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ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

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Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#401

Post by dijksterhuis »

hinkley wrote: post #317
Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I'm not a researcher, just a sufferer, but my understanding is that yes, emotional regulation issues are common with ADHD. Attention-deficit is kind of a misnomer; a lot of doctors now think "executive functioning disorder" would be a better name. Executive functioning is sort of the layer that sits on top of our underlying systems - whether they be behavioral or emotional - and allows us some level of conscious a…

Since we're comparing notes, do you find yourself hearing sounds that nobody else hears? Executive function may be involved, but the inability to filter sensory information is a pretty big part of things for many people. When I'm two rooms away shouting "What is the dog eating?" to two people who are sitting in the same room as the dog, that's not about executive function.

When cars drive past I cannot listen to what someone is saying on the phone. It completely blocks all the sound of them talking.

The cars don’t even have to be that loud or close by. A few tens of metres away at 30mph and I still can’t hear anything anyone says.

Sometimes I have to swap places with a friend when walking down the pavement just so I can try to hold a conversation.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#402

Post by tokamak-teapot »

falcolas wrote: post #243
adamrmcd wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nor coffee or other "normalized" liquid stimulants. The coffee sweet-spot-of-productivity is so difficult to attain, or even find. Is it even worth experimenting with if other avenues have failed? It would be interesting to hear the author's thoughts on this, and on alcohol. EDIT: ...and on exercise.

For me, to have a meaningful effect on ADHD, I have to drink so much coffee (or other caffeinated beverages) that I have heart palpitations. That's one of the advantages of the prescribed stimulants; they're effective at doses that have no physical side effects.

I've been using caffeine as stimulant since early teens, to try and help with focus, but it's been really hard to avoid over-stimulating.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#403

Post by saulrh »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #397
siljon wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had this problem through my whole life... My parents and I have never understood that this definition is ADHD and always assumed it was inability to focus. My mom have always been big about don't take pills unless you absolutely have too. However it isn't until older age I finally been able to force my exert executive control to focus. It has taken a lot of practice and challenging myself and it wasn't until t…

I went down into dark depression 2 years back. Wife just had our first baby. I was 38. I used my kid to draw me out of depression so I didn't do anything stupid to myself. Went to therapy over a year ago, was diagnosed with ADHD. At the same time I started doing crossfit and lost 90 pounds in 3 months. My PCP prescribed me Vyvanse, and just being able to focus a little better and see my life change for better and may…

> TLDR: I just feel I'm getting off track a lot more lately than I was the previous 14 months. Not sure what I should do, maybe go back to therapy? Maybe focus more on mindfulness/stoicism? Up my dose of Vyvanse? Go back to the gym? All the above?

My understanding is that tolerance is essentially inevitable when you're taking stimulants. I've made a point of checking in with a psychiatrist on a monthly basis so they can help me measure it semi-objectively and adjust if necessary. When resistance does start to develop, a psychiatrist will also have plenty of options for managing it; for example, I think that some people rotate between amphetamine salts, methylphenidate, and other stimulants over the course of several years. They'll also be able to help you figure out which other courses of action would be most helpful, figuring out what issues are actually causing you the most problems and how to address those effectively and so on.

TL;DR There are specialists for "I think my medication isn't working any more" and I'd strongly recommend talking to one, both for this specific problem and on an ongoing basis so you're not forced to try to observe your head from the inside.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#404

Post by modo_mario »

munk-a wrote: post #256
wahern wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Res…

>"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."

Idk. I never gained much weight and ate a lot but the rilatin i take makes my appetite plummet completely. I eat a lot less during the day.

>"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."

I hope this won't be me. I think i am already largely resistant but i hope i can lose it and will try to go back to taking breaks.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#405

Post by gaspoweredcat »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #67
vonseel wrote: post #47

I’m 31 and have ADHD (diagnosed in my teens) and I’m pretty sure NOBODY with ADHD is going to have the wherewithal to read this entire article! Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! In all seriousness, I skimmed parts of the article and kept scrolling and it just kept going and going and going... like the Energizer bunny. I guess the author found a doctor to prescribe sti…

> Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! It's funny. People with ADHD suffer from attention deficit but at the same time they display hyperattention when they encounter a subject they like. I've experienced it as well: once I start programming I have no problem doing it for 12 hours straight. I've found this trait in many ADHD patients. There's usually something that reall…

it becomes even stranger when you have both ADD and autism, sometimes i can be completely lost in something for long tracks of time to the point that it blocks out most everything else and other times the slightest thing will shift my focus entirely

it makes it difficult to become good at things you naturally arent good at, once ive been knocked off my obsessive focus on something theres a solid chance ill likely never go back to it. at times i can become almost an expert at things in a very short space of time but as soon as something else takes my focus the new subject basically erases the previous one from my memory

medication has helped greatly but i think i may need to either get my dose adjusted or shift to an alternative medication as im starting to fall back into getting easily distracted again

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#406

Post by gaspoweredcat »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #397
siljon wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had this problem through my whole life... My parents and I have never understood that this definition is ADHD and always assumed it was inability to focus. My mom have always been big about don't take pills unless you absolutely have too. However it isn't until older age I finally been able to force my exert executive control to focus. It has taken a lot of practice and challenging myself and it wasn't until t…

I went down into dark depression 2 years back. Wife just had our first baby. I was 38. I used my kid to draw me out of depression so I didn't do anything stupid to myself. Went to therapy over a year ago, was diagnosed with ADHD. At the same time I started doing crossfit and lost 90 pounds in 3 months. My PCP prescribed me Vyvanse, and just being able to focus a little better and see my life change for better and may…

im having a similar issue and am also prescribed vyvanse (or elvanse as its called here) i like to test theories out myself so ive tried taking extra and it does seem to help so i plan on asking about a dosage increase at my next review

i also tried cold turkey for near a month in the hope it would lower my tolerance but sadly no such luck, it did however give me some spare meds with which to try the higher dose

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#407

Post by gaspoweredcat »

gaspoweredcat wrote: post #405
matheusmoreira wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! It's funny. People with ADHD suffer from attention deficit but at the same time they display hyperattention when they encounter a subject they like. I've experienced it as well: once I start programming I have no problem doing it for 12 hours straight. I've found this trait in many ADHD patients. There's usually something that reall…

it becomes even stranger when you have both ADD and autism, sometimes i can be completely lost in something for long tracks of time to the point that it blocks out most everything else and other times the slightest thing will shift my focus entirely it makes it difficult to become good at things you naturally arent good at, once ive been knocked off my obsessive focus on something theres a solid chance ill likely nev…

addendum:

crap i just noticed i spent so long reading and thinking about this that im now late for work, its this sort of thing that causes issues (and yet here i am wasting more time writing this!)

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#408

Post by callesgg »

monadgonad wrote: post #390
callesgg wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a useful truth, at least not in the way you've characterized it. It think it is much more useful to think of things as they are rather than as what they are not. In this example: I think it is more useful to think "what is causing my ADHD behaviour?" Rather than using the explanatory model "I am behaving like this because of ADHD." The former can lead to finding models that allows one to mitigate ADHD behavi…

> I think it is more useful to think "what is causing my ADHD behaviour?" Rather than using the explanatory model "I am behaving like this because of ADHD." > The former can lead to finding models that allows one to mitigate ADHD behaviour. The later leads to the same thing over and over. If you don't have ADHD or a similar disability, then in the best possible way, what you think is useful doesn't really matter. Wha…

    What causes my behaviour is that my brain is literally retarded
That is a very infectious way of modelling the world.

    Asking "what is causing it?" is the dead end.
It certainly is not. If I have problems geting the information from a book in to my brain. The cause can be said to be that I am trying to read it. Solution: Get it as an audiobook instead.

I do have an ADHD diagnosis but I don't think that justifies my thoughts in any way.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#409

Post by attentin »

attentin wrote: post #398
bobly_today wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get impossibly bad social anxiety from stimulants and can’t use them

I've had the same probleme since my doctor prescribed dexamphetamin to me instead of the other ritalin crap.

Sry for my low english skills. I meant "...until my psychiatrist prescribed dexamphetamin..."

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#410

Post by Tijdreiziger »

penagwin wrote: post #209
Tijdreiziger wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fuck I do this every day. Been diagnosed with ASD and I probably have at least one sleep disorder too. The guilt is indeed the worst part about it.

That and being late to work. I don't think anyone would believe me if I said that I'm more upset that I'm 10 minutes late then my boss is. I got up 10 minutes early! I thought I was running on time! Suddenly I'm supposed to be there in 5 minutes! WHY?!!? It's like time isn't freaking linear!!!!

Yes! It's a triple whammy: you get to stress out because you're running late, be late anyway and feel guilty about it.
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