I started taking stimulants a month ago for ADHD, and wow. I mean, some of the effects were expected - the increased alertness, the focus, the slight uptick in motivation (I haven’t experienced the full ‘GO GO TAKE CARE OF NORMAL THINGS’ burst that some friends and online folk have had, but I’ve had a little motivation boost, and I’m grateful for every little bit).
But the counterintuitive effects? That I sleep easier and better now than I have in years? That my temper is much reduced because it doesn’t bang at my head like a jackhammer? That I can sit down and relax, because my focus isn’t darting to every little distraction? That I can listen to people talk without wanting to bash my head in because listening is idleness and idleness drove me crazy? The exact opposite of things that I would have expected from taking a stimulant, before I learned that I had ADHD and got put on them?
The human mind is whack
Medicine is fucking witchcraft
Oh man, I wish I could live in a country where mental health research/help wasn’t just a practical joke.
Practical joke doesnt seem that bad coming from places it’s looked down upon
To me they only made me incredibly nervous or incredibly sad, i think I might have been misdiagnosed and I’m actually autistic maybe
Being both autistic and having ADHD is very common, unsure bow accurate it is but I’ve heard the figure of 80% comorbidity (I have both). Its also possible you haven’t the meds that work best for you.
(Sorry if you already know all this and I’m reading too far into a flippant remark)
Nervousness is normal for caffeine. Sadness is weird since caffeine triggers dopamine
It’s bizarre. I’ve taken my Adderall before a flight, so as not to disturb my neighbors, and then dozed right off as soon as takeoff was over. But give me coffee stronger than 1/10 caf, and I’ll be a goddamn menance.
For me the biggest thing is it calmed my stutter down. Took it from like a 7 to a 2. It’s still there but most don’t even notice it. No idea how the fuck it did that but it did.
Wish I could say the same about sleep. Vyvanse really fucks mine up. Even if I miss a dose for a day. Takes ages for my body to get used to it before I can start sleeping normally (?) again.
Interesting… what happens exactly, if I may ask? Im on 60mg, personally the only side-effect I get is a more or less severe energy crash around dinner time (I feel like I have to go to bed right now for a good 30-60min), but it doesn’t mess with my sleep unless I take it too late in the day. 1PM seems to be the cutoff for fucking up my night.
Dunno, just can’t get my brain to switch off. I’ll get close to the sleep state but then just can’t put the final light out to actually fall asleep. Not much of an issue when not on Vyvanse. Generally tapers as I continue taking Vyvanse through the days, i.e. by day 3/4 of continuously taking it sleep comes back to normal and I don’t have any issues at all.
I hear what you mean by the severe energy crash though, and the irritability and or craving for things I probably shouldn’t be indulging in like booze or weed.
It’s only counterintuitive when you don’t understand the why and how. Stimulants boost dopamine. Dopamine, to your brain, is like oxygen to an engine. It needs to be in balance. Too much or too little and the engine starts malfunctioning. Too much dopamine and someone gets high, too little and your brain starts misfiring. Then your brain starts making you act in ways to seek out sources is dopamine, which can lead to erratic behaviour.
I haven’t experienced the full ‘GO GO TAKE CARE OF NORMAL THINGS’
That behavior is learned, for the most part. The meds just help you follow through and stay on track to actually complete “normal” things.
Procrastination is normal. Starting to work on cleaning a room but somehow end up sorting screws in your neighbors garage is not normal.
Meds have limits and they aren’t magic. They are fucking awesome, but still, not magic.
There is a ton of stuff that you will need to sort out in your own brain over the next few months or years, TBH. Some ADHD’isms run deep. Some issues are correctable, some are not but that is for you to figure out on your own.
Two of my friends, also ADHD, have had a sustained experience on meds which was agreed upon by them to be something akin to “The Spirit of Cleaning visited me at midnight as usual; only now it wasn’t midnight, it wasn’t out of control, and it was on command both starting and stopping”.
I’ve not had any such visits yet (though I’ve previously, while not on meds, definitely had the “Midnight Spirit of Cleaning” visits) nor taming of the spirits, but I have found that starting small tasks and finishing them is much easier, so you know, I’ll fucking take it. The level of utter dysfunction I formerly had is… hard to imagine that it’s been most of my life 'til now.
I wasn’t medicated until my early 30’s, so I get it at least. The anxiety and the depression that came with not being medicated sucked ass as well, so take that very seriously if you need.
Same boat, has taken years of therapy as part of my treatment plan to start working through those learned behaviours.
ADHD sucks ass.
It’s taken me a year, but I have just about conquered my Dino brain telling me to “just finish it later, it’ll be easier that way.” Because it so won’t, stupid brain.
What do you have against my neighbor’s garage exactly?
It distracted me.
Those screws aren’t going to sort themselves
My ex girlfriend always found it fascinating that the first 2 lines of speed always made me relax.
Haha samesies! Moment of normalization and ease.
Luckily I realized pretty quickly and didn’t waste too much money on coke.
Why? You get the normal effect too, you just have to pass the dose that does the witchcraft.
I chuckle to myself as I listen to my friend tell me he shouldn’t have had a second cup of coffee at 14:00 because now he’s going to be up all night as I drink my 500ml can of V at 22:00 knowing full well I will be sleeping soundly in less than an hour
You guys sleep?
I know some ADHD folks have sleep issues, but fortunately, I personally fall asleep very easily and am very difficult to wake up - especially since I got a CPAP to treat the severe sleep apnea. The problem is, I often go to bed way too late, either from having to work after the kids are in bed from procrastinating some task for too long, or literally forgetting what time it is and realizing what time it is 5h before I have to wake up.
Unfortunately I do both. I struggle to sleep, but then I lose track of time and stay awake until the early hours. When I do eventually fall asleep, I often sleep for over ten hours and make it worse.
Idk what stimulants you mean but depending on how I slept coffee can often make me feel more tired than not.
They probably mean stimulant medications for ADHD, like Adderall.
Is it weird that I have a mostly normal reaction to Caffeine?
Hopefully I’ll find out myself soon too. I’ll have to reschedule the med consult that I finally got though, accidentally set it to one of my few in office days
