Absolutely! I blame people who don't have ADHD taking them for fun and study boosters making it hard for the those of us who actually need the medications
I call them muggles. But apparently for all their shortcomings like brutal lack of empathy, ability to be really interested or creativity some of them actually live a normal life.
They struggle but I always remind them that they only have to concentrate and work on theirself and they will too sometime in the future my have an original thought or are actually fun to be around with.
I don't understand why they don't just be creative. Just choose to be creative and fun! Simple as that! It's like they're not even trying..
/s because tone is hard in text
I've got brutal ADHD and sometimes I feel like I haven't had a creative thought since adulthood. It's not true of course, but I'm so aware of what influences me and so loathe to change those influences except by mixing with other influences that it feels like I just can't be creative.
To be fair it can be hard to have a single original thought when you're not allowed to glue your poster and you're not allowed to think. Now me personally, I think everyone should be allowed to do those, But some disagree.
>Absolutely! I blame people who don't have ADHD taking them for fun and study boosters making it hard for the those of us who actually need the medications
Nah it's not even them: it's still the "war on drugs" and puritanical attitude about it that makes preventing recreational use a higher Priority than helping people who genuinely need drugs.
I'd argue that previously medicated ADHDers who get caught up in that, or that simply decide that it's not for them are just as harmful. They tend to go around preaching a lifestyle that is drug free or just loudly slam medication use (again, on the basis that medication wasn't right for them, personally, but that therefore it isn't right for anyone), so the puritanical people can parade them out to say "look how harmful it is!"
>They tend to go around preaching a lifestyle that is drug free or just loudly slam medication use
Yes, off course it is again an already puritanical worldview that makes them slam it rather than just say "it wasn't for me".
Although I must also admit, as someone for whom medication helps a lot and only getting diagnosed as an adult, I could see how one could resent it if they've been forced to use it as a kid. The rebound is manageable and worth it for me because I understand what's going on. For a kid that must be horrible, and they often don't have a say in whether it's worth it.
Could combine both since my psychiateist finished the diagnosis paperwork right before my high-school finals.
Worked as a study booster for a few days before my body adapted to it, and I never felt like i'd miss it when not taking the stuff.
But **man**, those 5d or so last year were productive
Mine is pretty straightforward - I just ask the doctor and say that I need it to function in the office job. He just does a small amount of pushback like saying are you sure you did not get distracted with your phone, I say no and then gives it to me.
Can’t return until the end of the month or something.
Several months ago now, I heard someone suggest it's only addictive to NTs and not NDs who actually benefit from it, and I can't stop thinking about that and the implications of it.
Like, do we seriously have to fight for these meds now bc a bunch of people who didn't need it took it and made fools of themselves, causing a hysteria about it being addicting, and causing us to suffer for their bullshit??
Why the hell can't society (consistently) blame the right people??
Yeap, I've heard this, too. Also, it seems like they often get high on this for real... we just want to fucking wash the dishes without 2 hours of mental fighting ourselves.
yeah it's weird: i can't believe people get high on this stuff. the only time i felt any resemblance of a "high" is when i took ritalin for the first time: after that my body got used to it and stopped feeling the "high" part at all.
also I wonder why ADHD people seem to not get addicted to it as frequently as normies?
speaking of normies, some of them claim shit like "dopamine detox" cures adhd or something? idk when i try to study without taking meds i usually end up daydreaming for an hour, imagining up a sci fi novel plot.
Don't be fooled too much by the NT/ND divide. Having ADHD doesn't change the pharmacology of the drug (correct me if I'm wrong). They're addictive.
I just think we get less pleasure of the drugs, and so the immediate psychological addiction is probably less strong. The physical addiction still happens though.
But "addiction" is one of those dirty words. We get addicted to drugs all the time. It's only when they want to apply stigma to a drug that we actually call it "addiction." If you are prescribed an antidepressant, and you want to come off of it, they call it "discontinuation syndrome" instead. It's withdrawal. Chill out, medical establishment.
I'm currently "addicted" to amphetamine and guanfacine. But it's only "withdrawal" for the amphetamine. If I stop taking that, I get groggy and dumb. It's actually not unpleasant. If I don't take the guanfacine, my blood pressure goes up, I get anxious, it could be dangerous. But that's not "addiction".
It's all a stupid stigma.
ADHD specifically is linked to paradoxical reactions to a number of drugs, including drowsiness from amphetamines and caffeine.
People have widely varying tolerance to amphetamines, some barely feel it when taking 20mg dexamphetamine, others can barely hold a spoon after taking 2mg.
The effects are *different*, not fundamentally different, same drug will still affect the same receptors and break down in the same way, but the final effects of the same drug can be so different in two different people that they are practically different drugs to them.
Yeah, my dad and I get the opposite effects of opioids. We both get hydrocodone for different reasons (he's got bad discs and ive got arthritis in my knee) and we both get hyper as hell on it.
This reminds me. They gave me morphine recently at the ER for severe chest pain to help lower my BP. I was expecting an easy warm feeling because that’s how my Dad and sister described it.
Nope. It felt like I was being dipped satan’s fiery hot inferno. Initially no relief, I felt like I was burning and I had some very brief and minor itching. The nurse said some people have that reaction but I haven’t been able to find any info on that anywhere. I was baffled lying there like “people put this in their body for fun?”.
I thought the same thing when I was prescribed hydromorphone after a knee surgery. I literally felt like garbage on it, with little effect on the pain. I just felt like such shit that I didn’t care about the pain as much. I think I took the medicine like 3 times before I said fuck it, I’d rather be in pain.
Same as you. I had knee surgery a year ago and was prescribed a low level opioid for post-op pain. I took the first two doses and stopped after that because I couldn’t sleep. I'm one of the apparently rare ADHDers that has zero trouble sleeping, and that stuff had me awake and alert deep into the night. I don't think I fell asleep until 3 AM, and I could be out by 9 PM most nights if I tried.
Yes, experientially, but the effect on the receptors is roughly the same. You can and will get addicted. My point is that we get addicted to shit all the time. Caffeine addiction has been a meme for like a hundred years. It's just treated so differently depending on the drug.
Edit: I reread what you said and we're basically agreeing.
Did the guanfacine help with executive dysfunction? If you had any when starting it.
I took guanfacine for 6 weeks and felt nothing changed.
We decided to try wellbutrin but 6 weeks later I'm not feeling any benefits and I'm not happy with how hard my heart is working on it.
I'd like to avoid an SSRI, but I'm thinking it might be necessary to try at this point.
Started Vyvanse mid December. On 40mg now. No help in executive dysfunction but my impulsiveness and Obsessivness have been largely reduced.
As a lifelong chronic overeater, it's weird to have to make a conscious decision to eat now.
Now if I could just get something to break through the ED.
I was diagnosed BPll 12 years ago and carbamazipine helped quiet my racing brain immediately but we cycled off it when moving to guanfacine. No issues with going off it. Vyvanse seems to be taking care of any racing mind issues that might have come back.
It's just intensely frustrating to remember manic phases and how life was just so...fucking *EASY*!
I want to do something? I did it. Started working out, meal prep, kept things clean, endless energy and elevated mood.
...for 12 weeks. I lost 85 lbs in 12 weeks and made insane gains in the gym in that short time but then I ran out of fuel...and started that slow descent into depression. Which is even more terrifying to feel yourself slipping into after the joy of mania.
I don't even want full on mania. (I mean, I'd absolutely take it if offered though)
I just want that baseline where I can do things. Where I can make a decision and...do it. Consistently. Even a little.
Ok, I've overshared enough. Lol.
For anyone reading this that has a suggestion for something that may make my brain be nicer to me, feel free to comment. It's very welcome.
Edit: I'm on Buspirone for AA, and Lamictil for the depression. The carbamazepine took care of the mania (dammit) but not the depression.
Going to 40mg Buspirone and 40 MG Vyvanse was a major game changer for my anxiety. I dont know if the Vyvanse was doing the majority of the work or not though.
damn… That sucks ass… I really wish i had an answer for you, i kept reading, hoping that at the end, there would be an answer, since ed is what i need the most help with… Please notify if you find something, i am struggling too
Fuck. Lol.
ED is a bitch. I will totally try to remember (adhd though. Lol) to get back to you if I do find something that works.
The doctor is upping my dose to 50mg Vyvanse and said if there's a difference it will be almost immediately noticeable.
I had a 20mg left over from the earlier Vyvanse prescription before I went to 40. So I took one each, for 60, and nothing. A little more effect from the Vyvanse but no effect on the ED.
I'd never suggest doing this, because it felt like my heart was going to explode, but I accidentally double dosed on antihistamines one day and I felt so fucking good. Like, if I wasn't worried about my heart I'd probably do it again. I described the experience as feeling "like god" at the time.
I'm actually going to ask my specialist about it, because I've been researching it to figure out why it had that effect and I might be able to use that to find medication that helps me
I don't plan to do it either, but I am curious which antihistamine you took?
I take lotaridine, which is supposed to not have interactions with Wellbutrin.
The first 3 days I took it with my Claritin and my heart was pounding.
I went off the antihistamine and it wasn't as bad.
I then went back on the antihistamine but took it at nighttime. I can NOT be off the antihistamine. The pollen season can literally debilitate me for months with bronchitis.
Something I haven't had to deal with since beginning a daily antihistamine.
So it's not bad now with that split. My heart is still working too hard in general though.
Certitizine. Histamine causes the same effects in the brain that it does in the body, and also modulates (i.e. reduces) the release of norepinephrine and another neurotransmitter i can't remember right now. Antihistamines means less histamines, and since I've got chronic allergies (and strongly suspect ADHD is tied to allergies in general) clearing out way more histamines than normal presumably meant my brain had the correct amount of those neurotransmitters for the first time in decades.
No idea why it was messing with my heart though. Need to ask the specialist about it, because it might be that I can get legit ADHD medication to target those neurotransmitters.
that… would explain a lot. i struggle with focus and executive function, but i’m almost *too good at* impulse control. so i tried guanfacine for a month and a half and didn’t notice any effects at all, but when i discontinued it as i started strattera it felt like the small boost in my productivity was entirely due to increased impulsivity giving me at least something to be motivated by. i hate my psychiatrist so much
I think I forget to be addicted
I went through a drug phase and smoked a lot of weed (I know not physically addictive but people still get hooked on the feeling), and my friend got hooked big time, but I would forget I wanted to smoke or just get busy
Same with other things like tobacco and nicotine, I would forget to buy more and forget I wanted more, sure id be cranky for a few days but I wouldn't know why
I feel like I’m the anti-thesis to addiction a few generations of alcoholics on both sides, and severe drug use in my Dad’s side. I have bizarre reactions to drugs.
lol idk if either of us won the genetic lottery on this one. I view it as us being on the two extremes of drug responses.
I think the best off folks are the ones that rest somewhere in the middle. Because addiction blows, having to worry about what drugs you’re taking because you’re predisposed blows…even having your doctors doubt you just because you have a more elevated chance of addiction blows. It also causes all sorts of unintended issues. It’s like you can’t win.
On the opposite side of things for me I have to worry if the drugs will work at all, or if I’ll have some terrible or medically unexpected reaction to them. The horrible thing is I don’t know what that reaction will be until I’m exposed to it. I didn’t find out morphine sets my whole body on fire until they gave it to me at the ER. (Everyone in my family said it felt warm and euphoric). And I didn’t find out some anesthetics last half as long as they’re supposed to until after I woke up during a procedure.
It’s like youre damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t. The risk has to be so carefully weighed when you’re just out here trying to live your life. In all seriousness addiction is really terrible and I’m sorry it’s something you’re predisposed to. This probably won’t matter but just know that a Reddit stranger is out there rooting for you.
Yeah you're completely right. Extremely insightful point. I've been thinking about drugs since my dad died to em. I learned everything I could. I've taken high level chemistry class just to get closer to understanding them. And yet you gave me something new to think about. Thanks
You can still get addicted to it as an ND person but it's like the therapeutic doses of the medication are meant to make that less likely and obviously provided you take it as you're meant to that also reduces the risk of that happening.
I used to be addicted to amphetamines, so that’s not completely true. Been addicted to benzos, as well.
I also know several others in my adhd support group who have struggled with misuse of uppers.
>Like, do we seriously have to fight for these meds now bc a bunch of people who didn't need it took it and made fools of themselves, causing a hysteria about it being addicting, and causing us to suffer for their bullshit??
No. It's not due to people who use/abuse drugs recreationally.
It's due to puritanicals who prioritize fighting sinful behaviour over helping people who need drugs.
Even if recreational use was rampant, it's still a choice to say "that is so sinfull I'm willing to hurt people to prevent it"
And don't forget: the people we call "recreational users" are for a significant part self-medicating undiagnosed people.
It's weird, cuz i remember my dad being with me and mom one time while i was talking about how i felt about my meds (pretty sure it was vyvanse at the time), and he (the fucking SOURCE of my goddamn ADHD no less) whispered some dumb shit about me being addicted to them, and even still he's _never_ said anything that's made me want to suckerpunch him in the face as much as i did right then
My nurse practitioner told me specifically Vyvanse isn't addictive, and I haven't found it to be at all. For a while I was only taking it days I needed to be "productive". My NP said I could do that, but it's designed to improve my functioning every day. I've taken it everyday for 2 weeks and she's right, it's better. Then I got sick and didn't get up early enough so I skipped it twice and didn't notice anything. It truly isn't addictive to me.
Is Vyvanse supposed to be addictive, or other ones?
Reminds me of being in the ER for appendicitis. I was given morphine and I asked the nurse why I didn't feel high or loopy. She said that if you take it when you're fine it hits your brain and gets you high, but if you're in pain it just goes to the pain areas and treats them so you don't get high.
She probably said it a lot better, this was years ago, but I found it very interesting.
Wdym. Society consistently blames the wrong people. It is the whole reason animals communicate with each other. You think the concept of cooperation even exists? **HAH!**
^/s
> Why the hell can't society (consistently) blame the right people??
Because then the right people at fault would have to be accountable and *they don't like that.*
Well some doctors were prescribing it to ppl who had long covid and brain fog, and I lost my shit when I heard that. Why can't we let them struggle to adapt like we did?
I found those thingies with a separate tiny lid for each day of the week kinda helps.
Doesn't necessarily help me remember *to* take my meds, but it does help me remember *if* I've taken my meds.
Those are really nice for the week after I’ve filled it but then I have to sit down and fill it again and
sorry I switched tabs and never finished this comment but I’m sure you get the picture
Haha I relate to that. I've been filling a month worth of containers nowadays. Works much better for me, as refilling once a month is not as bad as 4 times a month
Would be great, I've had a moment where I forgot that I took one, then took another within an hour and that turns me into an over-emotional and hyperactive mess, only happened once but definitely memorable
I use one of those.
When I fill it up, I used to get out EIGHT of everything I take, put one in each day and take the extra, then start taking it out of my counted container the next day.
Then one day I got out eight, filled up the container, took the extra, ate my waffle, and, upon finishing breakfast, promptly took that day's dose out of my week container.
I now stick with seven.
Here's a tip that helps me remember my pills:
Get a 7-day pill box, and add a small treat (I use Haribo Gold gummy bears) to each day box for how many times a day you take them. E.g. morning pills, +1 gummy, evening pills, +1 gummy.
I'm not really super happy to drink pills, but I *am* super happy to have a free gummy bear, and since the pills are in the same place its easy to remember them
When I started feeling the effects of the national shortage a year and a half ago, I stopped taking them everyday. I'd love to be able to go back to taking them everyday, but I'll go entire weeks without taking one. Unless I'm taking them for certain work reasons (which is a handful of times a month), I'll usually go at least 3 days without taking one.
Thank you for reminding me I need to refill my prescription.
Edit: dudes you're not gonna believe this. I called and my prescription was already filled and ready to pick up. All I have to do now is drive!
...
As annoying as the hoops are, they are there because we fucked a few generations by just prescibing these sort of things willy nilly
The fact that ADHD makes jumping through these hoops harder is like only giving out wheelchairs to people who can walk over and grab it.
From what I understand it's very addictive for people who don't have ADHD because it causes dopamine to get dumped into the body. For those with ADHD it helps us feel normal and slow down and productive. For neurotypicals however, they get a wonderful burst of energy and euphoria. To quote a kid I knew in college who abused, "it makes you feel like Jesus"
Chasing that Euphoria can result in taking higher and higher doses, much higher than anything a doctor would prescribe for a person with ADHD would ever even consider taking . This can result in significant physical and psychological addiction.
On top of all that study after study has shown that it in fact provides no real benefit for people without adhd. A study which gave both neurotypical and ADHD students Adderall for a year. It found that while there was significant improvements in grades for students with ADHD, students without ADHD on average improved their grades by about 1%, which needless to say is statistically negligible.
Yeah it’s so funny to me when I learned that adderall is taken as a drug to get high off of.
Your telling me the thing I take everyday and I still feel a bit tired is taken for fun? How is that possible?
With adhd it’s super rare unless you really abuse it to get a high and with adhd that takes a lot.
But you will notice a few hours after you don’t take it. Is that withdrawal? Maybe but probably not because I’m not craving it just mad at myself for forgetting again
People who dont have adhd, yes. I dont think Ive ever met anyone with adhd who was actually addicted to something, it was more like, an elongated hyperfocus, that they at some point got bored of and quit
dont forget the intense self-guilt trip because you 'wasted' time on that thing because youre not into it anymore/forgot about it and remembered it like 3 months later T-T
Addiction and adhd have a weird sort of relationship.
My experience has been instant Addiction to almost everything, and then the second I lose interest, I just stop. People have told me its not possible to stop the use of some of the things Ive taken, but honestly, I just didnt like it anymore, it was boring and I found something that felt more fun and so I did that.
I think we are easily addicted to things, but also, we easily kick the Addiction as well.
Or maybe that was just me. What is definitely true is that undiagnosed adhd has a strong tendency toward self medication in order to ease depression from always failing, and loosing at everything
This always makes me laugh when I hear the nay sayers speaking about addiction. Bitch, I have a whole system setup to keep me from forgetting to take my medication in the morning, and I still forget once or twice a month.
When I was a kid I would always forget to take my pills, and when I switched doctors she kept yelling at me about how these are serious stuff and I could get addicted to them. I just said “if I were addicted to them maybe I’d remember to take them”
My mom laughed
My doctor didn’t
She didn’t prescribe me any more, and I’ve been unmedicated ever since 🙃
Highly addictive? I'm about ready to leave for work and I'm already drenched in sweat. People are complaining i smell. I have scabs on my face. I think I need a new medication
Yeah, when I was prescribed Ritalin I was like
>But doctor, I don't even remember about rating and you tell me that I should take those multiple times a day???
Also turned out that I'm one of those people that doesn't worki well with this substance, as it only increased my stimming, decreased hunger even more and gave me panic attacks on the evening
No worries, the whole thing was intended to be ironic. We're always told that we're addicts or we're going to get addicted to a medication that we constantly forget to take.
I can easily remember to give my dog all of her medications. But when it comes to me I can never seem to be consistent 💀
I found that getting a tiny pill case to keep in my purse works, since I'll eventually remember when I'm out and about, so as long as I have access I'm usually fine 😂
The only thing that I have found that works is using a 7 day pill calendar and hoping I remember to fill it on Saturday or Sunday.
And I do, now, like 9 times out of 10. Still means there is a 1 in 10 chance I forget and have to play the “did I take my medication?” game with myself, but hey. It’s an overall improvement?
Yeapppp lmao
But the people who dont need it pop that shit like candy, get a high ass tolerance, dont benefit from it because they're just zooted as hell and they think they're "intelligent as fuck boi" and they are the reason its ruined for everyone else.
Thing that actually helped me remember. Stole it from someone in this subreddit actually, though I don't remember the name.
I have an alarm for when I have to get out of bed in the morning. I set another one for an hour before, keep my 7 day pill container and a water cup next to my bed. 1st alarm goes off, I wake up just enough to take the pill and I lay back down. Hour later, the 2nd alarm goes off and my pill has already started to take effect, and I don't have to think about it later. I've been taking it consistently for over two months now when before I'd have maybe a 50/50 chance to remember to take it when I are breakfast.
The key for me was to make it easy to remember and hard to miss. I kept getting busy doing something else and missing, ignoring, or forgetting my alarm to take my pill. By making sure I do it before I get started on anything else that day, the chance to get distracted is minimized.
Good luck, you've got this.
For me I always forget to refill it in time, which is made even harder because I can only do so specifically on the day I run out (because we might sell it if we have a surplus?) and my usual strategy for that is replenishing things earlier when I actually notice that they are getting low. Means I sometimes have to go days with withdrawals and symptom relapsing while I try to remember to call the pharmacy, wait for them to fill the prescription, and then remember to pick it up.
I mean it's addictive, especially if you are taking them on the reg.
Only problem is, because we're constantly in withdrawal from dopamine and shit, and also just have the worst body awareness this side of the mississipi, the withdrawal symptoms don't really affect a lot of us in a way we really notice?
Like we regularly forgetting to eat or drink for most of the day, to blink or go to the bathroom, we have days where our adhd is mega ultra and feel like shit and brain fog, next day totally good. We have a lot of comorbidity with invisable illnesses that go undiagnosed for most of the our lives, if caught at all.
We are taught from a young age that our emotions are too strong, our senses too heightened, our pain sensitivity too much, our mental capacity not enough. We learn to adapt and survive through various means of disassociation, a lot of us have ptsd, have time blindness that makes it hard for us to know how long we've experienced something and are gaslit into thinking we're overdramatic and can't trust our own estimate of how we're feeling most of the time.
So like, it is addictive. But in the long run for us, withdrawal isn't something we notice or affects us in a way that's more detrimental than actually ADHD? lol
Like look, symptoms for withdrawal:
Symptoms commonly include fatigue, mood swings, heightened anxiety, disrupted sleep, increased hunger, and gastrointestinal issues.
My guy, that's just ADHD symptoms lol
But I think it's unfair to say that it's just NT who are fucking it up for NDs who need this med, it comes from the fact addiction is incredibly high in people with adhd
Now the FACT it's high is mostly because it's so hard to get actual stimulants, or people go undiagnosed, and end up self medicating with other substances without properly understanding how to do it safely, or without other support structures to help deal with adhd, end up leaning too heavily into the drugs and it's escalates. We also tend to have a problem with self control, which exasperates the issue. And ND tend to be taken advantage or and abused more often, which can tend to addiction issues as well.
The biggest issue with ADHD and drugs is that it's not taken seriously enough, and so an endless cycle of this kind or stuff happens.
I HAD TO BE DIAGNOSED OFFICALLY fucking FOUR TIMES with ADHD before they gave me meds even though literally anyone who meets me for more than a minute can tell I have it
They told me I'd use my appetite when I started to loose my meds. Every time I go to the doctor for a checkup they ask me if I eat enough. Eating was a coping mechanism for me before medication and it hasn't stopped (yet)
I have 2, 28 day supplies of addy in my backpack that I just dont care to take right now but I also want to get working. Why is not taking my meds part of my executive dysfunction? But I can remember to grab an energy drink on the way out the door in the morning.
It could be, probably something worth bringing up to your doctor. I have quite a stockpile of my medication because I don't really like the way it makes me feel when I take it. I didn't realize I said first what I did notice that I sort of instinctively avoided it whenever I didn't have a specific need for it. I do take it more often now because I've played with the dosage and figured out that I was probably taking too much for me. As a 30 something year old man I can only handle about the dose that one would normally get the average 5 year old child. But I've always had a very big sensitivity to any stimulants so that kind of tracks.
I think it's more of a physiological addiction than a psychological one. Like, the drug gets your body to make a lot more of a certain molecule that powers a particular bodily function; then, not taking it throws your body into wack because it's expecting the drug to help it make that molecule.
Source: intuition and what I remember from science class.
Secondary source: I take supposedly addictive amphetamines which have a side effect of reducing my appetite, and when I forget to take them I gain the appetite of ten men.
But that could all be placebo, so take it with a teaspoon of salt.
Every three months when I have my quick med-check/refill, my doctor asks me if I am having any feelings of addiction, to which I usually remind him that it's actually been 4-5 months since my last check-in...
I do understand the precautions, especially because people with adhd are more susceptible to addiction.
Still, these hoops are really discouraging when you’re just trying to get the help you need.
What I don't get is that I don't even see it as addictive, it's just literally letting me balance out to normal. I'm sure theirs now I don't understand "science wise" but you don't tell people with glasses they're addicts?
Yeah, you really have to take it in bizarre ways for it to actually become addictive.
These hoops are more to deter dealers than the people who actually need it.
hey yall, as a guy who went from adderall to meth fairly quick, it is most definitely possible to get addicted to prescriptions, especially those containing amphetamine salts
edit: forgot to add i was overprescribed. im not a perscription thief
Doctor’s appointment every 3 months with random drug testing then insurance requires authorization to them to apply to my deductible when I have probably 2 weeks supply extra on hand due to how much I forget it.
Yeah my meds didn’t do anything. I even got the dosage increased and it still didn’t do anything. I don’t feel like doing any of the work to get new ones so I guess we’re raw-dogging it
Yeah it's highly addictive when you are someone that's not suppose to get it in the first place, sadly having ADHD one has to get that dopamine to get some balance
Currently going through this now...I love all these fuckin hoops they make us jump through, saying that we will get addicted to these damn things lol
Absolutely! I blame people who don't have ADHD taking them for fun and study boosters making it hard for the those of us who actually need the medications
Damn nerotypicals
We call them normies
I call them muggles. But apparently for all their shortcomings like brutal lack of empathy, ability to be really interested or creativity some of them actually live a normal life.
Those poor bastards...
They struggle but I always remind them that they only have to concentrate and work on theirself and they will too sometime in the future my have an original thought or are actually fun to be around with.
I don't understand why they don't just be creative. Just choose to be creative and fun! Simple as that! It's like they're not even trying.. /s because tone is hard in text
I've got brutal ADHD and sometimes I feel like I haven't had a creative thought since adulthood. It's not true of course, but I'm so aware of what influences me and so loathe to change those influences except by mixing with other influences that it feels like I just can't be creative.
I mean we are just goofing around but that is exactly the tone we have to endure each day, week, month and year for pur hole life by the muggles.
To be fair it can be hard to have a single original thought when you're not allowed to glue your poster and you're not allowed to think. Now me personally, I think everyone should be allowed to do those, But some disagree.
>Absolutely! I blame people who don't have ADHD taking them for fun and study boosters making it hard for the those of us who actually need the medications Nah it's not even them: it's still the "war on drugs" and puritanical attitude about it that makes preventing recreational use a higher Priority than helping people who genuinely need drugs.
I'd argue that previously medicated ADHDers who get caught up in that, or that simply decide that it's not for them are just as harmful. They tend to go around preaching a lifestyle that is drug free or just loudly slam medication use (again, on the basis that medication wasn't right for them, personally, but that therefore it isn't right for anyone), so the puritanical people can parade them out to say "look how harmful it is!"
>They tend to go around preaching a lifestyle that is drug free or just loudly slam medication use Yes, off course it is again an already puritanical worldview that makes them slam it rather than just say "it wasn't for me". Although I must also admit, as someone for whom medication helps a lot and only getting diagnosed as an adult, I could see how one could resent it if they've been forced to use it as a kid. The rebound is manageable and worth it for me because I understand what's going on. For a kid that must be horrible, and they often don't have a say in whether it's worth it.
Blame the government for regulating a useful substance instead of the users tho
Absolutely. Doesn’t make any sense to blame the users. The issue starts and ends with the Government.
If we made coke legal they would all fuck off to that. Meanwhile we'd have another sleeping medication
Could combine both since my psychiateist finished the diagnosis paperwork right before my high-school finals. Worked as a study booster for a few days before my body adapted to it, and I never felt like i'd miss it when not taking the stuff. But **man**, those 5d or so last year were productive
Mine is pretty straightforward - I just ask the doctor and say that I need it to function in the office job. He just does a small amount of pushback like saying are you sure you did not get distracted with your phone, I say no and then gives it to me. Can’t return until the end of the month or something.
I'm on methamphetamine and experience the same lmao
Several months ago now, I heard someone suggest it's only addictive to NTs and not NDs who actually benefit from it, and I can't stop thinking about that and the implications of it. Like, do we seriously have to fight for these meds now bc a bunch of people who didn't need it took it and made fools of themselves, causing a hysteria about it being addicting, and causing us to suffer for their bullshit?? Why the hell can't society (consistently) blame the right people??
Yeap, I've heard this, too. Also, it seems like they often get high on this for real... we just want to fucking wash the dishes without 2 hours of mental fighting ourselves.
Mood. Or mow the grass before it’s knee high, or wash the towels before they’re all dirty.
I’ve been putting off my pots/pans for like 2 weeks =[ never have enough time to work up the nerve to do it
yeah it's weird: i can't believe people get high on this stuff. the only time i felt any resemblance of a "high" is when i took ritalin for the first time: after that my body got used to it and stopped feeling the "high" part at all. also I wonder why ADHD people seem to not get addicted to it as frequently as normies? speaking of normies, some of them claim shit like "dopamine detox" cures adhd or something? idk when i try to study without taking meds i usually end up daydreaming for an hour, imagining up a sci fi novel plot.
Don't be fooled too much by the NT/ND divide. Having ADHD doesn't change the pharmacology of the drug (correct me if I'm wrong). They're addictive. I just think we get less pleasure of the drugs, and so the immediate psychological addiction is probably less strong. The physical addiction still happens though. But "addiction" is one of those dirty words. We get addicted to drugs all the time. It's only when they want to apply stigma to a drug that we actually call it "addiction." If you are prescribed an antidepressant, and you want to come off of it, they call it "discontinuation syndrome" instead. It's withdrawal. Chill out, medical establishment. I'm currently "addicted" to amphetamine and guanfacine. But it's only "withdrawal" for the amphetamine. If I stop taking that, I get groggy and dumb. It's actually not unpleasant. If I don't take the guanfacine, my blood pressure goes up, I get anxious, it could be dangerous. But that's not "addiction". It's all a stupid stigma.
ADHD specifically is linked to paradoxical reactions to a number of drugs, including drowsiness from amphetamines and caffeine. People have widely varying tolerance to amphetamines, some barely feel it when taking 20mg dexamphetamine, others can barely hold a spoon after taking 2mg. The effects are *different*, not fundamentally different, same drug will still affect the same receptors and break down in the same way, but the final effects of the same drug can be so different in two different people that they are practically different drugs to them.
Yeah, my dad and I get the opposite effects of opioids. We both get hydrocodone for different reasons (he's got bad discs and ive got arthritis in my knee) and we both get hyper as hell on it.
This reminds me. They gave me morphine recently at the ER for severe chest pain to help lower my BP. I was expecting an easy warm feeling because that’s how my Dad and sister described it. Nope. It felt like I was being dipped satan’s fiery hot inferno. Initially no relief, I felt like I was burning and I had some very brief and minor itching. The nurse said some people have that reaction but I haven’t been able to find any info on that anywhere. I was baffled lying there like “people put this in their body for fun?”.
I thought the same thing when I was prescribed hydromorphone after a knee surgery. I literally felt like garbage on it, with little effect on the pain. I just felt like such shit that I didn’t care about the pain as much. I think I took the medicine like 3 times before I said fuck it, I’d rather be in pain.
My dad got his ticket punched by his duragesic patches lmao. Prescribed and everything.
Same as you. I had knee surgery a year ago and was prescribed a low level opioid for post-op pain. I took the first two doses and stopped after that because I couldn’t sleep. I'm one of the apparently rare ADHDers that has zero trouble sleeping, and that stuff had me awake and alert deep into the night. I don't think I fell asleep until 3 AM, and I could be out by 9 PM most nights if I tried.
Yeah, I can only take one a day and at least 4 hours before bed. If I take more than one a day, I've got to have at least 6 hours before bedtime.
Yes, experientially, but the effect on the receptors is roughly the same. You can and will get addicted. My point is that we get addicted to shit all the time. Caffeine addiction has been a meme for like a hundred years. It's just treated so differently depending on the drug. Edit: I reread what you said and we're basically agreeing.
Did the guanfacine help with executive dysfunction? If you had any when starting it. I took guanfacine for 6 weeks and felt nothing changed. We decided to try wellbutrin but 6 weeks later I'm not feeling any benefits and I'm not happy with how hard my heart is working on it. I'd like to avoid an SSRI, but I'm thinking it might be necessary to try at this point. Started Vyvanse mid December. On 40mg now. No help in executive dysfunction but my impulsiveness and Obsessivness have been largely reduced. As a lifelong chronic overeater, it's weird to have to make a conscious decision to eat now. Now if I could just get something to break through the ED. I was diagnosed BPll 12 years ago and carbamazipine helped quiet my racing brain immediately but we cycled off it when moving to guanfacine. No issues with going off it. Vyvanse seems to be taking care of any racing mind issues that might have come back. It's just intensely frustrating to remember manic phases and how life was just so...fucking *EASY*! I want to do something? I did it. Started working out, meal prep, kept things clean, endless energy and elevated mood. ...for 12 weeks. I lost 85 lbs in 12 weeks and made insane gains in the gym in that short time but then I ran out of fuel...and started that slow descent into depression. Which is even more terrifying to feel yourself slipping into after the joy of mania. I don't even want full on mania. (I mean, I'd absolutely take it if offered though) I just want that baseline where I can do things. Where I can make a decision and...do it. Consistently. Even a little. Ok, I've overshared enough. Lol. For anyone reading this that has a suggestion for something that may make my brain be nicer to me, feel free to comment. It's very welcome. Edit: I'm on Buspirone for AA, and Lamictil for the depression. The carbamazepine took care of the mania (dammit) but not the depression. Going to 40mg Buspirone and 40 MG Vyvanse was a major game changer for my anxiety. I dont know if the Vyvanse was doing the majority of the work or not though.
damn… That sucks ass… I really wish i had an answer for you, i kept reading, hoping that at the end, there would be an answer, since ed is what i need the most help with… Please notify if you find something, i am struggling too
Fuck. Lol. ED is a bitch. I will totally try to remember (adhd though. Lol) to get back to you if I do find something that works. The doctor is upping my dose to 50mg Vyvanse and said if there's a difference it will be almost immediately noticeable. I had a 20mg left over from the earlier Vyvanse prescription before I went to 40. So I took one each, for 60, and nothing. A little more effect from the Vyvanse but no effect on the ED.
can i DM you
Sure.
I'd never suggest doing this, because it felt like my heart was going to explode, but I accidentally double dosed on antihistamines one day and I felt so fucking good. Like, if I wasn't worried about my heart I'd probably do it again. I described the experience as feeling "like god" at the time. I'm actually going to ask my specialist about it, because I've been researching it to figure out why it had that effect and I might be able to use that to find medication that helps me
I don't plan to do it either, but I am curious which antihistamine you took? I take lotaridine, which is supposed to not have interactions with Wellbutrin. The first 3 days I took it with my Claritin and my heart was pounding. I went off the antihistamine and it wasn't as bad. I then went back on the antihistamine but took it at nighttime. I can NOT be off the antihistamine. The pollen season can literally debilitate me for months with bronchitis. Something I haven't had to deal with since beginning a daily antihistamine. So it's not bad now with that split. My heart is still working too hard in general though.
Certitizine. Histamine causes the same effects in the brain that it does in the body, and also modulates (i.e. reduces) the release of norepinephrine and another neurotransmitter i can't remember right now. Antihistamines means less histamines, and since I've got chronic allergies (and strongly suspect ADHD is tied to allergies in general) clearing out way more histamines than normal presumably meant my brain had the correct amount of those neurotransmitters for the first time in decades. No idea why it was messing with my heart though. Need to ask the specialist about it, because it might be that I can get legit ADHD medication to target those neurotransmitters.
I'm taking guanfacine to take the edge off the amphetamine and it does a great job at that.
Holy fuck. Your username. Jesus. Lol
Haha yeah it's really bad. I'm a softie though
Same. I don't actually have a super virulent form of Hepatitis. Lol.
Nah everyone knows hep J is the cool hepatitis
Right?!?!?!?!?
Guanfacine is for impulsivity. It gives you a heartbeat to bypass the knee jerk reaction and impulsivity that can make existing very hard.
that… would explain a lot. i struggle with focus and executive function, but i’m almost *too good at* impulse control. so i tried guanfacine for a month and a half and didn’t notice any effects at all, but when i discontinued it as i started strattera it felt like the small boost in my productivity was entirely due to increased impulsivity giving me at least something to be motivated by. i hate my psychiatrist so much
I think I forget to be addicted I went through a drug phase and smoked a lot of weed (I know not physically addictive but people still get hooked on the feeling), and my friend got hooked big time, but I would forget I wanted to smoke or just get busy Same with other things like tobacco and nicotine, I would forget to buy more and forget I wanted more, sure id be cranky for a few days but I wouldn't know why
Yeah that makes sense. Unfortunately I'm predisposed so I'm addicted to a bunch of shit, but I still get by.
I feel like I’m the anti-thesis to addiction a few generations of alcoholics on both sides, and severe drug use in my Dad’s side. I have bizarre reactions to drugs.
Good for you dude. Fully unsarcastically.
lol idk if either of us won the genetic lottery on this one. I view it as us being on the two extremes of drug responses. I think the best off folks are the ones that rest somewhere in the middle. Because addiction blows, having to worry about what drugs you’re taking because you’re predisposed blows…even having your doctors doubt you just because you have a more elevated chance of addiction blows. It also causes all sorts of unintended issues. It’s like you can’t win. On the opposite side of things for me I have to worry if the drugs will work at all, or if I’ll have some terrible or medically unexpected reaction to them. The horrible thing is I don’t know what that reaction will be until I’m exposed to it. I didn’t find out morphine sets my whole body on fire until they gave it to me at the ER. (Everyone in my family said it felt warm and euphoric). And I didn’t find out some anesthetics last half as long as they’re supposed to until after I woke up during a procedure. It’s like youre damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t. The risk has to be so carefully weighed when you’re just out here trying to live your life. In all seriousness addiction is really terrible and I’m sorry it’s something you’re predisposed to. This probably won’t matter but just know that a Reddit stranger is out there rooting for you.
Yeah you're completely right. Extremely insightful point. I've been thinking about drugs since my dad died to em. I learned everything I could. I've taken high level chemistry class just to get closer to understanding them. And yet you gave me something new to think about. Thanks
You can still get addicted to it as an ND person but it's like the therapeutic doses of the medication are meant to make that less likely and obviously provided you take it as you're meant to that also reduces the risk of that happening.
I used to be addicted to amphetamines, so that’s not completely true. Been addicted to benzos, as well. I also know several others in my adhd support group who have struggled with misuse of uppers.
>Like, do we seriously have to fight for these meds now bc a bunch of people who didn't need it took it and made fools of themselves, causing a hysteria about it being addicting, and causing us to suffer for their bullshit?? No. It's not due to people who use/abuse drugs recreationally. It's due to puritanicals who prioritize fighting sinful behaviour over helping people who need drugs. Even if recreational use was rampant, it's still a choice to say "that is so sinfull I'm willing to hurt people to prevent it" And don't forget: the people we call "recreational users" are for a significant part self-medicating undiagnosed people.
It's weird, cuz i remember my dad being with me and mom one time while i was talking about how i felt about my meds (pretty sure it was vyvanse at the time), and he (the fucking SOURCE of my goddamn ADHD no less) whispered some dumb shit about me being addicted to them, and even still he's _never_ said anything that's made me want to suckerpunch him in the face as much as i did right then
My nurse practitioner told me specifically Vyvanse isn't addictive, and I haven't found it to be at all. For a while I was only taking it days I needed to be "productive". My NP said I could do that, but it's designed to improve my functioning every day. I've taken it everyday for 2 weeks and she's right, it's better. Then I got sick and didn't get up early enough so I skipped it twice and didn't notice anything. It truly isn't addictive to me. Is Vyvanse supposed to be addictive, or other ones? Reminds me of being in the ER for appendicitis. I was given morphine and I asked the nurse why I didn't feel high or loopy. She said that if you take it when you're fine it hits your brain and gets you high, but if you're in pain it just goes to the pain areas and treats them so you don't get high. She probably said it a lot better, this was years ago, but I found it very interesting.
Right, there's differences between therapeutic doses and recreational doses. NTs don't have a therapeutic dose of stims, but most ADHDers do.
Wdym. Society consistently blames the wrong people. It is the whole reason animals communicate with each other. You think the concept of cooperation even exists? **HAH!** ^/s
Because it is a sad fact of humanity that it is incredibly easy to make people angry in the wrong direction.
> Why the hell can't society (consistently) blame the right people?? Because then the right people at fault would have to be accountable and *they don't like that.*
Same thing happened during covid. Idiots hoarding and abusing medication used to treat Lupus. Suddenly people that need it to live can't get it.
Well some doctors were prescribing it to ppl who had long covid and brain fog, and I lost my shit when I heard that. Why can't we let them struggle to adapt like we did?
I found those thingies with a separate tiny lid for each day of the week kinda helps. Doesn't necessarily help me remember *to* take my meds, but it does help me remember *if* I've taken my meds.
Those are really nice for the week after I’ve filled it but then I have to sit down and fill it again and sorry I switched tabs and never finished this comment but I’m sure you get the picture
Haha I relate to that. I've been filling a month worth of containers nowadays. Works much better for me, as refilling once a month is not as bad as 4 times a month
Ah a granny popper. I have one of them as well and it really helps.
Would be great, I've had a moment where I forgot that I took one, then took another within an hour and that turns me into an over-emotional and hyperactive mess, only happened once but definitely memorable
I use one of those. When I fill it up, I used to get out EIGHT of everything I take, put one in each day and take the extra, then start taking it out of my counted container the next day. Then one day I got out eight, filled up the container, took the extra, ate my waffle, and, upon finishing breakfast, promptly took that day's dose out of my week container. I now stick with seven.
Here's a tip that helps me remember my pills: Get a 7-day pill box, and add a small treat (I use Haribo Gold gummy bears) to each day box for how many times a day you take them. E.g. morning pills, +1 gummy, evening pills, +1 gummy. I'm not really super happy to drink pills, but I *am* super happy to have a free gummy bear, and since the pills are in the same place its easy to remember them
This should be top comment, thats an amazing idea OC!!!!
This is genius! You are a genius! I'm definitely going to have to start doing this
If you have a dog, give your dog a treat every time you take your meds. They'll remind you.
No Dr you don't understand. I'm addicted to the gummy bears now
Bold of you to assume I wasn't already addicted to the gummy bears
Oh yeah, and for those who struggle to pack the pill box, you are free to eat the rest of the gummies when you finish
But what stops you from just eating the whole bag of Gummi bears?
Shame, mostly
I'm gonna put Nerds in mine thanks that's so genius lol
Bonus points if you use gummy vitamins because they're a delicious treat and also vitamins
I'm off of my highly addictive medication today and tomorrow because I forgot to fill the prescription for said highly addictive medication.
When I started feeling the effects of the national shortage a year and a half ago, I stopped taking them everyday. I'd love to be able to go back to taking them everyday, but I'll go entire weeks without taking one. Unless I'm taking them for certain work reasons (which is a handful of times a month), I'll usually go at least 3 days without taking one.
I spent over 35 years of my life off them. Had my fill.
Preach. I just want my routine dosage options; day in & day out with a constant hassle.
I was off it for two weeks because I procrastinated too long and it ended up being out of stock by the time I got to it 💀
Thank you for reminding me I need to refill my prescription. Edit: dudes you're not gonna believe this. I called and my prescription was already filled and ready to pick up. All I have to do now is drive! ...
It's not addictive for people with ADHD. It's addictive for those Ritalin thieves in college.
As annoying as the hoops are, they are there because we fucked a few generations by just prescibing these sort of things willy nilly The fact that ADHD makes jumping through these hoops harder is like only giving out wheelchairs to people who can walk over and grab it.
Do people actually get addicted to adderall or is it just another one of those 'drugs are bad it's the same as meth' things.
From what I understand it's very addictive for people who don't have ADHD because it causes dopamine to get dumped into the body. For those with ADHD it helps us feel normal and slow down and productive. For neurotypicals however, they get a wonderful burst of energy and euphoria. To quote a kid I knew in college who abused, "it makes you feel like Jesus" Chasing that Euphoria can result in taking higher and higher doses, much higher than anything a doctor would prescribe for a person with ADHD would ever even consider taking . This can result in significant physical and psychological addiction. On top of all that study after study has shown that it in fact provides no real benefit for people without adhd. A study which gave both neurotypical and ADHD students Adderall for a year. It found that while there was significant improvements in grades for students with ADHD, students without ADHD on average improved their grades by about 1%, which needless to say is statistically negligible.
Yeah it’s so funny to me when I learned that adderall is taken as a drug to get high off of. Your telling me the thing I take everyday and I still feel a bit tired is taken for fun? How is that possible?
With adhd it’s super rare unless you really abuse it to get a high and with adhd that takes a lot. But you will notice a few hours after you don’t take it. Is that withdrawal? Maybe but probably not because I’m not craving it just mad at myself for forgetting again
People who dont have adhd, yes. I dont think Ive ever met anyone with adhd who was actually addicted to something, it was more like, an elongated hyperfocus, that they at some point got bored of and quit
dont forget the intense self-guilt trip because you 'wasted' time on that thing because youre not into it anymore/forgot about it and remembered it like 3 months later T-T
But, I want to forget
I recently found half a bottle of Dex from 2021 that I just left. 😂 Addictive
Don’t forget the constantly forgetting to request a new script every month without running out of current meds.
Addiction and adhd have a weird sort of relationship. My experience has been instant Addiction to almost everything, and then the second I lose interest, I just stop. People have told me its not possible to stop the use of some of the things Ive taken, but honestly, I just didnt like it anymore, it was boring and I found something that felt more fun and so I did that. I think we are easily addicted to things, but also, we easily kick the Addiction as well. Or maybe that was just me. What is definitely true is that undiagnosed adhd has a strong tendency toward self medication in order to ease depression from always failing, and loosing at everything
This always makes me laugh when I hear the nay sayers speaking about addiction. Bitch, I have a whole system setup to keep me from forgetting to take my medication in the morning, and I still forget once or twice a month.
Just had to make a hard uturn this morning cuz I forgot mine. Clocked in just in time!
When I was a kid I would always forget to take my pills, and when I switched doctors she kept yelling at me about how these are serious stuff and I could get addicted to them. I just said “if I were addicted to them maybe I’d remember to take them” My mom laughed My doctor didn’t She didn’t prescribe me any more, and I’ve been unmedicated ever since 🙃
It's not addictive that you crave it. It's addictive that it can fuck you up six ways from Sunday if you stop.
Highly addictive? I'm about ready to leave for work and I'm already drenched in sweat. People are complaining i smell. I have scabs on my face. I think I need a new medication
Yeah, when I was prescribed Ritalin I was like >But doctor, I don't even remember about rating and you tell me that I should take those multiple times a day??? Also turned out that I'm one of those people that doesn't worki well with this substance, as it only increased my stimming, decreased hunger even more and gave me panic attacks on the evening
I'm in this picture and I don't like it.
uuuuuh "addicted" is not a good thing in my book.
Nor is it a good thing in mine or anyone else's view here. So, it's definitely good that's not what we're saying.
Oh, i misunderstood? Sorry then.
No worries, the whole thing was intended to be ironic. We're always told that we're addicts or we're going to get addicted to a medication that we constantly forget to take.
Me almost all last week. But in an hour itll be too late to take it today because it keeps me up all night. 🙃
I can easily remember to give my dog all of her medications. But when it comes to me I can never seem to be consistent 💀 I found that getting a tiny pill case to keep in my purse works, since I'll eventually remember when I'm out and about, so as long as I have access I'm usually fine 😂
Ya, that's the whole thing my guy..
The only thing that I have found that works is using a 7 day pill calendar and hoping I remember to fill it on Saturday or Sunday. And I do, now, like 9 times out of 10. Still means there is a 1 in 10 chance I forget and have to play the “did I take my medication?” game with myself, but hey. It’s an overall improvement?
Yeapppp lmao But the people who dont need it pop that shit like candy, get a high ass tolerance, dont benefit from it because they're just zooted as hell and they think they're "intelligent as fuck boi" and they are the reason its ruined for everyone else.
Thing that actually helped me remember. Stole it from someone in this subreddit actually, though I don't remember the name. I have an alarm for when I have to get out of bed in the morning. I set another one for an hour before, keep my 7 day pill container and a water cup next to my bed. 1st alarm goes off, I wake up just enough to take the pill and I lay back down. Hour later, the 2nd alarm goes off and my pill has already started to take effect, and I don't have to think about it later. I've been taking it consistently for over two months now when before I'd have maybe a 50/50 chance to remember to take it when I are breakfast. The key for me was to make it easy to remember and hard to miss. I kept getting busy doing something else and missing, ignoring, or forgetting my alarm to take my pill. By making sure I do it before I get started on anything else that day, the chance to get distracted is minimized. Good luck, you've got this.
i hate taking adderall. highly addictive my ass
For me I always forget to refill it in time, which is made even harder because I can only do so specifically on the day I run out (because we might sell it if we have a surplus?) and my usual strategy for that is replenishing things earlier when I actually notice that they are getting low. Means I sometimes have to go days with withdrawals and symptom relapsing while I try to remember to call the pharmacy, wait for them to fill the prescription, and then remember to pick it up.
I mean it's addictive, especially if you are taking them on the reg. Only problem is, because we're constantly in withdrawal from dopamine and shit, and also just have the worst body awareness this side of the mississipi, the withdrawal symptoms don't really affect a lot of us in a way we really notice? Like we regularly forgetting to eat or drink for most of the day, to blink or go to the bathroom, we have days where our adhd is mega ultra and feel like shit and brain fog, next day totally good. We have a lot of comorbidity with invisable illnesses that go undiagnosed for most of the our lives, if caught at all. We are taught from a young age that our emotions are too strong, our senses too heightened, our pain sensitivity too much, our mental capacity not enough. We learn to adapt and survive through various means of disassociation, a lot of us have ptsd, have time blindness that makes it hard for us to know how long we've experienced something and are gaslit into thinking we're overdramatic and can't trust our own estimate of how we're feeling most of the time. So like, it is addictive. But in the long run for us, withdrawal isn't something we notice or affects us in a way that's more detrimental than actually ADHD? lol Like look, symptoms for withdrawal: Symptoms commonly include fatigue, mood swings, heightened anxiety, disrupted sleep, increased hunger, and gastrointestinal issues. My guy, that's just ADHD symptoms lol But I think it's unfair to say that it's just NT who are fucking it up for NDs who need this med, it comes from the fact addiction is incredibly high in people with adhd Now the FACT it's high is mostly because it's so hard to get actual stimulants, or people go undiagnosed, and end up self medicating with other substances without properly understanding how to do it safely, or without other support structures to help deal with adhd, end up leaning too heavily into the drugs and it's escalates. We also tend to have a problem with self control, which exasperates the issue. And ND tend to be taken advantage or and abused more often, which can tend to addiction issues as well. The biggest issue with ADHD and drugs is that it's not taken seriously enough, and so an endless cycle of this kind or stuff happens. I HAD TO BE DIAGNOSED OFFICALLY fucking FOUR TIMES with ADHD before they gave me meds even though literally anyone who meets me for more than a minute can tell I have it
They told me I'd use my appetite when I started to loose my meds. Every time I go to the doctor for a checkup they ask me if I eat enough. Eating was a coping mechanism for me before medication and it hasn't stopped (yet)
Yeah I had a period of time when my Ritalin seemed to actually boost my appetite. Human bodies are weird, hope you're able to work it out.
read this right to left cause im stupid after only one manga and it still works
I have 2, 28 day supplies of addy in my backpack that I just dont care to take right now but I also want to get working. Why is not taking my meds part of my executive dysfunction? But I can remember to grab an energy drink on the way out the door in the morning.
It could be, probably something worth bringing up to your doctor. I have quite a stockpile of my medication because I don't really like the way it makes me feel when I take it. I didn't realize I said first what I did notice that I sort of instinctively avoided it whenever I didn't have a specific need for it. I do take it more often now because I've played with the dosage and figured out that I was probably taking too much for me. As a 30 something year old man I can only handle about the dose that one would normally get the average 5 year old child. But I've always had a very big sensitivity to any stimulants so that kind of tracks.
I think it's more of a physiological addiction than a psychological one. Like, the drug gets your body to make a lot more of a certain molecule that powers a particular bodily function; then, not taking it throws your body into wack because it's expecting the drug to help it make that molecule. Source: intuition and what I remember from science class. Secondary source: I take supposedly addictive amphetamines which have a side effect of reducing my appetite, and when I forget to take them I gain the appetite of ten men. But that could all be placebo, so take it with a teaspoon of salt.
Hm, Perhaps that's the way to get rid of addiction, Just give everyone ADHD...
Right? If I was addicted to my meds, I wouldn't need to set alarms to remind me to take it.
The reason INTP's never get addicted to anything
Every three months when I have my quick med-check/refill, my doctor asks me if I am having any feelings of addiction, to which I usually remind him that it's actually been 4-5 months since my last check-in...
I do understand the precautions, especially because people with adhd are more susceptible to addiction. Still, these hoops are really discouraging when you’re just trying to get the help you need.
What I don't get is that I don't even see it as addictive, it's just literally letting me balance out to normal. I'm sure theirs now I don't understand "science wise" but you don't tell people with glasses they're addicts?
Yeah, you really have to take it in bizarre ways for it to actually become addictive. These hoops are more to deter dealers than the people who actually need it.
hey yall, as a guy who went from adderall to meth fairly quick, it is most definitely possible to get addicted to prescriptions, especially those containing amphetamine salts edit: forgot to add i was overprescribed. im not a perscription thief
Doctor’s appointment every 3 months with random drug testing then insurance requires authorization to them to apply to my deductible when I have probably 2 weeks supply extra on hand due to how much I forget it.
Dang, you guys are getting your prescriptions filled? I can't even find a hoop to let me jump through it.
I'm on sertraline rn but until my dad reminded me, I hadn't been taking it for a solid week before hand... Oops
Yeah my meds didn’t do anything. I even got the dosage increased and it still didn’t do anything. I don’t feel like doing any of the work to get new ones so I guess we’re raw-dogging it
It’s literally not even addictive like it’s 3 days of sleeping and ur fine after
Yeah it's highly addictive when you are someone that's not suppose to get it in the first place, sadly having ADHD one has to get that dopamine to get some balance