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Seconding what others have said about meds, it’s like wearing glasses or contacts. I don’t feel any kind of withdrawal when I don’t take them, but I dislike how fuzzy my brain goes back to being (exactly like when I don’t wear my glasses). And D1 is absolutely spot on about the issue being controlling your focus; I also used to read tons of books as a kid and now it’s a struggle. But when I’m super into a video game pretty much nothing else exists! For me, meds have helped a ton with being able to disconnect my focus and redirect it as needed. It’s still hard, but I no longer live in fear that a small interruption will completely throw off my flow for the day. Meds in combination with a behavioral therapist will work wonders.
Bowl Leader
SA1, that fear about a small interruption completely sidetracking you is so real! Even now with years of good habits and meds under my belt, I still have that internalized fear. I don't trust my own consistency.
...which has worked out well (in my second month). Going to bring up ADHD in my next appointment and pretty sure he's going to add a medicine.
I'm scared of getting dependant on the medicines and thought I'd seek advice here on how to avoid that situation and manage this more holistically (will obv get professional advice, but seeking personal experiences and anecdotes to research before my appointment).
Thanks.
My son is 17 and just diagnosed and started Adderall - I was concerned reading about it but already see a big change. How did you handle dose - he’s low now (5mg /bid) ? Were you worried @ going up and tolerance?
Bowl Leader
One note about ADHD, it doesn't mean that you can't focus. It means that you have trouble controlling your focus. Sometimes you might be able to hyper focus and other times you just can't. So makes sense you could read books overnight, esp. if you were super interested or motivated to do so.
I got diagnosed in my late 20s in grad school. Resisted medication for a long time, and instead saw an ADHD therapist, enrolled in ADHD support groups. Those all really helped me to unravel a lot of the negative self-talk I had built up because of untreated ADHD, and also put in place good habits. But ultimately, I also started medication a few years later and as people above said, it was just another tool in the toolkit. Yes I could cope without meds, but the buffer for being able to was much narrower. (Also before, I was self-medicating with tons of coffee without realizing it)
Got diagnosed with ADHD and OCD last year. Tried behavioral therapy and it worked but meds were prescribed as well. Adderall has helped a lot to get shit done and finish my work days at 5 P.M.
Following this....and would love to chat with you because im pretty sure im in the exact same boat ..
Hello all. Thank you for your responses.
Quick update: I started on Concerta 18mg today and I think it's too strong for me, even though the doc said this is the mildest of medication options. My heart rate is between 90 and 110. Is this an immediate flag?
Hmm, take note of when your heart rate starts spiking. Is it right after you take the meds or a few hours later? That’ll make a huge difference on what the next steps would be. For me, adderall spikes my heart rate and anxiety up almost immediately, so I ended up on Adzenys after some trial and error. Definitely take notes of all symptoms and timings though, it’ll help your dr a lot with figuring out what might work better!
Bowl Leader
Agree with EY1, definitely would cut or scale back on caffeine, since the effects will be additive. Definitely write down your responses each day (things like your heart rate, appetite, mood, whether you feel jittery or sweaty, ability to focus or initiate), and if you can, also record other notes on how much caffeine you drank, what you ate, how much sleep and exercise you got. My doc gave me a worksheet like this to fill in as I started on meds and it was really helpful to bring to our follow up to figure out what meds and dosing were working vs not (also, i like filled in only a quarter of the data because, well, ADHD, but it was still helpful).
I tried Adderall and Vyvanse before finally landing on Ritalin. And with Ritalin, I tried both immediate release and extended release, and found that immediate release worked better for me because I could control dosing better. So you might go through a similar journey to find a med that works for you. But I definitely tried each new med out for at least a week or two.