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?
Swimming, I don’t know why it works or how it works. Regular swimming stimulates me, even though 100 things don’t go well in a day one small thing of swimming somehow works
The single most thing
Yes
Yes AND. First rule of comedy
80 mg of atamoxetine + 10 mg Adderall
That and I quit smoking weed.
agree & to an extent, when I was first starting this it was weed that helped melt some wall in my brain that was keeping me from seeing even THAT I was v different from other people
Later on tho, weed became bad for me. Irritable, always SO tired, caffeine totally stopped working. Total fckg drag. Used to be fun but now it’s not at all worth it
Adderall. There are, of course, some trade-offs. Having gone so many years without any kind of medication, though, it’s a night and day difference.
I feel like my memory recall is so, so much better with it. When I’m off meds, I often find myself in a mental fog, struggling to remember details spoken to me moments ago. It’s like I’m constantly trying to hold onto a thought, as it’s rapidly slipping out of my grasp.
I still have to rely on the productivity methods that work for me. I obsessively take notes and make lists, because I would be totally lost without either. I’m slowly making lifestyle changes that are helping me overcome almost 20 years of clutter.
Just accepting that it was really affecting my life. After that I went and got therapy and meds. Really helped me learn how to handle myself. I’m a better person because of it.
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.
Interesting idea
don’t fight it, embrace it.
There’s some merit in that. But I wouldn’t really recommend always allowing it. Modern life requires doing some things that ADHD tries to prevent (like finishing that super important project or whatever), but if we give in to it, we can feel some repercussion (like losing our jobs).
Yeah but that’s exactly what I’m saying. If you live in a country with a good social safety net and are fine with living with little money, then losing your job because you didn’t finish that big project is not a problem.
Maybe for some, sure. But I don’t want to assume OP is one of those, and suggest this tactic. It might be a great way to deal with ADHD, I’m not arguing one way or the other, since it seems to work for you and that’s absolutely amazing. However, it could land some people in a lot of hurt.
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.
All the more confirmation that I need to leave America.
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.
how has that gone in interviews? are people ok with that, do they ask why? curious. & ty
They usually show me the door out. But this is still better than doing all they would demand.
Used to work where they liked people at <32h bc it meant they didn’t have to cover health insurance
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.
My single biggest thing changed over time. Here comes a novel (caveat this turned out like a cheesy LinkedIn post, UGH apologies)
1st big thing - meditating.
- my brain could use itself to help itself?! holy 🍴ing 👕 🥎 whaaat
- lots at first, then I didn’t need as much
- gave me the mindset to finally get a diagnosis
Then with that meds became the biggest
- newest types were ok, too anxious tho
- switched to older type of med & lower dose: cheaper & way less faff if I run out or forget
Each was the biggest at its time. & once i got them, I needed less of each. Together they got me to an ok place. But still I wasn’t waking up & looking for jobs or being great to friends & family (here comes the vomitrocious LinkedIn part) —
Whatever magic works, they got me almost there, to where I could get a big chance (job, a partner I love, etc). But there they stop, that’s all the job they can do. For me, it’s me who has to do the work now. Couldn’t have done it without them, but they can’t do it all for me 🤷♂️
OP idk what will work for you & obviously this isn’t an answer you thought you were looking for. But I know your urge to seek out something now, means there is a future you who finds it
My story is a silly LinkedIn post & sorry for that , but… it’s true: your neuro-fucking-awesome brain will always tell you what’s right. That voice won’t ever leave you, even though it’s really quiet. So: idk, just go slowly & listen to your own brain 🧠 👍🙏💪
+1 for “The Good Place” bit
Adderal XR 20-30mg and realizing when its an off day dont commit to anything serious.
For me, Vyvanse changed my life. Self-discipline, too, although it’s still often a struggle, to be honest.
Remedies don’t do anything for me, so instead, I try to change my behaviors and mindset. It’s hard since it’s a tug of war against myself, but I think I am getting better. And as the saying goes, to solve a problem, first the person needs to know he/she has a problem, so I try to keep an eye for potential issues I may have.
A good smack upside the head, just because I like you.
Avoiding situations that allow others to define me on their terms.
I’m curious what this means. Did you find a way to turn those situations into “your terms” or are you just avoiding everything uncomfortable?
No judgement if it’s the second, but that’s not going to work in my world.
Something I did wrong for many years, decades even, was to focus exclusively on trying to improve the areas where I struggle compared to normies. I always felt bad because I found it so hard to do simple things that were easy for most people.
Gradually, I realized there are things I can do that the normies can’t. So instead of constantly trying to redeem myself by improving the things I suck at, I focus on those things I’m really good at.
For example, if I do a job that is all delivery, where I’m just executing rote tasks that someone else has defined, I’ll struggle. If I do a job that is strategic and/or creative and involves very little rote delivery, I’ll excel.
The problem was that school is mostly rote delivery according to a fixed schedule, and early-career jobs tend to be the same. I really struggled during those times of my life. But once I got to the point where I could get more creative/strategic work, the way my brain works finally became an asset rather than a liability.
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.
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.
removed by mod
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.
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.
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I take focalin and it’s the only medicine that has worked for my ADHD.
As for non-medicinal things, I started volunteering recently and my goodness has it helped. I water and groom horses at a stables and it leaves my brain and body refreshed for days after.