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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#611

Post by hirvi74 »

71a54xd wrote: post #356

I have ADHD and unapologetically take adderall. Yes, there's a stigma but there's also about a 6x improvement in my mood and ability to stay focused on a single task after I take 5mg. I've never developed dependency and generally only take it 3-4 times a week. I've also never really had to increase the dose. This came after two diagnosis from neuropsychiatrists both reaching the same conclusion. Being diagnosed at 22…

I'm in the same boat -- same age of diagnosis, same qualms, etc..

I am at the point in my life, a decade later, where I couldn't care less if there are longterm harmful effects.

1. I'm sure my unmedicated life would have continued to be equally unhealthy in different ways.

2. It's not like old age is sunshine in rainbows. I rather die in my 60s or 70s from a heart attack, with dignity, than live long enough to slowly watch everything and everyone I ever experienced dissipate from my mind until I am husk of a human being due Alzheimer's or Dementia.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#612

Post by tpmoney »

timeagain wrote: post #571
nbaugh1 wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. So so so many people do not understand this element of psychological disorders

The D in ADHD is “disorder”, which normally means you can’t function socially, at work, and/or take care of yourself. Normally I don’t consider scatterbrained knowledge workers in the top 5% of the income distribution to be in that category. It is kind of fun so do work on speed though!

There are lots of ways "can't function socially, at work, and/or take care of yourself" can manifest even if you're in the top 5% of the income distribution. For example, that person's house might be an absolute disaster zone, with overgrown lawns, tasks piling up and a million tiny piles of bills and papers to be done "later". They might need 4 separate alarm clocks in 3 different physical places in order to wake up on time every day. They might be constantly forgetting to follow up with family and friends all the time and isolated and alone when they're not in the office. They might be the co-worker that when everyone is talking about what they did over the holiday weekend responds with "not much" because they're otherwise too embarrassed to admit they spent the whole 3 days in a state of paralysis over what to even do. They might be putting all their energy into appearing normal and functional at work because the alternative is being homeless or starving and you might never know because you don't see them outside the office.

All that to basically say income and job descriptions do not inherently say anything about what disorders a person may or may not be suffering from.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#613

Post by joekrill »

WendyTheWillow wrote: post #607

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 19 but nobody really did anything with that information, and I to this day refuse to use it as an excuse for why I can or can’t do things. I think it made parts of my life harder, and if I had ever ended up in a seriously bad place I would have taken it more seriously, but I very much didn’t want to define myself in terms of any one aspect of who I was. Now, my adaptations make me…

You can acknowledge and treat it without "using it as an excuse". And there's certainly no need to define yourself by it. Imagine having that same mindset with other treatable disorders. Cataracts. Eczema. Addison’s disease. Cavities. There's a million examples where most folks wouldn't even consider ignoring - let alone embracing any "quirkiness".

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#614

Post by chx »

skeaker wrote: post #565
chx wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just as it has not decided to make training data have to pay per file. That's quite exactly what the copyright law states, though. I never thought the day will come when I root for Getty Images but the techbros have managed to do it. Congrats, I guess?

Source? I heard there was a trial for this but wasn't aware it had resolved.

It didn't resolve yet hence me rooting for Getty. They won't lose, though.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#615

Post by hirvi74 »

JohnBooty wrote: post #363
collegeburner wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can provide some perspective here: it seems almost universal that people who start these medications never find a dose that provides durable benefit over the long term. Makes sense; we acclimate to a new dopamine baseline, right? Almost everyone I know ends up on a significantly higher dose than they started with. And the stories of feeling like a zombie when off meds are very real and pretty freaky.

I was on Adderall for ~6-7 years. The following is just my personal experience but it seems to match well with the vast majority of anecdotal experiences I have read about in many many years of being immersed in this stuff... although these won't be true for 100% of people. Almost everyone I know ends up on a significantly higher dose than they started with. One: At least in the US, for whatever reason, doctors tend…

I'm not convinced nicotine is not a better medication. Sure, it's probably more addicting, but it also seems to have plenty of other benefits, is more socially acceptable, and seems to have much less a profile of debilitating side-effects.

Of course, the same tolerance issues will creep up, perhaps even more so, but there is no red-tape, no doctor visits, no shortages, easy access, etc..

Is nicotine as effective as amphetamines or methylphenidate? I have no idea, but probably not, and that is mainly why I haven't experimented much with it. I will say that it's effective enough to plenty of people with ADHD self-medicate with nicotine, and seem to do fine enough.

If nicotine were half as effective, it still might be better, at least for my circumstances.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#616

Post by Spivak »

timeagain wrote: post #571
nbaugh1 wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. So so so many people do not understand this element of psychological disorders

The D in ADHD is “disorder”, which normally means you can’t function socially, at work, and/or take care of yourself. Normally I don’t consider scatterbrained knowledge workers in the top 5% of the income distribution to be in that category. It is kind of fun so do work on speed though!

It's a good thing no one defines disorders the way you do. Going through life miserable but have set up your life in such a way and with a set of coping mechanisms that help you stay afloat is apparently fine and your life needs to be in shambles. Do you feel the same way about chronic pain? Is dragging yourself to work despite it prove you don't need help? Clearly you can handle the suffering. It's the exact same.

Surviving only because you've structured your life to revolve around the limitations of your disorder isn't a sign that everything is fine.

Adderall and its contemporaries aren't speed and I promise you it isn't fun. Stimulant medications are miserable to be on, it's just that not being on them is worse. That one time you took high-dose adderall in college is not at all reflective of what the experience is like.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#617

Post by hirvi74 »

bratwurst3000 wrote: post #365
collegeburner wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can provide some perspective here: it seems almost universal that people who start these medications never find a dose that provides durable benefit over the long term. Makes sense; we acclimate to a new dopamine baseline, right? Almost everyone I know ends up on a significantly higher dose than they started with. And the stories of feeling like a zombie when off meds are very real and pretty freaky.

I am someone with severe adhd and I only use meds ( adderal) if needed. The side effects are heavy on the long run. Having coping mechanisms and and understanding surrounding is way more important. Without that and only meds I am only the person with the highest tension in the room. And my adhd was measured. Low dopamine. Btw I tried a adhd friendly diet and sports once . I don’t know if it was placebo or real but it…

> And my adhd was measured. Low dopamine.

What does this even mean?

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#618

Post by tpmoney »

boringg wrote: post #214
mathieuh wrote: post #92

I used to think I had some ADHD symptoms: growing up I never did any revision for any of my school exams until a couple of days before, all my coursework and projects were done last minute in a week of intense focus, I've had issues with drugs in the past etc. Then I met someone who actually has ADHD and saw them before they'd taken their stimulant drugs. They were completely nonfunctional in any sense of the word, t…

I assume that is how most people get through high-school and university? Intense focus on the couple days before finals / final projects. I too did that. Is that not the case or is that warning lights for ADHD? High school you can get away with it because the course content is easier - college is much more challenging...

At least for me it wasn't just finals and final projects, it was everything. No assignment was done until just before it was due because (looking back now and applying an adult's logic to it) it wasn't high enough priority until then. It didn't matter whether it was every day/week assignments, long term projects or final exams. The only way I could make any significant progress was to be under a hard and short deadline.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#619

Post by hirvi74 »

tapland wrote: post #222
sedivy94 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD has little to no physiological markers. As the floor of expectations for attention and executive functioning continues to rise, the rate of diagnosis increases.

One thing I noticed: Other people would get hyper from coffee, I would not. My brain would calm down a lot with the help of caffeine. I would regularly down 3-4 red bulls (diet) in the evening if I knew I needed to fall asleep and sleep well. I'm not sure if it's been studied but anecdotal evidence from others seem to suggest I'm not alone and that some others have the same experience.

Coffee makes me hyper, and I have ADHD. My diagnosis was quite rigorous too, and not just some questionnaire(s).

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#620

Post by hirvi74 »

sonicanatidae wrote: post #263
tapland wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I noticed: Other people would get hyper from coffee, I would not. My brain would calm down a lot with the help of caffeine. I would regularly down 3-4 red bulls (diet) in the evening if I knew I needed to fall asleep and sleep well. I'm not sure if it's been studied but anecdotal evidence from others seem to suggest I'm not alone and that some others have the same experience.

Paradoxical effects are not uncommon. My DNA is weird. I have lots of them. One example, is opiates make me MOVE. Most people they zonk out, not me. I'm ready to move your house, one brick at a time, with my bare hands and feel like I could knock it out in about an hour. Proton Pump inhibitors are common meds for acid reflux. About 10 years ago, I did a genetics study (I worked at the lab, and my data stayed mine) an…

New research doesn't seem to support that stimulants have a paradoxical affect on those with ADHD (the sources cited were pretty interesting in my opinion). I'm not saying it's not possible for some, but it seems like people make it out to be far more common that perhaps it truly is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoxical_reaction

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