I commonly read youtube comments that state a drug like Strattera completely changed their adhd for the better.
Whilst I havnt tried this(yet) I wondered what other options exist?
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Treating my sleep apnea, and also getting adderall
You use the machine or other things?
I got a machine from my doctor
What side do you sleep on and can you move around easily?
I usually flip back and forth between my left and right side. The air tube has plenty of slack and there’s a hinge and pivot where it meets the mask so it moves around pretty easily.
The generic for Ritalin works wonders for me. Extended Release though, not regular or Sustained Release.
The second thing that most improved my ADHD was not trying to do anything complex or important in the evenings after focus is lost. Just let it be relaxation and gaming time so I don’t need to clean up my failure in the morning.
Interesting. I’m usually wired in the morning, crash late afternoon/evening, and then get wired again at around 11pm.
I used to before being diagnosed when I worked 10-6 or noon to 8 shifts. Working 8-5 really fucks with my sleep and causes the evening brain fog.
But 8-5 pays way better.
A loving and supporting partner that helps me when I need it and leans on me when they do.
Also, Concerta, a good sterile workplace, and exercise in the morning to get out the jitters.
It’s depressing to hear most people say medication helped them the most. I’m still on a waiting list. Failing my college, work and life.
Even after I became aware that I have ADHD in my 40s, additional years were still wasted after not getting treatment, with lost jobs, money etc.
Sitting on a referral from the GP for 18 months now, and they don’t even give me an appointment in a distant future. The only thing that worked for me in my 20s: Set the bar low enough. Stop “planning” to study for 3 hours “tomorrow”, or half-assing 2 hours while a video plays, you are on the phone and get coffee 5 times. Instead, admit that you’ll only get 25 minutes in. But do them today, completely focussed, no distractions, not even getting water, no toilet break etc.
Think of it like squid game. The team that gets the best test score after 25 minutes studying lives. You’d rather pee in your pants than to get up and certainly wouldn’t check your phone.
Worked for me, can’t say if it will for you.
That’s what I’ve been doing. “Even if it’s just 10min, it’s 10minutes I’ve done what I wanted to.”
It’s unreliable, and works half the time. The harsh approach no longer works. The bar is on the ground. My focus is now on just learning to take care of myself, and that don’t go well either.
tbh I wrote a long-ass post bc I saw yours; I also didn’t have meds when I started wrestling all this
I found out too late. I’ve unknowingly been battling for over a decade, and yet only now I understand just how insignificant my progress really is.
I get how you feel that, but I can’t agree. Knowing who we are is real, tangible progress. Ages of people like us died never having the words we’re able to use now. You’re still alive, and you’re trying, and you’re getting somewhere.
It’s not too late.
Fuck off with that mindless positivity bullshit. I’ve tried my hardest and have gotten nowhere. I’ve failed college once and am failing it twice. I haven’t got any useful skills and I’m bad at the best job I’ve ever had. You are either lucky you’re not half as retarded as some of us, or simply ignorant of how debilitating ADHD can be.
Shou I get your point but I agree with beefbot Im sure you havnt tried everything…
When you know something doesnt work, the benefit is that you know to try somthing else.
Have you tried Religiously Swimming 5 times a week, combined with light-weight excersize at the gym? Add in solid 8 hours of sleep and noFap… For me its a huge boost in Mood and ADHD…
If not that what about Magic Mushrooms, LSD, Amphetamines?
You were given the gift of life and time for free… So long as you have it you can spend it to correct your problems.
Completely serious? Psylocibin does an amazing job of neutralizing my ADHD for a few hours. The lingering effect makes it easier to self regulate for about two weeks after a trip. It’s a wonderful thing. I literally cried the first time.
It does the same to my depression. For about two weeks afterwards I just feel capable of feeling happy? Antidepressants have NEVER achieved that.
Avoiding situations that allow others to define me on their terms.
For me, learning to manage my life in a way that works with my ADHD. For example, if I learn I need to do something, and it’s something I can do now, I get up and do it. If I don’t, I’m likely to forget or put it off too long. Finding ways to build routines, like I suddenly decided I should lick my teeth when getting ready for bed, this makes me realize they are dirty, and I feel forced to brush my teeth before I can sleep. Before that I wasn’t brushing every day. You have to figure out what ADHD prevents you from doing like a normal person, and plan around it.
I don’t medicate right now because I have enough control to be able to function at work and my day to day life without it. But I’ve also had success in the past from either Vyvanse and Strattera (took them at different periods in my life)
lick my teeth
Thats a terrific cue, I’m going to implement that
Vyvanse
I’m 43 and have had pretty troublesome ADHD my whole life. I was a mess of a student and failed at several careers. That said, I have found some intermittent and sometimes lasting success working in tech sales. I am still a disorganized mess. I still need meds. I take Vyvanse. What has brought some semblance of organizational presence for me is journaling. When I journal in the morning, it calms the noise and releases some of the pressure. The entries are garbage noise from my brain mixed with some formatted statements of accomplishments. Any kind of positive streak I have going gets a mention. It helps to not feel like the chaotic anxiety and noise bomb that I often can be to people.
Meds help, but they change things. Adderall makes me high and obnoxious until I crash. Concerta makes me mean and unable to transition. I worked in mental health for a long time and didn’t like what I saw happen to people with strattera, so I haven’t tried that one. Vyvanse gives me the push and focus without the hyper focus or mood crash. My emotions seem like my own. That’s why I stuck with it.
There are areas that your ADHD can thrive. You are allowed to indulge in those. You can forgive yourself for being extra weight for the people you love at times.
If your life affords you any room for it, be outside and find any way(s) to create. Cook, sing, write, play ping pong… ADHD does offer some areas of excellence along with the deficits. Lean into those whenever and however you can.
It’s still the world. It still actively hates you. We’ve got to get through this life somehow though.
Would you care to elaborate on the downsides of Strattera? I’ve been considering switching to Vyvanse for a while now but couldn’t find a compelling reason to tell my insurance why they should support the switch (I think lisdexamphetamine is more expensive than atomoxetin).
So this is hard because I didn’t take it myself, but I worked in a mental health hospital for 12 years and saw how different meds interact with different people. What I saw somewhat consistently with strattera was a shortening of temper. Lisa so in children, but with adults, I saw people become violent over what most would consider mild disruptions to their day. When I spoke with some of the doctors I worked with, a few said that they wouldn’t ever recommend this med because their patients reported feeling angry all the time. Keep in mind, this is all just my little experience. I kinda hate taking meds, but today I take gabapentin and Vyvanse and both my adhd and anxiety are mostly pretty manageable. I still fuck up my bills and forget important things and all the stuff that comes with the loudness of ADHD. I am enjoying my life though and I’m able to keep to most of my healthy routines.
There are two things that really help(ed) me:
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Starting to smoke weed daily, while moving to another city: It made me find out what has always beed wrong with me, and so I came to the diagnosis.
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Writing everything down, in a way my brain understands. I use a project management app, called Logseq, for that.
What experiences or effects of the weed helped you?
At first, my anxieties became present to me, so I could work on them. Weed makes me think about my life, about things that bother me deep inside. It made me do further investigations. I had (to a point still have) to reprocess my life. It turned out, I’m traumatized because of people constantly refusing or bullying me in my past, because I never fitted in. And I had no clue, why.
I used to keep distance to people and be a loner, until recently. Weed broke up some of these habits. I got my feelings back, after I used to refuse showing any emotion.
I also learned, I have issues listening. I often changed my mind spontaneously without noticing - now I do notice and I learned to self-regulate better. I also didn’t know noise (the overwhelm of too many sounds or voices) overloads my senses, and that’s what triggers my aggressive behaviour or let me run away sometimes.
Since I started smoking, I do easier meet people who understand me. That’s also when someone at a party suggested I look 100% like having ADHD and I should do the test.
I also noticed another effect when microdosing at work: It helps me focus and it temporarily brings back the energy when being exhausted from work. (This depends on the strain, of course. Amnesia or White Widow work great here). However, this comes with the risk of burning myself out, so I do it only when necessary.
With weed its not straight forward, because many diff strains produce diff outcomes, some can make ur ADHD worse, others better. But buying it on the street will not give reproducible results.
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Ignore this if you’re only looking for medication advice.
I simply stopped going against my ADHD. I stopped trying to achieve things that ADHD was preventing me from achieving. “Achievement/success” is completely overrated.
How did you achieve this? Did you change jobs or positions at your job? What do you do for a living?
I live in a country with social safety net. If I lose my job, I just live on that until I find a new one. I have a roof and warmth and food, that is enough for me.
Currently I work in a job with 20 hours a week, work from home, and flexible so I can work almost whenever I want. When I feel too bad about not having worked a while I start working, as is ADHD custom. I don’t do a lot, I’m not recognized as a hard worker, I don’t stand out, I just do enough.
That’s exactly my aim now. I overworked myself in past. Employers out here are living in the past, demanding 40h weeks. This really broke me several times with burnout depression. Now, in the job interviews, I tell them all that I will not work more than 35h, better: 32.
Honestly, I would not be above complete and utter deception. Companies and many of the people working for them don’t have your wellbeing at heart. In a job interview, I always present as the best and hardest, most passionate worker going above and beyond all the time. I do not feel bad about it at all. Then I just do as much as I can/want and see if they fire me. I simply do not care to be good and honest in a system that’s the farthest away from goodness and honesty.
Nothing. Nothing has worked. I am fucking exhausted trying to figure out how to work with it or strategize against it and nothing fucking works. Fuck meds, fuck therapy, fuck psychiatry, fuck all the “just meditate and find a claiming center and ‘enter inane unhelpful bullshit here’”. Fuck it all. Nothing. Fucking. Works. I fucking hate it.
Good luck OP. I hope you have better luck than me.
I’ve been feeling this way a lot myself lately. I sympathize, it’s putting me in a bad way too
Yeah, I get crabby and down if I dwell on it too much. So instead I bottle it up and let it fester. Surely that won’t be an issue. I like your username BTW, that’s awesome.
That is awful. I hope you can find relief somewhere.
I’ve been lucky and the drugs are a godsend for me, despite having the gene that makes me hyper metabolize stimulants (which basically means they don’t last long enough in my system).
It is seriously under-appreciated how awful this disorder is in the modern world - especially if you are not of the wealthier classes.
I’ve struggled a lot too. Nothing quite helps enough, which leaves me like progression blue-balled on tasks. What HAS helped the most is allowing myself to do multiple tasks at once. I write them down and just do what I feel like as they come around. I also made sure to find work that allows me to do this. So basically I built parts of my life around my adhd so that the walls I bounce off of are at least walls I need to hit.
This is without treating my sleep apnea, no therapy, and no medication. However, it has also meant having a very solid understanding of what I cope with and how I cope with it. Because I have depression separate from adhd, and anxiety which is fueled by both and some trauma, the single most effective thing I’ve ever done is take the time to truly understand each aspect.
Now I can mentally set aside my anxiety and am able to will myself to not listen to that cruel little voice. For my depression I’ve learned to accept it and work with it rather than fighting. With ADHD I adapted my circumstances rather than try to force the adhd to work with everything else. So far the only thing I haven’t found a way to do is force myself to do tasks I don’t want to do. There MUST be some reason, otherwise I’ll procrastinate.
I don’t expect any of this to help. I do hope some of it does, though. We all deserve to be able to look forward to the next day, if only a little.
Straterra didn’t do shit other than make my libido nonexistent. Ritalin has worked well for me. I know people who felt like they were in hell while on Ritalin. A lot of it is trial and error since all bodies process them differently.
I will say, there are genetic tests you can take to see which medications are tolerated well by your body. I took one and surprise surprise, I had the markers for straterra not being well tolerated. Also if you have other family members who have ADHD and are on medication it’s a good idea to ask them since your genetics will be somewhat similar.
What else did you learn from it re:medication sensitivities?
- Admitting that I don’t have control over my symptoms.
- Meds. Taking vivanse and wellbutrin in the morning and experimenting (with Dr approval) Adderall in the afternoon
- Making sure I have some exercise as part of my morning every day routine (biking/walking on my way to work, going for a walk before walk when I wfh)
- Getting out for a walk bike ride during the day
- Talk therapy with a CBT pro
That bottom acronym really takes the whole thing in a potentially wildly different direction.
No. You take it in that direction for some reason.
Sounds like CBT alright
