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ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

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Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#31
Curious if anyone has gone through the process of an adult adhd diagnosis at Kaiser SF.

Through my attempts, I've been told they don't really do adult adhd diagnoses without documentation of issues as a kid. I was recommended Wellbutrin to deal with symptoms in 2017. Got onto adderall when I moved health insurance in 2021. Back to Kaiser in 2024, I was routed to the same psychiatrist who once again wouldn't budge on adderall and once again recommended Welbutrin.

I used an online clinic to get my assessment (which I understand isn't taken seriously) which is what she cited. I asked what aspect of the assessment documentation did she think left me unqualified and she cited marijuana use in 2016. I asked her how she squares the fact that I'm an adult professional that makes comparable money to her, I have experience using both wellbutrin and adderall and see the former doing nothing and the latter helping, there's hundreds of times more evidence for adderall efficacy vs the flakey data on wellbutrin... She responded with something like: "I believe in my heart of hearts that what I am doing is right".

I thought the entire situation was kind of insane. Further research into the person makes me think they're a bit of a loon.

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? I don't really disagree with you but I wonder how the thwarted sense of "my body in the world" is so connected to ADHD while not being connected at all to executive functioning (which in my perception is what amphetamines help with).

ADHD is strongly associated with inattentiveness and daydreaming so it's not that surprising that people who are daydreaming or not paying attention tend to get injured walking or driving into thinks more often

its a bit more than an association, theyre symptoms

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that's highly inheritable.

I've seen first hand that assortative mating[1] is also very prevalent with ADHD. Which makes it even more heritable.

[1]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33322995/

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that's highly inheritable.

I've seen first hand that assortative mating[1] is also very prevalent with ADHD. Which makes it even more heritable. [1]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33322995/

in my own family line it is painfully obvious that it's a heritable disorder.

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#35

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my early 30s and prescribed Concerta to help manage it For a few years being medicated for ADHD was a godsend. I was finally able to be more productive and focus on work, my career took off in a huge way, I've literally tripled my income since I started medication Now I'm incredibly burned out, I've been having pretty severe memory problems, I'm on medical leave from my job to try and cou…

> Now I'm incredibly burned out

My SO has severe ADHS from early childhood on and gets medicated (first ritalin, now elvanse). She is always stressed because she has a guilty conscience; she does more things every day than she has time for. She has sleeping problems.

It's such a fast-paced lifestyle that it quickly takes its toll, and it's not as if it gets better with age. Its very hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle while permanently being "all-in" into something.

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#37
post #31

Curious if anyone has gone through the process of an adult adhd diagnosis at Kaiser SF. Through my attempts, I've been told they don't really do adult adhd diagnoses without documentation of issues as a kid. I was recommended Wellbutrin to deal with symptoms in 2017. Got onto adderall when I moved health insurance in 2021. Back to Kaiser in 2024, I was routed to the same psychiatrist who once again wouldn't budge on…

Too many psychiatrists do very little continuing education in their practice. I have heard more than a few try to asset that ADHD can only be diagnosed for children.

As if a neurodevelopmental disorder just magically vanishes when you hit age of majority.

It's pretty wild that despite it being a disorder that has been documented for hundreds of years, people still make the argument that people are just lying.

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#38

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my early 30s and prescribed Concerta to help manage it For a few years being medicated for ADHD was a godsend. I was finally able to be more productive and focus on work, my career took off in a huge way, I've literally tripled my income since I started medication Now I'm incredibly burned out, I've been having pretty severe memory problems, I'm on medical leave from my job to try and cou…

Not saying it can't be the methylphenidate, but I would suspect it likely has more to do with your career than you might be giving it credit for. I don't know what your background is but, since you're on HN, I can make an educated guess and say you work in tech, which can both be a highly rewarding career but also one that can really drain the soul. The worst part about the soul-sucking is that our jobs are superficially very comfortable, so it's easy to talk yourself into just appreciating what one has and ignore your feelings.

I recommend giving up caffeine if you haven't done so. That alone had a much greater impact on my daily functioning than taking breaks from my medication. It took my body a week to recalibrate, but my mentality and my energy has been way more even throughout my days. The nice thing too is I can sometimes have caffeine when I feel like I can benefit from it and it actually has a positive effect rather than just keeping you barely at baseline for a few hours.

Re: ADHD drug treatment and risk of negative events and outcomes

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that's highly inheritable.

[flagged]

Why should I relieve you of the joys of self-directed learning?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivit...

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