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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?

#391

Post by texasbigdata »

bjourne wrote: post #332
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> That's not to say it doesn't have a place in treatment of life-impacting ADHD disorders, but it should be noted that it's not a miracle drug that automatically turns you into a motivated, organized person. For one person I know that is actually how it was. From unemployed and living at home to phd studies in mathematics and publishing in prestigious journals.

Personally same order of magnitude improvement in terms of gap from worse to best. 10 years later also agree with OP but (long lasting delayed) medications have been 70% life changing, 20% maybe could have taken a day off, 10% “I drank a coffee too I’m jittery/euphoric/etc”.

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

#392

Post by texasbigdata »

thatcat wrote: post #366
username90 wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it takes a decade to build up tolerance and a month to completely get rid of it then sustainability seems clear, no? The problem isn't physical dependence but mental dependence, ADHD forces you to become super strict with yourself to get anything done at all, medication makes you lazy since you just pop a pill and get things done, if you stop trying after getting the pills you will start having problems again just…

On the decade time scale the negative effects I've heard reported are mostly clustered in the amphetamine psychosis category

Have searched Google scholar for quite a while for long term studies (I believe vyvanse was FDA approved 2009), could you help guide on this?

Warning anecdotal but a close neuro doc friend sees 70+ Year olds who took their medication as prescribed still fine when adherence was high. But much more interested in your link if at all possible, I believe there’s maybe 8 million prescriptions outstanding in the USA so any large cohort would be helpful.

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

#393

Post by texasbigdata »

beaugunderson wrote: post #329
Spivak wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, ya know, the lived experiences of ADHD sufferers like myself. I get zero euphoria from my meds. The idea that you think people with ADHD are just normal people who have trouble focusing are missing it by a mile. Caffine makes me sleepy.

I got the euphoric/ebullient effect for the first 2-3 weeks of 30mg Adderall XR I was on when I was first diagnosed (and not for the remaining 2 years I was on it). That's the only med I've had that effect from (and I've now trialed all the ADHD medications available). Currently on a low dose of Evekeo and it's the best so far.

Thank for tip towards Evekeo. The lower dextro seems promising. If you can tell (if it’s perceptible) to adderal XR / vyvanse / mydayis or some of the longer release that would be interesting. But will Google regardless :)

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

#394

Post by texasbigdata »

unbearded wrote: post #238
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…

As as person who got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and looked back to a life of potential wasted, and while I don’t agree with calling the benefits of any drug “superpowers”, I can understand why some people would. I exercise almost every day, meditate, eat and sleep well and yet, it was a pill that made the biggest difference in treating my difficult on keeping focus.

Same (19) BUT arguably if you need X, take more than X, then adjust to Y because of that unneeded “boost” it would sort of be a fair criticism.

But agree, can do all the above plus therapy and support / plan, and it’s not even comparable.

I feel it’s like eyeglasses and I’m being told “you can see it if you squint! It’s clear to me”. Well yeah, but would rather have eyeglasses

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

#395

Post by texasbigdata »

corobo wrote: post #356
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…

> 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. This is incorrect. If anything I'm more calm, definitely nowhere near what you describe. I'm happy, but just that. I've been happy before, I've been high as balls before. This is the former. I'm (with my doc) finding the lowest dose that works. I'm sure if…

Anecdotally I’ve worn a chest strap monitor and tracked HRV over several days at work. Much calmer.

But drink coffee and mix? Bad news bears.

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

#396

Post by texasbigdata »

robotastronaut wrote: post #353
lostmyoldone wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also don't forget that drugs have changed the life to the better for so many on the ADHD spectrum. Though drugs are only part of the solution for most people with ADHD, it's almost always what enables other kinds of intervention to be effective. For me, medication doesn't work too well. I tolerate it just fine, but it just isn't as effective as for most people. It has still changed my life completely. I can accrue li…

It's interesting to me that your daughter phrased it that way. There's actually a ton of research (some old, some new) about perception of time among ADHD sufferers and how that affects modern life. In a nutshell, the idea seems to be that there's a shorter time horizon (ADHD folks can only see or imagine themselves so far into the future) which is what makes long-term planning, budgeting, etc so difficult and why ma…

Can you link the time horizon, that’s super interesting. At least most YouTube medical lectures I’ve watch sort of focused on the norepinephrine reputake inhibition and how dopamine in the (forget the name) chain somehow hinders task ability.

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

#397

Post by texasbigdata »

entrynode wrote: post #355
TheTrotters wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? People use all kinds of substances: caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, modafinil, a myriad of sleeping pills, antidepressants, and painkillers. At different points in time some of them have been banned or regulated, at others available to everyone. As things stand some of them require a prescription from a doctor. In the vast majority of cases there's little danger to at least trying out stimulants like Add…

People abusing ADHD medication like that is the reason that the medication is so tightly controlled and hard to get as someone who actually has ADHD though. It stops being "Their body, their choice." when tangible harm is being caused to people who actually need the medication to treat a neurodevelopmental disorder.

You get 30 pills for 30 days. I can’t buy alcohol on Sunday morning either, and I get the personal freedom aspect, but it’s very predominantly used in children, CVS literally has one variant that’s just “methamphetamine” (a hilarious generic), so having some constraint seems reasonable.

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

#398

Post by texasbigdata »

adhd-thrwaway-0 wrote: post #225
kar5pt wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have also done breaks and it’s hard, but it’s confounded with the accompanying massive drop in life functioning. I’d argue it’s 50/50 but anecdotally. The research on street addiction of amphetamine (think homeless not Ivy League SAT prep) and recovery is fairly robust. Doable but hard.

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

#399

Post by kar5pt »

kls wrote: post #367
kar5pt wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I just don't see how people become physically addicted to these drugs. I am on Desoxyn have been for years and at a pretty high dose for a clinical dose. 35mg twice a day. I have went weeks without taking my medication with no ill effect. Not a single withdraw, the only thing that happens is the foggy head comes back and I cannot seem to put one foot in front of the other to get things completed. there is only one co…

Oh, I wasn't physically dependent. But taking it at a young age contributed to a polysubstance abuse disorder. I have no issue with adults taking ADD meds by the way. I just don't like the way it's prescribed to kids so frequently (I was on it when I was 9). I'm not sure why the fact that it's evidence based matters because I never questioned that it works (I've taken it more than enough times to know that it works, lol). I'm questioning whether the pros outweigh the cons from a holistic, social perspective.

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

#400

Post by entrynode »

texasbigdata wrote: post #397
entrynode wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People abusing ADHD medication like that is the reason that the medication is so tightly controlled and hard to get as someone who actually has ADHD though. It stops being "Their body, their choice." when tangible harm is being caused to people who actually need the medication to treat a neurodevelopmental disorder.

You get 30 pills for 30 days. I can’t buy alcohol on Sunday morning either, and I get the personal freedom aspect, but it’s very predominantly used in children, CVS literally has one variant that’s just “methamphetamine” (a hilarious generic), so having some constraint seems reasonable.

This isn't a "personal freedom" thing for me.

I'm talking as someone who was denied medical treatment for 7 years because the first specialist I saw assumed, based on my age, that I was trying to scam them for a prescription.

Those years were basically lost, and that wouldn't have happened if there wasn't so many people seeking phony diagnoses.

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