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Oh, I'm supposed to take drug holidays? Whoops.
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Oct 21, 2014 15:40
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Cardiovorax posted:Anybody got any experience with tolerance levels when on Ritalin? I've been taking Ritalin XR for about a month now every day, 20mg twice daily, or 40mg once daily if I wake up late. I don't want to increase the dose too much or build up a tolerance, but I want to stop taking it even less. It's like I'm actually awake and myself for the first time in years. I just can't bear the thought of going back, even if only over the weekend. I feel the same way about it. Even when my second dose of adderall begins to wear off at the end of the night, I start feeling the effects of having too many thoughts and my attention going all over the place. It's uncomfortable. I mean, I still have to be productive on the weekends even if it's not work related.
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Oct 21, 2014 17:49
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chthonic bell posted:Oh, I'm supposed to take drug holidays? Whoops. Yeah my drug holidays are basically end of the month whoops took more than I was supposed to
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Oct 21, 2014 19:07
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This may be the wrong thread, but anyone know a good CBT guy in Seattle, that takes Premera?
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Oct 22, 2014 20:06
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why does everyone with add think they are so smart, i also think i am smart so im not just hating here
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Oct 22, 2014 21:33
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because most people, add or not, typically think they are smarter than they really are
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Oct 22, 2014 21:39
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Slaapaav posted:why does everyone with add think they are so smart, i also think i am smart so im not just hating here My racing brain and weird fact retention made tests super easy for me, since I could learn easier and test better than my peers, I had to be super smart. The slight detachment from reality amplified my feelings of intelligence to being beyond genius  Even though I didn't have the intelligence to continue seeing my therapist, psychiatrist or even GP when I was originally starting to show symptoms of depression and was starting to consistently fail classes
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Oct 22, 2014 21:49
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Slaapaav posted:why does everyone with add think they are so smart, i also think i am smart so im not just hating here Because in order to fit into the square hole, us round pegs have to develop coping skills just to keep up.
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Oct 22, 2014 23:01
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Also a lot of us weren't diagnosed until later in life because even though we have poo poo study skills and can't force ourselves to focus long enough to read a textbook assignment or do homework, we are able to pull an A out of our asses and generally succeed most of the time just by winging it. It's not usually until this method catches up with us in a catastrophic way that the extent of our fakery is revealed to us.
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Oct 22, 2014 23:15
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loving Effexor, gah. Forget to take the poo poo for two days and I am getting brain zapped like nobody's business, it's driving me crazy.copper rose petal posted:Also a lot of us weren't diagnosed until later in life because even though we have poo poo study skills and can't force ourselves to focus long enough to read a textbook assignment or do homework, we are able to pull an A out of our asses and generally succeed most of the time just by winging it. It's not usually until this method catches up with us in a catastrophic way that the extent of our fakery is revealed to us.
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Oct 22, 2014 23:23
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Cardiovorax posted:This poo poo can ruin your life so amazingly badly. It doesn't even matter how smart you actually are, which is "pretty drat smart" fairly often if you made it to college in the first place, the concentration issues just gently caress you over no matter what you do or how hard you try. There's a limit to what anyone can do when they're constantly being hobbled by their own brain. Exactly. The part that isn't mentioned very much is how much guilt goes along with this, once you hit the brick wall. It's so frustrating to be like "I'm smart, I'm capable, why can't I just loving DO THIS?!"
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Oct 22, 2014 23:42
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copper rose petal posted:Exactly. The part that isn't mentioned very much is how much guilt goes along with this, once you hit the brick wall. It's so frustrating to be like "I'm smart, I'm capable, why can't I just loving DO THIS?!"
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Oct 22, 2014 23:46
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chthonic bell posted:Oh, I'm supposed to take drug holidays? Whoops. Not really, no.
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Oct 23, 2014 00:31
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copper rose petal posted:Exactly. The part that isn't mentioned very much is how much guilt goes along with this, once you hit the brick wall. It's so frustrating to be like "I'm smart, I'm capable, why can't I just loving DO THIS?!" This is pretty much exactly what occurred with me only I allowed it to grow inside of me until it led to massive bout of depression. The bigger issue is after being pulled off my ADHD medication as an adolescent I was living with family members that drilled into me ADHD was a made up disease used as an excuse for children whose parents did not discipline them well enough or often enough. This coupled with the fact that the symptoms did not vanish into adulthood that as time went on I just grew to hate my ineptitude more and more as time went on. I tried all the things that were recommended to improve concentration, attention span and ability to study. Clean desks, empty rooms, project planners, tracking software, diet, sleep, exercise and so on but all to no real effect which of course only made me feel worse. In other news despite my weight and size my doctor has decided to keep me on the introductory dose of 40MG of strattera for the next week rather than upping it despite acknowledging I likely need a large dose. I have lost quite an amazing amount of weight already due to my appetite nose diving but his logic was "You could stand to lose a few more KG's quite safely anyway". He is probably not wrong.
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Oct 23, 2014 00:47
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insidius posted:I tried all the things that were recommended to improve concentration, attention span and ability to study. Clean desks, empty rooms, project planners, tracking software, diet, sleep, exercise and so on but all It's funny you mention that because I have a huge graveyard of my attempts to force myself to be organized. A dozen day planners with only the first week filled in; in fact I just found one cardboard Moleskine book hilariously titled "School Tasks" where I had great plans to write down all my assignments and then cross them off when I finished them. It is literally completely blank except for the title which I wrote across the cover. I would start new workout programs, planning my whole month out day by day. Then one day I would get tired, it would gently caress up the whole month, and I would get really upset because I couldn't understand a) why I couldn't just stick to the plan and b) why deviating from the plan would ruin the whole program in my mind. I always felt good and was on track for the first week, then something would come up and it would just be impossible to get back until I did a new reboot and started over, the excitement of "sticking to the plan finally" would keep me on target for a few days, then nothing. Same thing with my diet. I would decide "ok, I am finally going to do this. I'm eating only whole foods, no breads, low-carb plan with just vegetables and meat and fruit and dairy". A fridge full of groceries would be acquired, by Wednesday I would be craving something with rice or noodles, and then it's all hosed.
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Oct 23, 2014 03:05
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copper rose petal posted:It's funny you mention that because I have a huge graveyard of my attempts to force myself to be organized. A dozen day planners with only the first week filled in; in fact I just found one cardboard Moleskine book hilariously titled "School Tasks" where I had great plans to write down all my assignments and then cross them off when I finished them. It is literally completely blank except for the title which I wrote across the cover.
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Oct 23, 2014 03:07
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Cardiovorax posted:lol, I don't even know how many of those I have anymore. I love how I remember at the time thinking I had discovered this revolutionary way of keeping myself organized. "I know, I will put all my appointments in this book, which I will carry with me everywhere and refer to for reminders!" *appointment book gets buried under a pile of papers within 3 days, is discovered during an archaeological paper pile excavation 2 years later*
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Oct 23, 2014 03:19
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I've always used sheets of paper. Books are too big and they get too messy as you update them. The sheets of paper method still has its flaws (after 3 to 4 days, tasks start to become either invisible to me, or become feared and I actively avoid working on them), but at least there's not a big investment. Lots of year+ old papers lying around with two or three tasks that I never got around too. Usually those things now seem totally pointless and I just throw them away, fortunately.
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Oct 23, 2014 16:38
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Hello fellow ADHD goons, I just got diagnosed at age 29 with inattentive type and I'm on my first week of Concerta. I totally started reading this thread about a year ago and was like, holy poo poo, a lot of this sounds like me, but I was also getting treated for postpartum depression so I wasn't sure how much overlap was there. But the PPD got way better and I was still losing my keys and poo poo left and right and had a stash of a million started-but-unfinished projects piled up in a corner, and embarrassingly zoning out in the middle of conversations and realizing a couple minutes later that I had no idea what the person I was talking to had said at all, and it's ALWAYS been like this so I finally got evaluated for ADHD and here we are. I haven't noticed any drastic effects from the medication yet, but as I was driving earlier I thought it was strangely quiet even though my kids were chattering in the back like they always do. Then I realized that the constant barrage of random thoughts that usually zip around at the back of my mind had actually SHUT UP. I was only thinking about what I wanted to think about. It was super bizarre. But I'm happy to finally be diagnosed. I was resigned to just being "scatterbrained and a procrastinator" for the rest of my life, and now it's weird but neat to think that with treatment I might actually get stuff done.
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Oct 23, 2014 20:41
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Pata Pata Pata Pon posted:I haven't noticed any drastic effects from the medication yet, but as I was driving earlier I thought it was strangely quiet even though my kids were chattering in the back like they always do. Then I realized that the constant barrage of random thoughts that usually zip around at the back of my mind had actually SHUT UP. I was only thinking about what I wanted to think about. It was super bizarre. That's basically how I felt after my first dose of medication kicked in. Just..."wow, I can actually decide what to think about right now. No more static. Huh." Nice isn't it 
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Oct 24, 2014 01:41
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Two and a half years after I first considered that I might have ADHD, I have a diagnosis of primarily inattentive ADHD. (To be fair, one of those years was because my GP left it to me to check up on it. Not a good move!) My psychiatrist told me to check out NHS treatment options online and get back to him if I thought  were the way and the light, so - is there any reason I shouldn't just phone him up tomorrow and say "hell yea put me on dat methylphenidate"?
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Oct 24, 2014 02:28
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Freudian posted:My psychiatrist told me to check out NHS treatment options online and get back to him if I thought
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Oct 24, 2014 03:19
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Every dosage increase of Concerta is getting better at killing my appetite. 27/36mg only made me slightly less hungry, this week I started with 54mg and now I'm barely hungry and on the offchanche I am, the thought of food makes me nauseous. Oh well, I can stand to lose some weight  And its like the only sideeffect I get.
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Oct 24, 2014 11:51
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I consider the appetite loss more of a feature than a bug. Also, I ran out of pills three days ago and didn't have the time to get new ones until just now, so I've been unmedicated for the last few days. I feel like my brain has gone all soft and fuzzy, it's absolutely horrible. Like my thoughts are suddenly made of felt. I have no idea how I ever tolerated living like that.
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Oct 24, 2014 14:13
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I'm about to get my weight checked because at my 6 month follow up after being put on drugs I actually lost weight when I was underweight to begin with
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Oct 24, 2014 14:35
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Freudian posted:Two and a half years after I first considered that I might have ADHD, I have a diagnosis of primarily inattentive ADHD. (To be fair, one of those years was because my GP left it to me to check up on it. Not a good move!) Just try them. If you don't like them, you can stop taking them or switch to something on the amphetamine side instead of the methylphenidate side, it's all about finding what works best for your body. So many people have an immense amount of trouble convincing their doctor to just let them try meds to see if they'll help, I think it's definitely worth figuring out if it's for you or not.
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Oct 24, 2014 15:06
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Um how much of a low appetite is considered unhealthy? For example, I don't feel like eating meals apart from snacks like crackers. I drink water though. I can't explain it why but food doesn't really interest me anymore. If anything strong smells from cooked meals causes me to become mildly ill e.g. cafeteria. Some times even looking a photos of food makes me a bit unsettled. I figured I'd been still adjusted to new scripts but it's a been almost a month now. Oh and I often forget meal times. I mean I've always disliked seafood's odor but now it's really bad for me. Alder fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Oct 24, 2014 |
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Oct 24, 2014 18:28
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copper rose petal posted:Just try them. If you don't like them, you can stop taking them or switch to something on the amphetamine side instead of the methylphenidate side, it's all about finding what works best for your body. So many people have an immense amount of trouble convincing their doctor to just let them try meds to see if they'll help, I think it's definitely worth figuring out if it's for you or not. Also the good thing about these meds is that they go into effect pretty quickly once you get to a therapeutic dose; it's not like SSRIs where you have to wait forever before you know if it's doing anything good for you. And by the way, thanks so much everyone here for posting about their experiences. The recent posts about trying to make todo lists and just...forgetting about them or trying to start a good habit and abandoning it after a setback have blown my mind because I guess I thought that was just me. I think sometimes I'm still kind of skeptical that I actually have a disorder instead of just being kind of a screwup, but what you guys are describing is exactly what I've felt. I had to go down on my Concerta because of some mood stuff so I'm still struggling somewhat, but it's really good to hear that this is a thing and not just me not trying hard enough. Alder posted:Um how much of a low appetite is considered unhealthy? How much of the day do you feel this way? That sounds like something to bring up with your doctor, but I definitely have a time of the day where eating is just out of the question.
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Oct 24, 2014 18:39
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Vertigo Ambrosia posted:
I feel this way too. I spent my whole life wondering if maybe I really was just lazy and would never "get it together," but the diagnosis makes almost my entire life suddenly make sense. It's kind of hard to suddenly shift my thinking from, "Ugh I don't understand how people can actually get projects and stuff done, I guess I'm just too scatterbrained to actually do poo poo with my life," to realizing that the issue all this time was a brain chemical thing and now maybe I CAN get poo poo done. I cannot believe how well almost all the inattentive-type ADHD symptoms line up with me and it's...nice? to know other people are dealing with the exact same thing, even though it's a struggle.
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Oct 24, 2014 19:35
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Alder posted:Um how much of a low appetite is considered unhealthy?
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Oct 24, 2014 20:21
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I WISH my medication had an effect on my appetite. I'm trying to adhere to healthier diet right now and it's just as hard as it's always been.
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Oct 24, 2014 20:39
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Pata Pata Pata Pon posted:I cannot believe how well almost all the inattentive-type ADHD symptoms line up with me and it's...nice? to know other people are dealing with the exact same thing, even though it's a struggle. I think being diagnosed has really helped too. Meds aren't a cure, it just gives you a little more control over the executive functions and sometimes being able to recognize that you're getting off task and why goes a long way toward helping you reel it back in.
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Oct 24, 2014 22:20
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Vertigo Ambrosia posted:How much of the day do you feel this way? That sounds like something to bring up with your doctor, but I definitely have a time of the day where eating is just out of the question. All day? From morning to night now that I think about it. In the past I had issues with meals if I woke up too early but now it's feels like meals are now partially optional. I mean, I can eat food but unless it's been 12+ hrs I don't really notice. Cardiovorax posted:That might be a separate psychological issue expressing itself there. Even right now I'm not really hungry, despite last having eaten some 36 hours ago, but the thought of cooking and eating something doesn't make me feel queasy in any way. I considered it but it's pretty new to me as I always had an average appetite level. Nowadays even my favorite food isn't that interesting other than reminding me I it's a good idea to eat otherwise I'll run out of energy soon. For example, I could eat 1-2 apples a day and I'd feel not hungry? Small amounts of food are fine and most of the time I'm less of a finicky eater partly because I care less.
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Oct 24, 2014 22:43
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If your appetite is too low maybe your dose is too high, talk to your doctor about it imo. I have low appetite too but I still cook delicious meals, just smaller ones, and enjoy it. My meds made me a much neater cook too heh
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Oct 25, 2014 00:13
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A therapeutic dose of methylphenidate doesn't affect my appetite at all, but the amphetamines sure do. Both make it enviably easy for me to maintain some nice lean mass. Personally, I find the less I eat the better I feel physically and mentally, stimulants and caffeine or not, so I have a sort of established aversion to eating in general and try to eat only enough to not become a scarecrow. Smoothrich posted:I have low appetite too but I still cook delicious meals, just smaller ones, and enjoy it. My meds made me a much neater cook too heh You need attention to detail, working memory, and the ability to think clearly and perceptively in order to really cook. This is one of the reasons that I prefer to spend the clarity of medication on quality time in the kitchen, and it's also the reason why I loathe recipes and almost never use them. Marv Albert fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Oct 25, 2014 |
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Oct 25, 2014 06:40
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Heya everyone! I've had suspicions that I may have ADHD for a while. I've been really apprehensive about bring it up with my gp and asking for a referral. I'm from the UK and I don't believe I was tested as a kid. My mum recently told me that when I was young I needed to go to the hospital to get my ears checked because I ignored/didn't listen. I think I'm confident enough now to bring it up with my gp given I've got some objective evidence that something attentional was a problem back then. And I don't worry that I'm just misremembering my problems that an ADHD diagnosis might have made sense of. I still have some problems forming my ideas into sentences on the fly, and not losing track half way through. So bringing it up is something I want to rehearse a bit to avoid word salad. I'm not sure how to structure it, whether to mention that her question about my ear triggered the discussion with my mum, or mention my friend with ADHD that brought it up with me.
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Oct 25, 2014 17:44
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With GP- you really don't give them a solid clue it could be anything else. If you bring up the ear thing, he will check your ears. Ask how do we diagnose ADHD in adults? There are objective diagnostics. You don't have to prejustify anything because you're objectively trying to solve a disorder that has a negative impact on your life.
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Oct 25, 2014 17:48
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TheBigBad posted:With GP- you really don't give them a solid clue it could be anything else. If you bring up the ear thing, he will check your ears. So you're saying to just straight up ask for it? A lot of my worry is that GP's aren't always the most knowledge about ADHD, and I'm not either. So I feel the pressure to make sure I don't come across like I've self diagnosed, or feel too pushy and get shut down and ruin otherwise good relationship with my Dr. I'm probably just over analysing it.
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Oct 25, 2014 18:05
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If you don't want to come across as self diagnosed, then just describe symptoms and ask for a referral or however the UK does it Bring up how it is impacting your life currently, if you're always losing things or you can't sit through a meeting without fidgeting or your brain feels fuzzy or you can't actually finish anything you start or whatever it is doing to you. You need to explain that the disorder is a legitimate impediment to you leading a normal, productive life and that treatment is necessary because self taught coping mechanisms are no longer cutting it
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Oct 25, 2014 18:07
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Marv Albert posted:A therapeutic dose of methylphenidate doesn't affect my appetite at all, but the amphetamines sure do. Both make it enviably easy for me to maintain some nice lean mass. I switched from Concerta to Adderall and had it lowered to 15 mg but the same side effects. I'm concerned if I lower it even more I'll lose any benefits e.g. focus/concentration. Yes, I had a similar reaction the less meals I had the sharper and faster I could mentally react to work yet somehow living off crackers and apples seems unhealthy from a outsider's POV. Right now the major downside is slight nausea from strong cooked food odors and it's uncomfortable being in the same area as it. I do try to force myself to have regular meal times even if I don't feel hungry. Although, I'm not quite at the point as a setting up a meal schedule... BTW:I got diagnosed via simple survey by the local psychiatrist. It took approx 10-15 min and here I am. It's not official but I was able to pick up new Rx in the meantime. I'm located in NY, USA. Oh and the actual diagnosis is extremely expensive too here in America but then again it might just my cheap health insurance letting me down
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Oct 25, 2014 18:10
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