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

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

#261

Post by pseudalopex »

bongothrowaway wrote: post #183

Mostly, it's helped me understand where some of my own idiosyncracies come from. I don't take any medication for ADHD, mainly because I also have general anxiety and my understanding that is anxiety and ADHD medications tend to interfere with one another. I need the medication for my anxiety more; I've gone 30+ years coping with my ADHD symptoms and working around them, so I don't really need medication for them. But…

Stimulants tend to make anxiety worse. But treating ADHD tends to make anxiety better. So it depends. And there are other ADHD medications too.

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

#262

Post by pipogld »

If you do not have some sort of big problem in relation to suspected ADHD, then it might only help you to know yourself better. ADHD is only a handicap in certain situations. In others, it might help a lot (ie Wayne Gretsky). Also a small fraction of ADHDers are 'over-compensated'. (Google it.) You might be one of us. :)

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

#263

Post by msrenee »

kar5pt wrote: post #193
RHSman2 wrote: post #115

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.

That's really interesting to me. I take methylphenidate as a (doctor prescribed) stimulant and don't get the euphoria much at all. Maybe a little bit the first time I take an increased dose. 5 mg made me feel drugged and tired the first time. At 10 mg, I very nearly puked at about 2 hours and 4 hours after the dose the first week but no euphoria. I just had a more normal amount of energy compared to how tired I am naturally. 15 mg and I'm pretty bright and alert, but wouldn't call it euphoria by any means. I don't know what a recreational dose is. I just got my prescription upped so that I've got a couple 20 mg doses available. If I have a suspiciously lovely day, I'll let you know. I'm definitely not addicted. I feel no need to take it except when I know I need it to get through the day.

What did give me euphoria and hypo-manic behaviors was Nuvigil at 250 mg after having been off it for 2 weeks. That was an inexperienced mistake on my part, but it was really fun.

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

#264

Post by bluefirebrand »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #220
bluefirebrand wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a common misconception about ADHD. People with ADHD have a tendency to hyperfocus on things they enjoy, to the detriment of other things. ADHD is not a lack of focus, it is a lack of Executive Function. Sometimes the Executive Function looks easily distracted because it doesn't want to do chores so it bounces from room to room cleaning one single surface in each one. Sometimes the Executive Function looks lik…

It should be noted that "hyperfocus" is more of a fringe idea in ADHD science than a well-accepted feature. Hyperfocus can also be a side effect of stimulant medication. It's not uncommon for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to take stimulants and end up hyperfocusing on the wrong thing, such as video games or other vices. Be careful about interpreting something like increased focus as ADHD. The pop-culture definition o…

> Hyperfocus can also be a side effect of stimulant medication.

This doesn't address the fact that the hyperfocus behavior is a side effect of the poor executive function and is present in unmedicated ADHD people. In fact stimulants in an ADHD brain tend to improve executive function and make hyperfocus less likely for them.

> Be careful about interpreting something like increased focus as ADHD.

As I said before, it's not about focus at all. It's about executive function. It just manifests in ways that look like focus problems. And yes, hyperfocus is absolutely as much of a problem as completely lacking focus.

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

#265

Post by failwhaleshark »

codpiece wrote: post #136
failwhaleshark wrote: post #65

ADHD-PI at 38. Well, it didn't help except to try psychiatric meds that I can't tolerate. 25 years after dad declared "Damn psychologist [sic] quacks don't know what they're talking about. They're liberals trying to control boys with medication. It's a myth!" And now I can't interact with people properly because they all think I'm a weirdo. How many close friends do I have? 0 How many friends do I have? 0 How many ac…

Oh, dear God. I am so sorry to hear your story. Don't give up, friend. There's a place on this earth for all of us, no matter how weird we are.

Maybe I just chose the wrong physical place to live amongst a bunch of shallow, narcissistic, Millennial, "party hard, bro!," "stock broker"-types who emotionally failed-to-launch past high school.

All the dudes I swear have an IQ about 105 and do exactly the same thing: show off their muscles everyday at the pool and try to impress the ladies with their physiques, their sunglasses, and backwards hats.

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

#266

Post by iainctduncan »

iainctduncan wrote: post #188

My advice: get a second opinion from a cognitive behavioural therapist. If you are already high functioning and happy with your life, mind altering drugs (which ADHD prescriptions most definitely are) could be a loaded foot-gun. CBT on the other hand is literally the same body of techniques used under other names by top athletes, musicians, and anyone else for whom real-time mental focus is a huge part of their caree…

As an example, I had a doctor prescribe me anti-psychosis medication in small doses for a really bad bout of migraines, medication which had known mood changing side-effects.

I needed glasses.

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

#267

Post by msrenee »

vlunkr wrote: post #185
fartcannon wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever I visit the US, I inevitably end up sitting in front of a TV and I'm always so surprised at how many commercials are for drugs. Its just drugs and cars every 5 minutes all day long. I guess those groups have figured out how to advertise on HN now too.

Even as Americans we find these amusing. They tell you to "ask you doctor about x." Does anyone do that ever? They're also unintentionally hilarious now that they can't read the side effects at super speed, so 50% of the commercial is watching someone play with their dog while you learn that this allergy medicine is going to give you diarrhea and suicidal thoughts and maybe a heart attack. They must work somehow beca…

I'll bite. I actually figured out I had narcolepsy through a pharmaceutical company's big campaign to push a couple newer drugs they have the patents for. "Are you more than tired?". Well, yes. I'm tired all the time and a couple times a week have bouts where I'm staring at a concrete floor thinking I could just lay down and go to sleep. But I don't have narcolepsy. I'm not that tired. I don't pass out randomly. I can still work long hours at a physical job. I just occasionally have to muster all my willpower not to lay down and sleep in the middle of the store. And I haven't been able to watch an entire movie without falling asleep in the first hour in a very long time.

Took the chintzy little quiz and I figured I might as well ask my doctor. A couple sleep studies and an MSLT test and what do you know?

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

#268

Post by pseudalopex »

bboykicx wrote: post #239

When I asked if blind people can suffer from ADHD and the doc didn't know and was like hmmm.. makes me feel its a disease brought on because of the use of screens. 30 frames constantly has to do something to our brains and attention

A physician published a description of what sounds like ADHD in 1798.[1]

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000907/

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

#269

Post by stevewodil »

LurkersWillLurk wrote: post #247
stevewodil wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the person you are replying to, but generally speaking I look at getting a diagnosis (for most mental health problems) like so: Do these symptoms cause me struggle with my everyday life? Are things that normal people do all the time oddly difficult for me to complete? If so, go get a diagnosis. Everyone struggles with procrastination to an extent, but if you try to sit down and try to start the work and just CANN…

> if you try to sit down and try to start the work and just CANNOT emotionally bring yourself to do the work or get your brain to engage, then it's probably something more than just normal procrastination I've had so many problems with this in high school and college, it's unreal. I've only started to fully comprehend my problems with anxiety this past semester but reading all of this makes me wonder if there's somet…

If it's really that hard to get engaged into something that you aren't innately interested in but that you know you "should" do, I would seek an ADHD diagnosis. It's a pretty big symptom. Sometimes it really is not possible and even if it is it's extremely difficult and you feel dumb for it (but obviously you shouldn't, it's not your fault). It's like your mind throwing a tantrum and refusing to engage with the work at all.

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

#270

Post by LastManStanding »

matlin wrote: 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…

Anyone reading this comment should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers like Matlin who do not have the condition thinking they know what is best for you. These medications do not work the same way on people who do not have ADHD. I get zero euphoia from these medications, and they got rid of serious insommnia problem. If you don't have ADHD your experience will be far different.
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