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Anyone from Capability Network - T&O?
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Rising Star
Does anyone else struggle with dopamine fasting?
Bowl Leader
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Meds. Work.
There is a reason they exist, and it's because they are amazing. I went from depression not know what was wrong with my (15 years ago) to being the most productive member of society in existence (ish.)
you should talk to your doctor about this, they can help build you a treatment plan. medication is not the only path
to be blunt, there is a wide range of reactions. it will vary person to person.
from my personal experience, my ADHD was causing a lot of stress in my personal and professional life. While my life is still stressful, I can manage it effectively.
Go talk to an adhd specialist- coaching and medication together has done wonders for me
They work. I was like you too, very leery of Adderall, but my lord, it's seriously such a game changer. For the first time in my life I feel like I can function like a normal person.
Agree with SM1 - there are many paths that are drug free or stimulant free if you don’t wanna be on one of those medications. Also, if you go a stimulant route they will start you on an incredibly low dose and see how you react. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine and have to drink decaf or half calf, well others can have multiple cups a day. You’ll just have to try for yourself and unfortunately, it’s a process of trial and error. Find a doctor you trust and start there.
Find a doctor with experience treating ADHD. Could be trial and error at the beginning.
Yes I respect your opinion
Have you tried working with a coach? With or without meds, ADHD treatment is rarely something you can do your own since its so hard wired into how we 🧠 and ❤️. Having someone help you unlearn patterns is a game changer.
Bowl Leader
I feel like avoiding medication set me back likely 2 decades. I look at meds as a synthetic tool for navigating a synthetic world.
This society is clearly not designed for folks like us, and if it gives us an opportunity to get our lives to a place where we don't need medication, then I think the pros outweigh the cons.
The cons being it can take a while to find the right meds & dose. Some have side effects, but the ones I'm on don't, at least after adapting to them.
Bowl Leader
If you're prone to anxiety I'd highly recommend getting on something for that before something for ADHD. I finally learned this after about a decade of trial and error.
Stimulants help a lot of people. Zoloft helps me.
You can always start low if a professional feels meds are appropriate.
I'm finally leaving into meds myself. I'm almost a week into the lowest dose of dexo. Decided I'll see if we can find something that makes a meaningful difference over 3-6 months. Set me up to try and make some lifestyle changes that help me.
I’m 41, undiagnosed Inattentive Type ADHD until this year. I’m also historically anti-pharma - I’d rather white-knuckle it than rely on a med.
Got to a point where I was having a hard time functioning day-to-day. Mental fog and capacity exhaustion was physically manifesting, everything frustrated me all day, I was tired all the time, little tasks were mountains, I didn’t do hobbies anymore, my anxiety and depression was spiking because of it, and every single day I had to spend a ton of energy just grinding through normal tasks and lamenting my energy budget and just not able to do things and live my life because I knew my mental and physical capacities couldn’t handle it. Basically my brain had 10,000 browser tabs open at all times in the background and it was redlining my CPU 24/7.
I tried Adderall because that’s “what you take” on ADHD. Hated it across the board. I’m on Concerta now and it changed everything. I don’t even feel it, and my symptoms evaporated like 90%. I just feel regulated. Smoother. The browser tabs don’t get stuck open. The relief from the almost physical feeling of extra weight and density in my brain was very welcome. Even my psych was surprised that this worked as well.
Moral of story - you don’t have to do meds. There’s ways to compensate. But, sometimes though… life is hard as it is. Do the thing that makes it easier. I pay like $18 a month to elevate my quality of life by at least an order of magnitude.