As a pharmacy worker who also has ADHD, I simultaneously feel bad for every fellow neurodivergent who relies on prescriptions - especially the controlled ones - and am so resentful that our system (US) makes getting meds so difficult that, crippled as I am, I find it better to go without prescription treatments than to rely on something that I know is going to be full of disruptions.
I also made the executive decision years ago to avoid prescription dependence after hearing about all the reports of Occupy protesters having their medications confiscated by police. Our healthcare system is weaponized.
I didn’t know about ADHD growing up and neither did my parents, grandparents or my teachers apparently so my first 2 years in school meant that if i was unruly in class then me and anyone else would be pulled up by our sideburns in front of the whole class by a 70 year old fat whore which i still hate to this day and then there was also a possibility i would face the wrath of the belt when i got home.
This was in the Balkans and being a kid around some of the rednecks there in the 90s was a fucking nightmare.
Some of you may think i am being harsh on them but nah fuck off, the only thing i got from that was self loathing and suicidal thoughts and even though they tell me now that they are proud of me and how i managed to get a good life together i still have the same thoughts as i did back then that i am a worthless piece of shit that they should have strangled when i was born and when life gets tough i think about slitting my throat or some other suicidal shit to CALM MYSELF DOWN because that means i would be free of this shitty existence and the worst part is i have gotten used to that.
Live with your demons until they kill you.
Also i don’t smoke, drink or take meds.
Next year i’ll be 40, wonder how long i can keep bulldozing my way through life like this.
I say neurotypical people should be on drugs so they are more tolerable to interact with. Then i can do less drugs.
What, does this not work going the other way? Interesting…
I like this idea.
Caffeine? For ADHDers? Idk about the rest of you, but that doesn’t help me accomplish anything. Anger in the other hand …
The trick is to drink seven cups of coffee over the course of an hour. You skip straight from feeling nothing to jittery limbs and an acute awareness that you have a heart and it is straining far more than it should.
It doesn’t help anything, but you DO feel it.
From experience, everyone else starts talking intolerably slowly, and giving you worried looks. You have time to plan your entire project between their sentences, and come up with at least three major revelations before they’ve finished their point, but when you escape, you’re so focused on the task in front of you that you forget them all. Caffeine giveth and caffeine taketh away.
spite is my sole motivation. caffeine is my sleeping aid
I did this for 45 years. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Possible? Sure. Easy? Hell no.
Doesn’t use medication
Five cups of coffee a day
:-/
I just got my meds TODAY! After 7 years of trying to get on them again. I miss normal life. Gonna go get it.
Spite. Don’t forget the spite.
I raw dogged for 40 years before getting the help I needed
Eventually the caffeine and anger causes too many heart problems, it is what it is
is that what’s wrong with me?
I thought I was just fat.
Being big definitely doesn’t help. But being big AND angry AND over-caffeinated is just adding reasons for your heart to quit.
I feel the same way and hey what’s this butterfly species I love it let’s research that when I get back home!
Same man
THC and nicotine for me.
Mmmm spliffs are tasty.
this is the way
Not necessarily to a good place
I’m here for a good time not a long time
With that attitude, you may survive us yet.
unfortunately adhd meds fucked me up even more, i prefer my natural adhd-affected brain, but i respect those who need meds to function
Which ones have you tried? I felt the same about Adderall when I was prescribed it as a kid. Quit taking it as it was worse than nothing. Apparently there’s a lot more options these days, but I haven’t gotten around to trying the others yet, no surprise
Got diagnosed at 45 and got some meds, absolutely life changing
That is until your pharmacy runs out and you have to call 10 other places to find it while falling back on your old coping techniques that are way more work than you realized
Ain’t life grand
Interacting with the US Healthcare system gives me instant crippling depression.
Something that changed my life in the US: Skip the big name pharmacies entirely. Look for the local small pharmacies. Fewer people go to them so they usually have a better stock, and they generally give a damn about the people that come in so even uninsured their prices are far far far more reasonable.
Silly question, but how do you even begin that process when you’re not a kid? I’m 34 and feel like I might have had ADHD my whole life, but never bothered looking into it. I’ve made it this far into a successful career without meds and I just assume that any doc will think I’m a wannabe pillhead or something.
I asked a therapist for a diagnosis, and she didn’t even attempt to do the questionnaire bcz it was so obvious. My family doctor took her word for it, lol.
I’m 54, dealing with perimenopause symptoms finally drove me to desperation to finally address my needs. Consultation with a neuropsychologist, 2 weeks later an appointment for 4 hrs worth of testing, 4 weeks later we sat down and she went over my 16 pages of test results/eval. Inattentive ADHD, executive dysfunction, with some anxiety. Adderall has been life changing. I have greater awareness and understanding in regards to many challenges in my life, and she pointed me in the direction to get more assistance if I need it.
One of the biggest motivations for doing this is also to let my adult sons be aware, since there are genetic possibilities. My parents never would have discussed these things, I waited till my 50s to address them. If my son’s are questioning, hopefully they find out earlier in life and can have better quality than waiting like I have.
Ask PCP for referral. Talk to psych lady. Try some meds. See how it goes.
I originally went in for post-lockdown depression, but as I was describing my life and symptoms, she realized there was more going on. First she gave me prozac, which was terrible. Then we tried some Wellbutrin and Adderall, and that was the ticket.
Buddy, I used to think the same thing. I told my therapist as much when he suggested I seek medication for my clinical ADHD. What he basically told me was that Psychiatrists are not stupid. They’ll listen to your story and they will evaluate whether or not you are a good candidate for meds. Substance abusers get weeded out fairly quickly, from what I have been told.
As long as you are honest with the doc, and willing to be open minded about treatment options, you’ll be fine.
I feel like my kids having it diagnosed helped me a bit but it started with getting a therapist and talking about my life experiences. I expected to have to take a test but they just put me on the meds pretty quickly. My 3rd grade teacher suspected me but my parents never acted. I guess I am a clear case so testing wasn’t involved in my diagnosis
ask your family doctor, most can start the process of a diagnosis.
Thanks , I will have my butler ring my family doctor.
And if you have regular doctors appointments in your 30s, probably you don’t need the meds. Lol.
Or they have other issues that make maintaining healthcare vital.
Just because someone is surviving, doesn’t mean they’re living. Having quality in your life is important.
As someone who’s in the same boat as you, what makes you think you’ve got it, out of curiosity (unless you don’t want to share, which is completely fine too)?
you can book a consultation with a psychologist or a psychiatrist. In order to be diagnosed, the symptoms you have must have been present before age 12. They will likely have you sit and do a 20 minute test to measure attention and memory. It will sound like it’s going to be easy. If you have the condition, I assure you it is not!
Then your provider can talk meds. There’s lots of options. The lambo of pills is Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), but there are a lot of others w various benefits and drawbacks.
e: the doctors are only there to prescribe pills, more or less. they won’t think you’re abusing the system
Vyvance is the lambo? Bruh it’s maybe the Honda Accord, reliable, long lasting, but definitely nothing flashy. Maybe a chip tune because it is technically dex. But seriously, straight dex is the Lambo. Hard to control, 0-60 in Oh fuck me, almost no levo side effects, put it anywhere and it works. As an undiagnosed individual I have run the gamut of different chems and Dex is beyond my favorite
maybe the wrong analogy to use for people that actually know cars lol. thats just how my psych described it. Probably because it’s top of the line and everyone wants it. I don’t want a come-up or down. I don’t want to feel wired for 4 hours then crash. Some people do, but that’s why I avoided adderall and friends. I didn’t ever want to feel the urge to abuse my drug either.
Vyvanse is so smooth and lasts so long that I’m on the lowest dosage and plan to stay there forevs by taking tolerance breaks. Lasts all day into the evening so I can be productive at more than just work. shits real nice
Honestly it’s what I should probably accept and go beg for, because A) they will never give me IR anything, I have been too honest, and B) yea you really cannot abuse it. It’s just some days I don’t feel like being stimmed for 16 hours straight and just need a morning boost. I’m also very sensitive to phenethylamines, stimulants in particular and 10mg of mixed salts at 9am has me still chatty 12 hours later…
That is a silly question. Everyone knows this. If chalupapocalypse wants to explain it anyway for those of you who weren’t paying attention though…
Exact same thing here!
I’m up there too and haven’t been diagnosed, but after my second pot of coffee, I’m ready for a nap. Something’s probably up.
Benn Jordan has a video on that, quite interesting
It’s all in our heads anyway.
Just because my drugs aren’t prescribed by a doctor doesn’t mean they don’t work.
Dr. Me knows best.
I have ADHD and do not do any medications and do not injest caffeine either. You really just need to exercise properly. If you start the day with exercise, and take a break mid day to exercise again, like going on a walk or jog, it’ll keep you feeling more focused and motivated. Diet matters a lot too.
You say, “You really just need to…”, then proceed to list a bunch of things I can’t make myself do without medication. I went 40 years trying things to avoid medication because of the stigma my family put on it, and getting medicated was the best decision I ever made.
You are right. I phrased that improperly. I should have said that those things can help. I was wrong to frame it as if it was a complete solution for everyone. I didn’t mean to speak for others experiences with their own mental health, and if they feel medication is what works best for them then I support them in taking it.
