• RBWells@lemmy.world
    2·
    24 minutes ago

    My kids say I am ADHD self medicating with coffee. But I have held a job for decades, and figure the line for medication is when you have distress. I am not really distressed, or wasn’t until I read that untreated ADHD was a risk factor for dementia, which was sort of distressing.

    It’s hard to get diagnosed old though, and I can’t do Adderall, like my kids do, because I had restrictive eating disorder young and really like speed. Yes, probably because it “fixed” me but I am afraid I’d abuse it, and very certain that wrecking my appetite would be a mistake. Too easy to feel virtuous about not eating and unfortunately midlife eating disorder is pretty common, I have mixed feelings about the more womanly and bigger body I got at menopause. Everyone else tells me I am in great shape, but I miss tall skinny angular build.

    Anyway, in short- I do have personal reasons to avoid the meds. So usually coffee at 10 and 2 (14). Strong coffee. But not strong enough I forget to eat.

    ETA: Coffee and Niagen, actually, Nicotinamide Riboside, a B vitamin thing - the Niagen really clears my thinking. I started it because it was said to improve physical recovery time. I didn’t get that, but from the first dose, it was remarkable how much clearer my mind was, it felt sort of like putting on glasses. So I have also taken that at lunchtime for about a dozen years.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.world
    14·
    16 hours ago

    In my 20s, I decided that ADHD wasn’t real and I didn’t need my med. I also went through eight cups of coffee and a pack of cigarettes a day. Went back on my meds in my thirties, it’s easier and cheaper.

  • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.mlEnglish
    271·
    21 hours ago

    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…

  • Eternal192@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    12·
    18 hours ago

    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.

    • CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world
      4·
      13 hours ago

      From a similar experience I can say you have plenty left in you. This shit also made us strong and unwilling to easily surrender. And ya’ll better hope hauntings aren’t real cause I’m gonna come back and get my ghostly revenge if given the chance.

  • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.netEnglish
    10·
    18 hours ago

    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.

    • Lennny@lemmy.world
      5·
      15 hours ago

      The worst thing for me is the meds require being consistent. Something that is fucking hard to do with ADHD. It’s cruel.

      • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.netEnglish
        3·
        12 hours ago

        Exactly. I once made the mistake of quitting adderall abruptly once I ran out. Huge mistake. It kicked off a deep, constant depression that lasted I think at least a year. Ended up dropping out of high school soon after.

  • chalupapocalypse@lemmy.world
    52·
    1 day ago

    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

    • Impleader@lemmy.world
      16·
      1 day ago

      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.

      • Duranie@leminal.space
        12·
        22 hours ago

        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.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
        6·
        21 hours ago

        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.

      • Furbag@pawb.socialEnglish
        6·
        22 hours ago

        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.

      • TheRagingGeek@lemmy.world
        3·
        22 hours ago

        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

      • rustydrd@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        23 hours ago

        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)?

      • chalupapocalypse@lemmy.world
        1·
        20 hours ago

        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.

      • naught@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        24 hours ago

        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

        • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
          4·
          22 hours ago

          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

          • naught@sh.itjust.works
            3·
            21 hours ago

            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

            • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
              1·
              19 hours ago

              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…

      • yermaw@sh.itjust.works
        23·
        23 hours ago

        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…

    • Ariselas@piefed.caEnglish
      101·
      1 day ago

      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.

    • Squirrelanna@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      3·
      21 hours ago

      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.

  • cpaq47@lemmy.world
    15·
    21 hours ago

    Caffeine? For ADHDers? Idk about the rest of you, but that doesn’t help me accomplish anything. Anger in the other hand …

    • Squirrelanna@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      13·
      21 hours ago

      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.

      • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        2·
        18 hours ago

        9 shots of espresso suuuuuucks if you have nothing to actually do for the hour or so it lasts.

        Ask me how i know 🙃

      • notabot@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        20 hours ago

        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.

        • terwn43lp@lemmy.world
          5·
          21 hours ago

          unfortunately adhd meds fucked me up even more, i prefer my natural adhd-affected brain, but i respect those who need meds to function

          • cpaq47@lemmy.world
            21·
            21 hours ago

            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

            • terwn43lp@lemmy.world
              1·
              13 hours ago

              twas adderall that made me angry, anxious, and triggered psychosis (hallucinations). would never go through that again. also why i dont do psychedelics, but weed has been mostly fine for me

              • cpaq47@lemmy.world
                1·
                2 hours ago

                Wow, I didn’t have that bad of an experience. More just extremely mentally tired and groggy, in like a dream like state. Felt like a zombie and had no interest in socializing or eating. Decided to ditch it when I was 15.

                Weed is also my current solution. Def helps in the short term, but doesn’t help me get off my ass and really try to fix the problem. I hope non stimulant meds could help, but I haven’t had the motivation to talk with a psychiatrist to try any out.

                Stay strong friend.

    • flueterflam@lemmy.world
      2·
      14 hours ago

      I only started drinking coffee within the last 5 years or so, but it semi-helps! Puts you on the toilet a lot more so you’re exposed to more shit and less bullshit! (Unless you doom scroll Lemmy like me…)

  • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
    17·
    23 hours ago

    I just got my meds TODAY! After 7 years of trying to get on them again. I miss normal life. Gonna go get it.