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Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#241

Post by adhdthrowaway89 »

am_lu wrote: post #225

A bit of perspective from speed user (amphetamine, not meth) who I know: Been into it for 10+ years. Usual weekend binge on 3.5 grams of good quality amphetamine. Can last from Friday evening till Tuesday, will little sleep between. Lots of things get done. Rest of the week head and brain is out service, depression you call it, nothing is been done, hard to go to work, any excuse willdo, sort out yourself some food o…

As context for readers who might not know normal dosing, the maximum therapeutic Adderall dosage in the US is 60mg per day. So what this commenter is describing is between 15x and 20x the maximum therapeutic dosage based on whether you count this as 3 or 4 days.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#242

Post by mjwhansen »

screye wrote: post #195

Can someone comment on whether ADHD medication leads to 'loss' of the unfiltered imagination that I have come to associate with my perpetually distracted self ? A friend on ADHD meds told me that it feels like trading unbridled creativity for stability. He found it to be an essential drug for functioning, but I got a sense that it involved losing something really central to your sense of self. Almost like being made…

I'm 32 and was diagnosed at 11. I received behavior help but no meds.

Until earlier this year, when a variety of factors pushed me to finally try them.

All of a sudden, I could focus on things without having to have all of the stars aligned. I never realized the extent and complication of my self-medication until I tried meds. I don't think I've lost my "sparkle." Instead meds help it come out because my follow-through is so much better.

It took me a few months to find the right med - finally on the right one + dose now, but it took some time, so be prepared to experiment with your doc if you choose to try meds.

It's not the right choice for everyone, but it's definitely been the right choice for me, and it's one I wish I had made a lot sooner.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#243

Post by seandoe »

dijit wrote: post #234

So, I had a psychologist tell me that I have many ADHD markers and referred me to the central mental health agency for an official diagnosis. Unfortunately, In Sweden, an official diagnosis means higher insurance (fine), higher mortgages (not fine) and the inability to hold certain licenses. Of course those markers of ADHD are pretty severely affecting my life, which is why I was seeing the Psychologist in the first…

Dude, you have to respond to these comments. I'm dying to know. That is the most dystopian thing I've heard of coming from the land of "socialized medicine is the panacea".

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#244

Post by doliveira »

falcolas wrote: post #103
doliveira wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it's a "horoscope reading" kind of feeling, but I just identify so much with these descriptions of ADHD.

Well, 5% of the population in general is the expected ratio of people with ADHD, but only 2% of the adult population is diagnosed with it, and it doesn't magically go away when you become an adult. So, there's definitely a chance. Two thoughts: - Everyone will occasionally exhibit some ADHD symptoms, the question is how often. Monthly? Probably not a problem. Hourly, or every few minutes? Probably is a problem. - See…

Yeah, mine have persisted all day along for as long as I can remember... I guess I'm not the stereotypical hyperactive, but when it comes to the attention span it does fit me a glove.

I should probably get it checked. Thing is I'm afraid of "faking it", if it makes any sense?

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#245

Post by anon291 »

ADHD is not a disease. Expecting children to pay attention to boring adults is. A good portion of teachers are incredibly unanimated and boring. They should not be teaching ADHD kids.

Look, my mother has ADHD (or something like it), and she had no problem teaching the (mostly boys) in her class with ADHD. A few even went off their meds in her class. Unfortunately, the next year, they were put right back on with a new teacher.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#246

Post by engineeringwoke »

danShumway wrote: post #184
hombre_fatal wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, a dose doesn’t last forever. It wouldn’t be surprising if it was a net negative. You tend to feel worse on the comedown for example.

Concerta is a long-release drug that's designed to produce a (roughly) steady effect throughout the day rather than a single "high".

So, a "high" for the whole day then?

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#247

Post by echelon »

Avamander wrote: post #84
echelon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nor is the structure of life after school. (Offices? 9 AM start times?) Kids with ADHD can go on to find incredible success in breaking the rules.

Sure they can, people endure and cope with a lot of things. That's a really low and unnecessarily painful approach though. They could do even better, do things they want to do, when they aren't hindered as much by the disorder. I really think the comparison with glasses is apt, sure someone can squint their eyes and sit a bit closer at times, but why should they? We'd call it neglect to force someone to cope with bad…

I don't know where you're going with your comment. I didn't say anything about whatever you're implying. You might be responding to a different person?

ADHD kids can take medicine, but the rest of the world can also lighten up. That's my point. The rules and benchmarks are stupid and impose unnecessary stress on ADHD individuals. Over half of the time you can ignore it and be fine.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#248

Post by zrail »

engineeringwoke wrote: post #246
danShumway wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Concerta is a long-release drug that's designed to produce a (roughly) steady effect throughout the day rather than a single "high".

So, a "high" for the whole day then?

It's not a high. If you're getting high off of ADHD meds you either don't have ADHD or your dose is way too much. It's more like an assist for task initiation and follow through, as well giving a boost to staying on task, for people who find those things incredibly difficult _even if they want to do those things_.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#249

Post by stainablesteel »

tjridesbikes wrote: post #135

Anecdata, but I've been on methylphenidate (Concerta) since age 7, and holy cow has it impacted my life in an insanely positive way. 21 years later, I'm still on Concerta, but excelling in my career, spending meaningful time with friends, family, and hobbies, and generally pretty happy with myself. When I tried dropping the meds in college, my life basically fell apart in a matter of months. My then-girlfriend now-wi…

What worries me more for lifetime-use like this are epigenetic effects (generational-level adaptations to DNA via methylation) that will be felt by anyone inheriting the outcome of their parents behavior.

Epigenetic mechanisms are what turn pigs into boars when released into the wild. In humans, if someone undergoes drastic starvation in their childhood, their children will often be fat. Their bodies hold onto fat more readily because it essentially expects to undergo a similar level of starvation. Evolutionarily, people who's epigenetics could benefit their children in this way were selected for via easier survival.

There are no studies, due to a lack of understanding in the past, of the effects of lifetime use on future generations. It could, potentially, be a positive effect - or none at all.

But that's optimistic for biological mechanisms imo, I'm remaining a pessimist and preferring the route of non-lifetime medication. If someone else wants to test this on their life and family, I would be happy to read about it.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#250

Post by nowahe »

adhdthrowaway89 wrote: post #241
am_lu wrote: post #225

A bit of perspective from speed user (amphetamine, not meth) who I know: Been into it for 10+ years. Usual weekend binge on 3.5 grams of good quality amphetamine. Can last from Friday evening till Tuesday, will little sleep between. Lots of things get done. Rest of the week head and brain is out service, depression you call it, nothing is been done, hard to go to work, any excuse willdo, sort out yourself some food o…

As context for readers who might not know normal dosing, the maximum therapeutic Adderall dosage in the US is 60mg per day. So what this commenter is describing is between 15x and 20x the maximum therapeutic dosage based on whether you count this as 3 or 4 days.

As a semi-regular user of speed, I can almost guarantee you that a gram of street amphetamine is nowhere near 100% concentrated. You would be lucky to find it at 20% (cut with half caffeine half random white powder). I've done acetone washes of amphetamine paste, and it's almost unbelievable how little amph there is in it.

A few times I was able to get my hands on really pure dextroamphetamine (>90% validated by a lab test), and even with a tolerance, there is no way you're consuming more than 100mg over the course of a day. 10-15mg was my sweetspot to get enough focus without getting locked into tasks and feeling wired. Although speed like that is pretty hard to find and quite pricey (~60-70€/g).

I've also realized that most of the unpleasant physical side effects of speed (palpitations, jittering, elevated cardiac rythm, anxiety, etc) are actually due to the massive amount of caffeine in it and not the amphetamine themselves (tho I'm sure there is a synergy between them). Even while feeling pretty high on pure amphetamine, my bpm only rose by about 4-5 bpms (compared to 15+ on street speed). For anyone in the same case, L-theanine works wonders to calm down the caffeine side effects, highly recommend you keep some around just in case.

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