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Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

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Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#281

Post by ttronicm »

I was diagnosed at age 44 and it made me reevaluate the course of my entire life. It took me a few years to adjust adequately and I'm still adjusting at 51. Learning about ADHD and effective strategies to deal with it has helped. Getting to know other people with ADHD has been the most helpful of all. I suggest searching YouTube for reactions to ADHD memes: it's a little painful on account of so much truth being told, but also nice to feel less alone.

My experience with meds might be interesting: I work in a customer-facing technical role where my soft skills are paramount. Taking stimulants was disorienting, but helped me manage emotions very well. They worked well for focus, but killed my ability to be fundamentally nice. I might have been able to adapt in time, but I would have had to change careers in the meantime. I now take buproprion and it works well enough on motivation without causing social problems.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#282

Post by tootie »

stevewodil wrote: post #269
LurkersWillLurk wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you try to sit down and try to start the work and just CANNOT emotionally bring yourself to do the work or get your brain to engage, then it's probably something more than just normal procrastination I've had so many problems with this in high school and college, it's unreal. I've only started to fully comprehend my problems with anxiety this past semester but reading all of this makes me wonder if there's somet…

If it's really that hard to get engaged into something that you aren't innately interested in but that you know you "should" do, I would seek an ADHD diagnosis. It's a pretty big symptom. Sometimes it really is not possible and even if it is it's extremely difficult and you feel dumb for it (but obviously you shouldn't, it's not your fault). It's like your mind throwing a tantrum and refusing to engage with the work…

This is my struggle. But also, nobody likes to focus on something uninteresting. What's the difference between ADHD and just not wanting to do it?

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#283

Post by devwastaken »

Diagnosed ADHD here. The only thing of worth was the stimulant medication because It significantly improved my ability to work longer and on more difficult projects. It has side effects, if you're satisfied with your work it's not worth it. There's nothing else from an ADHD diagnosis that benefits me. If anything I'm most likely on the spectrum but psychs's in the country have little to no knowledge about autism in adults, only children. The diagnosis criteria heavily focuses upon underdeveloped kids.

Caution to anyone else, the default dose they gave me was far too high. Had to change it down to the lowest long release they had. There's different kinds of stimulants, Adderall based doesn't work for me.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#284

Post by Dma54rhs »

LastManStanding wrote: post #270
matlin wrote: post #107

Anyone reading this should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers recommending drugs that gave them "superpowers", changed their life, etc. Taking these drugs will make anyone feel more focused, motivated, etc because these drugs are strong stimulants that cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy. Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format "how an ADHD diagnosis changed my life" on Reddit, T…

Anyone reading this comment should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers like Matlin who do not have the condition thinking they know what is best for you. These medications do not work the same way on people who do not have ADHD. I get zero euphoia from these medications, and they got rid of serious insommnia problem. If you don't have ADHD your experience will be far different.

This is junk science you're repeating. There's no validity in claim people who have adhd don't experience euphoria. Some people get more euphoric than others, adhd symptoms or not and surprise stimulants make people more productive.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#285

Post by Dma54rhs »

username90 wrote: post #254
globular-toast wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "10x on productivity" mean? I thought ADHD would lead to lower productivity.

When you spend 40 hours mentally preparing yourself to do a task then you are extremely productive when you actually do it. But the overall performance is still horrible.

What does it even mean?

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#286

Post by stevewodil »

tootie wrote: post #282
stevewodil wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's really that hard to get engaged into something that you aren't innately interested in but that you know you "should" do, I would seek an ADHD diagnosis. It's a pretty big symptom. Sometimes it really is not possible and even if it is it's extremely difficult and you feel dumb for it (but obviously you shouldn't, it's not your fault). It's like your mind throwing a tantrum and refusing to engage with the work…

This is my struggle. But also, nobody likes to focus on something uninteresting. What's the difference between ADHD and just not wanting to do it?

The difference is really not being able to focus if it's not interesting. Your brain will constantly turn to other stimulation if it's not getting it from the current task. Sometimes you might be able to do it, and other times you won't. That's one of the most frustrating parts of ADHD. You feel like you've done it before, so why can't you do it now? "Normal" people can still focus (or get started) even if something is not interesting, they just have to start.

Most people won't like to do uninteresting things, but the threshold for boredom is extremely low in those with ADHD so they will struggle a lot more to stay focused. It's a spectrum unfortunately, so there's no one definitive measure that says "that's definitely ADHD". To be honest, if you find yourself seriously questioning/wondering about whether or not you have ADHD it probably means you're struggling to an extent and aren't 'normal'. Otherwise, it wouldn't be something you are questioning.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#287

Post by phendrenad2 »

kmarc wrote: post #55

Living in Europe, my perception (AKA: anecdotal / unscientific / non-measured) is that most of the ADHD-diagnosed people I know live in the US, while I only know one European person in my network who received similar diagnosis from a professional psychiatrist. Counterintuitively, I know way more European people than Americans, which makes my perception feel even more skewed. I very well know that my sample(ing method…

In Europe, drugs cost the government money. In America, drugs cost you (and your employer) money.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#288

Post by pcthrowaway »

subroutine wrote: post #44
corobo wrote: post #2

I've been on medication for about a week now and I've not thought about offing myself once since starting. That seems dramatic but honestly that used to be the default go-to answer for any problem that couldn't be resolved within a day or so. Seems a bit excessive of a response to problems now.. It really looks like my depression might be rooted in undiagnosed ADHD. I can also if not properly focus on tasks at least…

I'm not sure which med you are on, but I've been on adderall for about 12 years. Started during 1st year of a phd program. In my experience with adderall... everything initially good about this particular Rx eventually fades away. Amphetamine makes you feel great. At the beginning really, really, great. It certainly helped me focus on whatever was in front of me, whether it was math homework or an iphone game. It bec…

I was on Adderall for roughly 10 years, and it really didn't make me feel great. I tried taking larger doses when I was going through my 'experiment with all the new drugs' phase in high school, and didn't really get the euphoria I hear about. In general, Adderall in any dose makes me sweaty, smelly, and antisocial.

I hated taking it. Yet it would in fact improve my performance. For 3 years since my last filled prescription circa 2012 I had enough adderall to just take it whenever I felt like I 'needed it', which was rarely, because I hated taking it so much. Since I've run out, I do have issues with ADD still, but fortunately have been able to cope as an adult in my (now) 30s.

I do think having it on hand is really great for some people, but I don't think 'feeling great' is a unanimous experience.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#289

Post by reducesuffering »

I've recently considered if I've always had ADHD and have gone back and forth on it in my head. On one hand, symptoms sound common to most people. On the other there's a lot of anecdotes that match my life to a tee.

I was "gifted" in school growing up. I breezed through school ages 5-12 with ease but loathing homework. At 11, a teacher told my parent and I that I'm able to get great grades now by intellect, but when college comes I'll come to a reckoning unless I also learn to study and put in time to do the work.

Ages 13 - 20 were just a continuous slide down in academics. I spent all my time zoned into various MMORPG's, video games, and obsessed about an outdoor sport. Couldn't stay awake in class and never did any homework. But I'd manage to skirt out some A's on math and chemistry tests (learning on the fly), do some crucial projects at the last possible minute, midnight to 5am the night before, and managed to graduate with a 2.5 gpa (C's and B's).

When it came to college, it was the same until I realized I needed to get better grades to transfer to a real University, so I had one amazing year I got A's, got in, and then it was business as usual. Worst person at staying on top of homework in friend groups, constantly more distracted by video games, only completed C's by doing projects at the last absolute moment midnight to 5am.

At work, I'm constantly distracted by HN, and only get through projects by a sudden burst of sheer deadline fear at the end. I was falling behind and finally buckling, until I tried some Adderall secondhand. Suddenly I felt like I had X, Y, Z to do, and I spent my day going from X to Y to Z and couldn't believe how much I was getting done. Eventually I lost this source, used it 1/3 tapered down to little effect, and stopped, conflicted. Due to various reasons, I've burnt out and haven't been able to attempt any real work for 6 months, basically spending half my time on HN.

Guess I'm just hoping someone knowledgeable would be able to confidently tell me what's been going on. I probably need to see a psychologist.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#290

Post by jnovek »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #213
jnovek wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stimulants do have an anti-depressant quality in a similar sense to SNRIs. They stimulate release of extracellular neural serotonin and norepinephrine (SNRIs block reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. Before the accidental discovery of the first front-line antidepressants in the 50s, they were prescribed for depression. However, for the reasons you mentioned, they aren’t very good antidepressants. It’s easy to m…

Stimulants including Adderall have been formally trialed for depression treatment. They don't work. Don't confuse the molecular mechanism of a drug for its eventual outcome. There is far more to a medication than binding affinities.

What studies? The information that I’ve found on PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov indicates that this is a poorly studied question, not a decided one.

A 2015 survey (Raymond Pary, MD, et al) found evidence that many psychostimulants were effective adjuncts for MDD and Bipolar depression. The results weren’t extraordinary but they were statistically significant. The authors noted in the results that the topic was generally poorly studied and double-blind clinical trials were limited.

In 2010-2011 Shire ran Phase II FDA trials on Vyvanse as an adjunct to traditional antidepressants for MDD with mediocre but also statistically significant positive results. Considering the age of most psychostimulants in use, that’s a fairly recent result from a clinical trial.

I certainly agree that psychostimulants are not a good choice to treat depression but that’s a far cry from “formally trialed for depression... don’t work”.

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