Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

news.ycombinator.com

221–230 of 401 posts

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#221
Throwaway since I'll be discussing some fairly personal topics.

I was diagnosed over a decade ago at the age of 19 and have been in treatment ever since. The changes as a result of getting medication and attending therapy have be profound and decidedly mixed. One thing I'm just going to say upfront is that if anyone reading this thread decides to seek treatment, please don't solely rely on medication. The medication allows your ADHD to become manageable, but crucially it does not manage it for you.

Good changes:

1) Social life immediately and greatly improved. I was able to hold my attention when talking to people. My tangents became less wandering and frequent. I had the focus to make plans and actually follow through with them. I texted people back (this alone was huge).

2) I lose things less often. Before starting treatment I was notorious among my family and peer group for losing things. I still lose things all the time, but now it's usually because I put something down in my house rather than losing things in public.

3) Improved physical health. The appetite suppressant aspect of stimulants play a role here, but I think the bigger thing here is less impulsive food choices. Because I just don't feel as hungry, I have to plan my meals better and so I eat healthier. It's also easier to stick to an exercise schedule.

4) I can sit still and be quiet. Looking back at my childhood, it should have been fairly obvious what was going on, but I believe the mindset was medication was only for kids with poor academic achievement. The scale of lost time has been personally frustrating, but I am grateful for not being put on medication when I was young child.

Bad Changes:

1) Massively increased libido. The stimulants can increase sex drive, but can also make orgasm more difficult while also sometimes making it more difficult to maintain an erection. While these last two can be frustrating on a personal level, the hyper sexuality can be quite destructive when not kept in check.

2) The hyper focus aspects of ADHD are now basically on all the time. Medication is less a guided missile and more a laser. Instead of taking it and 'magically' getting things done, your attention is now dialed into whatever you point it at. This can be extremely productive, or not. I have less 'lost days' than I did before seeking treatment but those days now have a greater intensity.

3) It can be easy to get into stimulant fueled cycles of self-destruction. I need to be very disciplined about getting enough food and sleep. The drugs make it easy to shrug off a night or two of little sleep. But using drugs to ignore my body leads to much worse ADHD symptoms then if I hadn't been taking the drugs at all.

4) There is a distinct difference in my personality on days when I take my drugs and days I do not; see Good Changes, point (1). This can be hard for other people, especially romantic partners, to deal with.

Overall I'm happy that I've pursued medication in combination with therapy. It has let me get a handle on my life, but anyone who says it's all good is not telling the truth.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#222
post #107

Anyone reading this should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers recommending drugs that gave them "superpowers", changed their life, etc. Taking these drugs will make anyone feel more focused, motivated, etc because these drugs are strong stimulants that cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy. Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format "how an ADHD diagnosis changed my life" on Reddit, T…

I recommend discarding any anecdotes from people who recently started taking stimulants like Adderall, Vyvanse, or Ritalin. The parent comment is correct in that early stimulant usage is associated with euphoria and motivation that do not last. If someone describes Adderall like the magic drug that Bradley Cooper takes in the movie Limitless, they probably haven't been taking it very long. Tolerance quickly builds to…

Spot on. People treat medication like some free lunch without understanding they come with real and significant costs.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for posting this. And since these are all basically just anecdotes, I would also like to add mine. I got hooked on anxiety pills after a diagnosis (not the same thing as ADHD, but still), and the withdrawals were genuinely the worst things I've ever faced. Like I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemies. With drugs, especially habit forming ones backed by Big Pharma, you should always be on the side of cautio…

Thanks for this, my big fear is the effects of long-term use. I've had friends who were superheroes on Adderall, lost tons of weight, changed their lives. They couldn't see how manic they were.

It is an amphetamine. Go to r/ADHD and read the thousands of enthusiastic stories of people that just took it for the first time and are basically just high. I took medication for a while and it helped me surmount a bunch of issues. Now I can do well without. I never liked the effect on my body and mind.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#224
post #123

Since this post will likely attract my people, I'm curious how folks with an ADHD diagnosis have adapted to working from home. If possible, separate the comfort of it from the productivity of it. I find personally that it's much more comfortable working from home, and while there have been many 'blown days' due to lapses in discipline, I can have days where I crush it as well. Open plan office environments are like s…

I needed to setup a separate office for work stuff and work stuff only before I really got into a WFH rhythm. Definitely have experiences that match yours in office environment.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#225
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically, if you have ADHD the medicine shouldn’t make you ‘high’. If you don’t it will have that effect. This was told to me by a specialist (I am dubious though)

This is false. I was diagnosed ADHD by a psychologist twice (this is the full ADHD test where they put you through IQ and other cognitive testing). My ADHD was severe enough that I qualified for accommodations on the SATs. I was still able to get high on Vyvanse/Adderall often enough to get addicted to it. Drug companies lie to make these medications seem safer than they are.

Yep. As someone who has been taking these medications for over a decade, I can say the danger of physical and mental addiction is very real. I've also stopped medication several times over this period and the withdrawal can last weeks or months.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#226
post #12

So my take maybe isn't the healthiest on this, not sure. If you believe you have ADHD, and your therapist believes you have ADHD, BUT your life isn't negatively impacted by it , why start treatment now? Ask yourself if you have any negative impacts from ADHD. Ask your spouse. Personal relationships, professional work, all aspects. If the answer is no, then why bother? Source: ADHD treatments that left me a zombie whe…

> If you believe you have ADHD, and your therapist believes you have ADHD, BUT your life isn't negatively impacted by it, why start treatment now? If your life isn't negatively impacted by it then you might be hyperactive or have trouble paying attention, but you don't have ADHD, by definition. It only becomes a disorder when it's causing a significant ongoing negative impact on your life.

I don't think you are correct. Just because the name has disorder in it does not mean you have to have a significant negative impact on your life.

It is a mental disorder. My brain functions differently than a normal functioning brain without ADHD. I have built my life in a way so that does not negatively impact my life significantly.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#227

You may have "non-problematic" ADHD, or not consider it a problem. But there may be a few things you struggle with that you aren't telling. Emotional stability. My girlfriend had massive ups and downs, almost bipolar; the medication (slow release, concerta or its cheaper but equivalent alternative) evened things out. I have a friend who doesn't want the diagnosis or treatment because he's fine with it, and you can te…

>> Another one is things being "loud / busy" in your head, maddeningly so. I've heard that taking the meds quiets things down, and it's a relief.

This is a big one for me. I pretty much always have a podcast or audiobook going because otherwise my head is just so loud and non directed. I'll have some fragment of a song repeating in my head for 9 hours straight and I don't even realize it until my partner tells me to stop humming it.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#228
post #107

Anyone reading this should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers recommending drugs that gave them "superpowers", changed their life, etc. Taking these drugs will make anyone feel more focused, motivated, etc because these drugs are strong stimulants that cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy. Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format "how an ADHD diagnosis changed my life" on Reddit, T…

Theoretically, if you have ADHD the medicine shouldn’t make you ‘high’. If you don’t it will have that effect. This was told to me by a specialist (I am dubious though)

I'm commenting just to balance out everyone saying this is false. I took Ritalin in middle school and never felt high whatsoever. One day my mom took it (once) because she was curious and she said she felt high (she told me this many many years later).

I took it again after college and can say that yes if you take a high enough dose it will make you slightly euphoric but I think it's different than the high of recreational drugs. If your mood is too heightened when you take it then probably you should cut back on your dosage.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#229
post #224
post #123

Since this post will likely attract my people, I'm curious how folks with an ADHD diagnosis have adapted to working from home. If possible, separate the comfort of it from the productivity of it. I find personally that it's much more comfortable working from home, and while there have been many 'blown days' due to lapses in discipline, I can have days where I crush it as well. Open plan office environments are like s…

I needed to setup a separate office for work stuff and work stuff only before I really got into a WFH rhythm. Definitely have experiences that match yours in office environment.

Same. I had to physically separate myself from my personal computer because I frequently found myself working on side projects, playing video games, or literally anything else that grabbed my attention.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#230
post #123

Since this post will likely attract my people, I'm curious how folks with an ADHD diagnosis have adapted to working from home. If possible, separate the comfort of it from the productivity of it. I find personally that it's much more comfortable working from home, and while there have been many 'blown days' due to lapses in discipline, I can have days where I crush it as well. Open plan office environments are like s…

Either dedicate a room to study and work or change the environment when you have to (like assigning a specific color with led lights). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck

If that doesn't work, I would go out and study in a library or park.

Post reply on HN