Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#31

Post by mrangle » Thu, May 23, 2024, 1:56 PM UTC

bradhe wrote: post #7

tanepiper wrote: post #2

You don't "develop late-onset ADHD" - you either have ADHD or you don't, it's a genetic condition (one of your parents had it). You have to fit the DMS criteria of having childhood symptoms, and they will want to speak to relatives and friends who can confirm this. Burnout can cause AuDHD traits but you don't catch anything - likely taking time to recover will be better than trying medication - for a start you have t…

I predict that over prescription of ADHD medication in the US is going to viewed as a massive public health misstep in 40 years.

Acknowledging that this is a pedantic correction: I think that there will be an acknowledgement of over diagnosis of ADHD. First line treatments are what they are.

But also that, in tandem, there will be acknowledgement of under diagnosis of Type 1 Autism. Precisely because it is so diagnostically evasive "and can mimic ADHD". However, the correction that I'd make of the quoted phrase is that, likely, inattentive ADHD wholly is misdiagnosed Type 1 Autism in my opinion. And that ADHD will come to be seen as Spectrum disorder, for which certain manifestations (ie: not inattentive) do not necessarily crossover with the Autism part of the (soon to be wider) Spectrum.

How that might look, in families, is that those with non-autistic ADHD individuals could be observed to more often contain autistic individuals.

See, for example:

https://scitechdaily.com/developmental-twist-new-study-links...

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#32

Post by b20000 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:00 PM UTC

mnky9800n wrote: post #4

In full agreement with tanepiper. Also, you don't say what happened nor what it is you are currently identifying as ADD. that makes it hard to give you any feedback other than, you don't have it because if you did you would be born with it. Also, as someone who has ADHD, and was diagnosed as a child, took medication from childhood to adulthood, I learned to live with it. In my masters program I felt like taking Adder…

I went through a situation where I was forced to bankrupt my company as a founder due to maturing debt and refusal from family to help. This despite having customers and a distribution network. So I fear I might have PTSD. Concentration and focus has always been a challenge since college even though I've done well in school and college. I've also struggled with being tired all the time and with anger and frustration causing me to become tired.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#33

Post by b20000 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:04 PM UTC

nnnnico wrote: post #8

What you might perceive as late-onset ADHD could be the cause of not being able to keep your coping mechanisms up due to stress? In my case, social anxiety (which I'm officially diagnosed with, but not ADHD) skyrocketed after a series of family events, which resulted in not being able to focus on anything mildly difficult or anxiety inducing, as my mind quickly started wandering out of nowhere, and becoming aware, sh…

What you are describing sounds very close to what i'm experiencing.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#34

Post by b20000 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:05 PM UTC

BaculumMeumEst wrote: post #14

If you had no life stressors or responsibilities and the ability to work on whatever you're interested in, would you have trouble focusing?

no

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#35

Post by theshackleford » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:13 PM UTC

bradhe wrote: post #7

tanepiper wrote: post #2

You don't "develop late-onset ADHD" - you either have ADHD or you don't, it's a genetic condition (one of your parents had it). You have to fit the DMS criteria of having childhood symptoms, and they will want to speak to relatives and friends who can confirm this. Burnout can cause AuDHD traits but you don't catch anything - likely taking time to recover will be better than trying medication - for a start you have t…

I predict that over prescription of ADHD medication in the US is going to viewed as a massive public health misstep in 40 years.

We all have uninformed opinions.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#36

Post by P_I_Staker » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:15 PM UTC

bradhe wrote: post #7

tanepiper wrote: post #2

You don't "develop late-onset ADHD" - you either have ADHD or you don't, it's a genetic condition (one of your parents had it). You have to fit the DMS criteria of having childhood symptoms, and they will want to speak to relatives and friends who can confirm this. Burnout can cause AuDHD traits but you don't catch anything - likely taking time to recover will be better than trying medication - for a start you have t…

I predict that over prescription of ADHD medication in the US is going to viewed as a massive public health misstep in 40 years.

ADHD medication is heavily heavily under-prescribed. It's genocide.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#37

Post by jethro_tell » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:16 PM UTC

I wrote about this here[0] so I'm not going to post it again, and it's not a direct answer to you question but I hope it can be useful.

A note that is extremely important is that medication without behavioral change and coaching is simply temporary at best and can even just have you hyper focused on the wrong thing. So, you really need to see someone, yes maybe you get medicated, but you also need to work with someone that can coach you through your executive dysfunction so you can understand what it is and how to work with it.

0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33633512#33639315

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#38

Post by theshackleford » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:18 PM UTC

hoorayimhelping wrote: post #23

I was diagnosed 15ish years ago when I was 26. I tried medication and absolutely hated it. It changed who I was. Medication is a crutch. If you're completely crippled and you need it, then you should use it temporarily. But be very very careful developing dependence on it and using it instead of doing the work to deal with your behavior. What worked for me instead of medication: - Get on a sleep and wake schedule tha…

> Medication is a crutch. If you're completely crippled and you need it, then you should use it temporarily. But be very very careful developing dependence on it and using it instead of doing the work to deal with your behavior.

Your giving piss poor, dangerous advice that goes against established front line treatment.

If you actually have ADHD, completely ignore this terrible advice and treat it in line with a qualified professional instead of getting your medical advice from unqualified HN posters.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#39

Post by mwpmaybe » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:25 PM UTC

kahnix wrote: post #15

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my early twenties during university and didn't manage to get medicated until 3 years later (The queue was quite long and I ended up getting a prescription from a private doctor in my home country) I think it became really obvious to me when I would require a ton of discipline to do assignments around making applications, but doing something like configuring linux from scratch was so perso…

> I found that medication have definitely helped me focus, but the direction of what I'm focusing doesn't always yield productive results (hyperfocusing on reddit for example).

I had this problem (and others) with Adderall. Vyvanse (Lisdexamfetamine) has been much better for me. I've also found that I get better results when I take my ADHD medication with protein, and about an hour before any caffeine intake. YMMV.

> I've also started worring that what I've really done is created a dependence, where eventually ill have to up the dose as what I'm currently on will make me feel like I did pre meds, and stopping will make me feel worse.

I worry about this too. I've been on 30mg Lisdexamfetamine for about two years and haven't felt a need to up my dose. But if I skip a day it hits hard. I don't know whether it's worse than before I started medicating or if it's just that my bar for mental function has been raised.

Re: Ask HN: Discuss ADHD and your use of medication

#40

Post by mwpmaybe » Thu, May 23, 2024, 2:30 PM UTC

JohnBooty wrote: post #25

The number one thing is making sure I get enough quality sleep. Nothing else is even close! I say "quality" sleep because think I had minor sleep apnea for years and if you have anything like that going on, it won't matter if you get 8 or even 10 hours per night of sleep. As far as medication: - Stimulant meds were like a magic cure at first, but over time they lost efficacy and they made me more high-strung - Modafi…

> The number one thing is making sure I get enough quality sleep.

Sleep hygiene is a huge factor.

> Lastly, you may wish to consider treating anxiety as well.

I think it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem that will vary from person to person. Treating my ADHD and becoming more functional has reduced my anxiety and depression symptoms markedly.