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Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

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Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#81

Post by cheald »

weakfish wrote: post #44
whalesalad wrote: post #34

Do we all have ADHD or are stimulants just good? Seriously. Pretty soon all of us will be on legal meth and we sit back and go "hey this is fun I get this from my doctor it's good" and yet as a society we judge meth, crack and cocaine addicts. Nearly anyone will respond well to a stimulant.

This is patently false and also misleading as comparing adderall to meth is like comparing dynamite to a nuclear bomb Edit: parent replied snidely to me, then deleted the comment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just as an aside, the comment is flagged and dead, not deleted.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#82

Post by brandall10 »

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #24

I got on meds for ADHD and they objectively didn’t help that much. I also felt like my pulse and emotions were greatly elevated in confrontational situations to an uncomfortable extent (though caffiene was involved). The other aspect was that it was almost $300/month for a prescription. In social situations they did help a bit. Any impact on productivity was minor. I’d also say right after the meds kicked in I would…

I also tried it for about 6 months this year (Ritalin and Vyvanse, ultimately settling on the latter) after getting a diagnosis. I had tried these drugs back in college and early in my career to what seemed like great success, but this was a sideways experience... boring/monotonous stuff was easier, but it actually didn't conclusively help in situations where deep concentration was required. The effects also rapidly tapered off doing it on a daily basis and it didn't feel great for my health on the whole, so it eventually turned into something only done when needed, but ultimately it just seemed to be less and less effective.

Also tried Straterra and had a bad reaction to that, so decided to just go without and manage. As a mid-40s adult I feel like I have all sorts of ways to cope that I didn't make consistent use of when younger, esp. using GTD tooling and taking copious notes to keep things on track.

Interestingly enough my 'normal' concentration off these drugs seems to be improved... as if they were training wheels.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#83

Post by ryandrake »

psyman wrote: post #40

Good for you, unfortunately some of us with ADHD want to fly airplanes, and soon enough, realize that the FAA still lives in the early 1900s, where you have to "man up" and "deal with it". So we just silently suffer, every single day.

It's nuanced, and explained pretty well by this HN commenter[1] in a past article. Generally ADHD that is currently being treated is disqualifying, and reliance on medication is definitely disqualifying. Past diagnoses are a toss-up and you're gambling on the system / your AME.

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#84

Post by weakfish »

cheald wrote: post #81
weakfish wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is patently false and also misleading as comparing adderall to meth is like comparing dynamite to a nuclear bomb Edit: parent replied snidely to me, then deleted the comment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just as an aside, the comment is flagged and dead, not deleted.

Gotcha, thanks, I thought flagged comments usually showed up as “flagged,” TIL they disappear

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#85

Post by christkv »

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #24

I got on meds for ADHD and they objectively didn’t help that much. I also felt like my pulse and emotions were greatly elevated in confrontational situations to an uncomfortable extent (though caffiene was involved). The other aspect was that it was almost $300/month for a prescription. In social situations they did help a bit. Any impact on productivity was minor. I’d also say right after the meds kicked in I would…

Ask you doctor to try a different medication. Not all work the same. My wife had to try a couple before ending up on Ritalin.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#86

Post by falcolas »

ynniv wrote: post #54
falcolas wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I had already been self medicating with coffee Very much this. The nice thing about stimulant medication is it provides more of the ADHD brain regulation with a lower impact on your body (jitters, increased heartrate, etc).

You do need to lay off the coffee for a bit though. At first I stopped altogether, then went back to some decaf, now I'm back to drinking some regular, but always careful about how much. Also, decongestant medication, though Adder-all is a mild decongestant so I don't use separate decongestants very often.

Oh, absolutely. Learn how your body behaves on the stimulants, and I found I really didn't need (or want) nearly as much caffeine as before. I used to consume enough I would have really nasty withdrawals, and now I don't (consume as much nor get withdrawal symptoms).

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#87

Post by specialist »

Agreed. I struggle with focus and executive function. It took me years to get actionable diagnoses.

Though my root cause was ultimately physical (pinched nerves in my spine), addressing the mental health aspects is also required. The kinds of stuff addressed in the book The Body Keeps the Score. The skills and knowledge I learned from Swedish Pain Services were the missing puzzle pieces for me.

My life advice to all other patients:

1) You must have a patient advocate. Life coach, fights for you, keeps you accountable.

2) Never accept "no" or "I don't know". Someone, somewhere has the answers you need. Keep digging.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#89

Post by wintermutestwin »

My anecdata on ADHD:

I know someone who was diagnosed around age 8. Her parents declined to give her the speed that was recommended. When she was 12, she went for a run one morning and found that it made a huge difference in her ability to focus and maintain emotional equilibrium. She ran as many days as possible since that first run and runs ~12 miles a day (in addition to doing multiple team sports and weightlifting). She is doing great in life - about to finish college and is generally happy. She's quite dependent on her exercise though and if she misses a day for some reason, she is pretty miserable.

I'm not a doctor and have no idea if this would work for anyone else, but I have to think that there are better solutions than giving people speed.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#90

Post by shade »

sgeisenh wrote: post #50
dragontamer wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm generally trusting of pharma studies. But a bout with Zyrtec has convinced me that psychological effects aren't always well studied, even for common drugs. I'm convinced that prolonged use of Zyrtec makes me angrier for example. I've experimented with my allergies, and when I'm off Zyrtec, I'm sniffling and sneezing all the time... But generally happier and healthier from a mental perspective. Every medication yo…

Fatigue is a common side effect of Zyrtec (and other antihistamines). From purely anecdotal evidence, I think most people have to experiment with allergy medication to find one that works best for them. I know that I'm dysfunctional when taking Zyrtec but Claritin doesn't bother me at all.

I definitely had to experiment as well - I bounced around between Claritin and Allegra for a couple of years. I did try Zyrtec and experienced significant fatigue with it, which led me to stop using it pretty quickly.

Earlier this year I discovered Xyzal (expensive, but does have generic versions, too), which appears to be a close relative to Zyrtec. Interestingly though, they recommend taking it at bedtime rather that in the morning, the idea being you'll get a better night's sleep from not being congested AND you'll sleep through the worst part of the fatigue from it. This has worked out well for me - my allergies have bothered me less this year than they have in the last ten years or so, and I sleep better at night (I've had problems with insomnia off and on for ~20 years).

RE: the OP, I'm in my mid 40s and have always had some issues with following through and not procrastinating, and my sister was recently diagnosed with ADHD, so it's probably something I should at least discuss with my doctor at my next physical.

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