ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#251

Post by acuozzo » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:28 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #14

I have ADHD and OCD. I take medication. This post on ADHD hits hope with me on how people treat OCD. "My OCD is kicking in, it needs to be aligned!" OCD is not wanting things straight. That's human nature. OCD can be crippling. It can take over your thoughts and your life. That's the compulsion. It takes you over. It's doesn't help with programming, it doesn't make your code neat.

I too have ADHD and OCD.

It's a terrible combination since stimulant medications tend to increase anxiety and therefore worsen OCD symptoms.

My OCD is largely under control now. It took a few years of CBT; figuring out how much sleep (5 ± 1 hours for me) I need per night; and nailing-down a daily routine featuring bounded compulsive activity in order to, for instance, enable me to get out of the door in the morning.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#252

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:29 PM UTC

qzx_pierri wrote: post #85

ranman wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you use it right? I was on stimulants as a kid and they worked but made me feel emotionally empty and suppressed my appetite and energy. I’m 28 now and I’ve started taking it again to help with work. The appetite suppression is gone but the emotional apathy remains. If you have suggestions or experiments to make the best use of these meds I’d love to hear them. I started with the lowest possible dose. Also, yo…

Stimulants are bad news bro. I was diagnosed as a kid, and my sophomore year of college as well. I also didnt get enough sleep (or low quality sleep), had a terrible diet, etc. You can avoid the grips of amphetamines with regular exercise, mindfulness meditation, keto diet, yoga, etc. It's a bit harder to maintain, but you won't have to take amphetamines.

No, not everybody can. If you can manage it using those topics, great. You're not as far into the "ADHD affect my life" spectrum as other are. Awesome for you.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#253

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:34 PM UTC

kls wrote: post #156

Philadelphia wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try other medication. It took me a few years, after being diagnosed in my 30's as well, to find something that helped without side effects.

Can second this, I started on Adderall but it has severe side effects for me. I read up on it and due to the Left handed amphetamines in the formula it causes more parasympathetic nervousness system stimulation as opposed to central nervousness system stimulation which is what the dextro-amphetamine target. You may want to try Dexedrin which is only dextro-amphetamine or Desoxyn which is methamphetamine. In my case a…

Thirded. My psychologist helped me go through 5 different medications and various doses to find the right one for me. Help with managing concentration enough that I've been promoted (like 4 times... suckers), with no emotional or physical side effects (including loss of appetite).

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#254

Post by zackmorris » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:37 PM UTC

I posted this comment under the "Why I procrastinate" article today (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22127841) but I think it's important enough to the HN viewership that it should be shared here as well. Hope this helps someone:

I just discovered yesterday that I suffer from task anxiety related to ADD/ADHD, after a lifetime of struggling against falling into patterns of depression. It's felt as almost a pain in my gut between my chest and belly whenever I go to start working on something I have to do. I just worked through this series of exercises and it really helped me identify what's actually going on, with some solutions:

https://addandsomuchmore.com/2012/01/29/taskmaster-getting-t...

https://addandsomuchmore.com/2012/02/11/task-anxiety-awarene...

https://addandsomuchmore.com/2012/02/14/virtue-not-own-rewar...

https://addandsomuchmore.com/2012/02/16/doling-out-the-cooki...

https://addandsomuchmore.com/2012/02/24/when-the-game-is-rig...

Some other keywords to look for are "impossible task" and "executive dysfunction", both maladies being seen predominantly in millennials. I just happened to get them 10 or 20 years ahead of time by starting computers when I was 12 as a Gen Xer.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#255

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:38 PM UTC

callesgg wrote: post #149

monadgonad wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s not a real disease like other diseases, it’s a collection of symptoms. Any disease with "syndrome" in its name is just a collection of symptoms. That's literally what syndrome means. Your information about ADHD is offensively wrong, and its underdiagnosis and undertreatment due to misinformation ruins far more lives than than there are people with anxiety being mistakenly prescribed stimulants.

ADHD has no known causal model. It is not a singular thing. Downs syndrome as a counter example has a known messurabe causal model. It is truth, regardless if it is offensive or not. Regardless of your interpretation.

> ADHD has no known causal model.

Perhaps not, but there are discernible differences in the brain in people with severe ADHD symptoms.

And the (current) lack of a causal model doesn't stop it from being real, nor does it stop the current treatments from helping people operate at a closer-to-normal level.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#256

Post by munk-a » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:39 PM UTC

wahern wrote: post #202

rubyn00bie wrote: post #188

I was somewhat recently diagnosed with ADD and the diagnosis has truly changed my life. I, for the first time, in roughly 12 years of writing software professionally, am able finish a project enough to open source it-- and I am days away from being able to do so. It feels insanely good. Like something I've only dreamed of as silly as that is, and I don't even care if folks use it (it's not that good), but it's the fa…

Warning: there can be a honeymoon phase where after diagnosis and beginning medication you enter this ecstatic period of normalcy on the one hand and insane productivity on the other. Don't get lulled into complacency. Use this period to improve lifestyle routines and get to a place where you can cruise at a better pace than you otherwise might once the acceleration stops. By lifestyle I don't mean some of the things…

Not to be too depressing, but there are two factors that can contribute to this honeymoon phase that I'm aware of:

1. Weight change, either bulking on muscle or fat can change your optimal dose for medication... And it's my opinion (and totally just my opinion) that starting to treat ADHD usually leads to a weight gain, either by getting you more able to exercise or increasing your activity and caloric intake.

2. Resistances, stimulants build up resistances pretty quickly for most people so if you're unlucky you'll likely be med hopping for several years until you run out of options or find a winner - if you're lucky and don't build up a resistance then you're probably set for life.

Both of these are addressable though, in the first path any significant weight changes should be monitored by your doctor (go to your doctor regularly, blood pressure should be monitored while on stimulants) and ideally the medication adjusted up... for the latter, well, it's a pile of poo but if you're able to stick with it your doctor will likely take you on a tour of different methyl*s until you find one that works - then, try your damnedest to never let your insurance force you off of it.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#257

Post by mhh__ » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

I wonder whether I have mild ADHD but I'm not sure whether I'm just young - and not willing to use the NHS to find out. (or ADHD-ish but not actually "ill", for want of a better term).

I can relate to the symptoms on the NHS website (for adults) but I'd rather not self-diagnose. One thing that doesn't seem to fit is that I can focus very hard (by my standards at least) (for short periods of time) on things but not things I actually need to focus on - I always have about 9 books open at the same time, physically or virtually, constantly skipping between them (sometimes literally, sometimes on "academic" timescales i.e. a day). This stops me from sleeping which is probably partly why I can be very neurotic. Who needs sleep when you could be reading a FEA textbook.

I have never done as expected on a formal exam - I can't seem to put the effort despite wanting to, but I think that is part arrogance and part personality in the sense that I can't take it seriously enough. Attention to detail and time management, usually.

I have now realised that I made it about ~100 internalized words into the article before zoning out but I have managed to write this without making any new tabs.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#258

Post by filoleg » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

nicoburns wrote: post #72

RankingMember wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know this, but I take my medication as rarely as possible because I hate the comedown, appetite suppression, and tolerance building that occurs. It sucks, but I had a feeling there was some long-term downside like this. Hopefully lessening frequency to occasional use also lessens the likelihood of what you describe.

This. I will always advise people to avoid medication for ADHD and major depression if they possibly can, not because I have a moral problem with it, but because I've yet to find one case where it was sustainable long-term. (bipolar/schizophrenia/BPD are a different matter. Quite possibly because the medications aren't stimulants).

Just because you don't have anecdotes on your hand doesn't mean that's not the case. I don't know what your definition of "long-term" is, but ultiple specialists I have seen over the years happened to mention that they have patients who have been pretty much on the same stimulant prescription for ADD for 10+ years. I didn't reach that number of years yet, but I am getting close though. Once the specialist finds the drug and dosage that works for you, there should be pretty much no need for any changes to prescription or dosage. That seems to be pretty sustainable to me.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#259

Post by tartoran » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:42 PM UTC

rubyn00bie wrote: post #244

tartoran wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably stimulants. I’d be curious to know because I’d rather not take stimulants...

I would encourage you to really ignore the stigma that comes along with it, because I think it's endlessly harmful and only delays treatment for folks. The best way I can put it, was the first time I got a pair of glasses, I didn't know how bad my vision was (I was like 12)... when I put them on for the first time, I was shocked, I was in disbelief, "this is how everyone else sees?" Glasses are a tool to help you see…

I've taken stimulants, both Adderall and Ritalin and I can't stand the way they makes me feel. I don't have a very severe problem though but I do struggle sometimes with procrastination.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#260

Post by ThrowawayP » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 11:42 PM UTC

sibeliuss wrote: post #216

ddorian43 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of these "alternatives" ever fixes bipolar,schizophrenia, borderline, adhd, etc. When you have those stuff, you need to take meds AND join the gardening club. You can't go manic at the gardening club.

Right. Those are very extreme diagnoses. Medication is often required. What this book speaks to is the problem with overprescription as applied to the average person, and offers many solutions.

Overprescription? It is so damned hard to get stimulant medications (patients don't even dare ask for fear of being labeled "drug seeking") that even people who need them badly have a hard time getting them.

So, no, it does not seem like a "a pharmaceutical spiral brought on by a sick process", whatever the blazes that means.