Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

It really HAS changed my life. What I've found is that over the long term you're able to perform much much better.

By the time I was in my 30s I had developed coping skills which worked for the most part but I would find myself getting demotivated and defocused sometimes on long term priorities and sometimes unable to recommit to them.

Adderall totally changed that. I'm able to focus on tasks long term AND even if something bad happens in my life I'm able to keep right on track.

It's also helped me stay more positive knowing that projects get completed and there's nothing preventing me from accomplishing what I want to accomplish.

There are some downsides though:

- Adderall is illegal in most countries so you're not even allowed to travel with it in some places. I didn't really know this at first and I wish they would tell you. Most countries will overlook it but if you're China they could totally use it as an excuse to harass you if they wanted.

- It's very addictive. If I forget my meds it's basically impossible to function.

- It's VERY hard to get since it's a controlled substance. I'm only able to get it 72 hours ahead of time and if they're out of stock sometimes I have to wait. DO NOT wait until the last minute. Get it as early as possible.

- Some people have problems with off brands of XR (extended release) that has a different formulation. There's no standardization on the XR process and I think it's vendor specific.

ADD was REALLY hard on me when I was a kid. I had a difficulty making friends. I got really bad grades in school. Got in fights. Made me depressed and I thought something was broken with me.

You can start with 5mg and then ramp up from there. I'm on 15mg. I can't really feel 5m and 20mg is far too much.

At lower doses they won't really have any side effects and then you can keep them on for 90-120 days to see how they tolerate it.

I'm an adult with ADHD and that paragraph describes me to a T, though it definitely was worse as a child

I got my first D grade in a subject in fifth grade, and the next seven years were basically my parents trying every tool at their disposal to motivate me to get better grades.

I was on academic probation four more terms than I wasn't in college, and graduated with a low C average after 5.5 years, plus two summer terms.

I got hired at the only company that forgot to ask for my GPA.

I think if I were just sightly less intelligent, I would have been in a world of hurt and possibly dead by now.

If they aspire to aviator,stay away. If you really, really worry about locking them into somewhere with access to a Schedule II, then consider not doing it, but I can't overstate how effective and life changing the right treatment regimen is. For me it was like life going from black and white to full color. It can be a bit depressing 20-39 years down the line, and I'm considering getting something started with a Congress person to dial back some of the draconian controls if at all possible, because, not going to lie, it is disruptive as all hell to the lengths things have been allowed to achieve

I've seen other parents with kids who clearly have it do nothing, and the Kids are the ones who really suffer because they don't have a clue what is "wrong".

I kick the wall I'm physiologically disincluded from aviating, but I wouldn't trade all the life experiences I've been able to navigate because of the medication for that, and there's nothing that says the world has to remain so unfriendly to Adderall/ADHD med takers as well.

The Hypertension can be a problem, but a small maintenance dose of a blood pressure meds (or Hawthorne!) Tends to do the trick for me, but work with your doctor.