I want to make this as clear as possible to see the situation I’ve been in.

For years, I’ve struggled with school having ADHD while dealing with other mental problems making things a lot harder on me. I’m not a dumb person by any means, but my grades have been at their lowest for a decent while now. It’s not like I didn’t want to do any of my work and do fuck all, but when I would try to do my work in and out of school I would get easily distracted, procrastinate, and I would be to harsh on myself for not getting any work done. Then it would lead always to me getting a little behind my homework and classwork, then it would snowball into “yeah there’s no way I can all of this done, it’s over”, and that cycle would repeat. Most of my friends and family say it’s worth it and to go on and finish high school, while some says its better to cut my losses and get the GED instead.

Continuing means I would have to “lock in“ for the hundredth time and actually have to force myself to finish all the classes that I failed, on top of the other high school classes I didn’t complete, which would probably take a while. But with my GED it’s not as much of a hassle to deal with, but in some cases some jobs don’t like when you apply with one.

I've seen a trillion posts about the benefits of creatine. I have used creatine HCL on and off and it seems like it messes with my sleep, though most say it helps. I'm going to switch to monohydrate which shouldn't affect my sleep. Has anyone else experienced sleep disturbances when using it? I'm wondering if it's an ADHD thing the way caffeine chills us out.

Hello all
I’m new to this subreddit, I’ve add throughout my whole life but just recently started taking Adderall
I’m up for a refill. Am I doctor is upping me from 10 mg XR to 20 mg XR
We’ve tried like 20 pharmacies already, and none of them have it
It has been so helpful, and I really don’t want to go without it.

I’m sure this topic has been discussed a ton, but any advice or pointing me in a right direction on how to deal with this would be very helpful

Additionally, does anyone know when this stupid shortage is gonna be over

Thank you for any help

I got assessed again for ADHD a couple weeks ago (I was diagnosed at 5 and am now 21). Today, I had a follow-up appointment where we went over all of the results in depth. During my examination, they administered an IQ test and today I found out the results. They told me my IQ is 80. After finding this out, I’m extremely upset. I have very low self-esteem surrounding my intelligence and to hear my IQ confirmed devastated me. The neuropsych told me that it’s not entirely accurate because it is difficult to administer an accurate IQ test for someone who has slower processing speed and executive dysfunction. I can’t help but wonder why they would tell me the results let alone administer it in the first place. I was hoping to feel validated hearing my diagnosis reconfirmed but instead I just feel even worse about myself than I did before.

i know this is probably relatable to most of the people in this subreddit and i just need real slap on the wrist advice on what i should do. i started taking medication 2 weeks ago (im on adderall 10 mg twice a day) and for the first couple of days i decided that i should just start taking the meds once a day to see how i feel. i thought it was smart to slowly introduce a new drug into my system so any side effects wouldn't be as ruthless on me. unfortunately, we all know how the story goes: the first day was the most relaxed i have ever felt. i was like, as the adhd cliche goes, "this is how people without adhd feel??" . my mind was completely blank, but i wasn't against that at all since it was very peaceful to me. this was a couple days before school started so i just sat in my room enjoying the relaxation of my brain finally being quiet and so much so i almost fell asleep? once school started i started taking my normal dosage. its been two weeks now and i feel suck and lost. there was a big paper i had to finish last night and instead of spreading it out like i would've in the first couple of days i started taking my meds, i spent 6 hours last night finishing it. today, i had a day off, and instead of reasonably starting my work, i've been stuck, frozen in a loop of "ill do in in 20 minutes" literally back to my old self. ive also noticed that hidden record player in my mind is coming back, i can't sit down and read an assignment like how i first used to, i'm fidgeting more, im forgetting more, etc.

does this mean i should up my dose? can someone please give me some advice on what to do? i know a lot of people on here say that this is normally what's supposed to happen - you get used to the drug and then you are stuck in the loop of trying to feel normal again. i dont want to up my dose because i want to be a hyper productive zombie... i just want to be able to function :(

I've debated going to see a psychiatrist for probably about 10 years now (I'm 24). Definitely have had ADHD symptoms my whole life and have been told I seem very ADHD by many people I know, including some who have ADHD. Anyways, that's not what this post is about. I plan on seeing a psychiatrist for an evaluation, and then for sure plan on doing therapy to get better systems in place, because I really need to get my shit together.

Anyways, as far as medication, from doing research, Vyvanse sounds interesting to me, with it being a slower release medication, and a lot of the science behind ADHD and stimulants makes a lot of sense on paper. However, I see many have negative thoughts on the medication long term. I know that there are objective positive outcomes in terms of ADHD symptoms being improved (although one could argue that by getting a diagnosis, the awareness comes with other habits, such as therapy or exercise that might help these outcomes regardless of the meds), but for me this isnt really the question I care about. At the end of the day, it's all about overall mood/happiness/life enjoyment. We want to be more productive, more organized, less of a mess, to live a better life. Has ADHD meds improved your life? I know if I were to hop on Vyvanse, that first week would probably be euphoric, and very eye opening, as perhaps I could be mentally clear for the first time. But past that, I see so many negatives about the medication here. Just trying to prepare mentally prior to my evaluation

I am 32 years old and I have experienced ADHD pretty much my whole life. My parents were really against the medication when I was a kid so they never got me on anything even tho it was recommended to me many times. I got out on Wellbutrin and Prozac when I was a teenager and I really didn't like the side effects. I quit taking Wellbutrin and tapered off Prozac. I recently had a visit with a doctor online and she wants to prescribe me Prozac. I don't want it to seem like I am drug seeking but I really want to try stimulants for the first time and not go back on Wellbutrin or Strattera. I am not sure what to do at all and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

To those who get anxiety on Vyvanse, are there any stimulants that don’t give you anxiety? Or are all stimulants like this? I know there are non stimulant meds too but I have idiopathic hypersomnia so want something that can prevent drowsiness during the day as well as fix my adhd symptoms. Lower doses of my vyvanse makes me sleepy and is not effective for treating my symptoms

I was on 50 mg of Vyvanse which had the added benefit of reducing the tinnitus that I’ve been experiencing. I reduced to 40 mg to see if that would help with the afternoon crash. Day 1 of the 40 mg dose, the tinnitus was so incredibly loud and has remained this way for a week. has anyone experienced this and did the tinnitus get better once you had adjusted to the lower dose?

Every time I talk with a professional about my struggles with controlling my focus they either keep talking about autism or tell me that I look very attentive٫ I won't survive another school year without aids specific for ADHD٫ but I don't know how to get professionals to listen to me .
what do I tell them to bring it to a point that they can no longer ingnore it?

Hii adhd friends. I recently got prescribed Adderall for my adhd, and I do not take it everyday cause I think it’s important to have breaks. I’ll take it a few days in a row, then a day or two off, and so on.

On the days when I’m not taking my Adderall, is it generally alright to have caffeine for the focus boost? Or would that be kind of counterproductive to taking “breaks” from the medication?

I typically have zero caffeine during my adderall days, cause I’ve heard caffeine can negatively impact the adderall’s efficacy.

For context, if at all necessary, the caffeine I do consume on my days off from the medication is not a whole lot. Typically a matcha latte or two. Nothing crazy like Yerba or other energy drinks.

I feel like this is such a silly question but I genuinely don’t know much about adderall yet. And google’s answers are too sterile lol I want to hear real human experiences 😂

Thanks.

I don’t know if what I’m doing to say makes any sense, but I’m hoping that maybe someone out there will understand what I’m talking about or know what I’m trying to describe.

Has anyone else experienced a feeling of “spontaneous forgetfulness” where suddenly, out of nowhere, something you do or know and have for months or even YEARS suddenly seems to be absent in your memory?

Examples of this:

- I clock out of my work at the exact same time every single day for the past two years. For some reason, I suddenly and momentarily am unable to recall what time I’m supposed to leave today (this has happened multiple times)

- I have driven for 10 years of my life. But sometimes when I reach a street on my way home, I completely forget for a second which turn I’m supposed to take

- I have a social media account where the password has never changed and I consistently log in and out of. But sometimes, I completely blank on what the password is the first couple of tries

- I forget when I have already told someone a particular story or piece of information and end up repeating myself, even if I had already said it less than half an hour ago (this also happens a lot)

I feel like I’m going crazy trying to explain this- is this even related to my ADHD or is this something else entirely ??? It’s been bugging me more than usual lately

Currently taking 20mg Adderall XR.

Works well enough, takes 2ish hours to kick in, lasts for 4-5. Like a "burst" of productive capability.

I was told medications like vyvanse you need to take "every day" - does that mean that it gives a lower intensity, but constant effect?

I like the adderall, but would be interested in an alternative if it meant that I would be more "even keeled" in its effect as opposed to a burst.

same as title.

i am working on getting evaluated (looking up psychiatrists, saving up, etc) and i saw that the clinic i might go to uses a test called TOVA. i tried reading about it but i only found an old youtube vid that didnt mention much.

does anyone have any experience with it or knows what it is?

I was diagnosed with ADHD in December last year. I’m a 39-year-old woman working in IT, mainly providing customer support for our internal users.

We receive around 10 user requests per day via email, so the workload isn’t particularly high in terms of the number of requests I personally have to handle. Still, I wanted to try incorporating more focused work time into my schedule so I can get things done that require sustained concentration, such as updating guides, writing documentation and protocols, etc.

My boss, who is also a woman, recently told me that I’m not allowed to schedule focus blocks because I need to be available for users to call me whenever they need support.

The problem is that this has other consequences: without dedicated time to focus, I struggle to finish the tasks that require deeper concentration, which means that I end up delivering some things late. I tried explaining to her that multitasking doesn’t work well for me and that having scheduled time to focus would not only help me be more productive, but would also have a positive impact on my mental health.

At some point, I stopped trying to explain because I felt like I wasn’t getting through to her.

Now I’m wondering whether I should start looking for another job.

Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you handle it? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or advice on how to approach this situation.

I got diagnosed last year with ADHD and got my 8yr old diagnosed too. We were put on same meds. Fast acting Ritalin.
I had lots of stress and the more stressed I got, harder it was to focus and felt meds didn’t help. I would forget to take afternoon doses etc. dr wouldn’t give me long acting until they knew what was working but I struggled to advance to even the next stage. I ended up depressed and suicidal. Hospital psychiatrist put me on mertazipine and told me to stop adhd meds as he felt they were making my mental health symptoms worse . I felt calm and relaxed on mertazipine and less overwhelmed. Anyway life is a bit of a blur now. My daughter also got agitated and more poorly behaved as a result. I’m scared of going back on meds and I feel like genetic testing would help find better meds but that’s not available in Australia. I feel like I have to choose between mental health vs adhd treatment. I also know that I could be better and that adhd is holding me back in a lot of ways.

I’m in my late 20s and recently self diagnosed myself having adhd. I have severe fidgeting habit from early childhood. But I never faced any issue with my academics until my college. Even then I did ok to graduate and get a good job. All my life nobody around me guessed or noticed I have adhd. Only until recently I started noticing my hyperfocus for hours straight while constantly tapping my legs. I have to binge watch a lot at night just to keep me sane.

My job is highly stressful but well paying. I’m curious what are the long term effects of multiple hyperfocus sessions in a day. will my cognitive levels drop after a certain age?

Hi all!
Was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and I have experienced increased stress at work due to my inability to recall/remember things more and more. I was prescribed Wellbutrin to start, but when I went from 150 to 300mg, I experienced depersonalization episodes and felt super off. I went down to 150 and I’m hanging there for now. NP then added 18mg methylphenidate with the plan to increase the dose- also was told to only take it on work days, as those are the days I’m struggling. However, all three days I took it- the crash was unbearable! Every reason I’m taking the med, Came on harder and stronger- literally couldn’t get through a recipe and the left the stove burner on, along with super exhausted and a raging headache. So we stopped that and now strattera is waiting to be picked up at the pharmacy- it has a high copay even with insurance, if it works it will be worth it, but I’m kinda over the trial for a few days/weeks and move on to the next 😮‍💨
I knowwwww everyone is different and I have searched some experiences in this group. It seems to simply not work for most? Anyone use it as their primary med for ADHD and are having great success with it?!

I’m diagnosed ADHD and have been on Dexamphetamine for two years. I would heavy smoke and drink a lot of beers in the afternoons when taking my meds. I then transitioned to not taking my medication on weekends. If I didn’t take my meds on weekends I also wouldn’t smoke or drink on weekends.
 
I decided I really needed to quit smoking because I was basically chain smoking. I knew my meds made my cravings worse so I took a long holiday and didn’t take any of my medication for over a month. I had little cravings, did really well and quit smoking entirely.
 
Now I take my Dexamphetamine meds when I feel like I’m stuck in executive paralysis (maybe once or twice a week) and need to get things done. It’s great for getting me out of it, but every single time I take it I end up smoking and drinking. It’s like a craving that comes over me that I can’t resist, and I don’t get it when I don’t take me medication. I don’t know why, or how I can still take my medication without it turning into a substance spiral. Not sure if it’s an association I’ve created or something.
 

So i found a doctor on zocdoc. They were able to to write a script and sent to walgreens well.. walgreens could only give me 10 out of the 30.. they said i could take that and would fax that to my doctor. I sent a message to my doctor who told me to just give her another pharmacy so i tried cvs after trying to tell me a refill would be another appointment.. and i told her i didn't even get the full prescription.. well cvs doesn't have it either apparently a lot of pharmacies have the medication on backorder. When i told her this it seems she ignored the message.. so 3 days later i messaged her again asking for the game plan she said she sent in the scipt to cvs.. so i called her and explained again they dont have that in stock.. she then told me to call cvs and ask them what kind of adderall that they do have in stock.. i called cvs and they told me they can't discuss controlled substances with me over the phone. They also told me they have been trying to get my doctor on the phone and that they could only give that information to her.

Do i just need to find another doctor?

Unfortunately I have a radial head deformity in my elbows that I was born with that make me unable to extend my arms out fully. I also get severe nerve pain by my ulnar nerve (the “funny bone” which is absolutely not so funny at all), and it triggers pain from my elbows all the way down to my hands. Some days it hurts so bad that I can’t even hold anything, because it puts more pressure on my arms. Pain meds have been somewhat helpful for really high pain days, but it usually doesn’t really help too much. Sometimes I literally have no motivation to physically get up and take the pain medicine because I just have no energy to do it.My arms hurt too much to even hold my phone and type this, but I just needed to vent I guess.

It’s hard to tell if that’s my adhd, or maybe it’s something else, because I generally lack motivation for doing things to actively take care of myself.

I am in physical therapy though, in hopes that I can build muscles in my arms to hopefully help cushion the nerves a little better. But so far it hasn’t helped as much. Surgery may be the next step if the pain persists even after it.

i do go to the gym and play video games with friends every few days.

but i have no real interests. i dont know anything about things i theoretically like. like fandoms and stuff. im also kinda bad at the game i play and i see little to no progress.

i used to love drawing and painting. but now i only do that when i need a self made present for somebody.

and i hate how quickly i lose interest in so many things. additionally, everything i do like / wanna try out feels like a chore when i think about it (like drawing, painting) or i simply never really feel like doing it.

instead im just on my phone the whole time. either texting someone, watching tiktok / reels or watching youtube.

lately ive been joining some hangout servers on discord and i can never contribute to any conversations because i dont know anything about anything. and i cant even start conversations because, well, i never haave anything to talk about except telling people what im doing in the moment.

no wonder no one on discord has ever really wanted to be friends with me / actively dm me within the 5 years ive had discord. because im just extremely boring.

can anyone with adhd relate to this? or am i really just lazy

Hello, I am a Male 33y recently diagnosed and prescribed 10mg adderall. The quiet and calm it provided my brain almost made me cry. I did not know my thoughts could be so quiet. It is helping in other typical ways like focus, but I had no idea it would be so calming and anxiety relieving. At the same time, it does cause me some physical side effects that are frustrating. I have always had some small ticks (I'm guessing thats what they are)which have gotten much worse on adderall. I get the urge/feeling to scrunch my face and close one or both of my eyes. The second one is messing with my beard, I start fucking with it and cant stop touching and trying to fix/ straighten it out.

My psychiatrist gave me the option of switching to a non amphetamine stimulant like concerta, or adding guanfacine to my adderall dose. Just wondering if anyone has tried both and has any thoughts or experiences to share?

My thoughts are one pill would be better than 2, but the adderall is working great in the lowest dose, so I figured maybe just try to fix the side effects with the addition of guanfacine. Thank you

i have no problems with the big challenges like work and relationships. i’m great at my job and i get shit done and do it well. i’m there for my family and friends when they need me.

so why is it so hard for me to throw away the wrapper from a band aid or my daily contacts? why can’t i put things away in places that i’ll actually remember? WHY can i never find MY PHONE?! why can’t i put my headphones into the case to charge instead of in my pants pocket? where the fuck is my debit card?

sometimes i feel like a failure because the little things are still so hard.

Genuinely, ive tried so many things: making fake deadlines, cutting it up into smaller pieces, but alas. Unless there's an external deadline (like making something for someone or turning something in before a said date) I won't do it. And if there is i only do it right before. This is especially an issue considering im having a break year this year so there's no external pressure on anything