great.
|
| Books that helped me: make time, essentialism, digital
| minimalism, (an extreme but easy read recommended on here) -
| "better off"
|
| Part of my hesitancy for medicine was that I didn't want it
| rooted in self-improvement / optimization. I think there was some
| burn out mixed in and I was looking for the next step to
| optimization with medicine. I figured it would be better to fix
| the system rather than over-optimize for what I was doing. If I
| can't naturally deal with it, then maybe I shouldn't be running
| that hard.
|
| If I get two-three hours of focus now per day it's great.
|
| Perfect is the enemy of the good, and I am generally happy and
| see no need for that much optimization. If it was really
| impacting my work and life, I'd reconsider medicine.
| codpiece wrote:
| You and I share similar methods! Most of my technology is in
| the office, and we are surrounded by books and musical
| instruments. I am an artist (designer by trade, moved into
| technology consulting).
|
| I definitely agree with drinking (and weed), it is very
| negative, and the effects last days for me.
| salmo wrote:
| I got a diagnosis when I was in college (inattentive type,
| definitely not hyperactive). It was a bit of a rollercoaster for
| me.
|
| I also have anxiety and disthymeia, so meds were complicated.
| Stimulants send my anxiety out of control. Ultimately, I'm
| unmedicated for the ADHD, now.
|
| It's been 20 years, and I'll admit, I fear any major med changes,
| because it can be ~1 year to get it all worked out.
|
| I would say, make sure you are working with a psychiatrist who
| specializes in ADHD and a psychologist who will partner with them
| to aid your treatment. Their experience is key and can save you a
| lot of time struggling with meds, I wish I did that from day 1. I
| originally started with a PCP and then psychologist + PCP and
| really struggled from bad treatment advice.
|
| I was "smart enough" for it to not seriously impact me until
| later in college. I would dive into 1 class and neglect the rest.
|
| But my career is pretty tolerant of it. In some ways it is an
| asset. I have developed a ton of coping mechanisms to compensate,
| and have also learned to build in time to let myself go. It took
| me a while time to "forgive myself" for needing that, but a good
| therapist who also had ADHD helped me.
|
| Taking sensory breaks is really important for me. Shifting to
| working from home meant I had to learn when I should take breaks
| from notification overload. I only allow my calendar to notify me
| then. I do benefit from working with people who really know me
| and help support.
|
| I also cannot track time internally (I do not know if that is
| common or not). So making sure to schedule things like lunch has
| been important. It's easy for me to get lost.
|
| My wife is also amazingly supportive. We complement each other
| very well and have for years. We are very communicative and that
| has helped a lot.
|
| I'm sad that my one of my daughters is struggling is struggling
| with it early in school. School in general is just so
| incompatible. I can sympathize in many ways with the
| "inattentive" aspects, but she is also hyperactive which is
| foreign to me.
| ttronicm wrote:
| I was diagnosed at age 44 and it made me reevaluate the course of
| my entire life. It took me a few years to adjust adequately and
| I'm still adjusting at 51. Learning about ADHD and effective
| strategies to deal with it has helped. Getting to know other
| people with ADHD has been the most helpful of all. I suggest
| searching YouTube for reactions to ADHD memes: it's a little
| painful on account of so much truth being told, but also nice to
| feel less alone.
|
| My experience with meds might be interesting: I work in a
| customer-facing technical role where my soft skills are
| paramount. Taking stimulants was disorienting, but helped me
| manage emotions very well. They worked well for focus, but killed
| my ability to be fundamentally nice. I might have been able to
| adapt in time, but I would have had to change careers in the
| meantime. I now take buproprion and it works well enough on
| motivation without causing social problems.
| snarfy wrote:
| > I went to my therapist to handle a lingering family issue and
| now we've come up to the ADHD talk
|
| Ditch your therapist.
| [deleted]
| richthegeek wrote:
| That sounds like a very unhelpful response. People with ADHD
| are known to suffer much higher rates of divorce, because ADHD
| is largely emotional dis-regulation.
|
| ADHD is often ignored in 'high-functioning' adults who present
| with anxiety, depression, and relationship issues but it is
| often the root-cause of these problems.
|
| If a therapist suggest at least exploring ADHD then assume they
| have very good reason to do so!
| codesnik wrote:
| There could be consequences, btw. Like being barred from getting
| a pilots license in US if you'd ever acquire a taste for flying
| for example.
| falcolas wrote:
| Late 30's diagnosis for ADHD, who went to school to fly in
| college. Here's my hot take:
|
| Being barred from a pilots license is a good thing.
|
| I look back on that time, and I'm shocked I didn't crash the
| damned aircraft. I couldn't focus when landing (executive focus
| disfunction), I would freak out randomly (emotional
| disregulation), and I gave at least one of my instructors
| several grey hairs when landing.
|
| When you're a pilot, you can't afford to not be paying
| attention.
| pilot7378535 wrote:
| Same goes for operating a car. How many accidents are caused
| by distracted driving?
|
| The good news is that medication may mitigates the symptoms
| so you can focus on driving or flying safely.
|
| The bad news is the FAA says you can't use the medication
| while flying nor can you have an active diagnosis. So if you
| have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, even as a child, your
| only option is to go through an expensive testing process to
| prove you don't have ADHD anymore. Or some people just lie.
| Easiest and most dangerous approach is to never be diagnosed
| in the first place.
|
| The FAA is rewarded for caution, not inclusivity. But they
| are making changes, like very recently making exceptions to
| allow diabetics to be pilots:
| https://www.diabetes.org/resources/know-your-
| rights/discrimi.... Just know that a diagnosis can never been
| deleted.
| __s wrote:
| +1. If you're doing well & aren't curious to try prescription
| drugs, don't get diagnosed. Live your life, no need to bother
| being classified somewhere in the non-NT taxonomy where if
| you're not acting weird in the same way as everyone else you
| need to be labelled with your brain put in the appropriate
| cupboard of mason jars
| afarrell wrote:
| My ability to focus since getting medication is night and day.
| This is true even when I'm off medication because I've been able
| to do the work to gain mental clarity I'd not been able to do
| before.
| matlin wrote:
| Anyone reading this should be extremely skeptical of internet
| strangers recommending drugs that gave them "superpowers",
| changed their life, etc. Taking these drugs will make _anyone_
| feel more focused, motivated, etc because these drugs are strong
| stimulants that cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy.
|
| Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format "how
| an ADHD diagnosis changed my life" on Reddit, TikTok, HN, etc.
| Talk to your doctor about your issues and concerns but don't
| forget the incentives of pharma companies to push these drugs on
| as many people as possible.
| jnovek wrote:
| Everything you've said is correct, but please don't demonize a
| medication that I depend on to be functional. ADHD is a
| disability, there's more nuance to this than black-and-white.
|
| I was blown off by doctors for years when I was seeking a
| diagnostics because I was a successful person, but make no
| mistake: I was suffering. I am a textbook case. The stigma
| around this disorder is pervasive and it's extremely easy to
| reinforce that stigma.
|
| Stimulant medication doesn't give me superpowers, it improves
| symptoms. I still have all the problems that come with ADHD,
| just... less.
|
| Google is failing me, but a study a few years ago indicated
| that stimulants do not have a meaningful impact on the output
| of those who do not have ADHD. People often think they do
| because of the euphoria effect, but the euphoria is actually a
| transient side effect.
|
| Stimulants should be paired with therapy, to better understand
| the nature of the disorder and developer additional coping
| tool.
|
| (I've been on stimulant medication to treat ADHD for about half
| a decade. I was diagnosed well into adulthood.)
| Spooky23 wrote:
| The original poster is in therapy, so presumably there is
| something going on that he or she is unhappy with.
| yajjackson wrote:
| Another anecdote: I was diagnosed in middle school and
| prescribed Vyvanse, which I took for the duration of my k-12
| education. Some side effects I lived with were loss of
| appetite, social anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and later on a
| complete suppression of sex-drive. These were brought to my
| doctor's attention but were more or less considered costs to a
| greater good.
|
| I sought behavioral therapy because the side effects became too
| much of a burden. I hold a job and remain productive, but I
| still struggle dealing with my adhd without medication. I'm not
| sure there's a point I'm trying to make here, just wanting to
| share some of my experience.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| I recommend discarding any anecdotes from people who recently
| started taking stimulants like Adderall, Vyvanse, or Ritalin.
| The parent comment is correct in that early stimulant usage is
| associated with euphoria and motivation that do not last.
|
| If someone describes Adderall like the magic drug that Bradley
| Cooper takes in the movie Limitless, they probably haven't been
| taking it very long. Tolerance quickly builds to those effects.
|
| People who have been taking Adderall since childhood or for a
| decade of adult life tend to have more mixed reviews. That's
| not to say it doesn't have a place in treatment of life-
| impacting ADHD disorders, but it should be noted that it's not
| a miracle drug that automatically turns you into a motivated,
| organized person. Even patients who take stimulants must make
| an effort to build good time management habits and self-
| discipline. Those who rely too heavily on the motivating
| effects of stimulant drugs can end up worse off when they
| inevitably build tolerance to the euphoric effects and still
| haven't learned how to manage their ADHD.
|
| I've also noticed a huge uptick in ADHD misinformation in the
| form of overly broad diagnostic criteria. If you see
| infographics that describe ADHD symptoms as common behaviors
| like "have trouble remembering names of new people" or "I
| sometimes forget to do all of my tasks" then it's likely junk
| science. Don't confuse normal human behaviors for ADHD. ADHD is
| something far more debilitating.
| throwasquirrel wrote:
| How long does someone have to be on stimulant medication
| before you consider them qualified to comment on its
| effectiveness?
| adhd-thrwaway-0 wrote:
| Spot on. People treat medication like some free lunch without
| understanding they come with real and significant costs.
| ThrowawayP wrote:
| > " _Taking these drugs will make anyone feel more focused,
| motivated, etc because these drugs are strong stimulants that
| cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy._ "
|
| Can't speak for others but my encounter with stimulant
| medications (under the care of a therapist, of course) provided
| none of those things. It only gave me severe insomnia, which
| left me worse off than before.
| throwasquirrel wrote:
| When you've grown up with executive dysfunction and excessive
| difficulty regulating emotion, the _ability to choose_ to sit
| down and do a task that doesn 't grab your attention sure FEELS
| like a superpower, but all it's doing is effectively medicating
| your condition.
|
| The best parallel I can think of is that getting effective
| medication for ADHD is like getting glasses. Suddenly a part of
| your life that doesn't work (and maybe has never worked) is
| suddenly functional. People tend to be pretty excited about
| their glasses when they first get them, too.
| afarrell wrote:
| I would definitely say that glasses are a great comparison.
| unbearded wrote:
| As as person who got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and looked
| back to a life of potential wasted, and while I don't agree
| with calling the benefits of any drug "superpowers", I can
| understand why some people would. I exercise almost every day,
| meditate, eat and sleep well and yet, it was a pill that made
| the biggest difference in treating my difficult on keeping
| focus.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| Also be extremely skeptical of internet strangers telling you
| that you DON'T need medication or vaccines or therapy.
|
| > Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format
| "how an ADHD diagnosis changed my life"
|
| You are seeing an uptick because admitting to being
| neuroatypical is now far more acceptable. Similar to how "there
| are so many more people claiming to be gay/trans/bi" on Reddit
| isn't suspicious either.
|
| The meds changed my life because I have ADHD. My dad's heart
| medication changed his life (well, gave him a life) because he
| has congestive heart disease.
|
| My GP became much more relaxed about my medication when I
| reported that my medications DIDN'T result in euphoria or
| bursts of energy as that is often the case with ADHD. I am
| simply much more focused.
| RHSman2 wrote:
| Theoretically, if you have ADHD the medicine shouldn't make you
| 'high'. If you don't it will have that effect. This was told to
| me by a specialist (I am dubious though)
| weird-eye-issue wrote:
| I'm commenting just to balance out everyone saying this is
| false. I took Ritalin in middle school and never felt high
| whatsoever. One day my mom took it (once) because she was
| curious and she said she felt high (she told me this many
| many years later).
|
| I took it again after college and can say that yes if you
| take a high enough dose it will make you slightly euphoric
| but I think it's different than the high of recreational
| drugs. If your mood is too heightened when you take it then
| probably you should cut back on your dosage.
| dj_gitmo wrote:
| A normal dose can make you high or euphoric the first few
| times you take it. Eventually your body down-regulates and
| you don't experience a high, but if you read ADHD experiences
| on the internet you will often come across people who have
| just had their first dose and are clearly geeked up.
| jnovek wrote:
| This is a common misconception. The euphoria is a transient
| side-effect. Some people don't experience much euphoria from
| amphetamine.
|
| I experienced euphoria for a month or so when I first started
| treatment, but now it feels similar to a morning cup of
| coffee.
| godtoldmetodoit wrote:
| This is false - if the dose is high enough with a drug like
| Adderall or Vyvanse you will get the euphoric and high energy
| when first starting out. Over the course of a week or two
| your body adapts and that feeling fades.
| kar5pt wrote:
| This is false. I was diagnosed ADHD by a psychologist twice
| (this is the full ADHD test where they put you through IQ and
| other cognitive testing). My ADHD was severe enough that I
| qualified for accommodations on the SATs. I was still able to
| get high on Vyvanse/Adderall often enough to get addicted to
| it. Drug companies lie to make these medications seem safer
| than they are.
| msrenee wrote:
| That's really interesting to me. I take methylphenidate as
| a (doctor prescribed) stimulant and don't get the euphoria
| much at all. Maybe a little bit the first time I take an
| increased dose. 5 mg made me feel drugged and tired the
| first time. At 10 mg, I very nearly puked at about 2 hours
| and 4 hours after the dose the first week but no euphoria.
| I just had a more normal amount of energy compared to how
| tired I am naturally. 15 mg and I'm pretty bright and
| alert, but wouldn't call it euphoria by any means. I don't
| know what a recreational dose is. I just got my
| prescription upped so that I've got a couple 20 mg doses
| available. If I have a suspiciously lovely day, I'll let
| you know. I'm definitely not addicted. I feel no need to
| take it except when I know I need it to get through the
| day.
|
| What did give me euphoria and hypo-manic behaviors was
| Nuvigil at 250 mg after having been off it for 2 weeks.
| That was an inexperienced mistake on my part, but it was
| really fun.
| adhd-thrwaway-0 wrote:
| Yep. As someone who has been taking these medications for
| over a decade, I can say the danger of physical and mental
| addiction is very real. I've also stopped medication
| several times over this period and the withdrawal can last
| weeks or months.
| ludamad wrote:
| That's pretty dubious, especially about 'medicine' in
| general. If that was true it would double as a surefire test
| for ADHD. As well, all it takes is a little stronger dose and
| I know of a friend with ADHD that abuses it to party
| RHSman2 wrote:
| It is Europe and that is what I thought. Aka, anecdotes
| sobellian wrote:
| The dose is managed to be the minimum that treats your
| symptoms. A massive dose of amphetamines will obviously get
| anyone high, but we're talking about the response in a
| clinically relevant range of doses.
| darkhorse13 wrote:
| Thank you for posting this. And since these are all basically
| just anecdotes, I would also like to add mine. I got hooked on
| anxiety pills after a diagnosis (not the same thing as ADHD,
| but still), and the withdrawals were genuinely the worst things
| I've ever faced. Like I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemies.
| With drugs, especially habit forming ones backed by Big Pharma,
| you should always be on the side of caution.
|
| Moreover, some of the comments are literally about starting
| drugs a week or a month ago. God forbid, the long term effects
| could be entirely different. I started struggling with my
| dependencies after about a year or so.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thanks for this, my big fear is the effects of long-term use.
| I've had friends who were superheroes on Adderall, lost tons
| of weight, changed their lives. They couldn't see how manic
| they were.
| n1000 wrote:
| It is an amphetamine. Go to r/ADHD and read the thousands
| of enthusiastic stories of people that just took it for the
| first time and are basically just high. I took medication
| for a while and it helped me surmount a bunch of issues.
| Now I can do well without. I never liked the effect on my
| body and mind.
| username90 wrote:
| The effect doesn't go away, you just start expecting more
| of yourself. Without medication I was really happy if I
| could focus 30 minutes in a day, that would have been
| like a once a month event. On medication I feel like shit
| if I just got 4 productive hours on a day. So sure not
| every day is like the first days after you start, but it
| never goes down to even close the level you are at
| without medication.
| username90 wrote:
| I've been over a magnitude more productive for many years
| thanks to medication. That it can't have massive long term
| impact is just nonsense. It doesn't make focusing trivial, but
| it makes focusing possible and that is all I need. If I was
| diagnosed earlier I'd not have wasted a decade of my life, but
| at least I can do stuff now.
| fartcannon wrote:
| Whenever I visit the US, I inevitably end up sitting in front
| of a TV and I'm always so surprised at how many commercials are
| for drugs. Its just drugs and cars every 5 minutes all day
| long.
|
| I guess those groups have figured out how to advertise on HN
| now too.
| vlunkr wrote:
| Even as Americans we find these amusing. They tell you to
| "ask you doctor about x." Does anyone do that ever?
|
| They're also unintentionally hilarious now that they can't
| read the side effects at super speed, so 50% of the
| commercial is watching someone play with their dog while you
| learn that this allergy medicine is going to give you
| diarrhea and suicidal thoughts and maybe a heart attack.
|
| They must work somehow because they're clearly dumping so
| much money in them.
| msrenee wrote:
| I'll bite. I actually figured out I had narcolepsy through
| a pharmaceutical company's big campaign to push a couple
| newer drugs they have the patents for. "Are you more than
| tired?". Well, yes. I'm tired all the time and a couple
| times a week have bouts where I'm staring at a concrete
| floor thinking I could just lay down and go to sleep. But I
| don't have narcolepsy. I'm not that tired. I don't pass out
| randomly. I can still work long hours at a physical job. I
| just occasionally have to muster all my willpower not to
| lay down and sleep in the middle of the store. And I
| haven't been able to watch an entire movie without falling
| asleep in the first hour in a very long time.
|
| Took the chintzy little quiz and I figured I might as well
| ask my doctor. A couple sleep studies and an MSLT test and
| what do you know?
| whartung wrote:
| Actually, yes.
|
| I take a medication that's routinely advertised. When they
| advertised an updated formula for it, I did ask my doctor
| if we should consider it. Turns out, it's not covered by
| the insurance, so, not today. But if it were, we'd
| certainly be considering it. Doctors are pretty notorious
| for the "if it's not broke, don't fix it", and leaving
| things as they lay, rather than bombarding patients with
| "the latest options". So, it can help patients interested
| in the condition to talk about these sorts of things.
|
| Also, when my doctor proposed the medication, it helped I
| already had some indirect familiarity with it.
|
| I sympathize with the caricature of medical advertising,
| and even advertising in general. We all "hate" advertising,
| but we all rely on it. Everyone pauses at an ad that
| catches their eye in some way.
| stormbrew wrote:
| There are a lot of positive anecdotes in threads like this
| because, shock of shocks, a field which is well known for
| having people get into it because of obsessive interest-chasing
| in their teen years is also dominated by people who fit the
| diagnostic criteria of ADHD, and also shock of shocks,
| medication known to help people with those criteria tend to
| help a lot of people in that field.
|
| This post is just conspiracy thinking. You're far more likely
| to find people dissuading you from accepting an ADHD diagnosis
| in your life than people encouraging you. Even doctors don't
| really like to give a diagnosis of it unless you _really
| clearly fit_ into a particular hyperactive bucket.
| dkdk8283 wrote:
| At my last company engineers openly bragged about strategies to
| get prescriptions and increase dosages. I find this behavior
| reprehensible.
|
| If they were my reports I would have fired them.
| Ancapistani wrote:
| After moving halfway across the country in 2013, I had
| trouble finding a doctor who would prescribe Vyvanse - after
| having been on if for years and basically relying on it to
| remain productive.
|
| If not for the exact discussions you're speaking about at
| work, I would likely have ended up unemployed.
| dkdk8283 wrote:
| I can't agree with your anecdote. Your previous doctor
| could have forwarded your medical records.
|
| If multiple doctors are of the opinion they won't prescribe
| it I don't think that justifies drug seeking behavior.
| scyzoryk_xyz wrote:
| This is also exactly the line of thinking that happened to keep
| me away from an ADHD diagnosis for such a long time. The point
| of the "superpower" language, when used by someone who is
| actually ADHD is that you feel impaired and are lead to believe
| by everyone and everything that this just the way you are -
| that you're lazy, that you're incompetent, dumb etc. And those
| successful focused people, they're just more hard working, they
| put in more effort. ADHD drugs are life changing because
| suddenly you're perfectly fine sitting still, being focused,
| not interrupting people.
|
| Posts like those are what gave me the confidence to seek an
| ADHD diagnosis.
| LastManStanding wrote:
| Anyone reading this comment should be extremely skeptical of
| internet strangers like Matlin who do not have the condition
| thinking they know what is best for you. These medications do
| not work the same way on people who do not have ADHD. I get
| zero euphoia from these medications, and they got rid of
| serious insommnia problem. If you don't have ADHD your
| experience will be far different.
| Dma54rhs wrote:
| This is junk science you're repeating. There's no validity in
| claim people who have adhd don't experience euphoria. Some
| people get more euphoric than others, adhd symptoms or not
| and surprise stimulants make people more productive.
| dk775 wrote:
| Right, I'm extremely add and get euphoria. I also feel a
| lot of the people who treat this as "my medication" types
| (they're common) should realize the worst thing about
| adderall is that it makes you happy doing stupid menial
| stuff
| rjh29 wrote:
| Absolutely. There are some who need this medication to
| function, but there are many who weren't sure if they needed
| meds, got prescribed anyway and - surprise - feel a burst of
| focus and motivation now they're regularly taking stimulants.
| tibbon wrote:
| First of all, I personally really like exploring anything a
| therapist recommends to me. If they (or people in my life) are
| noticing something, then it's something worth consideration.
|
| I got a formal ADHD diagnosis around 8 years ago. They did
| prescribe medication, but I honestly do not like taking it. Sure
| it gives me focus and "superpowers" but it also shifts the way I
| think about things and I don't feel like myself on it. I
| personally use it as a "backup" when I have a lot of tasks I have
| to bash through, but for others they find daily is useful. To
| each their own. I find a lot of people with diagnosis and
| medication from a young age lean on that heavily, with less
| technique based change.
|
| The benefit however has been that now I have the name of
| something to explore and work on. I didn't really know I was ADHD
| prior to my diagnosis, and it was a partner that pointed me in
| the direction of exploring it.
|
| I've realized that my father's behavior was similar to mine, and
| it's an interesting lens to see his life through.
|
| I've been able to lean into organizational techniques more. For
| me, putting in hard work on techniques is better on average than
| medication. I'm also not someone who responds to average
| organizational techniques and I often have to find "tricks" that
| work for my own personal motivations to keep me organized.
|
| For example, I've never been able to keep a calendar, todo list,
| or schedule. I was awful in college about missing classes,
| running late, etc. So much of it was because I'm overly
| optimistic about time (so run late), and also about my ability to
| keep things in my head (which I'm actually terrible at, but in
| the moment think I'm clever).
|
| My solution to this has been weird - it's Google Calendar. But I
| share it with a dozen friends. It's no longer about _my_ schedule
| tracking, but it being a social communication tool. My motivation
| to keep it accurate isn 't just about my schedule, but about
| letting people know when I'm free/busy and where I am. For my
| brain, that is a highly motivating thing and so now I keep it
| accurate. Same with things like grocery lists and Google Keep and
| my live in partner. It's not just about my list, but now it's a
| socially motivated list, so I'll keep it accurate. This isn't a
| motivational technique for everyone, but it's mine and works well
| to keep me organized.
|
| Eventually you may find parts of yourself described in various
| literature and experience that aren't just about organization or
| distraction, but things about how you take feedback, etc... some
| of which are highly linked as ADHD traits.
|
| There's also at least 3 different distinct types of ADHD, and
| it's useful to think about those and how they fit you. Your
| therapist should be able to help you identify these formally.
| renewiltord wrote:
| The ADHD diagnosis allowed me to get Adderall. Adderall allowed
| me to listen to people and not just talk about whatever comes to
| mind all the time. After a while of using the drug, I was able to
| listen to people off the drug. Now I cut my dose down, and just
| know to recognize my behavior and nip it.
|
| This has improved my personal relationships so much. You wouldn't
| believe it.
|
| Previously, everyone loved me because I was the life of the party
| etc etc but now I can also form deeper connections because I can
| listen.
| jiofih wrote:
| And let's not forget to thank the sponsor of today's comment,
| BigPharmaCo!
| sdbrown wrote:
| Literally LOL! My meds have been generic for so long that the
| most regular non-appointment-reminder phone calls I get are the
| pharmacy telling me that the manufacturer and appearance of the
| pills has changed.
| Romulus968 wrote:
| Go fuck yourself dude.
|
| This isn't fucking "BigPharmaCo". This is someone who suffered
| and the meds helped. Believe it or not, mental illnesses are a
| real thing, and some of us need the help of medicines to deal
| with the issues. Take your conspiracy theory bullshit on
| somewhere you fucking clown
| sdbrown wrote:
| I appreciate your comment; medication saved me from tanking
| what has been a relatively successful career.
|
| However, they bring up a reasonable question, which is that
| of conflicts-of-interest. I do not now, nor have a I ever,
| received any compensation from a current or historical
| manufacturer of medications targeting ADHD. I do not
| anticipate receiving any such compensation in the future.
| However, I am married to a physician. (Side note: she also
| has ADHD. One of the smartest people I've ever met, but
| nearly failed her first USMLE because she couldn't execute on
| review/studying prior to the test. Went on meds and passed
| the rest of her exams with scores right in the middle of the
| distribution. The meds don't make us super-human, they just
| let us be normal.)
| Romulus968 wrote:
| I took it personally because I have ADHD too.
|
| "The meds don't make us super-human, they just let us be
| normal" - Bingo. Exactly.
| setgree wrote:
| My 2c (not a Dr.):
|
| * ADHD diagnosis could be useful for self-knowledge and for maybe
| acquiring medication;
|
| * not sure what the neurological tests give you above and beyond
| a psychiatrist's expert judgement. Seems like they've got
| incentives to run expensive tests/use expensive machinery that
| don't necessarily align with the patient's.
|
| I benefited from Concerta at a job but the self-knowledge gained
| from looking hard at my own abilities and disabilities was much
| more valuable. You might find the same.
|
| Here's a resource on adderall you might find valuable:
| https://lorienpsych.com/2020/10/30/adderall/
| werthds wrote:
| It's helped me understand the pros and cons of an ADHD diagnosis,
| it good to know that you're not alone in a sea of neurotypical
| people. It's helpful to understand ADHD and share your learning
| with people who are close to you. For me and it seems like you as
| well, the challenge hasn't been with work and life in general but
| more with relationships with people closest to me - read up on
| RSD. It's also fun to understand all those coping mechanisms
| you've developed over the years. Use it as an opportunity to
| learn and explore.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you, I will certainly look into this.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| I got a diagnosis after two failed marriages, a stalled career,
| issues around emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity.
|
| The diagnosis, and resulting treatment, changed my life.
|
| Not sure it will help you given you don't seem to be suffering
| from it.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you, I'm sorry to hear you've suffered.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| Thanks! I shared my story so you could sort of contrast
| negative impacts of ADHD I experienced with your own
| situation (though there is lots of that here now :-).
|
| I would suggest that, whatever you decide, you take the time
| to understand the impacts that ADHD can have on your friends,
| family and co-workers and check in with them to make sure you
| are not having more impact than you think.
| wy35 wrote:
| ADHD diagnosis didn't help me live a better life, it helped me
| live a normal life.
|
| During college and my first job, I was constantly stressed and
| depressed from my terrible productivity. I couldn't even bring
| myself to do things I wanted to do --- the only thing that
| mattered was the next dopamine hit. I made so many goals and
| failed every single one, and with each failure I blamed myself
| even more. The problem with having ADHD is that it causes you to
| procrastinate on getting the diagnosis in the first place! In the
| end, I had to accept that "just try harder" isn't a valid
| strategy.
|
| OP, I know my experience isn't similar to yours at all, but just
| know that mental illness treatment almost always helps you reach
| your goals, and don't procrastinate on it.
| tediousdemise wrote:
| I have immense trouble obtaining my medicine due to the arcane
| scheduling system in my country. Pharmacists frequently lie to me
| about inventory and tell me that they can't fill my medicine.
| u678u wrote:
| Constant distraction and procrastination seem so normal these
| days I dont know if I have ADHD or just struggling like everyone
| else.
| leetrout wrote:
| This has been my concern. (Typing from my phone which is in my
| hand for hours every day)
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| I was in a 6 figure job as the #2 in a sales office in my
| early/mid 20's when I got my diagnosis. It changed my life.
|
| I don't take any medication for it. Never have. It felt a lot
| like when I started going to therapy. I was able to learn more
| about myself and point to some things that I do as ADHD related.
| It helped me understand why I am the way I am.
| johnchristopher wrote:
| > They want to run neurological tests, said I'm 'twice
| exceptional'
|
| It's a red flag to me. Who's they here ? What kind of setting,
| health insurance, country's social net are we talking about ?
|
| Who's paying for the privilege of investigating a case that is
| twice exceptional ?
| qwerty456127 wrote:
| No real help in many countries because Adderal and Desoxyn are
| completely illegal in the most. In fact the only thing that
| really helped me were small amounts of meth which is legally
| available (in the USA only) as Desoxyn. 1/4 Xanax + 1200mg
| piracetam combo also did nice job but every time I tried it Xanax
| felt having notably less effect. So, for some time, I settled
| with nicotine-heavy vape which made me at least slightly
| productive.
| sdbrown wrote:
| It's been about 9 years and I'm still on the original dose of the
| first medication my psychiatrist prescribed. I'm really glad I
| managed my pride enough to make that first appointment.
|
| - Slept better. No more tossing and turning for an hour or two
| before I fell asleep.
|
| - Ate more regularly. My stomach starts to hurt if I wait too
| long between meals.
|
| - Remembered people's names when meeting them, at least to the
| point where I could say it again after they introduced themselves
| and started talking.
|
| - More realistic outlook. Things aren't perfect and they aren't
| the worst, they just either kind of suck for now or this is a
| good moment.
|
| - No longer have to make a giant mental effort to get something
| done on the weekend. If I want to read a book, I read it. If I
| want to play video games, I play them. If I want to clean the
| house, I clean the house.
|
| - No longer a giant mental effort to get something done at work.
| Need to send an email? Send it. Need to annotate some data?
| Annotate it. Need to schedule a meeting? Schedule it.
| tapoxi wrote:
| I had a neuropsych evaluation (the neurological test) in my early
| 20's. It confirmed my diagnosis of ADHD and dyscalculia.
|
| If you don't believe you're negatively impacted with ADHD type
| symptoms, it probably won't help you. It did help me manage the
| 'cycle of anxiety' brought on by ADHD-induced lack of focus and
| procrastination.
|
| Stimulant medications do help, I'm on Concerta which is an
| extended release methylphenidate (Ritalin). It is not magic. I
| see a therapist to help with accountability and manage the
| chronic anxiety as well as develop systems to help me block my
| time and limit distractions.
| unbearded wrote:
| Have been taking Strattera for a few months and wonder how many
| years of my life I would have not wasted if I had been diagnosed
| with ADHD earlier in my life.
|
| I just turned 40 and I never thought I had ADHD until recently.
| Before I just thought my lack of attention on things was just the
| price of being a 10X on productivity (and I was a little arrogant
| because of it).
|
| The reality was that I chose to put my time on tasks that I found
| interesting and engaging and when that choice was not available,
| I would feel anxious, stuck and totally unfocused. Still, I
| thought that was just normal procrastination that everybody goes
| through.
|
| Some changes in my life and goals limited my time to act and
| required me to be more focused, but instead of getting into
| action I got more stuck than ever and very anxious as the
| deadlines got closer and got missed.
|
| Treating my ADHD helped me change my relationships for better and
| widened the possibilites in my work and I would recommend to
| anybody in the same situation.
| iamdbtoo wrote:
| I'm in a similar situation. The diagnosis changed everything
| for me and I really wish someone had noticed it when I was a
| kid.
|
| All my therapy was about struggling with my ADHD for so long
| because it was unkown and untreated. Once I figured the ADHD
| part out, everything else fell into place.
|
| Knowing this about myself has been nothing but positive for me.
| FridayoLeary wrote:
| what's the difference between strattera and ritalin?
| KerrickStaley wrote:
| They are different drugs with different mechanisms of action.
| One notable difference from my experience is that Ritalin has
| a stimulant effect, whereas Strattera actually made me tired.
| robohamburger wrote:
| Had a similar experience. Was on this for a bit when I had
| a GP who seemed hesitant to prescribe stimulants even
| though I had historically taken ritalin and it was fine
| (all side effects were manageable).
| controlledchaos wrote:
| You better search it, but I believe the difference is Ritalin
| is an amphetamine.
| KerrickStaley wrote:
| Ritalin is not a form of amphetamine. Ritalin's active
| ingredient is methylphenidate.
| firebird84 wrote:
| Ritalin is not "an amphetamine" but rather a
| psychostimulant. It's a DEA schedule II regulated drug.
|
| Strattera works via a different mechanism and (supposedly)
| is likely not to be habit-forming. Ritalin definitely can
| be habit-forming.
| anonymouse008 wrote:
| Did you ever experiment with Adderall, Vyvanse or Ritalin? How
| did you end up with Strattera?
|
| I'm trying to triangulate a course for myself and still can't
| pull the trigger on any of these for fear of side-effects or
| dependence.
| unbearded wrote:
| The doctor recommended that I tried Strattera first and see
| if worked before trying stimulants. Atomoxetine is one pill
| per day and works 24 hours. But doesn't work for everybody
| and some people have some undesired side-effects. I had some
| of the "undesired side-effects" in the beginning but they
| went away after a few days. Also, in my case, it took 20 days
| until I felt that it was working. I noticed it started
| working one day after a looked back at one situation where I
| would normally get stuck and dread and it had gone as without
| any issue.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| For what it's worth, my psychiatrist friend who has ADHD and
| specializes in ADHD practice swears by non-stimulant
| medications for long-term treatment.
|
| His personal preference is Intuniv (Guanfacine). He says the
| only reason it's not more popular is that the start-up side
| effects can be unpleasant for a while and proper dose
| titration takes more work on the provider's side to get it
| right.
|
| Stimulants don't necessarily lead to dependence, but I have
| seen enough adults become dependent on stimulant medication
| or even fall into the trap of doubling up doses or seeking
| extra sources that it's wise to approach it with caution.
| Most patients seem to use as directed, but the people who go
| down the path of addiction and dose escalation aren't
| necessarily the ones you'd expect.
| lowdest wrote:
| I've been on and off Vyvanse and Ritalin for a decade. Work
| with your doctor on side effects, I found Concerta to have
| the least side effects for me (long-lasting, tapers slowly at
| end of day, and fewer anxious feelings for me than Vyvanse.)
| I've also taken breaks from the medication for a year or
| more. It takes somewhere between 3 days and 3 weeks to feel
| like I'm not missing something when I stop the medication,
| but overall it's not that bothersome or unpleasant unless
| work/life is very busy at that time. Quitting coffee cold-
| turkey feels much worse, for comparison.
| jcims wrote:
| Not the person you're replying to but Vyvanse gave me
| excruciating neck cramps, brain zaps and really cold fingers.
| My doctor said that I had a bit of an outlier reaction to it
| so YMMV but if you decide to go that route at least ask about
| the cramps lol.
|
| Adderall isn't a wonder drug for me but it tips the scale in
| my favor. I just take the standard release pills 'as needed'
| in the morning. It does tend to mess with my sleep a bit if I
| take any after 10am and definitely curbs my appetite (+/-).
| I'm 47 and recently have been paying closer attention to
| heart health, it definitely increases heart rate and blood
| pressure. Not alarmingly so, but if you're in any way
| marginal for either it's something to consider.
| The-Bus wrote:
| I was prescribed Adderall XR which did wonders for my
| symptoms but eventually I stopped taking it as my heart
| would race after doing any strenuous exercise. I wish that
| wasn't the case, as it did help.
| stevewodil wrote:
| To be fair, caffeine also increases heart rate and blood
| pressure. I think it's common of stimulants
| nicoburns wrote:
| ...and disturbs sleep, and can help treat symtoms of ADHD
| globular-toast wrote:
| What does "10x on productivity" mean? I thought ADHD would lead
| to lower productivity.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| This is a common misconception about ADHD.
|
| People with ADHD have a tendency to hyperfocus on things they
| enjoy, to the detriment of other things.
|
| ADHD is not a lack of focus, it is a lack of Executive
| Function. Sometimes the Executive Function looks easily
| distracted because it doesn't want to do chores so it bounces
| from room to room cleaning one single surface in each one.
|
| Sometimes the Executive Function looks like a 10x programmer
| beast because you get so wrapped up in programming whatever
| you're making that it's all you can think about, you skip
| meals and sleep and ignore friends and family until it's
| done.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| It should be noted that "hyperfocus" is more of a fringe
| idea in ADHD science than a well-accepted feature.
|
| Hyperfocus can also be a side effect of stimulant
| medication. It's not uncommon for newly diagnosed ADHD
| patients to take stimulants and end up hyperfocusing on the
| wrong thing, such as video games or other vices.
|
| Be careful about interpreting something like increased
| focus as ADHD. The pop-culture definition of ADHD has
| become so blurry that nearly everyone could be considered
| ADHD under certain criteria. When focusing too much _and_
| focusing too little are both supposedly symptoms of the
| same disorder, it 's easy to misconstrue normal behavior
| for disorders. It's best to leave the diagnosis to a
| professional.
| pseudalopex wrote:
| The idea hyper focus is a strength is pop psychology. Its
| existence isn't.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| > Hyperfocus can also be a side effect of stimulant
| medication.
|
| This doesn't address the fact that the hyperfocus
| behavior is a side effect of the poor executive function
| and is present in unmedicated ADHD people. In fact
| stimulants in an ADHD brain tend to improve executive
| function and make hyperfocus less likely for them.
|
| > Be careful about interpreting something like increased
| focus as ADHD.
|
| As I said before, it's not about focus at all. It's about
| executive function. It just manifests in ways that look
| like focus problems. And yes, hyperfocus is absolutely as
| much of a problem as completely lacking focus.
| ai_ia wrote:
| You can work exceedingly long hours with high focus on
| something you like.
| yipbub wrote:
| For me that means that I can be intensively productive in
| intense bursts when I am engaged.
|
| Pre-treatment OP sounds like me now.
|
| I am arrogant in that I am always confident I can finish the
| tasks I have later. The problem is that even though I
| consistently do, it doesn't feel good, and sometimes
| unexpected outside influences will kill the tight margin I've
| left myself.
| lowdest wrote:
| The flip side to ADHD is hyperfocus on things that draw your
| attention. This can manifest as a 12-hour coding session
| without breaks or even noticing the time.
| username90 wrote:
| When you spend 40 hours mentally preparing yourself to do a
| task then you are extremely productive when you actually do
| it. But the overall performance is still horrible.
| globular-toast wrote:
| I honestly can't comprehend what this means or why it's
| called "10x productivity". You're productive, but overall
| performance is horrible? So you do lots but do it badly?
| Dma54rhs wrote:
| What does it even mean?
| codpiece wrote:
| That sounds like me! 10x productivity, sometimes so profoundly
| bored I'm a blank slate.
| steve_adams_86 wrote:
| My thoughts upon reading this are:
|
| 1. If your ADHD hasn't made your life (at least at moments) a
| living hell, it's probably not something that needs to be
| addressed very urgently.
|
| 2. If you don't think your ADHD is a problem but a therapist
| thinks it might be, well... That's an ADHD thing, and it might
| help to entertain the idea and openly explore it with therapy and
| loved ones.
|
| ADHD, whatever it really is, has made my life very difficult at
| times. I won't describe why because I don't think our situations
| and symptoms would align well enough for it to be relevant. I
| will say though that I managed to make it to 30 as a reasonably
| introspective, thoughtful, and open person without really cluing
| in to the fact that I had some severe problems stemming from
| ADHD. I know that seems contradictory, but the trouble with ADHD
| is that it's something of a self defeating condition. Some of
| your internal senses are finely tuned while others are extremely
| dull, and they often work against each other to suppress and hide
| each other. It's dangerously compounding. The people around you
| may never notice this, too - this only works to exacerbate your
| blind spots in terms of self awareness. It's often true that only
| the people closest to us, like a spouse or other immediate
| family, will ever become attuned to our issues. I can say
| confidently even now that my closest friends had no idea I had
| ADHD, and some even insisted my diagnosis was an error. I had a
| good job, I was disciplined, I was a good parent. I used to
| believe those things too, haha.
|
| All that is to say that if you do have ADHD and think it's fine,
| well... It might actually be awful for those around you, and
| that's worth inspecting. However, if it is benign, just let it
| be.
|
| Others quickly jumped to saying meds changed their life. They
| changed my perspective of what my life could be, which was
| useful. I didn't find them useful beyond that. I disliked the
| side effects, and I found the soft, fleeting rewiring to feel
| like a mental flip-flopping that made it difficult to pin down
| which thoughts and actions where "real" or "generated" by drugs.
| Just as taking LSD in the pursuit of opening your mind leads to
| unearned wisdom, I felt as though amphetamines lead to an
| unearned, poorly understood, unsustainable source of focus and
| executive function.
|
| At any rate, if you're here asking us, there must be some
| salience in your mind that's pushing you to explore the
| possibility. I say yes, explore it. But do it openly with a
| critical mind. Don't assume this ends in a prescription. Consider
| it self work which could benefit you and your loved ones. Most
| importantly, don't assume this is a bad thing. ADHD is another
| permutation of human genetics and environment. It's not an innate
| disability or disease. You're the same person with or without the
| diagnosis, and the ultimate goal is to be the best you can be
| regardless of which mind or body you inherited.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you.
| bboykicx wrote:
| When I asked if blind people can suffer from ADHD and the doc
| didn't know and was like hmmm.. makes me feel its a disease
| brought on because of the use of screens. 30 frames constantly
| has to do something to our brains and attention
| pseudalopex wrote:
| A physician published a description of what sounds like ADHD in
| 1798.[1]
|
| [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000907/
| proxysna wrote:
| Since i was diagnosed in 2019 (i am nearing my 30's today) it
| helped me a lot in identifying issues that ADHD was causing and
| how to work around them. Anger issues, object permanence,
| executive dysfunction, sensory issues, anxiety became easier to
| manage, once i became aware of the nature of these issues and how
| to remove some of the stress related to these issues.
|
| I never got to medicating, because i lived in a country where,
| any kind of ADHD medication is either illegal (stimulants) or not
| yet licensed (non-stimulants). There was a third option, sort of
| a third-line, anti-depressant that had a ton of side-effects,
| which i decided to skip.
|
| Now i moved to [Northern Europe] and started the process of
| getting diagnosed here from scratch, since i am unable to
| transfer my records. Time consuming and expensive? Very much. Not
| sure that the whole thing will result in anything useful for me,
| but i still feel that i have to try.
| adhdtemp wrote:
| Can you all recommend any science-based books/videos/etc that one
| could use to improve their ADHD?
| Ensorceled wrote:
| There are a ton of resources, but unfortunately you'll have to
| sort of figure out which ones work for you as they all seem to
| have slightly different approaches and opinions.
|
| Two good places to start (in my opinion), if they don't work
| for you, just move on:
|
| How to ADHD youtube (aims younger but very positive):
| https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nPM1_kSZf91ZGkcgy_95Q
|
| ADDitude Magazine: https://www.additudemag.com/ (they also have
| a YouTube channel)
| slothtrop wrote:
| From memory: regular exercise, and emotional regulation tools
| such as CBT or meditation. Oh, and adequate sleep
|
| https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31921425/
| Cass wrote:
| I'm a successful 33 year old adult in a career ideally suited to
| the way my brain works, so I was VERY skeptical about whether it
| would make any difference to my life to get diagnosed or go on
| meds. Now that I have, I can confidently say that it was a total
| game-changer and I wish my parents had gotten this done for me
| when I was a kid. It would've made so many things so much easier.
|
| I currently only use my meds (specifinally, Vyvanse) once per
| week, because I don't love the side effects and I can manage fine
| without most of the time. On that one day per week, I do
| everything that my brain chemistry usually makes difficult, which
| is mostly paperwork and cleaning.
|
| The difference it's made is HUGE. I went through a whole grieving
| process when I realized how much easier I could've had it all
| along. I can sit down, spend four hours doing my taxes, and then
| be done (and then realize the bathroom needs cleaning, and also
| do that), instead of sitting down, getting a snack, doing ten
| minutes of taxes, cuddling with the cat, starting a conversation,
| going on hacker news, doing ten minutes of taxes, going on hacker
| news, and finally finishing the taxes ten hours later at a
| quarter to midnight.
|
| It's also made a huge difference to accept that some things are
| simply symptoms, and not signs that I'm a disorganized failure
| who'd too stupid to manage daily life. It's also helped to live
| with people who know and accept this about me, and who know that
| although I'm very good at managing my symptoms, sometimes things
| go wrong.
|
| Yes, sometimes everyone is mildly inconvenienced because we were
| about to leave and now I have to go on a ten-minute WHERE IS MY
| WALLET tear through the house. It's fine! Sometimes, we're mildly
| inconvenienced because my girlfriend's insulin pumped is clogged
| and she needs to spend ten mins fussing with the catheter. These
| are things that happen when you have a chronic health condition,
| and no reason for anyone to get upset or berate anyone else.
| Accepting that has made me a much happier person.
| bobmaxup wrote:
| If you are dosing once a week, aren't you getting a pretty good
| hit of euphoria?
| username90 wrote:
| Does it matter? The important part is that you can manage it
| long term, and taking it once a week is sustainable.
| bobmaxup wrote:
| > Does it matter?
|
| I view the euphoria as an unsustainable side effect.
|
| People can tell when you are high, and normally not for
| your positive attributes during those moments.
| username90 wrote:
| The therapeutic does you get doesn't make you "high", you
| get a small burst of energy similar to caffeine at most,
| nothing unsustainable. And since "euphoria" isn't a well
| defines concept you could see caffeine as causing
| "euphoria". Certainly seems that way when people say they
| can't function before they get their morning coffee.
| [deleted]
| throwasquirrel wrote:
| > I went through a whole grieving process when I realized how
| much easier I could've had it all along.
|
| I was diagnosed six months ago and I have absolutely been going
| through the this same process. At one point I cleaned up a
| bunch of old boxes (some of which I'd been meaning to unpack
| for over a decade... yes the meds help!) and came across a
| folder of my old school reports. Reading through them and
| seeing the lifelong pattern of struggle with focus and
| attention that I'd just thought was normal, and that _didn 't
| have to have been that hard_... I cried, a lot.
| richthegeek wrote:
| The grieving process was intense for the first few months. It
| was somewhat amazing to notice the "stages" as they happened.
| Anger, towards my parents and my teachers and my psychiatrist,
| was the hardest to deal with.
|
| But acceptance came, and it's the best I've felt in years.
|
| Glad to see others in this thread like yourself with such
| similar experiences.
| iovrthoughtthis wrote:
| thanks for giving me some word for what i felt. it has
| definitely been a grieving process.
| iovrthoughtthis wrote:
| seeking diagnosis but seems very likely from professionals ive
| been assessed by.
|
| just a note, i'm not looking for feedback or criticism of these
| things im experiencing.
|
| accepting i might have adhd helped me in a few ways:
|
| 1. i could stop being quite so hard on myself for fucking up
| (usually organisational stuff)
|
| 2. i've started separating the parts of my identity i took on as
| an explanation for my needs (e.g low frustration threshold means
| i need minimalism and convenience). which is useful because now
| im starting to see what i "need" to function well and what i
| actually value.
|
| 3. ive started to build my life in ways that enable me to
| overcome stuff. e.g i thought i was very introverted and need
| alone time (and it turns out i am and do) but i _need_ things to
| help me engage with boring tasks and other people are so
| engaging. so now i try to book in time to pair on boring tasks.
|
| 5. i absolutely cannot live without a todo list and a calendar.
| of i do not write it down, it is gone. i can finally accept this
| and stop trying to get better at remembering things.
|
| there are numerous other things too that i will likely think of /
| discover as time passes.
| slothtrop wrote:
| I was diagnosed once as a kid, and again as a teenager. I was
| prescribed medication just as fast as I was diagnosed. In either
| case it hasn't helped, as it concerns my focus. In fact I quite
| often felt worse when I relied on these later on. What it helped
| was to ascertain that I do not in fact have ADHD, and to learn
| that the diagnosis process is a complete joke.
|
| My issue was primarily of chronic fatigue from inadequate sleep
| through my teen years, informed in part by high levels of anxiety
| and stress at home. Conversely as a kid, diagnosis came
| recommended by a teacher (!) because I was "daydreaming in class"
| - that's it. Details of my fatigue were made aware to the
| psychiatrist I was sent to at the time, but perhaps because I was
| scheduled for focus/attention issues, it was completely ignored.
|
| I eventually regained my focus in adulthood, after pain and
| trepidation, with a multi-pronged approach that included
| reinvigorating sleep, reducing my anxiety levels, and diet /
| regular exercise.
|
| Make no mistake: this is not to proselytize that "ADHD doesn't
| exist". But I would put it to you that since there is a perverse
| incentive to diagnose it, it's diagnosed as though everything is
| a nail in North America. There should be more credence given to
| the possibility that focus issues can be symptomatic of other
| problems.
|
| I also find it dubious that children can so easily be diagnosed
| by virtue that a long day of boring lectures and sitting still is
| difficult to pay attention to. This is almost ubiquitous among
| children, though yes, it will exacerbate things more among kids
| who have more of a difficulty with focus. This brings to mind the
| story of Gillian Lynne, choreographer for Cats, who was brought
| to the doctor for her fidgeting - he suggested she go to dance
| school where she excelled. Why is it unthinkable that certain
| children be allowed to flourish in more appropriate environments?
| Because they're an inconvenience to adults - that's all. It's not
| less virtuous to be a person drawn to more physical engagement
| with the world.
|
| Also see: A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD became an American
| Epidemic, by Marilyn Wedge, Ph.D.
| devwastaken wrote:
| Diagnosed ADHD here. The only thing of worth was the stimulant
| medication because It significantly improved my ability to work
| longer and on more difficult projects. It has side effects, if
| you're satisfied with your work it's not worth it. There's
| nothing else from an ADHD diagnosis that benefits me. If anything
| I'm most likely on the spectrum but psychs's in the country have
| little to no knowledge about autism in adults, only children. The
| diagnosis criteria heavily focuses upon underdeveloped kids.
|
| Caution to anyone else, the default dose they gave me was far too
| high. Had to change it down to the lowest long release they had.
| There's different kinds of stimulants, Adderall based doesn't
| work for me.
| bongothrowaway wrote:
| Mostly, it's helped me understand where some of my own
| idiosyncracies come from.
|
| I don't take any medication for ADHD, mainly because I also have
| general anxiety and my understanding that is anxiety and ADHD
| medications tend to interfere with one another. I need the
| medication for my anxiety more; I've gone 30+ years coping with
| my ADHD symptoms and working around them, so I don't really need
| medication for them. But an official diagnosis is remarkably
| freeing, because at least I can finally say "THIS is why I'm like
| this".
| pseudalopex wrote:
| Stimulants tend to make anxiety worse. But treating ADHD tends
| to make anxiety better. So it depends. And there are other ADHD
| medications too.
| richthegeek wrote:
| I was diagnosed with ADHD 7 months ago. The diagnosis and
| medication have been life-changing.
|
| I was 'high-functioning', in much the same way as OP: stable
| marriage, successful career, not much savings but at least not in
| any debt.
|
| But I also suffered from depression, anxiety, extreme
| procrastination, substance abuse, risky and impulsive behaviour.
|
| Of course I saw psychiatrists, and they stopped listening the
| moment I said "depression" and prescribed the usual drugs, which
| did nothing for me. Luckily my 3rd psychiatrist listened a bit
| better and referred me for tests.
|
| Since diagnosis I have started medication
| (methylphenidate/Ritalin, the only real option in the country I
| live in) my life has significantly improved. My procrastination
| is almost entirely gone (now maybe 4 hours a week "wasted"
| instead of 3+ days of being unable to do anything productive), my
| work performance is drastically improved, I'm losing weight (no
| longer dopamine-hunting with food), my wife says I'm doing more
| 'chores' and forgetting little things (spoon in the sink instead
| of the dishwasher) less often.
|
| My depression and anxiety have disappeared. I still get
| overwhelmed in loud/busy environments. I still have emotional
| overreactions to small annoyances. I still forget things, and
| procrastinate a little. But the key thing is acceptance. I
| _understand_ why these things are happening now, and that
| understanding makes them less hard to do live with.
|
| Even if you don't start medication (and I suggest you do, it's
| provably incredibly effective for most cases) the biggest thing
| you can do is learn. You will be amazed for the first 6 months at
| least that such a massive amount of your life has truly been
| affected and so much of your 'unique personality' is shared with
| other ADHD adults.
|
| My psychiatrist answered my same question "How can I have ADHD if
| my life is like this?" with "But how hard was it?". Success
| despite ADHD doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just means you
| developed coping strategies for your deficiencies. And if you're
| in therapy for family issues then clearly those strategies are
| not working sufficiently.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you all for sharing so many valuable insights and
| resources. I truly appreciate your input.
| nonbirithm wrote:
| The medication removed the issues I had with focus in 6-hour
| intervals, but it didn't suddenly make me a better person.
|
| I still feel like a person whose character is underdeveloped. My
| life in the present is a blank slate. Not many ideas come to my
| mind, and I feel as if I've closed myself off to everything.
|
| The fact is, when you read things like books on developing self-
| esteem, the issues make no mention of ADHD specifically in the
| context of the larger issue. ADHD can be a single detrimental
| component in a life that is, on the whole, dead and unfulfilling.
| It might have been part of the reason for that unfulfillment, but
| you still have to put in effort to go outside and meet people, or
| choose which books to read, or decide what's interesting to you.
| The medication at most gives me the opportunity to make that
| choice, a choice which I can then deliberately refuse.
|
| It's damn near impossible for me to stay positive or see the
| value in accomplishing things. For example, I can't seem to
| decide if the fact that I lose interest in video games after a
| day, on medication or off, is because of a lack of executive
| function or the fact that I've spent my whole life beating myself
| up over losing, and still remember even the smallest losses years
| later in excruciating detail. Or maybe it's something else
| entirely. The loss of interest could be explained by multiple
| factors, and maybe all I've done at this point is break through
| the first barrier. It's my responsibility to decide what
| narrative makes the most sense, and act accordingly.
|
| I think the diagnosis has given me a license to stop taking
| responsibility for a lot of things. I can deliberately stop
| taking the medication and point to me stopping as the reason I
| didn't do X today. Why didn't I do X? " _Because I 'm not the
| kind of person that is able to just do X._" That's the default
| mindset I carry, one that has persisted for well over a decade
| before I was diagnosed with anything. And now that I have a
| diagnosis I supposedly have concrete evidence that I can point to
| so I can claim that mindset has been justified the whole time.
| And it's easier for me to keep confirming that attitude by
| sabotaging myself than changing it.
|
| My problems extend far beyond the limitations imposed on me by
| something like ADHD. The diagnosis did not flip a switch that let
| me proceed on to a productive, fulfilling life. It gave me
| crucial knowledge about some of my behaviors that has materially
| benefited me, and it also gave me ammunition which I can use to
| absolve myself of responsibility in unproductive ways and delay
| my self-improvement further and further.
|
| Honestly, I'm most inclined to believing the people that respond
| to my grief with things like, "well, in the end, living life as
| an adult is hard. Take responsibility." Those people include my
| current therapist, and I don't think she's incorrect in saying
| that. I can't count how many times I've wished someone would
| essentially come along and help me, by drawing over my blank
| slate with new ideas that I can pursue and new modes of thinking
| to believe in. No such person is supposed to appear. I still
| don't have someone I can always feel at ease communicating with,
| as equals.
| Loughla wrote:
| So my take maybe isn't the healthiest on this, not sure.
|
| If you believe you have ADHD, and your therapist believes you
| have ADHD, _BUT your life isn 't negatively impacted by it_, why
| start treatment now?
|
| Ask yourself if you have any negative impacts from ADHD. Ask your
| spouse. Personal relationships, professional work, all aspects.
| If the answer is no, then why bother?
|
| Source: ADHD treatments that left me a zombie when all I really
| needed was therapy and help to figure out realistic, functional
| coping mechanisms.
| jkhdigital wrote:
| I concur, and I think OP has the answer already. I went to a
| psychiatrist (diagnosed at age 34) because of significant
| problems that were getting in the way of life, but if that's
| not the case for you then there is no justification for the
| time and expense of treatment.
| throwasquirrel wrote:
| > If you believe you have ADHD, and your therapist believes you
| have ADHD, _BUT your life isn 't negatively impacted by it,_
| why start treatment now?
|
| If your life isn't negatively impacted by it then you might be
| hyperactive or have trouble paying attention, but you don't
| have ADHD, _by definition._ It only becomes a disorder when it
| 's causing a significant ongoing negative impact on your life.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| I don't think you are correct. Just because the name has
| disorder in it does not mean you have to have a significant
| negative impact on your life.
|
| It is a mental disorder. My brain functions differently than
| a normal functioning brain without ADHD. I have built my life
| in a way so that does not negatively impact my life
| significantly.
| codpiece wrote:
| That's the crux of it right there. I've had a wonderful,
| wonderful life, a rewarding career, a 30 year marriage and
| raised intelligent, well-grounded kids. Not just by _my_
| definition, but by those around me whom I respect.
| throwasquirrel wrote:
| On the one hand, it doesn't sound like any possible ADHD
| tendencies you might have are causing you much grief. Also
| remember that ADHD is hugely situational - I've had a
| pretty great career and up until a year or two ago I
| wouldn't have ever suspected I fit the bill. It was only
| during a perfect storm of overlapping stressors that I
| really felt like I was struggling.
|
| On the other hand, just because you can survive doesn't
| mean life has to be this hard. And looking back I now
| realise that much of my life I was doing just that. I was
| surviving, when I could have been doing so much better.
| Matticus_Rex wrote:
| On the other side of this, I wasn't sure if my life was
| negatively impacted or not. I decided to try out medication to
| see, and my wife and I instantly started noticing improvements
| in our lives. I was getting more done with less mental strain,
| and there were tons of tiny little things that she wasn't
| having to remember for me or worry about because I wasn't
| losing track of them.
|
| YMMV.
| 0_____0 wrote:
| That's the healthiest take. Severity of any disorder is a
| function of its effect on the person and the person's social
| and life function. If these are minimal and minimal, IMO
| pursuing medication is really not warranted.
| patentatt wrote:
| One of the DSM criteria is literally "There is clear evidence
| that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of,
| social, school, or work functioning." So if there isn't
| something being affected, you don't meet the diagnosis
| criteria.
| gms7777 wrote:
| As someone who has found ADHD medication to be hugely
| beneficial, I completely agree with you. Treatment has its
| tradeoffs. In general, stimulants greatly improve my quality of
| life. But at the same time, they can wreck my appetite and make
| me prone to anxiety and irritability. And dealing with the
| bureaucracy of scheduled medications is a serious headache. If
| someone is happy with their life and their symptoms aren't
| negatively impacting them, then what's the point?
| jnovek wrote:
| ADHD impacts my life very much, but I was diagnosed as an
| adult. I honestly have no idea how I operated pre-diagnosis
| (and pre-medication). I think about some of the struggles I
| went through (e.g. my entire educational experience or my
| entire experience as a founder) and I really suffered in those
| times.
|
| However, I absolutely agree with you.
|
| Daily stimulants are a frustrating balancing act. Anti-
| depressants have frustrating side-effects. If I operated well
| without either or both, I would drop them in a hot second.
|
| I DO benefit from medication to a degree that it has vastly
| improved my quality of life. I also benefit from therapy and
| the development of coping tools -- in fact, I think anyone who
| benefits from medication should also seek therapy because it's
| SO helpful.
|
| This isn't really a counterpoint to your experience, but more
| of a companion-point. Your post doesn't make me think that you
| are an irrationally anti-pill person or anything like that. I'm
| just reinforcing what you've implied: treatment isn't one-size-
| fits-all (although, at least in America, the medical system
| sure tries to make it that way). It's incredibly important for
| anyone with ADHD to find the right tools for them.
| renewiltord wrote:
| It's literally only a disorder if it interferes with your life.
| Otherwise, it's not a disorder. Like, it's in the definition.
|
| https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/diagnosis.html
|
| This is true of almost all of these disorders: no interference
| with life means not a disorder.
|
| Saying "if you have no negative effects from ADHD" is the same
| as saying "if you're alive when you're dead".
| Loughla wrote:
| My personal experience with ADHD is that you are told it is a
| problem that needs medication, regardless of whether or not
| it impacts your life in a serious way.
|
| Often, psychologists/psychiatrists/medical doctors will fail
| to include the literal definition of disorder. ADHD is one of
| those things that is a popular target for medications as a
| knee-jerk reaction.
|
| That was sort of my point, I guess.
| wy35 wrote:
| > Source: ADHD treatments that left me a zombie when all I
| really needed was therapy and help to figure out realistic,
| functional coping mechanisms.
|
| A good psychiatrist will have you do all of the above.
| slothtrop wrote:
| Thanks for your more nuanced take.
| elliekelly wrote:
| I think sometimes it's hard to tell whether something is
| interfering or not. If you've been squeaking by your whole life
| you might think this is "normal" simply because you've never
| experienced _actual_ normal.
|
| I go back and forth with ADHD meds. I'd say every 18 months or
| so I decide to take a week or two off. Sometimes that break
| goes on for a while because I think everything is fine and
| dandy. I think the longest I was off medication since starting
| (as an adult) was about 18 months. I can sometimes get by okay
| without meds, and sometimes that's my preferred course of
| action, but invariably when I start taking them again I
| "remember" what it's like not to have a crippling inability to
| do exceedingly simple tasks. And honestly, it's kind of nice.
| Much less mentally exhausting.
| pipogld wrote:
| If you do not have some sort of big problem in relation to
| suspected ADHD, then it might only help you to know yourself
| better. ADHD is only a handicap in certain situations. In others,
| it might help a lot (ie Wayne Gretsky). Also a small fraction of
| ADHDers are 'over-compensated'. (Google it.) You might be one of
| us. :)
| codingdave wrote:
| My first reaction would be to say that if you are doing fine,
| don't worry about it. Yet, you sought out therapy for a family
| issue, and that therapist went to this place. Odds are that they
| believe it would help. So I'd be asking this question to your
| therapist, not to us. They know the details of the situation and
| are a professional, whereas we are neither.
|
| After all, a therapist is a partner in your treatment, not a
| dictator. If you express discomfort at this idea and tell them
| so, they should be able to work with that.
| bboykicx wrote:
| I asked my doctor if blind people who never had sight suffered
| from adhd and she replied she didn't know and was unaware of any
| studies .. I feel adhd is brought on by the screens 30 frames a
| sec flashing the eyes has to do something to our attention span.
| J/S
| tummulfingur wrote:
| Be wary of the possible dry mouth side-effect. As far as my
| experiences go the feeling of dry mouth is due to reduced saliva
| production, and just drinking water will not solve the issue. Too
| little saliva lowers your oral health and as a result can
| accelerate tooth decay (among other things).
| krageon wrote:
| I got it, got the medication (and it helped a ton). Then the next
| doctor said the last doctor was completely wrong. Now I have
| something completely different (and very different medication,
| which also helps but not quite in the same way). If you do get
| one I would urge you to carefully consider whether or not you
| want further investigation after that, especially if you're
| outside the norm mentally. Every new doctor you get will question
| every doctor you've ever had and want to redo everything, which
| takes a ton of time. Expect every doctor to add 12 months delay
| to whatever treatment you might to get.
|
| That said, getting help _at all_ if you have no other choice
| (i.e. you are objectively incapable of functioning) is a good
| idea. The real challenge lies in knowing when to call it a day :)
| lil-kernel wrote:
| I've been on a low dose of Ritalin for a few months now and it's
| been life changing. I was self medicating with a lot of caffeine
| (which definitely wasn't good for me) and I couldn't really
| choose when my brain would kick in. Sometimes it'd be at like 9
| pm and I'd just work till 2am. Not great for someone trying to
| have a normal sleep schedule. Medication has helped me add some
| scheduling to my brain. I take a small dose in the morning and
| another in the afternoon; I feel focused the entire day, and I'm
| tired when I come home. I've been on a good sleep schedule for
| quite some time now, my caffeine consumption lowered a good bit,
| and I do feel happier. Maybe it's the meds, maybe it's a side
| effect of feeling like I can actually be a performant human
| during work hours. Either way, I'll take it. I think it's worth
| at least exploring medication. I did a blind trial with my doctor
| to see how it affected me and that made me feel a bit more
| confident that this was a good route.
| nszceta wrote:
| Day 3 of a salt water only fast gives me a level of focus I could
| cut diamonds with. No drugs necessary. I've had better long term
| success with ADHD with increased fat intake and decreased
| carbohydrate intake.
| Romulus968 wrote:
| I didn't know I had ADHD until I was 31. But goddamn when I found
| out what made me the way I was and was able to get help, my world
| changed. No longer did I question why I couldn't remember
| anything or stay focused for longer than 10 minutes. Why I loved
| my job but seemed to struggle with it.
|
| I took the help, and I feel better for it.
|
| You should at least let them run the tests. What do you have to
| lose?
| whiddershins wrote:
| An adhd diagnosis helped me a lot in my late 20s.
|
| I took Ritalin for a brief period and it opened my eyes to
| different ways of seeing things. I actually believe in Ritalin
| more than adhd diagnoses. But it stopped being effective for me
| after a while, and same for most people i know. Also, side
| effects. But getting perspective helped me change certain
| behaviors which were causing problems for me.
|
| But honestly, and this is very forward to say, I would stop
| seeing this therapist. I have had similar experiences to you,
| where I try to go to a therapist for one thing, and they send me
| down some other road entirely. This has never been helpful.
| Generally it has been destructive. Therapists are like everyone
| else, in that many of them aren't that good. And just like how a
| bad mechanic can cost you money and ruin your car, so can a bad
| or even mediocre therapist screw up your life. Seriously. Don't
| be pushed into some random diagnosis by some therapist who has
| some idea in their head.
| jcims wrote:
| Since this post will likely attract my people, I'm curious how
| folks with an ADHD diagnosis have adapted to working from home.
| If possible, separate the comfort of it from the productivity of
| it.
|
| I find personally that it's _much_ more comfortable working from
| home, and while there have been many 'blown days' due to lapses
| in discipline, I can have days where I crush it as well. Open
| plan office environments are like someone is jamming my brain
| with a microwave, I can't accomplish anything. High-walled
| cubicle environments are better but all it takes is someone with
| a smelly lunch or wheezy breath and I'm off track.
| 1experience wrote:
| Either dedicate a room to study and work or change the
| environment when you have to (like assigning a specific color
| with led lights). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck
|
| If that doesn't work, I would go out and study in a library or
| park.
| rm8x wrote:
| I needed to setup a separate office for work stuff and work
| stuff only before I really got into a WFH rhythm. Definitely
| have experiences that match yours in office environment.
| adhd-thrwaway-0 wrote:
| Same. I had to physically separate myself from my personal
| computer because I frequently found myself working on side
| projects, playing video games, or literally anything else
| that grabbed my attention.
| iainctduncan wrote:
| My advice: get a second opinion from a cognitive behavioural
| therapist. If you are already high functioning and happy with
| your life, mind altering drugs (which ADHD prescriptions most
| definitely are) _could_ be a loaded foot-gun. CBT on the other
| hand is literally the same body of techniques used under other
| names by top athletes, musicians, and anyone else for whom real-
| time mental focus is a huge part of their career.
|
| Please note, I am not saying ADHD does not exist, nor am I saying
| that the Rx's are not necessarily wonderful for _some people_ ,
| nor am I anti-drug. I have no doubt that for some people ADHD
| medication has been a life-saver. But it doesn't sound like you
| _necessarily_ are one of those people, and there is no doubt a
| problem with a segment of the psychiatric profession being very
| quick to prescribe drug based solutions. The fact that you
| exhibit what your current doctor calls symptoms is not
| necessarily justification for changing anything or adopting a new
| drug regime. And we can all benefit from the mental discipline of
| CBT practices. I had an ex go through a CBT program for social
| anxiety and it was life changing for her - without drugs.
| iainctduncan wrote:
| As an example, I had a doctor prescribe me anti-psychosis
| medication in small doses for a really bad bout of migraines,
| medication which had known mood changing side-effects.
|
| I needed glasses.
| adflux wrote:
| I'd recommend everyone who thinks he or she has ADHD to keep in
| mind that there are clinics who literally make money by
| diagnosing you. So make sure you don't go to one of those. This
| is a problem, even in the Netherlands
| https://www.trouw.nl/zorg/in-de-adhd-fabriek-is-de-diagnose-... I
| wish I could find a translated version for you.
|
| Anyways, Methlyphinidate (ritalin) should be your very LAST step.
| Before that, clean up your workspace, disable distracting apps on
| your phone and computer, use a site blocker... And consider that
| a lack of discipline is not caused by ADHD.
|
| I speak with experience here, because I was "diagnosed" with this
| "mental illness" before it was cool, about two decades ago, when
| the teachers noted I couldn't pay attention in class. Took
| ritalin for about a decade. Always thought I had trouble
| concentrating, like I was told right? Well, a few years ago I
| rented an office space with a friend of mine, just the two of us
| in a very spacious (100m2), light and well-ventilated office. We
| received no phone calls, there were no people walking in, or cats
| and girlfriends asking for attention. I had less distractions
| than I had at home, and much less than in a traditional office.
| And it was a dedicated area for "work". A comfortable desk and
| chair, two monitors and a fast pc. Having worked in such a proper
| environment, I will never say I have trouble concentrating again.
|
| Anyways, what exactly do you think you have to gain by being
| "diagnosed" with ADHD?
| skinkestek wrote:
| > Anyways, what exactly do you think you have to gain by being
| "diagnosed" with ADHD? Except for an "excuse" for your
| problems?
|
| For me it helped me realize that I not normal.
|
| I excel at certain things (creative thinking, handling
| unexpected situations) and I'm hopeless at others (following
| through on plans that doesn't have to be acted on daily).
|
| I have decided to not use it as an excuse and told my wife so
| so she doesn't feel sorry for me.
|
| I've decided to exploit my disability for all that it is worth:
| I deal with tricky customers at work because it is easy for me,
| I wake up before certain others goes to bed etc etc. I am
| different and I not only accept it but actively enjoy it and
| take advantage of it.
|
| Also I know I speak out more easily than others so I accept
| that I should raise my treshold for when to speak out.
|
| My life has become better after doing this.
|
| Oh, and not a bad word about Ritalin, but be aware that for
| some it works wonders, for others it has nasty side effects
| (muscle tension, weight loss) and also the exact brand and
| capsules makes a difference (yes, they are supposed to be
| identical but I guess it is something about the microbiome
| because I have seen it too many times no so.)
| WhyNotHugo wrote:
| Yeah, if _things_ distract you easily, it's one thing.
| Notifications are DESIGNED to distract you, if they do, that's
| not an indicator of anything.
|
| ADHD is more like "I was cooking dinner and got distracted by
| the idea of cleaning the toilet, so here I am buying new socks.
| Oh, the unfinished dinner is still on the counter."
| jkhdigital wrote:
| Your example is a pretty extreme caricature; I suspect many
| of us are more familiar with the slower but broader version
| of this sequence where we gain and lose interest in
| careers/partners/lifestyles with alarming and exhausting
| frequency.
| Ancapistani wrote:
| > our example is a pretty extreme caricature
|
| Extreme, yes, but far from a caricature.
|
| You should see my office. I'm constantly surrounded by
| unfinished projects - I either unmedicated and don't have
| the ability to finish them because I'm distracted by other
| things, or I'm medicated and don't have time to finish them
| because I'm trying to catch up with the things that I've
| neglected because I didn't have the ability to prioritize
| them.
| tgaj wrote:
| For some it's not a caricature. For me is how my life looks
| like without meds. But yeah, ADHD is probably a spectrum.
| q3k wrote:
| > Your example is a pretty extreme caricature;
|
| It's a caricature? I've only recently learned that this is
| not something that everyone struggles with daily...
| instagraham wrote:
| Wow, this is like a textbook example of how not to comment on
| ADHD.
|
| 1 - Ritalin is not the only treatment meted out to those with
| ADHD
|
| 2 - ADHD isn't an "excuse". If cleaning one's desk was the
| solution to it, we wouldn't be discussing it so much today -
| and it wouldn't be one of the most studied-conditions of all
| time.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| It sounds like you actually have ADHD but can control it with
| the perfect environment. Others are not so lucky; either
| lacking the ability to create the perfect ADHD haven or that
| haven only working for a while before they relapse.
|
| > Anyways, what exactly do you think you have to gain by being
| "diagnosed" with ADHD? Except for an "excuse" for your
| problems?
|
| Please don't dismiss mental illness this way.
| adflux wrote:
| That was too harsh, sorry.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| Apology accepted. Emotional responses are an ADHD symptom
| :-)
| adflux wrote:
| Hahaha as are breathing and requiring water to stay alive
| I think
| sobellian wrote:
| As a counterpoint, I was diagnosed with ADD (now known as ADHD-
| PI) a couple decades ago as a child and initially took
| medication for it, but complained about the effects and so my
| parents agreed to stop giving me medication. This kind of
| decision seems manageable at the time if you're bright enough
| that you can skate through school regardless of how much work
| you actually do.
|
| You cannot skate through adulthood this way. My condition,
| ADHD-PI, is characterized by the tendency to lose focus on dull
| activities while hyper-focusing on fun activities. If my
| current task is interesting then I could work even with a rock
| concert held 5 feet away. This sounds like a superpower but if
| a task is not interesting then the slightest distraction
| totally derails me. There are ways for me to trick myself but
| they are unreliable and my brain will eventually route around
| them.
|
| I do my best to always work on something interesting, but this
| isn't always possible and the productivity hit can be quite
| large. My solution was to get a prescription for Adderall XR.
| With the benefit of hindsight I regret ever going off
| medication. I don't think it's always necessary but if you have
| these problems, you've been diagnosed, and it's severe enough
| that you have become depressed (this is very common among
| adults with ADHD) you should really consider it.
| adflux wrote:
| lose focus on dull activities
|
| This doesn't sound like a mental illness, but rather a part
| of the human condition, don't you think?
| Ancapistani wrote:
| > lose focus on dull activities
|
| You mean like getting distracted while actively having sex
| by the way the light is filtering through the leaves
| outside my bedroom window?
|
| How about missing half of what your spouse is saying to you
| because you suddenly remembered an insight you had about
| how relative speed and the perception of the passage of
| time are linked, thereby forming a universal constant
| connecting both?
|
| ... or maybe you mean not being able to remember anything
| you need while at the grocery store because instead you
| remembered you needed something from the auto parts store,
| and having to drive to the auto parts store and buy that
| thing because it completely fills your consciousness and
| makes you unable to think about what food you need for the
| week until you have it in your hand?
|
| In all seriousness - whether an activity is "dull" or not
| has little bearing on whether I can focus on it. My focus
| is ephemeral, and feels like something completely out of my
| control most of the time. Medication gives me _some_
| ability to direct it.
|
| I hear people talking about "not looking forward" to doing
| things. I can't relate at all. I dread even the things I
| want to do, because I'm not sure if I'll be able to do
| them.
| sobellian wrote:
| It all lies on a spectrum. No one likes doing something
| dull but with ADD it can become so intense as to be
| debilitating. You always procrastinate to the last second
| on everything, sometimes far past the last second. Left
| untreated you attain a reputation as a lazy flake and it
| affects your work, your relationships, etc.
| falcolas wrote:
| Yes, and no. Yes, because people do get bored. No, because
| with ADHD, you can't even _force_ yourself to focus despite
| the boredom. Bribes, identification of potential
| consequences, punishment - none of these work.
| ravenstine wrote:
| The biggest help is that you understand why certain things happen
| to you so that you can accept and move on from them, rather than
| be eternally confused and ashamed that you seem to have greater
| challenges with basic things than everyone else. You can do
| things to treat the symptoms, but there's something to be said
| about also accepting who you are and being able to laugh at
| yourself.
| n1000 wrote:
| I read this post from 2015 yesterday and was amused because the
| guy clearly seemed to have ADHD in my opinion [0]. Then in the
| comments on HN somebody mentioned that the author recently wrote
| about being diagnosed at 40, which may be an interesting read
| here [1]. The author says it was like living the Truman show.
|
| ADHD can be harmful and comes with a bunch of comorbidities that
| can also develop later in life. If you have trouble listening,
| tend to hyperfocus on things but also emotional states, etc. I
| recommend going forward with a diagnosis.
|
| [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27495535 [1]
| https://www.raptitude.com/2021/03/what-raptitude-has-always-...
| codpiece wrote:
| Thank you. I'm reading both now. Funny how his blog is about
| 'living your best life', the exact reason I went to therapy to
| begin with.
|
| I don't have trouble listening, but the opposite. I empathize
| so strongly when people talk to me about their problems that I
| end up exhausted.
| hob_code wrote:
| I imagine most of the stories you'll hear here are going to talk
| about how transformative a diagnosis was and the immense positive
| change most people have felt after starting medication. I do
| think this is probably the most common experience but my personal
| experience is a lot more mixed, and my relationship with my ADHD
| diagnosis and medication is complicated.
|
| To start with, it wasn't a surprise when I was diagnosed as an
| adult. Teachers suggested I get tested for ADHD throughout my
| entire childhood but my parents held off since I wasn't a
| disruptive student, did well academically, and had often voiced
| an interest in joining the military and a childhood diagnosis of
| ADHD could potentially be disqualifying.
|
| Ultimately though my goals changed and ended up going to graduate
| school with an aim to study cognitive science. That's when I
| decided to get tested, and not surprisingly, I was diagnosed with
| ADHD predominately inattentive subtype and prescribed Vyvanse.
| The change was profound. Before medication I would start books
| and never complete them, but suddenly I was finishing several
| books a month. I found keeping tack of things and cleaning and
| organizing my environment became second nature where I had
| struggled deeply with those things before. It also lead me to a
| career in tech. Prior to starting medication I had always had an
| appreciation for formal systems and logic, but Vyvanse super-
| charged that. I was suddenly able to deeply engage with math and
| formal logic in a way I hadn't been able to before because of my
| lack of focus. I became interested in software development.
| Taking Vyvanse and writing code became probably my favorite
| activity, and it's because of medication and my ADHD diagnosis
| that I ultimately became a software developer. I excelled at
| coding because I loved doing it. I would pop a Vyvanse and code
| for hours. Ultimately however, it became the only thing I really
| enjoyed. I would take an extra pill to stay up late and finish
| tasks, or get work done on a side-project. I ended up taking more
| than prescribed and I would run out before my refill was
| available leading me to have huge surges of productivity at the
| beginning of the month and huge periods of inactivity at the end
| when I was out of pills and suffered rebound effects like a
| complete inability to focus and extreme fatigue from not sleeping
| or eating correctly while on meds. In the end I realized it was
| also starting to take a toll on my personal relationships since I
| was living in my head all of the time not giving my live-in
| girlfriend nearly enough attention and instead just working and
| coding. So I decided to quit. After quitting my productivity took
| a hit, but ultimately I was able to reach a decent level of
| performance, though no where near what I had been doing
| previously. But I realized I was no longer deeply engaged with my
| work and I ended up transitioning careers from software
| development to becoming a sales engineer/solution architect.
|
| Now, several years after quitting, I'm much happier. My live-in
| girlfriend is now my wife and I have a much better work-life
| balance. I'm still a bit of a workaholic, but I can disengage and
| maintain a better balance. Working as a sales engineer is also a
| really nice spot for my ADHD mind as constantly jumping between
| tasks and moving between technical and non-technical activities
| keeps me stimulated. I could never have done this job while on
| Vyvanse, as the focus I got from the meds would actually make it
| difficult for me to effectively move between so many different
| events in a day. Of course, I also can't code like a used to, but
| I do still enjoy engaging deeply with technical topics of
| interest. The odd reality for me though is that without that
| diagnosis and the medication I never would have been able to find
| a role like the one that I have now, which is such a good match
| for my unmedicated brain. I was able to derive a foundational
| knowledge about tech and computer science that I use today
| because of medication, and I don't know exactly where I would be
| if I hadn't gone down that road initially.
|
| Looking back it's not too surprising I ended up abusing a
| prescription. Substance abuse disorder is a common comorbidity
| for people with ADHD and while that's often attributed to self-
| medication, I don't think that was the case for me. I just like
| altered states. I experimented with a range of drugs in college
| but it's easy to put up boundaries around things like that when
| you know it's recreational. When you're using a prescribed
| medicine it's much easier to justify the behavior. I think most
| people who are prescribed stimulants will take them correctly and
| will likely see a benefit from doing so. I don't think that's an
| option for me though and I've found more success building a life
| compatible with my condition rather than trying to fight it.
| There was a now deleted site called Quitting Adderall[1] that
| shared other people's similar experiences and it really resonated
| with me when I was considering the change.
|
| That said there's no obligation to take stimulant medication if
| you do pursue a diagnosis, and I wouldn't tell you not to try
| stimulants if you think there could be benefit. I would just
| advise you to monitor yourself if you do take them, especially if
| you have a personal or family history of substance abuse.
|
| 1.
| https://web.archive.org/web/20210125224905/http://quittingad...
| T3RMINATED wrote:
| I used Adderrall 30mg x 2 for a few years. I started to have
| issues, shaking, back-pain etc...
|
| I switched to Adderrall XR 30mg and issues are gone. If you do
| consider Adderrall try the XR, it might not be the SUPERBOOST
| people want, but it may be safer.
| sersi wrote:
| I have recently been diagnosed while being in a very similar
| situation as you. I have had and still have a successful career,
| I'm in a stable relationship, have good savings and a great life.
|
| I've been seen as gifted as a child so fit within the so-called
| twice exceptional criteria...
|
| I don't regret getting diagnosed and having confirmation of it (I
| ran relatively extensive tests to confirm this which took 8 hours
| in total and cost me quite a bit).
|
| In my case, it's been helpful because I'm moving more and more
| towards management and ADHD is sometimes detrimental to some of
| my new responsibilities. Knowing that I have ADHD and reading
| about resources to manage it has certainly been helpful.
|
| I was prescribed Concerta which is helpful on some days when I
| need to work on things that are extremely boring and that I'd
| normally have a hard time doing. However, I take it less than 4
| times a month, so extremely rarely. I have however noticed that I
| cannot take it on days when I am sleep deprived as it would cause
| me to become extremely sleepy.
| TableOtter wrote:
| As others have mentioned, exploring a diagnosis is about more
| than just medication. Getting diagnosed and understanding how
| ADHD impacts me helped me understand myself better and stop
| beating myself up for the things I couldn't control. It changed
| the way I think about myself. Even though I had all the hallmarks
| of a good life on paper (did well in school, got a good job,
| stable relationship, etc.), I also felt imposter syndrome and
| ashamed for how chaotic and unstable I felt on the inside.
| Learning about ADHD helped me understand my strengths and
| weaknesses and how to work with them.
|
| My diagnosis also helped my family, after I got diagnosed my dad
| and younger brother were diagnosed too. It saved my parent's
| relationship because my mom finally understood that parts of my
| dad's personality and his behavior were caused by the ADHD, not
| because he didn't care enough or because he was a bad
| husband/father.
| RHSman2 wrote:
| Massively. Like getting the first of many tremendous insights
| into how I interact with this reality.
| adhd-thrwaway-0 wrote:
| Throwaway since I'll be discussing some fairly personal topics.
|
| I was diagnosed over a decade ago at the age of 19 and have been
| in treatment ever since. The changes as a result of getting
| medication and attending therapy have be profound and decidedly
| mixed. One thing I'm just going to say upfront is that if anyone
| reading this thread decides to seek treatment, please don't
| solely rely on medication. The medication allows your ADHD to
| become manageable, but crucially it does not manage it for you.
|
| Good changes:
|
| 1) Social life immediately and greatly improved. I was able to
| hold my attention when talking to people. My tangents became less
| wandering and frequent. I had the focus to make plans and
| actually follow through with them. I texted people back (this
| alone was huge).
|
| 2) I lose things less often. Before starting treatment I was
| notorious among my family and peer group for losing things. I
| still lose things all the time, but now it's usually because I
| put something down in my house rather than losing things in
| public.
|
| 3) Improved physical health. The appetite suppressant aspect of
| stimulants play a role here, but I think the bigger thing here is
| less impulsive food choices. Because I just don't feel as hungry,
| I have to plan my meals better and so I eat healthier. It's also
| easier to stick to an exercise schedule.
|
| 4) I can sit still and be quiet. Looking back at my childhood, it
| should have been fairly obvious what was going on, but I believe
| the mindset was medication was only for kids with poor academic
| achievement. The scale of lost time has been personally
| frustrating, but I am grateful for not being put on medication
| when I was young child.
|
| Bad Changes:
|
| 1) Massively increased libido. The stimulants can increase sex
| drive, but can also make orgasm more difficult while also
| sometimes making it more difficult to maintain an erection. While
| these last two can be frustrating on a personal level, the hyper
| sexuality can be quite destructive when not kept in check.
|
| 2) The hyper focus aspects of ADHD are now basically on all the
| time. Medication is less a guided missile and more a laser.
| Instead of taking it and 'magically' getting things done, your
| attention is now dialed into whatever you point it at. This can
| be extremely productive, or not. I have less 'lost days' than I
| did before seeking treatment but those days now have a greater
| intensity.
|
| 3) It can be easy to get into stimulant fueled cycles of self-
| destruction. I need to be very disciplined about getting enough
| food and sleep. The drugs make it easy to shrug off a night or
| two of little sleep. But using drugs to ignore my body leads to
| much worse ADHD symptoms then if I hadn't been taking the drugs
| at all.
|
| 4) There is a distinct difference in my personality on days when
| I take my drugs and days I do not; see Good Changes, point (1).
| This can be hard for other people, especially romantic partners,
| to deal with.
|
| Overall I'm happy that I've pursued medication in combination
| with therapy. It has let me get a handle on my life, but anyone
| who says it's all good is not telling the truth.
| JanSoy wrote:
| I've been diagnosed a couple of months ago and here my main
| takeaways: 1) My self confidence improved: I know I don't "mess
| up" because I'm lazy, stupid or don't care - it's just how my
| brain works 2) I can drastically reduce the amount of "messing
| up" by taking medication 3) Now I can get things done with half
| the mental _strain_ and drastically less "mess-ups"
|
| TL:DR - Therapy is also essential, especially if you have built
| an adult life & persona to counteract the ADHD symptoms. What is
| "you" and what has been a coping mechanism? It's fascinating
| indeed.
| WhyNotHugo wrote:
| I was diagnosed about a year ago (I'll be 34 tomorrow).
|
| I went to the therapist to ~figure out if~ confirm that I was on
| the Autism spectrum, and they pointed out that it sounded like
| there was some ADHD too, so it was something very unexpected for
| me. In hindsight, very obvious too.
|
| It's been very insightful. On the more personal side, it's helped
| me understand a lot about my life and why so many things went
| they way they went. It's now clear that some teachers were
| _hinting_ the issue at my parents in school, but they never
| picked up on that.
|
| On a more practical side, medication has helped a lot in focusing
| better and work and alike. However, it IS a tool, and you need to
| learn to use it. Having ADHD is like aiming your attention at
| things with a shotgun, and medication turns that into a sniper --
| you can direct your focus very well, but it takes some training
| to learn _how_ to do that.
|
| It's also important to balance it out. I take far less on the
| weekends since that helps wind down a lot.
|
| I came across this youtube channel recently which is pretty
| interesting. It's always useful to hear how others have dealt
| with the same struggles: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-
| nPM1_kSZf91ZGkcgy_95Q
| falcolas wrote:
| "How to ADHD" is a fantastic resource. She's honest, funny, and
| reaches out to professionals to make sure she isn't fertilizing
| her audience.
| ssharp wrote:
| I finally decided to talk to someone about this about two years
| ago, in my mid-30's. I was always able to achieve satisfactory
| results in school, work, etc. without have to dedicate myself too
| much. As I got older, it became clear to me that other people
| were able to focus substantially more than me for longer periods
| of time. The more I read up about Adult ADHD, the more it became
| very obvious that I had it.
|
| I've found that adderrall, for me, has been very helpful and has
| not really produced any negative side-effects. I don't take it on
| the weekends and will skip a week or so every now and then, just
| to get a read on how I'm feeling without it.
|
| One thing to keep in mind is to check your expectations. Normal
| stimulant dosing for treating ADHD is not going to make you
| limitless. Your mind will be able to stay more focused but you
| need to actively use that focus to start developing
| organizational frameworks that you can work within. Building
| these frameworks and habits and sticking to them was extremely
| difficult prior to medication but now that I have them, I find it
| much easier to skip the meds and still be able to be as
| productive as I want to be.
|
| I would recommend you find someone who specializes in Adult ADHD,
| especially one that has experience dealing with otherwise
| competent professionals because they'll be able to help you make
| the most of your treatment.
|
| Also, no matter how much you might beat yourself up over lot
| being able to live up to the standards you'd like, please be
| grateful for what you've accomplished even with your limits.
| Unfortunately a lot of people with untreated (and even treated)
| ADHD fall into vicious cycles of risky behavior and end up with
| crippling addictions to drugs, gambling, sex, and other dopamine-
| producing behaviors.
| failwhaleshark wrote:
| ADHD-PI at 38.
|
| Well, it didn't help except to try psychiatric meds that I can't
| tolerate. 25 years after dad declared "Damn psychologist [sic]
| quacks don't know what they're talking about. They're liberals
| trying to control boys with medication. It's a myth!"
|
| And now I can't interact with people properly because they all
| think I'm a weirdo.
|
| How many close friends do I have? 0
|
| How many friends do I have? 0
|
| How many acquaintances do I have? 0.25
|
| How many family members do I have? 1
|
| It's not even recognized or appreciated by Americans, they just
| automatically reject me and then must gossip about how I'm a
| terrible weirdo. I still try, but there's almost no return on
| effort. I shouldn't even bother because it's futile.
|
| It's why I do most everything for myself, by myself, and I never
| depend on anyone else unless I pay them (transactionalization and
| commodification of every interaction).
|
| If you don't plan on having a family, I highly-suggest staying in
| top physical and mental shape, or you'll end-up warehoused in
| some disgusting, horrible place at the end of your life where
| your life will be hell and cut short.
|
| How many times have I thought about suicide? Hundreds. Seriously?
| Dozens.
| digitalsushi wrote:
| This is harrowing. I hope you can keep finding energy to give
| people a chance. I believe everyone has their 'people' but the
| tragedy is that it can take an entire lifetime to discover
| them.
|
| Finding someone with even less, and giving them some of yours,
| can have wildly unpredictable rewards. And even if there is no
| reward, it's still damned distracting in a way that we need.
|
| Don't give up on people, even when they all let you down so
| far.
| failwhaleshark wrote:
| That's the "lite," family-friendly, optimistic version.
| Between the ages of 13-16, I fantasized repeatedly about how
| to blow myself up in the middle of nowhere to leave no trace.
|
| When you do the same thing and expect a different result,
| isn't that the definition of stupidity or insanity? At some
| point, _the problem is you_ if people react the similarly.
| So, it 's either a matter of forcing other people to be
| uncomfortable, trying much harder to remember the thousands
| of ways to not make others uncomfortable, or giving up.
|
| I am guilty of oversharing, of assuming familiarity too
| quickly, and of anxious-avoidance. And, more recently, I had
| a test result of testosterone come back as 200 when it was
| 800 (300-1000 normal)... no idea yet why it is so low, but I
| do have a headache, sleepiness, sleeplessness, and no energy
| at all all of the time.
|
| I also need to look at it from another perspective: I am
| defective in the natural selection of things, or I would've
| been selected for. That's the breaks of mutations,
| recombination, and selection: not everyone can be a
| bulletproof, perfectly clear-headed, polyglot, polymath,
| artistic, model, comedian, and graceful social master.
|
| Between about 19-20 (1998-9), I went hikikomori around the
| corner from eBay.
|
| And then, 30-38 (2009-17) I lived in vehicles in the Valley.
|
| I had to move during the pandemic but I don't know anyone in
| ATX. The neighbors I've met are by-and-large, immature, vain,
| gossiping kidults so intensely concerned about appearances
| and status amongst the other elitist, self-absorbed, self-
| esteem (learned narcissism), entitled nobodies. They're
| mostly sales people, low-level managers, marketing people,
| and coders of the Millennial generation from 75th-downwards
| colleges without advanced degrees who assume they're so
| amazing and living-it-up because they can afford a
| relatively-expensive apartment (it's cheap for me). They
| party too hard with substances, so I also backed-off.
|
| Recently around the pool, I saw a guy who was a dead ringer
| for a Soviet illegal posing as a WASP from _Spies Like Us._
| The two women he met were wearing dresses that looked like
| solid-colored Lolita packages with giant bows on the back.
| They were, of course, unwilling to acknowledge the presence
| of anyone but themselves. I thought I was watching
| performance art, some sort of kink, religious sect, foreign
| visitors, or they arrived on a time-machine from
| Massachusetts in 1987.
| codpiece wrote:
| Oh, dear God. I am so sorry to hear your story. Don't give up,
| friend. There's a place on this earth for all of us, no matter
| how weird we are.
| failwhaleshark wrote:
| Maybe I just chose the wrong physical place to live amongst a
| bunch of shallow, narcissistic, Millennial, "party hard,
| bro!," "stock broker"-types who emotionally failed-to-launch
| past high school.
|
| All the dudes I swear have an IQ about 105 and do exactly the
| same thing: show off their muscles everyday at the pool and
| try to impress the ladies with their physiques, their
| sunglasses, and backwards hats.
| d0mine wrote:
| You could find benefits for your life without a formal diagnosis:
| - you might learn that some traits are not your personal moral
| failures but just symptoms of underlying physical condition that
| you can workaround. There are other people like you - you can
| learn tricks from other people who identify with similar
| symptoms(tricks such as alarms, schedules, tight feedback loops ,
| running/lifting weights that may increase productivity)
|
| Even I f you don't have the diagnosis, most tricks may improve
| your life (the difference being: if you have the condition, you
| have to do many of them just to function at any level).
| NateEag wrote:
| Having a diagnosis gives you the option to try medication of
| several varieties that are not otherwise legally available to you
| in the US.
|
| For some people the medications Just Work, with no negative side
| effects. If they do that for you it could be a big win, but one
| you can't safely or lawfully test without getting a diagnosis.
|
| It also gives you a well-defined problem statement for tackling
| the "lingering family issue" and for communicating with your
| family about differences between your neurological wiring and
| theirs that all of you need to cope with, if you do come up with
| a diagnosis.
| nimish wrote:
| A diagnosis makes sense if you believe it will improve things. A
| key criteria is that the issue is negatively affecting your life.
| This can be in subtle, non-obvious ways.
|
| There's no obligation to be on any sort of medication, but having
| the option never really hurts. Knowing is more than half the
| battle, if only to make coping skills much more effective (if you
| have it you are likely coping without realizing it). You are in
| control here.
|
| Unless you desperately want to be a pilot, in which case getting
| a medical is now difficult. Though wanting to be a pilot with
| even a mild executive function impairment is IMO disqualifying
| for poor judgment anyway.
|
| Personally, the stimulants helped quite a bit along with an
| improved ability to cope. YMMV.
| macksd wrote:
| I do not (AFAIK) suffer from ADHD, but having been in therapy for
| a while for other issues I had a similar concern at one point: I
| had a bunch of problems I wanted to talk about, I thought my
| therapist was missing the obvious and following a red herring
| with her questions. But she mentioned a book on a disorder and I
| read it: it was like reading a book written just about my
| personality. I had heard of the disorder, kind of a lot,
| actually, but it was nothing like what I had inferred.
| Understanding it better helped break a lot of unproductive cycles
| of thought.
|
| If you're inclined to not treat your ADHD with drugs, I think
| that's admirable. But IMO it's important to have a period of time
| in therapy where you don't hold back and really try to understand
| everything that's going on with you. There's a great answer to
| your question in one of my favorite podcasts [1]. The wife in
| that relationship was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and,
| similarly: recognized herself in a lot of the symptoms that she
| didn't actually think were typical of ADHD. She's now on
| medication (some of the time, I think), but just knowing that was
| an underlying condition helped her, her husband, and her family
| manage a lot of relationship problems better.
|
| [1] https://www.nottheworstmarriage.com/episodes/mental-
| health-a...
| reducesuffering wrote:
| I've recently considered if I've always had ADHD and have gone
| back and forth on it in my head. On one hand, symptoms sound
| common to most people. On the other there's a lot of anecdotes
| that match my life to a tee.
|
| I was "gifted" in school growing up. I breezed through school
| ages 5-12 with ease but loathing homework. At 11, a teacher told
| my parent and I that I'm able to get great grades now by
| intellect, but when college comes I'll come to a reckoning unless
| I also learn to study and put in time to do the work.
|
| Ages 13 - 20 were just a continuous slide down in academics. I
| spent all my time zoned into various MMORPG's, video games, and
| obsessed about an outdoor sport. Couldn't stay awake in class and
| never did any homework. But I'd manage to skirt out some A's on
| math and chemistry tests (learning on the fly), do some crucial
| projects at the last possible minute, midnight to 5am the night
| before, and managed to graduate with a 2.5 gpa (C's and B's).
|
| When it came to college, it was the same until I realized I
| needed to get better grades to transfer to a real University, so
| I had one amazing year I got A's, got in, and then it was
| business as usual. Worst person at staying on top of homework in
| friend groups, constantly more distracted by video games, only
| completed C's by doing projects at the last absolute moment
| midnight to 5am.
|
| At work, I'm constantly distracted by HN, and only get through
| projects by a sudden burst of sheer deadline fear at the end. I
| was falling behind and finally buckling, until I tried some
| Adderall secondhand. Suddenly I felt like I had X, Y, Z to do,
| and I spent my day going from X to Y to Z and couldn't believe
| how much I was getting done. Eventually I lost this source, used
| it 1/3 tapered down to little effect, and stopped, conflicted.
| Due to various reasons, I've burnt out and haven't been able to
| attempt any real work for 6 months, basically spending half my
| time on HN.
|
| Guess I'm just hoping someone knowledgeable would be able to
| confidently tell me what's been going on. I probably need to see
| a psychologist.
| wwweston wrote:
| A family member told me it changed his life by enabling a
| consistent level of productivity that he struggled with before.
|
| I've considered exploring this because my level of productivity
| varies pretty widely, and I've had experiences that _partly_
| match other people 's descriptions (broken sense of confidence in
| prioritization, too many ideas/interests)... but I also wonder:
|
| How do people who diagnose ADHD _reject_ the diagnosis? Or do
| they? Software professionals tend to see software solutions to
| domain dynamics whether they 're necessary or most productive; it
| seems to me it's possible that medical-psych professionals might
| tend to medicalize personal dynamics... in particular, how does
| one tell the difference between outlier levels of OCEAN/Big5
| trait "openness" and ADHD?
|
| Or is it simpler than this, and you find someone who treats ADHD,
| try the treatment, and if it changes your life, the label is the
| least important part of that?
| oo0shiny wrote:
| I will say that I was diagnosed after college with ADHD and was
| given a prescription for Adderall. I get the feeling it was
| from a "script farm," so I didn't get anything more than a "yes
| you have ADHD, here's some drugs."
|
| I tried the Adderall and the focus I always lacked was there;
| it felt almost like a super power. I explain it like being
| Cyclops from X-Men. I had this laser beam of focus: whatever I
| looked at I could focus on for as long as I wanted. But it also
| felt a bit like a performance enhancing drug, and something
| that was changing who I was by changing my brain, so I stopped
| taking it.
|
| Recently I've started seeing a therapist who explained that my
| ADHD is not a deficit of attention, but a different way of how
| my brain works. Since I'm always thinking about a ton of things
| all at once I'm able to tie things together better than a lot
| of people I've worked with (or been in school with). If there's
| a crisis situation things slow way down for me and I'm able to
| think really clearly in the moment, instead of panicking.
|
| The best part was that it was explained to me that if I ever
| needed to focus the way other people do (on things that I
| struggle to focus on), I can always temporarily "switch" my
| thinking by taking an ADHD drug.
|
| TLDR: Initially rejected diagnosis, but have accepted it thanks
| to a better explanation from a professional.
| dncornholio wrote:
| About the same here. ADD was being said instead of ADHD.
|
| I learned to recognise the signs. I think just being aware of
| something going on your mind is enough to cure.
|
| ADD/ADHD, I don't see it as a decease, more as a gift. Take the
| good things and learn to recognise the bad.
|
| I always worried why I would have amazing productive hours and
| then sometimes days of inproductivity. Now I now (and everyone
| around me) that I'm best when in these 2 states. It took a lot of
| mental stress away by just accepting instead of trying to change.
|
| It was also very important to let my surroundings know how my
| clock ticks. Really high highs and sometimes pretty long lows. In
| the end I get the job done and thats what matters.
| codpiece wrote:
| Thanks! There's a good book that follows your line of thinking:
| "Refuse to Choose" by Barbara Sher.
| corobo wrote:
| I've been on medication for about a week now and I've not thought
| about offing myself once since starting. That seems dramatic but
| honestly that used to be the default go-to answer for any problem
| that couldn't be resolved within a day or so. Seems a bit
| excessive of a response to problems now.. It really looks like my
| depression might be rooted in undiagnosed ADHD.
|
| I can also if not properly focus on tasks at least _force_ myself
| to finish whatever I 'm working on before wandering off. I'm
| going to give it another week then ask for a bump on the dosage
| to see if that helps that one
|
| Negatives:
|
| Sweating a bunch, especially at night. Then again we are just
| about cruising into summer and in my old place I had aircon so
| that might be unrelated, but it is a possible side effect.
|
| Appetite seems to have taken a hit too. While I am fully for that
| (I could lose a bit of weight no bother) I will keep an eye on it
|
| Due to covid restrictions I've not been seen for talky therapy or
| anything yet, this is purely medicinal treatment currently but
| it's been a MASSIVE positive move for me
| mial wrote:
| Medication helped a lot in the beginning, but what really
| helped in the long term was talk therapy, and setting up
| helpful systems and habits such as exercising, diet,
| journalling. But this would not have been possible without
| taking Ritalin in the first place. I'm mostly off-meds now.
| WhyNotHugo wrote:
| I found the medication useful in interesting ways.
|
| While on its effect, I've learn what it feels like to be
| focused, how ones mind works when in "not easily distracted
| mode", and I've very slowly learnt to apply some of these
| things even then not taking the medication.
| subroutine wrote:
| I'm not sure which med you are on, but I've been on adderall
| for about 12 years. Started during 1st year of a phd program.
|
| In my experience with adderall... everything initially good
| about this particular Rx eventually fades away. Amphetamine
| makes you feel great. At the beginning really, really, great.
| It certainly helped me focus on whatever was in front of me,
| whether it was math homework or an iphone game. It became very
| important to ensure the right thing(s) were in front of me
| before taking meds (e.g. homework textbook or open IDE; not,
| for example, wikipedia, or email, or HN). Not getting enough
| sleep was the most acute negative effect of the meds. The
| battle for sleep continues to this day. The meds do suppress my
| appetite - they still do. It didn't help me lose as much weight
| as I'd hoped; turns out staring at a computer screen doesn't
| require a ton of calories.
|
| These days I take as little Rx as possible, and I feel a lot
| better. I attribute a portion of this mood improvement to using
| a treadmill desk, which I started using ~2 years ago. I walk
| about 15-20 miles a day, while working (coding/writing/etc). I
| feel like it helps me focus, because I am "burning off" pent-up
| ADHD restlessness while working. And probably most helpful of
| all, I'm tired at the end of the day, so I fall asleep much
| easier.
| acrobatsunfish wrote:
| Can you tell me more about your experience with selection,
| use, and pitfalls of treadmill desks?
| pcthrowaway wrote:
| I was on Adderall for roughly 10 years, and it really didn't
| make me feel great. I tried taking larger doses when I was
| going through my 'experiment with all the new drugs' phase in
| high school, and didn't really get the euphoria I hear about.
| In general, Adderall in any dose makes me sweaty, smelly, and
| antisocial.
|
| I hated taking it. Yet it would in fact improve my
| performance. For 3 years since my last filled prescription
| circa 2012 I had enough adderall to just take it whenever I
| felt like I 'needed it', which was rarely, because I hated
| taking it so much. Since I've run out, I do have issues with
| ADD still, but fortunately have been able to cope as an adult
| in my (now) 30s.
|
| I do think having it on hand is really great for some people,
| but I don't think 'feeling great' is a unanimous experience.
| OkayPhysicist wrote:
| With he sleep thing, I experienced the opposite. The ability
| to just lay down, decide to sleep, and sleep, combined with a
| bit of a chemical cue from the comedown really helped to
| regulate the insomnia I had struggled with since adolescence.
| sdbrown wrote:
| This was the biggest benefit for me.
| richthegeek wrote:
| Definitely try some of the alternate first-line medicines. For
| me, methylphenidate (Ritalin/Concerta in US) works wonders.
| Many people seem very happy with Strattera or Adderall.
|
| My first few weeks were a rollercoaster, but the negative
| effects reduced significantly over time as I got used to the
| medicine and stabilised my dosage. And the positive effects are
| life-changing.
| afarviral wrote:
| ADHD meds (psychostimulants) are fast-acting anti depressants.
| I hope the regiment works out regardless of the underlying
| condition they're helping you manage, but just another
| perspective.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| ADHD meds are definitely not antidepressants.
|
| A sense of euphoria can be a side effect of early treatment,
| but that's not to be confused with an actual anti-depressant
| effect.
|
| Some (unfortunately many) users get stuck chasing that
| initial sense of euphoria with continued dose escalation
| requests, or by playing games to only take doses on certain
| days of the week or even by doubling up doses on some days.
| This is a road you don't want to go down.
| jnovek wrote:
| Stimulants do have an anti-depressant quality in a similar
| sense to SNRIs. They stimulate release of extracellular
| neural serotonin and norepinephrine (SNRIs block reuptake
| of serotonin and norepinephrine. Before the accidental
| discovery of the first front-line antidepressants in the
| 50s, they were prescribed for depression.
|
| However, for the reasons you mentioned, they aren't very
| good antidepressants. It's easy to mistake the early
| euphoria of amphetamine for reduction in depression.
| Without careful management, it's easier to become tolerant
| or even addicted to amphetamine.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| Stimulants including Adderall have been formally trialed
| for depression treatment. They don't work.
|
| Don't confuse the molecular mechanism of a drug for its
| eventual outcome. There is far more to a medication than
| binding affinities.
| jnovek wrote:
| What studies? The information that I've found on PubMed
| and clinicaltrials.gov indicates that this is a poorly
| studied question, not a decided one.
|
| A 2015 survey (Raymond Pary, MD, et al) found evidence
| that many psychostimulants were effective adjuncts for
| MDD and Bipolar depression. The results weren't
| extraordinary but they were statistically significant.
| The authors noted in the results that the topic was
| generally poorly studied and double-blind clinical trials
| were limited.
|
| In 2010-2011 Shire ran Phase II FDA trials on Vyvanse as
| an adjunct to traditional antidepressants for MDD with
| mediocre but also statistically significant positive
| results. Considering the age of most psychostimulants in
| use, that's a fairly recent result from a clinical trial.
|
| I certainly agree that psychostimulants are not a good
| choice to treat depression but that's a far cry from
| "formally trialed for depression... don't work".
| Ancapistani wrote:
| > or by playing games to only take doses on certain days of
| the week
|
| This is something I've always done, under the close
| supervision of my doctor. I'm not sure if he initially
| recommended it or not, but it's been extremely effective
| for me in terms of keeping my effective dosage low and
| limiting tolerance.
|
| My prescribed dosage of Vyvanse stayed consistent for about
| a year after beginning taking it, but began to escalate
| after that. I didn't like that and was resistant to
| continuing to increase it. I went from 40mg initially to
| 70mg at the highest. I'm back down to 50mg today and am
| able to keep it at that level by limiting taking it less
| often. I typically end up taking it 4-5 days per week.
|
| There are significant long-term side effects of these
| medications - limiting tolerance building and keeping the
| effective dose as low as possible is a viable means of
| reducing the chance of experiencing them.
|
| Why do you assert that this is a "road you don't want to go
| down"? Is it merely because my reason for doing so is so
| different?
| yakattak wrote:
| Obviously different medications have different side effects,
| but I started taking fluoxetine (Prozac) over a year ago. The
| first 6-8 weeks were ROUGH. The mood swings were unbearable. It
| did even out after that and I'm stable now. The night sweats
| are real though, it's annoying. My room can be 65deg F and I'll
| still get them.
| jp57 wrote:
| I'm fascinated.
|
| > I am in the later half of an adventurous and successful career.
| I continue to grow, have a long-term stable marriage, good
| savings, great life.
|
| This passage could describe me as well, but as I look back on
| high school and college I've become convinced that if I'd been
| born 10-15 years later I would have been diagnosed with ADD or
| ADHD (I don't know if the 'hyperactivity' part is a distinction
| psychologists make anymore.) I struggled in school but in an
| unusual way: I got As in some classes and Cs (or worse!) in
| others.
|
| In school balancing my attention between more than three
| different classes was an impossible and mystifying task, but
| generating very intent focus on a few very interesting things was
| easy (e.g. programming, playing guitar). In college, I found
| myself dropping down to the minimum full-time course load often,
| and I envied my friends at schools on the quarter system who took
| only three classes at a time over shorter terms.
|
| When I started working as a programmer, I found things much
| easier, had fewer things to divide my focus between, and could
| arrange my work (mostly) as I pleased, and I had a lot of
| success. I also discovered coffee, and looking at my coffee
| consumption over the years, one might reasonably conclude I'm
| self-medicating with stimulants. Even now, this XKCD resonates
| with me: https://xkcd.com/1106/
|
| I'm moderately curious about whether I would be diagnosed, in the
| spirit of self-knowledge, but I don't feel the need to engage
| professional help to figure it out.
| JSeymourATL wrote:
| Related: FDA Approves Video Game Based on UCSF Brain Research as
| ADHD Therapy ... > https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417841/fda-
| approves-video-...
| fruityrudy wrote:
| What are the symptoms of adult ADHD?
| comprev wrote:
| The same as in a child, except you can identify them yourself
| because you've gained the experience of life.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| Mostly the same as childhood ADHD: attention deficit, emotional
| dysregulation, rejection sensitivity, hyperactivity, etc.
|
| There are many good articles around the symptoms and impacts,
| such as this one:
|
| https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/10-symptoms-adult-adhd
| captainredbeard wrote:
| Don't listen to the therapist. Find a new one.
| scyzoryk_xyz wrote:
| It should be, and probably is 100% clear from your life story and
| problems that you have it. Regardless of how ,,successful",
| ,,special" or ,,exceptional" you might feel you are. I have no
| clue what "neurological tests" mean because you're the only one
| in your head capable of making this assessment. Also your loved
| ones, they're the ones who have to put up with your ADHD and
| probably know it.
|
| Try the meds. For me, it has been a complete life changer. Many
| many small things that I've always seen as part of me, or
| symptoms for which I've over-corrected for in my personality are
| suddenly changeable. I've never been more emotionally stable and
| effective in everything I do.
|
| At the end of the day you're the one that makes the assessment
| whether you have it. "Professionals" know only what they see for
| the 30-45 minutes that you come in.
| hn8788 wrote:
| I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and unless it's actually
| having a negative impact on your life, I wouldn't bother trying
| to get it treated. I saw a therapist because I was really
| struggling with college, like taking an hour to read a single
| page in a textbook because I would get distracted and forget what
| I read.
|
| Personally, my ritalin prescription makes me irritable so I take
| a reduced dose when I'm not actively working on things. My wife
| has told me that she prefers my personality when I don't take the
| medication.
|
| Finally, and take this with a grain of salt because I'm not a
| doctor of any sort, but I don't think having ADHD is necessarily
| a problem, and is more a problem with how society expects people
| to spend their life sitting still and focusing on one thing all
| day.
| intpx wrote:
| you may want to talk to your doctor about other options for
| medications. I'm not going to name names but there are much
| slower, longer acting meds that are precursor drugs that you
| metabolize into the drug, for example.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| Frankly if you don't have problems in your life that seem to stem
| from ADHD then I wouldn't bother with it?
|
| I got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult after struggling with my
| jobs for the first 10 years of my career, and getting fired from
| my previous one.
|
| It so far feels like being medicated helps me switch contexts
| easier. It has not helped my focus really. Just that when I get
| distracted from what I was doing I can get myself back into it
| again more easily, instead of browsing my phone for 30 minutes
| before I get back to it.
| brailsafe wrote:
| Perhaps it would help you put less emphasis on your own goals and
| help those around you. I don't know how else someone would answer
| this question, because obviously the problems that a lot of
| people with ADHD suffer from are not the ones you have. But
| that's one area where it's helped my partner understand some of
| my shortcomings. You haven't admitted a single shortcoming, and
| perhaps that's part of the problem that an ADHD diagnosis would
| help. Almost like a semi-functional alcoholic not realing that
| despite a successful career, they always smell like alcohol and
| do nothing but spend time drinking.
|
| They wouldn't be exploring this unless it was presenting an issue
| that's reasonably explained by this, so I'd say it's worth doing.
| It may or may not be helpful, but putting your goals ahead of
| therapy seems unwise. And actually now that I think about it,
| this is one of the things an adhd diagnosis did help me with.
| Perspective. I'm much less self-absorbed and try to be more open
| and caring where I catch myself being dumb.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| It's important to note that an ADHD diagnosis does not
| necessarily end with stimulant medication. Stimulant medication
| can be helpful for some people, but it's not the only way to
| treat ADHD. Having an ADHD diagnosis could help you choose
| appropriate therapy methods, self-help practices, and other self-
| improvement measures. Of course, an ADHD diagnosis isn't
| necessary to begin implementing better time management practices,
| so I'd suggest addressing any issues you might have with time
| management, time boxing, and organization whether or not you have
| an ADHD diagnosis.
|
| When it comes to stimulant medication anecdotes, it's important
| to separate them by how long the person has been taking the
| medication. You'll get very different answers from people who
| have been taking stimulants for 1 month, 1 year, or 10 years. One
| of the side effects (key phrase: side effect) of the first few
| weeks or months of stimulant medication is a sense of euphoria
| and extra motivation. Be careful, because this effect fades with
| time.
|
| In general, I'd recommend focusing on anecdotes from people who
| have been treated for at least 1 year or more, while taking any
| reports from someone who just started medication with a huge
| grain of salt. In particular, I'd recommend ignoring any reports
| from people who are taking excessively high doses of stimulants,
| dosing stimulants sporadically ("as needed" isn't standard
| practice), or who just started taking a stimulant medication. The
| realities of decades of prescription stimulant have pros and
| cons, which aren't apparent in the first few weeks or months.
|
| Also beware that some psychiatrists greatly overdiagnose certain
| conditions. Unfortunately, some practitioners are known to
| overdiagnose their pet condition, from depression to ADHD to
| anxiety. If a practitioner is pushing you toward a diagnosis or
| treatment you don't feel comfortable with, don't hesitate to get
| a second opinion.
| Ensorceled wrote:
| > It's important to note that an ADHD diagnosis does not
| necessarily end with stimulant medication. Stimulant medication
| can be helpful for some people, but it's not the only way to
| treat ADHD.
|
| One may not need medication, but also don't be TOO reluctant to
| use medications. After my diagnosis, I fell back into the "Now
| that I know, I should be able to do this with will power and
| todo lists" trap and resisted medication for too long. Going on
| medication was, and is, life changing for me (16 months later).
|
| The rest of your advice is dead on!
| slothtrop wrote:
| > It's important to note that an ADHD diagnosis does not
| necessarily end with stimulant medication
|
| I expect this is truer for adults, as they have agency over the
| matter. Children don't get a choice.
| argc wrote:
| > dosing stimulants sporadically ("as needed" isn't standard
| practice),
|
| Interesting, I take adderall "as needed" and my doctor is fine
| with it. He prescribed it for daily use but said I can take it
| as needed.
| anonygler wrote:
| Be aware that ADHD medications can make you hypertensive and even
| lead to heart arrhythmias.
| JSeymourATL wrote:
| > how would this help me...
|
| File this under Know Thyself.
|
| You may not actually need the professional diagnosis to confirm
| this hunch. Moving forward, assume it's likely true.
|
| Incidentally, Peter Shankman has an excellent podcast where he
| interviews people with ADHD from all walks of life. >
| https://www.fasterthannormal.com/a-special-love-w-shauna-dan...
| carlmr wrote:
| You may need the diagnosis if you want to start medication. If
| you don't care about medication it might be nice to know what
| you're suffering from (if you're suffering from it), and how
| this may impact your life and that of the people around you.
| appstorelottery wrote:
| I was diagnosed last year, the change in my life has been nothing
| short of profound.
|
| I recall the computer based testing before and after the short-
| term dose of Ritalin. The graph of my body movement and failure
| rate - I became normal. I could do the task and it wasn't hell
| under Methlyphenidate. I was relaxed.
|
| On the downside - the change in my behaviour and my ability to be
| more independent with administration etc. caused my partner and I
| to separate. My change was too much for her. It makes me sad,
| however I was an utter pain-in-the-ass for her the way I was. My
| invoicing and personal accounts were always such a mess, but now
| I can do these things myself. I'm next-level organised compared
| to how I was before.
|
| My core work as a strategist / developer has also improved
| remarkably. I don't rush in and make stupid moves so much these
| days - and I find myself taking the time to understand things I
| never had the patience to understand.
|
| In short, I feel like I've been living my life on hard-level my
| entire life. At 45 everything changed. It's just a shame I wasn't
| diagnosed earlier, but I didn't believe ADHD was actually a valid
| disorder.
| RHSman2 wrote:
| Do you mind me asking a little about the separation? I'm
| shocked I am in a solid marriage. I am a nightmare...
| mckeed wrote:
| My wife and I both started Adderall in adulthood. She has the
| hyperactive, can't watch a whole movie type ADHD and I have the
| absent-minded, a couple hours can go by before I realize I'm not
| working type.
|
| She got her life together after starting treatment and can now
| handle a lot of responsibilities and a demanding job. It only
| helps me a little, and I still have trouble with motivation and
| self-discipline. She divorced me.
| phlipski wrote:
| My daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia three years ago and then
| at the onset of at home learning late last spring we realized
| something else was up. After neuro testing she was diagnosed with
| ADHD. She's on a daily dose of Focalin and the difference is
| night and day when she's on/off it.
|
| During this time of getting my daughter tested and researching
| the subject I realized I have many of the same symptoms she does.
| My wife for years has thought I have ADD which I would casually
| brush off since I was (and am) a successful electrical engineer.
| But the WFH was a real struggle for me and my focus and I think I
| was able to mask it for years. So I went through a full neuro
| evaluation and it turns out I don't have ADHD just slow
| processing. I struggle to really dig in and get started on a task
| for longer than 10-20 minutes. So after talking with my doctor I
| started taking Amphetamine Salt (aka Adderall).
|
| I do notice a difference on and off the drug. On it I can sit and
| focus for long stretches of time. It is not a "miracle drug." I
| still struggle at times with getting started on a task. It won't
| help the what do I work on first problem. But once that decision
| has been made I can sit and flat grind through stuff. I don't
| normally take it on the weekends.
|
| The neuro eval was good to help me better understand my brain and
| why I do certain things and so it helps me know what to work on.
| I recommend getting it. Think of it like any other diagnostic
| tool that a Dr. has (ekg, colonoscopy, etc..) - it just gives you
| more information on your body.
| stared wrote:
| First: less guilt (especially important as I had a Catholic
| upbringing). Before I believed that I am failing at being an
| adult, and that my parents were right that I am too messy,
| chaotic, etc.
|
| Second, getting help. I got the most from HowToADHD YouTube
| Channel, the "Driven to Distraction" book, and conversations with
| friends having ADHD and working in tech (some other life
| situations are no that relevant).
|
| Third, started taking Modafinil. It helps me a lot!
| codpiece wrote:
| I'll check out the book, thanks!
| 0_____0 wrote:
| I am medicated for ADHD, and my goal is to one day get off the
| meds, maybe in 5-10 years. Sounds like you've been functioning
| pretty well without them, which is a great reason NOT to start.
|
| Have you gotten any encouragement from people in your life to
| investigate ADHD, or is it just this therapist? I was encouraged
| by teachers and loved ones to look into it starting in grade 2,
| finally got a diagnosis about 5 years back.
| codpiece wrote:
| The therapist, really. Kind of came out of nowhere.
|
| I am terrified of getting on meds, and my wife (a doctor) is
| also against them.
| [deleted]
| 0_____0 wrote:
| Sounds like you have an intuitive read on the situation and
| maybe needed a bit of backup? My ADHD is bad enough that I
| barely graduated high school, and I'm totally sold on
| medication as a tool, but in this case it sounds like a
| hammer looking for nails.
| MotiveMe wrote:
| Before my diagnosis, ADHD was my kryptonite. I thought I was
| lazy, I couldn't accomplish the things I needed to. It pushed me
| into depression and was quite hard.
|
| After my diagnosis, I felt like ADHD became my superpower. I know
| how to play to my strengths rather than my weaknesses. I know if
| I have an interest in something, I can dive into it and produce
| great output, and for tasks that need doing which aren't
| interesting, I have coping mechanisms and medication if
| necessary.
| tootie wrote:
| How did you get your diagnosis? Every time I read the symptoms
| it sounds like me, but it also kinda sounds like everybody.
| What's the signal that it's a pathology worthy of treatment?
| stevewodil wrote:
| Not the person you are replying to, but generally speaking I
| look at getting a diagnosis (for most mental health problems)
| like so:
|
| Do these symptoms cause me struggle with my everyday life?
| Are things that normal people do all the time oddly difficult
| for me to complete?
|
| If so, go get a diagnosis. Everyone struggles with
| procrastination to an extent, but if you try to sit down and
| try to start the work and just CANNOT emotionally bring
| yourself to do the work or get your brain to engage, then
| it's probably something more than just normal
| procrastination. If you are frustrated with your inability to
| remain focused and complete things on time that are just not
| inherently interesting to you, recognize that most people
| don't struggle like that. It's not a discipline problem it's
| an emotional regulation problem which is common of ADHD.
| LurkersWillLurk wrote:
| > if you try to sit down and try to start the work and just
| CANNOT emotionally bring yourself to do the work or get
| your brain to engage, then it's probably something more
| than just normal procrastination
|
| I've had so many problems with this in high school and
| college, it's unreal. I've only started to fully comprehend
| my problems with anxiety this past semester but reading all
| of this makes me wonder if there's something more to it
| than just that.
| stevewodil wrote:
| If it's really that hard to get engaged into something
| that you aren't innately interested in but that you know
| you "should" do, I would seek an ADHD diagnosis. It's a
| pretty big symptom. Sometimes it really is not possible
| and even if it is it's extremely difficult and you feel
| dumb for it (but obviously you shouldn't, it's not your
| fault). It's like your mind throwing a tantrum and
| refusing to engage with the work at all.
| tootie wrote:
| This is my struggle. But also, nobody likes to focus on
| something uninteresting. What's the difference between
| ADHD and just not wanting to do it?
| stevewodil wrote:
| The difference is really not being able to focus if it's
| not interesting. Your brain will constantly turn to other
| stimulation if it's not getting it from the current task.
| Sometimes you might be able to do it, and other times you
| won't. That's one of the most frustrating parts of ADHD.
| You feel like you've done it before, so why can't you do
| it now? "Normal" people can still focus (or get started)
| even if something is not interesting, they just have to
| start.
|
| Most people won't like to do uninteresting things, but
| the threshold for boredom is extremely low in those with
| ADHD so they will struggle a lot more to stay focused.
| It's a spectrum unfortunately, so there's no one
| definitive measure that says "that's definitely ADHD". To
| be honest, if you find yourself seriously
| questioning/wondering about whether or not you have ADHD
| it probably means you're struggling to an extent and
| aren't 'normal'. Otherwise, it wouldn't be something you
| are questioning.
| user68858788 wrote:
| Beyond needing to visit the pharmacy monthly because vyvanse
| can't be delivered, my life didn't change much. I still have just
| as much trouble focusing as usual. Maybe I should increase the
| dosage..
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