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Me and ADHD

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Re: Me and ADHD

#251

Post by sizzle »

username90 wrote: post #237
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and this is a very important point. Many newly diagnosed ADHD patients make the mistake of thinking that they don't need therapy or self-help techniques now that they have stimulant medication. That's wrong. The stimulant medication should be used as an adjunct to therapy, self-habit, and developing good self-control techniques. The initial motivational boost of a new stimulant prescription won't last forever (c…

A person with ADHD on medication isn't in any greater need of therapy or self help than a normal person. Normal people can also have problems staying on task etc, most of them still don't need therapy.

If you struggle because you never learned proper habits growing up due to inattentive type ADD, then you need to relearn these life skills and the stim meds give you the ability to focus on bettering yourself. Therapy provides a professionally guided framework for teaching you these life skills faster than on your own.

Re: Me and ADHD

#252

Post by sizzle »

logicslave wrote: post #12
ThrustVectoring wrote: post #7

Not surprised at all that caffeine helps. ADHD is, bar none, the mental health diagnosis most amenable to medication. Specifically, stimulant therapy. There's no principled distinction between self-medicating and prescriptions here, other than various legal risks, costs, and side effect profiles. Caffeine is particularly poorly suited to this due to adaptation and anxiety, but it's certainly something , especially if…

Yes, but in the long run amphetamines will do significant damage to your health.

Have any sources on neurodegenerative links between ADHD and longterm stimulant use? I think I saw a studying linking increased risk to parkinsons? This terrifies me.

Re: Me and ADHD

#253

Post by username90 »

sizzle wrote: post #245
username90 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got diagnosed as an adult and it was life changing for me, has been on them for 5 years. Here are some tips: 1. Never take stimulants to have fun, just take them to do tasks to progress your life. ADHD doesn't prevent you from having fun, and having fun with stimulants is what makes them addictive. 2. Take regular breaks from the medication. You wont get much done the first day or two after, so don't plan on doing…

Taking breaks simply isn't possible for many, like the withdrawals translates to sleeping 16 hours a day and not having an iota of energy to do everyday activities. It is a vicious cycle the deeper you get into taking stims and feeling normal baseline response by finding your therapeutic dose, why would you want to feel acute withdrawal symptoms and get nothing done on med 'vacation days'?

> why would you want to feel acute withdrawal symptoms and get nothing done on med 'vacation days'?

I like that though, just chilling for a day or two, do what you feel like and not what feels important. If your life doesn't give you the opportunity to do that I'd suggest try to get more flexibility, you don't need to be super attentive and productive every day. ADHD isn't a disease, it just means you are badly adapted for modern office work and bureaucracy, and having vacations where you can go back to your simple carefree self is very valuable.

Re: Me and ADHD

#254

Post by sizzle »

logicslave wrote: post #244
specialjack wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious if you have any sources for this? I have heard this before and struggled to find data that backs it up.

I personally took it for a long time, have a few pharmacists in my family. General life experience along with many examples witnessed around me lead me to believe that there is no free lunch. The focus you get comes at a price

A pharmacist does not equal a neuroscientist studying effects of long-term stimulant use on developing early onset neurodegenerative disease in any way, shape, or form. Sorry but you need to look at meta-analyses on on the topic and use that as a reference to prove anything to HN crowd at a minimum when making these bold unsubstantiated fear-mongering claims.

Re: Me and ADHD

#255

Post by sizzle »

O_H_E wrote: post #52

Anybody else here thinks their ADHD influences some hoarding tendencies or fear-of-missing-out? I am basically a tab-opening machine. Whenever I come across any link that I feel might be helpful in some point in the future, I open it in the background knowing full well that I don't have time to look at it soon. Thank god for TheGreatSuspender, and SessionBuddy extentions.

ADHD is a problem with your dopamine reward system and there are studies that link ADHD to risky behavior and higher risk of incarceration e.g. committing crimes, gambling, drug and alcohol addiction, etc. (anything to get more dopamine production going besides taking prescribed stimulants).

Re: Me and ADHD

#256

Post by username90 »

sizzle wrote: post #236
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #93

A lot of comments here are warning about the addictive properties of stimulant medications. For folks without ADHD, you should know that stimulants, like Ritalin and Adderall, do not usually cause the same response as in non-ADHD people. I've spoken with many people on stimulants, and none of them enjoy taking the medication, beyond what it has done to improve their lives. Furthermore, most ADHD people develop tolera…

My fear is developing alzheimers or parkinsons disease messing with these dopamine receptors for decades, are we screwing ourselves over long term? I fear developing early onset dementia too. I saw there was a study that linked neurodegenerative disease to long term dopamine stimulants. Can anyone break down the neuroscience for me and any meta-analyses studies on ADHD amph stims effect on early onset neurodegenerati…

Looks like they actually protects against Parkinson's.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.06.20089748v...

I found no relationships with Alzheimer's.

The only big negative found seems to be blood pressure, but you can manage that just by keeping your weight in check and exercising regularly. I take medication and my blood pressure is at normal levels, I go for regular checkups.

Re: Me and ADHD

#257

Post by username90 »

sizzle wrote: post #251
username90 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A person with ADHD on medication isn't in any greater need of therapy or self help than a normal person. Normal people can also have problems staying on task etc, most of them still don't need therapy.

If you struggle because you never learned proper habits growing up due to inattentive type ADD, then you need to relearn these life skills and the stim meds give you the ability to focus on bettering yourself. Therapy provides a professionally guided framework for teaching you these life skills faster than on your own.

My experience is the opposite, my ADD forced me to learn way better habits than everyone else just to do everyday tasks.

Re: Me and ADHD

#258

Post by username90 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #242
username90 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A person with ADHD on medication isn't in any greater need of therapy or self help than a normal person. Normal people can also have problems staying on task etc, most of them still don't need therapy.

Self help includes things like the healthy habits described in this article. Anyone with ADHD severe enough to warrant stimulant medication is absolutely in need of good self-control habits and other such improvements. Therapy is one way to get it done, but I never suggested it was the only way. It's a common mistake for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to assume that medication will automatically build good habits for…

Why do you assume a person with ADHD doesn't already have good habits?

Re: Me and ADHD

#259

Post by nicoburns »

Diederich wrote: post #143
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #93

A lot of comments here are warning about the addictive properties of stimulant medications. For folks without ADHD, you should know that stimulants, like Ritalin and Adderall, do not usually cause the same response as in non-ADHD people. I've spoken with many people on stimulants, and none of them enjoy taking the medication, beyond what it has done to improve their lives. Furthermore, most ADHD people develop tolera…

I have ADHD, and I've been treating it with meds for over 15 years now. > dosage should not make you feel "high" -- if anything it's almost the opposite Even when I was young and fit, many years before I started taking any meds, my blood pressure and pulse rate were consistently on the high side. I've always had what could be called somewhat of a 'jittery' or 'high strung' personality. In my 30s, I started taking a l…

> A 9 hour day at work would not leave me drained. I'd come home from work and immediately nap for an hour before waking up with enough mental energy to go about the rest of my evening.

Isn't that normal? That's certainly been my experience of work over the last decade. And I haven't even been working 9 hour days (more like 7.5 on average).

Re: Me and ADHD

#260

Post by drewmol »

rejectfinite wrote: post #100
commandlinefan wrote: post #75

> hard time focusing on things that I don’t like or want to do Not trying to be insensitive, but doesn't that describe everybody? At what point does difficulty motivating yourself to do something unpleasant become an actual pathology? I identify with a lot of the symptoms he lists, but I've never thought that meant there was anything "wrong" with me, I thought everybody felt that way. Are there really people out ther…

Fuck you

Your comment promped me to read your previous input to this forum, before flagging it. Please (re?) read the guidelines before making this type of comment.

But more importantly for the sake of informed discussion, please elaborate?

>Fuck commandlinefan because...

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