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Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

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Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#1
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child but have gone unmedicated my whole life. While there have been definitive obstacles to overcome, I’ve always thought of my ADHD as a superpower, as I have the ability to intensely hyperfocus and get incredible amounts of work done.

BUT lately I’ve been wondering. Have I been working harder than I need to? Should I give medication a try? Curious if anyone else here with ADHD has insight. I don’t want to lose my flame but maybe I need some help. Not sure.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#2
You are asking the wrong question. When it comes to medication: is there a specific problem you want fixed with a target objective?

You can try medication but without asking the right questions I suspect you will be disappointed. If you try it monitor for how you feel and what others observe as differences.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#3
Imo that depends. If you don't encounter any major issues in your life, then I'd skip the meds. Not only they're really expensive, they're also really difficult to get ( especially recently, for some reason they rarely appear in the pharmacies ). They also don't always work - this is most likely different for each person, but I feel that they provide only a slight boost in my concentration and motivation ( in my case though, this is does make a difference ).

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#4
I’ve had ADHD my entire life, too, and never tried medication until my early 30s. After being unmedicated for so long and learning to adapt with it as a superpower as you say, I found meds to mostly be ineffective. They do remove the random side noise that can sometimes be detracting, which helps when you need single-minded focus without much deviation. Otherwise, it makes me feel jittery when it’s active and physically tired when it wears off. I tend to dose when I need it as needed, which my Psych says is fine if it works for me. Eg. a quarter of a tablet 30min or so before I need the effect. This is with plain methylphenidate and not an extended release variant. I’ve also known others to start meds later in life and shortly thereafter be unable to work effectively without them. In such cases, I am unsure if having a strong dependence on a med is worth it over trying to work with ADHD. Dependence on meds can have lasting effects.

That being said, I quite enjoy ADHD outside of times where it can make focus or work harder. I see things in, IMO, more interesting ways, and learn and notice things I might not otherwise. Some of these things have significantly contributed to my personal and working life in a positive way.

As a side-note, I also take Wellbutrin for depression, though it has a stimulant effect. I am unsure if this effect contributes but I haven’t noticed a significant change when I forget to take it for a while.

TLDR; depends. Try meds, see how it is for you. Try not to entirely depend on them to be productive.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#5
What impact are you hoping it will have? If you're worried about losing your flame try micro-dosing it. I've found < 10 micrograms of ritalin can have a useful impact - gets rid of some of the background noise but without the negative effects of too narrow a focus.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#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 if you are getting incredible amounts of work done -- why fix something that isn't broken?

At the same time, if you think it might help your life, you can talk to a doc about your thoughts, maybe try it for a bit to see what it changes, and then make an informed decision whether or not to keep doing it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I medicate my ADHD?

#10
I would at least try the meds for a couple of months. I started taking conserta, and it was kind of magical. My mood would improve a lot and I felt more sympathetic with people and problems I needed to solve. As if I had the energy of thinking all trought, with more points of views. Some time later I would get used to effect and it kind of wore out. Today I feel my antidepressants are more effective than the adhd meds.
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