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Me and ADHD

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Re: Me and ADHD

#311

Post by throwawaydhd »

rubicon33 wrote: post #297
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pop-science definition of ADHD has started to stray very far from the science. There’s a growing tendency for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to try to explain all of their mental habits and preferences through the lens of ADHD. Some times they have helpful feedback for other people with similar habits, but other times they just paint ADHD with an overly broad brush. They often have unrealistically lofty ideals of…

"Don’t let an ADHD diagnosis define your personality." "... but don’t let the diagnosis become a convenient excuse to let yourself off the hook or explain away concerns that would be better served by some personal growth" I totally understand this perspective and I do think it's a healthy one, but, where do you draw the line? I've been diagnosed with ADHD but personally hate the diagnosis. I don't want to be viewed t…

> I've been diagnosed with ADHD but personally hate the diagnosis. I don't want to be viewed through that lens, nor do I want to view myself that way.

Totally with you on this. And I think I understand why some people make it their entire personality, but that just feels all wrong to me. To be honest, I regret telling anyone at all about it (outside of anonymised discussions such as this).

The way I see it, it's okay to feel really bad about being afflicted with this condition, and coy about acknowledging it publicly, while still quietly continuing to take the medication to mitigate it somewhat.

But it's difficult to come to terms with even so. I sincerely hope you find peace of mind.

Re: Me and ADHD

#312

Post by throwawaydhd »

logicslave wrote: post #12
ThrustVectoring wrote: post #7

Not surprised at all that caffeine helps. ADHD is, bar none, the mental health diagnosis most amenable to medication. Specifically, stimulant therapy. There's no principled distinction between self-medicating and prescriptions here, other than various legal risks, costs, and side effect profiles. Caffeine is particularly poorly suited to this due to adaptation and anxiety, but it's certainly something , especially if…

Yes, but in the long run amphetamines will do significant damage to your health.

Ah well, got to die of something.

If taking Vyvanse most days knocks a few years off my lifespan, it doesn't matter. I'm going to die anyway, eventually.

As we all are, ADHD-medicated or not.

Re: Me and ADHD

#313

Post by matheusmoreira »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #93

A lot of comments here are warning about the addictive properties of stimulant medications. For folks without ADHD, you should know that stimulants, like Ritalin and Adderall, do not usually cause the same response as in non-ADHD people. I've spoken with many people on stimulants, and none of them enjoy taking the medication, beyond what it has done to improve their lives. Furthermore, most ADHD people develop tolera…

> ADHD people develop tolerance to medication over long periods of time

Yes! I took Vyvanse for a little over a year. It was the best thing ever at first. The effects got progressively weaker until I could no longer justify using it due to the cardiovascular risk. Now I only take it before a high pressure test or performance.

Wish I could go back in time and take that drug again as if it was the first time...

> The proper medication and dosage should not make you feel "high"

This high is correlated with how fast the stimulant enters the brain. Drugs that enter the brain quickly and in large quantities often give this subjective experience and they're more addictive because of it. Route of administration can influence this. Safer drugs with lower abuse potential are designed to be released steadily in lower quantities over a long period of time.

Vyvanse is just an Adderall that gets released slowly over a long period of time. Therefore it has lower abuse potential than Adderall.

Re: Me and ADHD

#314

Post by Teever »

username90 wrote: post #258
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self help includes things like the healthy habits described in this article. Anyone with ADHD severe enough to warrant stimulant medication is absolutely in need of good self-control habits and other such improvements. Therapy is one way to get it done, but I never suggested it was the only way. It's a common mistake for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to assume that medication will automatically build good habits for…

Why do you assume a person with ADHD doesn't already have good habits?

They don't. They assume that someone who has ADHD and has sought out a diagnosis and medication as an adult also has poor habits.

Re: Me and ADHD

#315

Post by username90 »

Teever wrote: post #314
username90 wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you assume a person with ADHD doesn't already have good habits?

They don't. They assume that someone who has ADHD and has sought out a diagnosis and medication as an adult also has poor habits.

But why would that be the case? ADHD means you have more need for good habits to get things done. And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything, since otherwise you would have looked for treatment a long time ago as this is typically diagnosed for children. For me I saw massive improvements immediately and they never really stopped.

Re: Me and ADHD

#316

Post by utborin »

madamelic wrote: post #286
utborin wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most common medical history items fall under something called CACI: Conditions AMEs Can Issue. (Yes, that's an acronym in an acronym. Welcome to the FAA. AME is the doctor you see for your flight physical, which you probably already know, but other readers might not.) The vast majority of folks walk out of their flight physicals with a medical certificate thanks to CACI. ADHD does not fall under CACI, and will trigge…

Thank you for the kind response to my inaccurate post. You can tell my frustration on this. And yes, I do love acronyms in acronyms. My first job was in the government, the US gov't truly loves their acronyms.

I empathize 100% with your frustration. I went through the wringer to get my first medical and have watched a lot of students go through this. It sucks, and there’s no good reason for it to.

Re: Me and ADHD

#318

Post by Teever »

username90 wrote: post #315
Teever wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't. They assume that someone who has ADHD and has sought out a diagnosis and medication as an adult also has poor habits.

But why would that be the case? ADHD means you have more need for good habits to get things done. And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything, since otherwise you would have looked for treatment a long time ago as this is typically diagnosed for children. For me I saw massive improvements immediately and they never really stopped.

> And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything,

I think the mistake in your line of thinking lies here. Why do you think is the case? Could you not imagine a person who tries medication first before anything else?

Re: Me and ADHD

#319

Post by hippich »

Somewhat unrelated - I tried both adderall and ritalin. While these certainly help with my attention/focus issues, I often get a weird side-effect - it makes me sleepy. My doc is completely puzzled by it. Nor I see much of such mentions in internet. I wonder if any1 else here had such effect from stimulants? (it is not lack of sleep - I get 7+ hours at night and occasional hour during the day).

Re: Me and ADHD

#320

Post by drfrank »

username90 wrote: post #192
ADHDthrow2323 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The (largely mental) hyperactivity is controllable, that is, I retain my creative ideas generation and interest in new things, but I am no longer governed by it, and As a person who is in their 1st week of medication, that is a HUGE relief. Thank you. I have a lot more to comment here but have a quiz (engineering undergrad) to do rn..lol. But I gotta say your description of you experience is the most comprehensive…

I got diagnosed as an adult and it was life changing for me, has been on them for 5 years. Here are some tips: 1. Never take stimulants to have fun, just take them to do tasks to progress your life. ADHD doesn't prevent you from having fun, and having fun with stimulants is what makes them addictive. 2. Take regular breaks from the medication. You wont get much done the first day or two after, so don't plan on doing…

> Take regular breaks from the medication.

I'm not sure this is universally necessary. When my pre-adolescent son forgets to take his medication in the morning it's immediately obvious, so it's clearly still having pronounced effect. He's been on the same dosage of the medication continuously for five years.

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