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See i had the opposite experience, coke never did much for me. Even as i watched a few of my friends get scary addicted! (They're better now)
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# ? Jan 6, 2020 18:14 |
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 18:43 |
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Had my doctor's appointment today, ran through what was affecting me (felt like I was just a constant stream of words for a few minutes!). He is referring me over to the assesment team in our area so that's good. He said the waitlist is quite long (he thought it was around 8 months last time he checked). I will wait for the letter and see from there. I could probably get a private assessment if it was going to be a while (but I've gone 35 years so far so what's a few months more!) No difficult questions, no scepticism. Was pleased with the outcome as I'd read of some people having difficulty getting referred.
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# ? Jan 7, 2020 11:59 |
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knox_harrington posted:Having looked up the study it's for a drug with a lower abuse potential than stimulant drugs. That may be fine but a) stimulant drugs work and are around the most effective of any treatment for any disorder; and b) I worry a bit that this will get in the way of some people getting the best possible treatment because "stims bad". med interactions suck
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# ? Jan 11, 2020 07:38 |
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I've done well on my dexmethylphenidate (similar to Ritalin) but I've finally gotten out of the honeymoon phase and it's starting to feel not as effective. I'm curious if anyone here has experience with getting off meds for a little while and then back on them again to kinda undo that tolerance. If it were only a week or two that would probably work okay for me. I am seeing my doc soon, just wanted to hear goon experiences. I'm baffled that I waited so long to start medication. Sometime in late 2018 I decided I wanted to remodel my kitchen so I started scraping off wall texture and put a big hole in the wall (there was a strange lump and I wanted to see what was under there.) And then I just...lost interest. Sigh. A whole drat year later I got my meds and I tackled the poo poo out of that kitchen. I repaired the big hole, re-textured and painted the walls, installed new lighting, took all the cabinets apart and painted them, installed a ventahood (that I'd already bought but had put off installing since 2009) and Marie Kondo'd the poo poo out of 10 years' worth of kitchen clutter. I'm so proud I could scream! That said, I still have ADD. I approached the remodel in a very impulsive way (pulled everything out/off of the cabinets at once instead of doing it by sections, making an enormous maze of a mess in the dining/living area that we had to live in a while, wtf was I thinking) and everything took longer than it needed to because I'd get ready to do something then realize I'd forgotten to order screws or whatever. One day I came home from the hardware store and just left my drat keys in the front door a few hours. But, even with this massive, overwhelming project spilling out into the rest of the house and looking absolutely impossible and completely intimidating, I just kept plugging away. Stimulants rock! artsy fartsy fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Jan 16, 2020 |
# ? Jan 16, 2020 23:41 |
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Haha yes that is a common thing. Your just getting used to the new normal. Just take a day off and you'll remember how bad your ADHD actually is. Taking a day off here and there is really god for me. I try to do it at least once or twice a month. I mean, finish your kitchen first.
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# ? Jan 17, 2020 21:36 |
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Mechafunkzilla posted:It probably works great since cocaine is also a SNDRI and if there's one thing I've learned from working with people with ADHD it's that they fuckin love coke How would this be extra special for anyone with ADHD?
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# ? Jan 23, 2020 06:10 |
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Tab8715 posted:How would this be extra special for anyone with ADHD? Dopamine/norepinephrine stuff. The "N" and "D" in SNDRI
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# ? Jan 23, 2020 14:13 |
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Update: weird experimental drug is still good More important: remembering to brush my teeth is impossible, but I put my toothbrush and toothpaste in the shower about a month ago and it's now completely natural and doesn't take any thought.
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# ? Feb 2, 2020 02:15 |
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I'm still in the process of fine tuning my dosage. 54mg of Concerta at the moment. The doctor offered 72mg as my blood pressure and heart rate barely react to the medication. I refused for now, as the 54mg has been quite great for now. I manage to do even the annoying parts of my job and I don't get exhausted until really late in the evening. We are trying 54mg for 3 weeks more with breaks in between and then check if there is a need for increase. All in all, the meds have been great. My work memory is still useless, but I can keep up my compensation methods to it so much easier. I'm way better as a partner to my SO and sometimes even do metawork now. Evening studies still seem impossible to me, mostly because of crashing. But that might be something I just have to accept. I still suck at regulating myself, because I used to do everything in spurts, because I knew that I can't reliably do anything. Maybe when I learn to pace myself during the day, I can do some extra in the evening ( talking like 19-21 here.) I normally go to sleep before 22, so those are really late times for me. There is a lot to take in on starting meds and lots of things to learn anew. Emotionally I've been stable. I had my struggle of being useless bag of shits years before for other reasons, so I don't have to fight guilt now. Things are great and now just to hope the effects of meds stay strong enough for a long time
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# ? Feb 6, 2020 12:10 |
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Sounds the same as my experience. I would suggest getting 72mg as two tablets one as 54mg and one as 18mg. That way on days when you really have to do something you don't want to do. Or just want to slip into hyperfocus mode you can bump up to 72mg. But on most days you can stick at 54mg. I tried 72mg all the time for abit, but it made me pretty wierd(er). But your experience may vary. Also when you keep forgetting to reorder you meds every month you have the extra 18s as a back up. Oh if you are having problems in the evening you can always take you meds later in the day. I tend to find I'm less ADHD in the mornings anyway. I take mine at 10 so they run out about 22ish. BoneMonkey fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Feb 7, 2020 |
# ? Feb 7, 2020 10:28 |
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I'll have to ask my doctor for the extra 18mg and if it is legal to subscribe it like that. It sounds like a great idea.
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# ? Feb 7, 2020 14:07 |
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Gave up on Strattera in December due to the panic attacks and low mood that I didn't get nearly as much unmedicated, finally got round to booking in a new appointment with my psych for tomorrow. Probably going to look at stimulant options now.
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# ? Feb 7, 2020 14:13 |
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A further follow up. Had an initial call with the assessment service at the hospital. They are referring me for assessment, so that's good. I asked how long the waiting list was. She said from now until the final outcome is currently about 3 years. She was going to write to me so I will see what that says and then decide whether to explore the private route. I could get an assessment by the end of the month going privately, but it's the costs of follow up stuff that I'm not too sure about at the moment.
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# ? Feb 7, 2020 14:52 |
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I had my first day off-meds since starting them. Holy poo poo it was a horrible experience. It's so hard to imagine that I've managed to live like that for this long. I was completely useless the whole day. If my SO directly instructed me to do something, I managed it. But no follow-up or no motivation to start much anything. Luckily I slept really bad, so I can find support in that it won't be as terrible all the time. I hope.
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# ? Feb 10, 2020 08:59 |
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mfcrocker posted:Gave up on Strattera in December due to the panic attacks and low mood that I didn't get nearly as much unmedicated, finally got round to booking in a new appointment with my psych for tomorrow. Probably going to look at stimulant options now. Spoilers: we now on Vyvanse lads
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# ? Feb 10, 2020 10:57 |
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How do you handle off-med days? I try to keep the weekends without medication, but it is just horrible. First day is passable, but I won't be doing anything proper and I am a terrible partner due to not really being present. The second day is the bad one, I get restless, anxious and fall asleep immediately without action. Typing this makes me wonder how my SO sticked with me for 10 years now. I am horrible without meds
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# ? Feb 23, 2020 15:29 |
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You are worse now than you used to be, because you're not used to dealing with it everyday. Other than that, I normally only take one day off because you're right, that second day suuucks!
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# ? Feb 24, 2020 13:23 |
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I do one day off as well--generally a weekend day, unless my schedule goes haywire. I write that day off completely for getting anything done. If I can do something productive, great, but for the most part I just shitpost, read, play video games, nap, and generally pass the time. I do feel crappy sometimes that I dont do anything "worthwhile" but then I tell myself that everyone needs a break to recharge and there is no shame in taking one day off to just rest. Oh yeah also I cant believe my SO has been with me and my garbage brain for so long
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# ? Feb 25, 2020 15:34 |
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I guess in an ironic twist, my SO left me like 24 hours after making my earlier post. The break-up is ADHD related, which is the reason I share it. As it might be important experience for someone else later on. The main reason for the breakup was my incapability of physical intimacy. The issue rose up significantly after I started the medications and the contrasts between earlier me, medicated me and me on off-med day pointed her to it. As most of my medicated time was spent on work or studies, she rarely got to see me on the ups. Also, my mistake was that I focused a lot on getting my working habits and studying habits in order. I can admit I focused primarily to non-relationship stuff. I never was active on physical intimacy and didn't try to fix this fast enough. Admittedly, I do not know if I can fix it, but I could have tried. I did the occasional hugs and kisses, but any kind of longer intimacy was difficult for me. Before meds, I wasn't really able to focus enough to just be present enough for an actual relationship. My mind wandered and I started to avoid contact because I felt shame from being distracted. Like, you shouldn't think about other things when you are close to the love of your life. So I did the wrong choice of hiding my shame and avoiding the situations that cause me distress. When I started my meds, my SO was relieved that lot of the burden she had carried was off. She could trust me to do things and even sometimes plan them ahead. I was able to handle my fair share of everyday routines and on most evenings at least be able to talk with her after workdays. Earlier I just zoned out completely. Removing this burden from her probably gave enough of space to notice other issues in our relationship. She has been working a lot and studying all the time for last 4 years. On top of that she had to do all the "metawork". We've had talks about this issue many times during our relationship, so it's not like this came as total surprise to me. That it reached this point was still a surprise. Our last talk about the topic was from few weeks back and we had a deadline for our relationship. She just felt that it was too much. Naturally I am sad, hurt and disappointed but I understand her. I can't promise that the issue which bothers her would be fixed, even if I would put the time to it. I myself disliked the idea of keeping her waiting, so we decided to break up. So now, at age of 37 I actually have to finally learn to look after myself proper. Actually handle the whole everyday living stuff. Thank god I am on meds, because it would be the end of me without. My advice to all is, that you have to speak about your ADHD. If you start medications during a relationship, try to keep the connection to your partner. It's way too easy to focus selfishly on your own life and making that better. But you can't sidetrack the emotional side of ADHD, particularly in a relationship.
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# ? Feb 26, 2020 09:05 |
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Good post.
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# ? Feb 26, 2020 13:24 |
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Chazani posted:My advice to all is, that you have to speak about your ADHD. If you start medications during a relationship, try to keep the connection to your partner. I think that one of the biggest fears, when it comes to talking about mental health with SOs, is that it will fundamentally change the dynamics of our relationships for the worse. I think that sharing our diagnoses and medications, can help our relationships to grow stronger and become more robust, in part due to us being vulnerable with loved ones who are aware of our baseline and our potential.
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# ? Feb 27, 2020 21:47 |
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Chazani posted:I guess in an ironic twist, my SO left me like 24 hours after making my earlier post. Sorry to hear this. I feel that you have probably never been in a better place to handle becoming single. Enjoy getting to know yourself properly as an individual!
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# ? Mar 2, 2020 18:25 |
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knox_harrington posted:Sorry to hear this. I feel that you have probably never been in a better place to handle becoming single. Enjoy getting to know yourself properly as an individual! Now that I am over the worst part, I am looking forward of being single. Finding my own limits, habits and interests. It's scary, but also intriguing. It is so easy to step back in a relationship and not actually think everything through.
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# ? Mar 2, 2020 19:52 |
I'm at the point where I need to talk to someone specifically about how ADHD is really screwing me over thought pattern-wise. I'd seen a therapist for psychologist stuff and have been able to do really well with coping with the origin of thought patterns that were holding me back, but he didn't quite seem to get me to where I needed to be with countering ADHD and decouping the hyperfocus that's caused issues for me. I'm looking around for people who are specialized in ADHD and seeing lots of LPCs and LCSWs. Can anyone speak to their experience working with one? I'm really looking to find actual strategies to cope, not take the therapy path of finding my own way through the course of therapy. Not saying therapy is bad, just trying a different tack.
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# ? Apr 18, 2020 14:24 |
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It's been a while since I posted in here. A year or something? Anyway, poo poo went down yesterday. I got suspended from work for ten business days, no pay. And if I can't follow the development plan they're drawing up for me once I go back, I'll get fired. I never did take the second prescription I was given because the Vyvanse experience put me off so badly that I was terrified to take the Concerta in case I had the same reaction. So I've been unmedicated this entire time, failing at any sort of time management stuff and just getting more and more overwhelmed at work, which means more stressed, which means even worse at time management and frozen by anxiety. This is bad because I'm a department manager, though a relatively new one(two years as of march). And I had some revelations about it last night. I've done the same career for 18 years, with the same company, and I did it relatively well before I moved into management. But before, I was a baker. I had set tasks for my shifts. I showed up, I did the production as written on the list, and I went home at the end of my shift. I knew what the expectations were, the time lines and deadlines and all that. It was hard work, good work, but it wasn't mentally engaging and I had tons of time for my mind to wander around and I was starting to get bored. So I figured, sure. I can do management, right? Except no two days have been the same, I have no consistent schedule, I have like a bajillion things on the go at any given time and lose track of them, I try to write to-do lists and then lose them or only manage to get two things done before I get pulled away/distracted. And this got taken as willful negligence of duties and anytime I said no to something was written up as insubordination. Admin doesn't know I'm ADHD, I don't know if I actually want to tell them. But... I can't keep functioning like this. I found the Concerta last night and after consulting with a friend who's a pharmaceutical doctor, got told that since I stored it at room temp in a sealed bottle it should still be okay. So... I took one this morning and I'll take the rest over my "holiday" and see what happens. I'm rambling. I needed to vent, have done a few times now to some close friends and my spouse. But... does the thread have suggestions for ways to make it easier on myself document things so I can stay on task better? I already know that if the Concerta does good things this week, I'll go talk to the doc who prescribed it and ask for an ongoing prescription, but I know I need more than that. I thought maybe a smartwatch and a shitton of calendar reminders might be a start. Therapy too? I just want to do my job like a normal person. All the other managers can do it. Why can't I?
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# ? Jun 30, 2020 21:03 |
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Canadian Bakin posted:It's been a while since I posted in here. A year or something? Anyway, poo poo went down yesterday. I got suspended from work for ten business days, no pay. And if I can't follow the development plan they're drawing up for me once I go back, I'll get fired. Because you have brain problems You need the implement structures and reinforcements that are external. Trying to rely on your own brain to keep track of things -- or even to use consistently use tools and skills like notes/calendars to keep track -- is setting yourself up for failure, because that's where the impairment is. Try to have someone like a supervisor or colleague who you can arrange to check in with at certain times of the day or week to go over tasks. Schedule everything you can and make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself to complete tasks on time. Put important reminders or notes on something like a Google Keep widget that's front and center on your cell phone's home screen, so you wind up looking at it a hundred times a day even if you weren't meaning to. Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jul 1, 2020 |
# ? Jul 1, 2020 02:24 |
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With the massive caveat that this advice is given under the assumption you have employment protections at work under law, you should basically absolutely always disclose having ADHD to your employer. In the UK at least it's considered a legally-protected disability (basically everything is) and once I told my employer about my diagnosis they were required to provide me with reasonable adjustments at work to help me out; in my case it's stuff like guaranteeing a seat in the office away from the aisle and allowing an amount of working from home, but it's amazing the range of things that can help make work easier. It can also be considered a mitigating factor in disciplinary action and over here, firing someone for unwanted behaviour directly related to their disability puts them on very legally shaky ground. That said, IANAL, this may not apply to where you live, consult your union if you're in one and join one if you can E: choosing to work unmedicated is likely to work against you mind; I hope the new meds work out alright for you and it might be useful to mention you're trying them, both from a "look I'm taking steps to get this under control" perspective and a "brain meds are fucky I don't know how this will affect me please be understanding" one mfcrocker fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Jul 1, 2020 |
# ? Jul 1, 2020 09:13 |
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Thanks, mechafunkzilla and mfcrocker, for your posts. I'm working on getting my calendar set up with notifications and constant reminders for important things. This will be expanded to my work calendar as well, when I'm allowed back. I have plans to get my medical records, just in case I need them, and I'm going to see if my family doctor is still around so that maybe I can work with her rather than relying on whoever is on rotation at the walk-in. I'll also talk to work about letting me have back my office days. Things were better when I had those dedicated days for paperwork rather than trying to piecemeal it out through the week in my "spare time". And getting people to drat well write things down, email them to me, and not just blather at me as they walk by and expect me to remember what they said three days later. As for the Concerta... Well I haven't noticed much difference, maybe a bit more alertness. This is both the best and worst time since I'm at home and I don't do much when I'm at home, though I've actually sat through reading articles and whatnot online without bouncing through 40 different tabs. On the other hand, I haven't noticed any ill effects and it's been a week now. Except for today. Today was a wake up and go run errands day as soon as I'm dressed day so I took my dose and toddled off out the door without breakfast and now it's "HI! YES, I'M ON STIMULANTS WITH NO FOOD!" from my body. I have a sandwich. It's fine now. I think. Anyway, I'm working on it.
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# ? Jul 6, 2020 21:04 |
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Canadian Bakin posted:Thanks, mechafunkzilla and mfcrocker, for your posts. All the best. Food is always a bloody minefield with stimulants so don't feel too bad about a crap day today
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# ? Jul 6, 2020 22:31 |
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Truuu. I have to admit I have got a bit slack with food and meds. Both eating too much and too little. Do you guys notice any repeatable effects when it comes to meds and food?
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# ? Jul 7, 2020 13:25 |
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So far it's just that I get super twitchy if I don't eat when I take it. Which we're going to test again today since I overslept and just about missed my doctors appointment. Rushing out the door means no food with pills. Whee. Thank god for the smart watch I got because that's the only alarm that went off.
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# ? Jul 7, 2020 17:44 |
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I don't get twitchy, but if I don't eat when I take my meds I'll stop being hungry at all for ~12 hours then eat a huge meal when I notice I'm getting shaky from not eating anything since the night before. Can be a really nasty cycle if I don't pay attention and let it turn into eating once a day.
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# ? Jul 8, 2020 08:21 |
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Oh man I can slip into a hardcore midnight eating pattern real easy.
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# ? Jul 8, 2020 09:34 |
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Did it to myself today. Took my meds at 5pm yesterday, went to work, totally forgot food existed until just now.
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# ? Jul 9, 2020 12:09 |
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Hey all, I've been increasingly frustrated with what I increasingly believe to be ADD symptoms that I've had for as long as I can remember. The DSM diagnostic guidelines read extremely familiar, but I thought I should consult with more experienced folks before I try to find a clinician and sound like I'm trying to recite the magic words for an Adderall Rx. If I could get your opinions on this I would greatly appreciate it. So I'll just describe what I'm experiencing while I'm still thinking about it. My memory can be selective, but is mostly terrible. I struggle to remember friends names, I struggle to remember what I've read, I struggle to remember in general. God forbid I try to study anything. I've had a few abortive attempts to learn Japanese for about 7 years now but nothing sticks. Textbooks, tutors, memory games, everything. I'm still stuck halfway through the first Genki book after 3 years because my recollection is so poor. I've attempted to learn to code several times to switch careers and I can't make it stick. I've had this issue since at least high school. I used to think I was just lazy, but it's consistent and frustrating. In pharmacy school I once made a big chart on the different types of insulin, their duration of action, naming schemes and so on, then studied it for three days. I proceeded to nearly fail the test because I recalled nothing from the chart I spent all that time drilling. This sort of thing has happened in every class I've ever taken. My focus sucks. It takes several tries to read through a single page of a textbook, even one I'm interested in, and I will have forgotten everything within a minute. Retaining new information is a struggle in general, as though my brain has a thick coating of Teflon and everything slides off. Trying to focus on pieces of information I want to remember feels like trying to force the same-poles of magnets together. My closet is full of years of old projects I started then abandoned as my interest evaporated and never came back. At work, these symptoms are reasonably masked. I'm a retail pharmacist, so my day is 10-13 hours of hundreds of non-stop short problems with no time to apply much critical effort. But when I'm at home, I notice immediately. I can't organize my day and I become easily, even subconsciously distracted from housework constantly. One minute I'm washing dishes and intend to do laundry, then I find that I'm discussing a diabetes diagnosis on FB with a concerned friend half an hour later and I never got started on that laundry. As you can imagine, this is also wrapped up in cycles of anxiety and depression. I experience a constant urgency to be working, achieving or creating but I just can't, leading to a fun cascade mental issues. This was a rambling screed, I know, but I just want to live a fulfilling, productive life
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# ? Jul 22, 2020 20:57 |
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yeah sounds like it, welcome to brain damage club e: one of the best things you can do -- and much more useful than using the DSM criteria -- would be to pick up and read a book about ADHD and see what fits. In my opinion "Outside the Box: Rethinking ADD/ADHD in Children and Adults" by Thomas E. Brown is the best one out there right now. Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jul 22, 2020 |
# ? Jul 22, 2020 21:06 |
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Sounds like it to me too. Being unable to function at home was one of my major reasons for getting diagnosed too.
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# ? Jul 22, 2020 21:14 |
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Thanks. The frustration and worry was getting to be unbearable. I'll check out that book and see what I can glean from it.
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# ? Jul 22, 2020 21:40 |
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Boy and I thought I had a bad case of it. Do you at least ever experience hyperfocus?
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# ? Jul 22, 2020 22:14 |
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 18:43 |
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Yep, reading up and potentially seeking an evaluation seems like a good idea. Personally, as soon as I found some good descriptions of how ADHD manifests in adults, I had that spark of self recognition; the main thing was overcoming the vague misconceptions I had about what ADHD looks like. Relatedly, after working through what ADHD looks like in my head, I realized there was some other stuff up there that was different, so I went back in to get evaluated and it turns out I'm also autistic
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# ? Jul 22, 2020 22:17 |