And this is even after googling…
My example
like i take methylphenidate and I understand that, as a stimulant, it makes my brain uptake more dopamine from various tasks, helping me to stay focused on one task for longer.
But if it’s to treat ADHD in general surely it should do other stuff too? Does it like… make me less distracted/annoyed by sounds? Make my processing power faster?
Also, it is said online that it can take “2 weeks of taking methylphenidate” for it to actually “change your brain chemistry” and allow you to see a boost in performance. This bit was weird to me because no doctor or psych told me, but i stuck by it and it helped me use the medicine effectively rather than just giving up on it - and it does genuinely feel like i’m more effective and productive because i stuck to it for a long time.
(I’ve avoided taking it for the last 4 days because weekend and i was ill, so adding extra drugs to the mix other than painkiller and throat lozengers didn’t make much sense to me. Now every time i stop taking it i start to worry i’ll lose the “streak” of taking the medicine properly.)
Not a doctor. Methylphenidate was explained to me like this by my psychiatrist: front of brain, back door (blocking reuptake of dopamine/norepinephrine, so what’s already there lingers). The adderall-type drugs, amphetamines/dextroamphetamines, are front of brain, front door (provides a straight up dopamine/norepinephrine burn). The non-stimulants like Strattera are back of brain (like quieting down a car full of noisy kids by throwing candy at them). It can help reduce distractions, but it could also increase irritability (vyvanse made me rage when it started kicking in, so I had to take it carefully). Stimulants are weird. Some made time seem to slow down, others seemed to speed things. Your experience will vary depending on your own personal chemistry.
Amphetamine stimulants also block the reuptake of dopamine but just in a slightly different way. (Stopping the reuptake engine vs clogging it up). Amphetamine stimulants can also use different mixes of active ingredients so that’s why you’ll see different effects depending on the brand names but the neurochemical effects are similar in regards to dopamine.
Also, are you putting vyvanse in the non-stim category? Vyvanse is in the same class as adderal so that wouldn’t make sense.
But yeah, most of these strop your brain’s ability to destroy certain neurochemicals so for them to work you must still do things that will trigger the release of those chemicals.
No, probably should’ve made a new paragraph for vyvanse, wanted to make a general comment on it as an example. Definitely a stimulant.
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All I know is it lets me keep my job and by extension a roof over my head. I was made to try Adderall and some other amphetamine based stimulants first but eventually settled in the Ritalin (methylphenidate) family and it keeps me much more stable.
Doesn’t quiet my brain quite as much but doesn’t trigger existential crises as frequently, either.
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When I didn’t like the side effects, the dose wore off too quickly, or the crash was unbearable. I knew initially that Ritalin-likes worked well for other members of my family but being diagnosed as an adult, Adderall-likes are considered first line to try where I am.
I’ve always thought of my brain as a campfire, and the drugs are gasoline: once the gas hits the campfire, everything extinguishes immediately.
No, I don’t know why.
Yea, I wouldn’t stop taking it for pain meds or the throat lozenges.
If it’s an NSAID, there’s no interaction. If it’s an opiate, the stimulant will blunt the sedative effect of opiates, a little. (Ask a really good doc about it, most will just say “never mix”, without digging into the details and nuance).
You want consistent, stable blood chemistry (I know these meds clear quickly) - but you still want to avoid back-and-forth as much as you can. Part of what they do is help you manage the distractability, so you can practice doing things differently and build new routines.
Certain medicines take regimines to reach full effect, either because they need to build up in your system, or because they allow your body to recover while you are on them, which eventually causes a net gain. I believe stimulants are usually the latter.
When I’m unmedicated, fatigue builds up faster, which makes me more miserable overall, and that compounds. One dose of my med isn’t enough to wipe away all the exhaustion from being unmedicated for weeks. I have to be on it for a while before I get the full effect, which is essentially just being in a good mood most of the time ime.
I was recently sick myself, and did the same where I stopped taking my med. I now think that’s actually a mistake. I spoke with my wife about it, who has been on ADHD meds a lot longer than I have, and that’s what she told me as well. Your meds help your body function. Not taking them while you’re sick is counterproductive
I understand but don’t need to.
Go see a doctor for instructions on how to take your medicine.
Don’t change the instructions because something doesn’t make sense to you.
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Sure, the discussion and topic is interesting.
This is what you’re doing:
I’ve avoided taking it for the last 4 days because…
Make sure to follow the instructions. You are taking medicine that alters your brain chemistry.
If you don’t have the instructions, go and get them.
