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My ADHD founder toolbox

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Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#81

Post by steve_adams_86 »

ip26 wrote: post #59
resonious wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess if that stance is harmful then I'd think about why people are having that stance in the first place. If somebody gets told "you have ADHD, a debilitating mental disorder", and then does well in life anyway, what exactly are they supposed to think happened? Why were we telling them they're messed up in the head when clearly they're quite functional? "Wow, maybe ADHD is good" seems like a pretty logical jump to…

It’s also a little hard to call it a debilitating disorder if 10% of people have it. Pale skin puts you at risk of sunburn, but it’s not considered a skin disorder. Why? I’ll leave it to the reader.

Sun burns are a lot nicer than ADHD. I can manage my day with a sunburn. I can prevent sun burns. I can’t apply lotion to stop ADHD.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#82

Post by hunterb123 »

danem wrote: post #76
resonious wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not GP but I also stopped taking meds (actually recently for me, and I'm 27). I'm sure GP's reason is different. My reason was that I had realized that a lot of my old ADHD symptoms were actually still happening. I was still procrastinating, still getting stressed when forced to focus on stuff I don't care about, still forgetting stuff. As an experiment, I decided to keep lowering my dose to see what happens. I k…

I'm curious... Are these not things virtually everyone struggles with to some degree? There are no end to time management books and people who wish they would spend less time on their phones/playing video games/etc.

No when you have ADHD it's really really hard to get started on a new task, but you do obsess over a task once you get started on it.

You'll do everything you can to avoid it first though, until the stress of the deadline overweighs the dread to start.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#83

Post by TeMPOraL »

idontwantthis wrote: post #67
yc-kraln wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was diagnosed when I was six, and, like you, I dropped all meds at 17. Recently (as in, this year) through a combination of therapy and introspection, I realized that while indeed I was able to have a successful life, career, relationships without the medication, and that, yes, my coping mechanisms were satisfactory, I was punching myself in the face for no reason Last month I saw a psychiatrist and got a prescript…

I think your question is pretty rude. Different people are different.

GP has a good point in that there's an overall stigma against medication, particularly psychiatric medication, in our society.

People say, medication is an aid, a crutch. Well guess what, when your leg is broken, you kind of need that crutch to move around. There's no shame in using a crutch. And if you lost your leg, or happened to be born without one, then guess what, using crutch for the rest of your life is not anything to be ashamed of, and it's rude to suggest it is.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#84

Post by bitexploder »

jasonladuke0311 wrote: post #63
bitexploder wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank goodness for auto pay on bills and a NT wife. I don’t know how she puts up with where my brain has ended up some years, but we have done great together as a family :) Also, I totally get that picking up random links thing. I always found I could sort of link together certain kinds of concepts together really quickly. Never super deeply, but like, learning new programming languages, I could just dive in, look at…

> Some of the time I read tech people’s ADHD experience and I feel so… understood. Like, are you me? You could be me. Exactly what I thought reading this post :D Strangely enough, I applied at your firm and we have traded emails.

Oh yeah! You are in the area even. Last year that time was pretty crazy because we had just finished up our transaction. Small world some days :)

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#85

Post by TeMPOraL »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #70
resonious wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not GP but I also stopped taking meds (actually recently for me, and I'm 27). I'm sure GP's reason is different. My reason was that I had realized that a lot of my old ADHD symptoms were actually still happening. I was still procrastinating, still getting stressed when forced to focus on stuff I don't care about, still forgetting stuff. As an experiment, I decided to keep lowering my dose to see what happens. I k…

> My reason was that I had realized that a lot of my old ADHD symptoms were actually still happening. I was still procrastinating, still getting stressed when forced to focus on stuff I don't care about, still forgetting stuff. Anecdotally, I've watched a lot of friends and colleagues go through this exact cycle: Going on meds and then just focusing more intensely on their distractions. I really think we're doing a d…

N=1, I can confirm this effect. I started to call stimulant medication "sticky". As in, when they kick in, I find it much easier to focus on doing whatever it is I am doing at that time. So, if they kick in while I'm on HN, I can kiss the next couple hours goodbye.

It's a trap that took me too long to figure out, and one I still fall into quite often (the period between taking a pill and it kicking in is long enough that I may habitually start procrastinating), but wrt. differences in my life on vs. off meds, in times when I feel similar to what GP described, I'm reassured by my wife who can smell me taking a med break even if I don't tell her, because from her POV, I change for the worse in the scope of a day or two. She sees the change even before I feel it.

> I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill.

As much as I believe the meds are a net benefit overall (they definitely are for me), I 100% agree with this sentiment.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#86

Post by adamwk »

rtpg wrote: post #52

Regarding meds, are people willing to share what kind of doses they are on? I take 27mg of Concerta, and I remember talking to someone taking like... 5x that? And being quite shocked, but there's always that curiosity about what dosages makes sense.

I'm also on Concerta, taking 45mg. I started at 27 which was too low for me and went up to 54 which was too high; so we came down to 45 which seems to be a Goldie locks for me (they don't make a 45mg pill so I take an 18 and a 27). I also take 150mg Wellbutrin for depression and balance it all off with a nightly 300mg of Gabapentin to help me sleep (coincidentally my cat is prescribed the same amount of gaba to take before the vet because she's a terror on her check ups).

This is all is relatively new for me (got diagnosed this year after being misdiagnosed with depression for a very long time) and it's working out OK. One thing I'm still struggling with is break days. They seem to supercharge my (inattentive) ADHD, and I'm kind of dead all day long; maybe there's still room for adjustment and I go back to 36mg Concerta.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#88

Post by idontwantthis »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #83
idontwantthis wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your question is pretty rude. Different people are different.

GP has a good point in that there's an overall stigma against medication, particularly psychiatric medication, in our society. People say, medication is an aid, a crutch. Well guess what, when your leg is broken, you kind of need that crutch to move around. There's no shame in using a crutch. And if you lost your leg, or happened to be born without one, then guess what, using crutch for the rest of your life is not a…

And OP is stigmatizing not taking it, with violent imagery.

Do what you need to do, don’t make other people feel bad for not doing what you do.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#89

Post by intermerda »

adamwk wrote: post #86
rtpg wrote: post #52

Regarding meds, are people willing to share what kind of doses they are on? I take 27mg of Concerta, and I remember talking to someone taking like... 5x that? And being quite shocked, but there's always that curiosity about what dosages makes sense.

I'm also on Concerta, taking 45mg. I started at 27 which was too low for me and went up to 54 which was too high; so we came down to 45 which seems to be a Goldie locks for me (they don't make a 45mg pill so I take an 18 and a 27). I also take 150mg Wellbutrin for depression and balance it all off with a nightly 300mg of Gabapentin to help me sleep (coincidentally my cat is prescribed the same amount of gaba to take…

Your experience is so close to mine!

I’m on 15 mg Adderall XR - Tried 20 but it was too much. I’ll sometimes take 10 mg short release as well. 500 mg Gabapentin (100 mg for cat), and 150 mg Prozac.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#90

Post by sn41 »

yc-kraln wrote: post #62
throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #51

I diagnosed when I was like... 8 years old. From then to 17 I was on various meds, finally gave them all up. So for about 22 years I've coped with ADHD without meds. I am a Staff Engineer and make a good living, respected in my field. Regardless of anything else, I think the key thing to remember about ADHD is that you do not need to be a high-performing human being, at all, in life. You will forget things and get di…

I was diagnosed when I was six, and, like you, I dropped all meds at 17. Recently (as in, this year) through a combination of therapy and introspection, I realized that while indeed I was able to have a successful life, career, relationships without the medication, and that, yes, my coping mechanisms were satisfactory, I was punching myself in the face for no reason Last month I saw a psychiatrist and got a prescript…

I think you are a bit premature in your assessment. The first month usually works for most people. Later on, you may find that it has no effect, worse, you start developing a dependency. People don't give up medication due to ideals or laziness, many find that the disease is often manageable using less addictive approaches like CBT.

That said, if medications cure you altogether, there's nothing better. But ADHD, unlike other conditions, seems to relapse a lot.

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