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Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#101

Post by saaaaaam »

jliptzin wrote: post #31
saaaaaam wrote: post #17

While anecdotal advice can be useful to contextualise stuff like this I would strongly be to urge you not to base this decision on advice from semi-anonymous people, and get a proper psychiatric assessment of your ADHD if you are able to. If you were diagnosed as a child it’s entirely possible that the nature of your ADHD has evolved over time. It used to be thought people “grow out of it” but this seems less well su…

Thank you for sharing… if I may ask what medication are you currently on? Is it a stimulant?

Methylphenidate

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#102

Post by nicbou »

Try it. It's the only way to know.

It was not worth it for me. The side effects were worst than the benefits. However it's largely due to my working conditions and the default medication prescribed in my country. Your experience might vastly differ.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#103

Post by teamonkey »

websitescenes wrote: post #61
teamonkey wrote: post #13

Are you already self-medicating with coffee (or other stimulants)? Is the caffeine contributing to sleep disorders or physical shakes? One little-mentioned aspect of meds is that they can replace the useful effects of caffeine without the negatives.

I don’t want to go into too much detail but I’ve used substances of all kinds my whole life. That’s partially what drives my question here. I don’t want to do that anymore as I think my health is being effected.

In that case it may well be worth you trying ADHD medication as it could potentially be safer and have fewer side effects and negative consequences. Go through a professional, obviously.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#104

Post by qup »

websitescenes wrote: post #66
codingdave wrote: post #6

Sounds like you are living the dream. I have multiple family members with ADHD, and my observation is that everyone's ADHD has different results. Some of my people get nothing done, despite starting a lot of projects. Some get a lot done, but only under certain circumstances. Some get a reasonable amount done, but only if they have a plethora of choices to choose from - they cannot focus their focus, so to speak. So…

It just takes a lot out of me physically, emotionally and mentally. Wondering if I need to be spending that much of myself. I feel like I work twice as hard as everyone else.

I say this about myself.

My solution is trying to spend an appropriate amount of that effort on work that directly benefits me.

I want to work, I don't feel complete without having a bigger mission. So I'm just selfish about what I work on.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#105

Post by rickydroll »

doubleg72 wrote: post #80
jliptzin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for sharing… if I may ask what medication are you currently on? Is it a stimulant?

Not OP but Vyvanse is a miracle drug to me. It's a stimulant, same as Adderall, but a prodrug. Your body processes it into dexamphetamine so it is much smoother with little side effects.

how are the cardiac side effects? I tried and failed on a variety of stimulants because of tachycardia.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#106

Post by friendlynokill »

theoriginaldave wrote: post #82

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 40s. I had pretty good coping mechanisms and like you I was fairly successful. I always thought the hyper focus that comes with inattentive ADHD was my superpower. And I was a successful troubleshooter, because I was good in a crisis. I could easily detach from whatever else was going on to solve the puzzle in front of me. But I had challenges, poor credit record, hard time paying bill…

Has medication affected your ability to hyper focus at all?

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#107

Post by jliptzin »

doubleg72 wrote: post #80
jliptzin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for sharing… if I may ask what medication are you currently on? Is it a stimulant?

Not OP but Vyvanse is a miracle drug to me. It's a stimulant, same as Adderall, but a prodrug. Your body processes it into dexamphetamine so it is much smoother with little side effects.

I am too, and mostly feel the same way. I have only been on it a few months though. How long have you been on it? Do you worry about long term side effects? I notice my heart rate is faster all the time though, but my cardiologist said not to worry.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#108

Post by perilunar »

Balgair wrote: post #91

I have close family that has recently gone on medication for ADHD. So, grains of salt flying everywhere. That person is now a different person than before. Some good things, some bad. I want to stress that my family member is very accomplished and has now started to medicate (under MD supervision), after completing a PhD in STEM from a top 25 school with many honors. The good things are that they are calmer and easie…

If you can complete a PhD do you really need meds?

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#109

Post by adhdexperience »

rlmflores wrote: post #73

I'd recommend talking to a GOOD physician (a neurologist or a psychiatrist) - as a neurodiverse individual - I'm autistic, have ADHD, and have a few IQ points of being considered gifted - my doctor and therapist both told me that it was probably due to attention deficit) who has accomplished much without medication or awareness of these disorders (and giftedness). The tricky thing about being neurodiverse is that it…

I know some people that are fairly skeptical of CBT, but this is probably because it was oversold to them as the cure, and in the end the attempt to use it lead to something that sounded like masking-induced anxiety rather than actual solution to problems.

On the other hand, I know people who did some sort CBT and it seems to have genuinely helped them, especially with helping forming better habits?

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#110

Post by adhdexperience »

Balgair wrote: post #91

I have close family that has recently gone on medication for ADHD. So, grains of salt flying everywhere. That person is now a different person than before. Some good things, some bad. I want to stress that my family member is very accomplished and has now started to medicate (under MD supervision), after completing a PhD in STEM from a top 25 school with many honors. The good things are that they are calmer and easie…

Yeah, from what I know of people with ADHD, this doesn't sound like ADHD person on amphetamines ... well, unless one of the things that ADHD caused them is being a people pleaser due to rejection sensitivity and I did hear that medication can help a lot with this - like it does help with doing things you have aversion to, so if you only were nice to other people because "what if they don't like me otherwise", you could now feel liberated to be the uncaring self-centered bastard ...

But getting the dose is tricky, talking to them about better drugs could help.

If you are affraid of addiction ... yeah, some behaviors can look like that, and there can certain degree of physiological dependence ... but "I am anxious my meds that help me function better will run out, with shortage and prescription hoops" and "damnit, I forgot to take my meds in the morning and now it is too late and I am angry, because I can basically write-off the rest of the day" is fairly standard medicated ADHD experience :-)

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