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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

#121

The irony about getting treatment for ADHD is that medical providers make it very hard to get the proper medication and treatment. People with ADHD are horrible at following through and handle rejection poorly. So the worse the ADHD is, the less likely somebody will be able to actually get treatment for it. A lot of people suffer because doctors fear losing their license like so many did during the pain pill debacle.…

I literally did the thing you’re not supposed to do. my psych kept giving me everything by Adderall. So I went to one of those online doctors and got Adderall through her. Then I just told my psychiatrist that I have Adderall prescription and she took it over. For the record, she’s actually really reasonable and I like her but very conservative about the stimulants. Which when I finally got them were a revelation. Me…

Which online doctor? I've had the same frustrating experience with "real" psychiatrists but didn't know you could arbitrage the prescription like that.

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

#122

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…

Wanna add my 2c here, I feel you strongly. I had a similar path, getting medicated in my 30s and feeling like it destroyed barriers I had been struggling with my entire life. But it has resulted in some negatives as well, like you mentioned.

My hypothesis is that people like myself, and maybe you, have adapted ourselves to being productive with our pre-medication brains. You can only do it at certain times, for short bursts, and in particular ways. It's not really in your "control" how it happens, so you come to terms with doing work when you can. Then, when you become medicated, you don't need to do that anymore. It's exhilarating. You can just work like everyone else does. The problem is that other people have lived their entire lives learning how to balance that kind of drive and we haven't, so we go overboard and grind ourselves down.

Additionally being on the meds all the time can fuck up your sleep. Sleep debt is no joke and the meds get less effective when you're tired ime. I've had memory issues as well and I chalk it up to the sleep debt almost entirely. The obvious answer is to take breaks, but it turns out you need to be able to effectively execute on the weekend too. There aren't that many viable time slots to take a vacation from responsibilities. It's such a faustian bargain and I deeply dislike that we're saddled with this bizarre maladaptation for modern life.

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

#123
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.

The Olds probably remember when it wasn't even in the DSM and the Scientologists were busy demonizing Ritalin.

Apparently showing up in the DSM has fixed fuckall.

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

#124

The irony about getting treatment for ADHD is that medical providers make it very hard to get the proper medication and treatment. People with ADHD are horrible at following through and handle rejection poorly. So the worse the ADHD is, the less likely somebody will be able to actually get treatment for it. A lot of people suffer because doctors fear losing their license like so many did during the pain pill debacle.…

> handle rejection poorly Off-topic but recently I found out about Sensitive Rejection Dysphoria, its not officially recognized as a thing but it is in active study now, and very related to ADHD, and tbh I wish I knew about it sooner

Same as me. I think about it every day now. I’m 44 and It explains a lot of my behaviours.

I found the adhd chatter podcast very helpful

https://youtube.com/@adhd_chatter_podcast?si=Ne0isYQ2QCgIeqY...

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

#125
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…

I made an account just to post this as I’ve gone through something similar. Get a formal psychiatric evaluation done out of network by a neurologist who specializes in ADHD. The exam will take a few hours and they will send you a full report and diagnosis. This paperwork will help you a LOT. I’ve used it multiple times when I’ve had difficulties getting care and was well worth the time and money.

I don't even know why they have formal tests. Any health professional and half of the repairmen I've had to my house that has talked to me for more than two hours knows I have it. And probably you too.

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

#126
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…

I didn't get a diagnosis at Kaiser SF, but I was able to get meds through them. Maybe this will be of use to you.

I was diagnosed by a non-Kaiser psychiatrist I found on my own. After trying different prescriptions, we eventually settled on Concerta. I stayed on that (and continued seeing the same psychiatrist, whose service I paid for out of pocket) for about 4 years.

Then my psychiatrist had some family stuff come up and had to move out of California. Since she was no longer going to be licensed here, she couldn't keep prescribing my meds to me. But she was able to write a letter describing my situation and laying out how she'd arrived at the prescription I was on, with particular emphasis on the fact that she hadn't seen any evidence of misuse on my part. I gave that letter to my Kaiser primary care doctor, who agreed to take over the prescription. After that I was able to get my meds from Kaiser each month without any issues.

I imagine this kind of setup depends on your primary care doctor; I may have just gotten lucky with mine.

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

#127

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).

My understanding is that motor coordination is a mostly separate issue from attention regulation and task completion, so it would make sense that a stimulant would address focus and impulsivity (as well as suicidality and criminality by proxy of those) but not clumsiness. Also, one can have ADHD without being clumsy, but being clumsy alone does not quality for ADHD. I could be completely wrong, but hopefully that exp…

Not a fan of "clumsy" reminds me too much of "lazy"...

Anyway, back on topic: I wonder if there are 2 specific neurodivergencies going on that got wrapped up into ADHD, but only one actually has to do with executive functioning and serotonin (the 70% that get helped by amphetamines) while the other has to do with sensory and body awareness stuff.

If they have high enough co-morbidity or are weirdly co-morbid so that we never see the body stuff unless the person has ADHD we might have a difficult time seeing them as 2 different things that might be close by brain-location or gene-expression or something.

There are murmurs around me about celiac disease being related to ADHD and autism so that would be another thing in the neurodivergent body area

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

#128

The irony about getting treatment for ADHD is that medical providers make it very hard to get the proper medication and treatment. People with ADHD are horrible at following through and handle rejection poorly. So the worse the ADHD is, the less likely somebody will be able to actually get treatment for it. A lot of people suffer because doctors fear losing their license like so many did during the pain pill debacle.…

> because doctors fear losing their license like so many did during the pain pill debacle.

Which is understandable after the monumental pain and damage oxy caused to families everywhere.

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

#129

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…

> On the other hand, if it led to my current situation it's probably one of the worst choices I could have ever made. I hate having massive holes in my memory like this, and being burned out this way is extremely difficult to bear Considering the timing, have you considered the possibility of long COVID? I ask because the symptoms you describe are not typically associated with ADHD stimulants, but definitely are typi…

I have considered it, but in proper ADHD fashion I completely forgot to follow up. Thank you for the reminder that I should go get tested for that while I am still on my medical leave

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

#130

The irony about getting treatment for ADHD is that medical providers make it very hard to get the proper medication and treatment. People with ADHD are horrible at following through and handle rejection poorly. So the worse the ADHD is, the less likely somebody will be able to actually get treatment for it. A lot of people suffer because doctors fear losing their license like so many did during the pain pill debacle.…

Yeah, it's ridiculous. I've been taking medication for ADHD since the 3rd grade. Why in the good goddamn should I have to go in EVERY month for a refill for a medication I've been taking for over 20 years.

Since you may sell them if you get them more frequently. Now here's a pack of 30.
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