[Thaipie]

Well, I do not have a ADHD/ADD diagnosis from my doctor, because in my country this would close some career paths, even though this is not important anymore as I have my own company up and running, and actually doing very well. BUT, I´m sure that i have ADD. I carry all the symptoms and have been taking prescription drugs typical for ADHD/ADD patients five to seven days a week for the last five years, so I feel I have some knowledge on this issue.

My answer is, don´t use your diagnosis as an excuse, you are blessed. More energy equals more profit. Not only in monetary terms but in all walks of life, also when it comes to girls. Just don´t let your diagnosis take control over your actions. As a person with ADHD I guess you are more extroverted than most of the guys these girls meet, girls like that. Don´t overdo it but be yourself, A impulsive and extroverted guy equals confidence for most girls. And for god sake, don´t take the meds when your going out to meet some new chicas. They are great, but not for the dating game. Then you you just gonna be one of the boring introverted guys. (And swetty, the meds make you sweat alot)

If you are in doubt if you should get medications for your condition or not, my advice - do it!

I have done them all, Adderal, Ritalin, Concerta, Ivianse etc. My recommendations is eather Ritalin or Modafinil. Both are really great to ease down and concentrate on whatever you have to do.
If it had not been for my daily dose of Ritalin (30mg) + 200mg Provigil (Modafinil) in the afternoon, i would never achived top grades at uni, learned how to make money sitting in front of a laptop some hours a day and in the end been the creator of a sucessfull company that allows me to have a very decent income with minimal efforts at the age of 24. Allowing me to have time of whenever i want to travel the world and experience new cultures and girls!

[Nater]

Congrats on your business Thaipie!

It sure can close a lot of doors. I don't see any upside in telling people that you have ADHD. I am planning to keep it to myself, nothing good can come out of talking about it. People will minimize it and say how over diagnosed and that such thing didn’t exist in the old days. In fact, I already found my excuse if asked about the pill “it’s a fat burner”. End of story.

I am currently thinking about different ways to get the pills because I am a bit skeptical of the uni psychiatrist, if he doesn’t want to prescribe me pills I will have to go see someone else to get the prescription which will cost me around 2000$ here in Canada. And I can't really afford that.

For guys who are not diagnosed where do you guys buy your pills?

[the Thing]

Hi, I have ADHD. Had been diagnosed by 3 separate MDs.

My ADHD is very nasty, I had 17 out of 18 symptoms when I was first diagnosed in primary school. (6 needed for diagnosis) Although some of the hyperactive-impulsive symptoms have disappeared since I grew up. Key pointers;

• You never fully TREAT it you just MANAGE it
• Ritalin (Concerta, Adderall, ...) works until you decide to stop using them, at which point your dopamine system is fucked forever.
• Hyper focusing on certain things is right, in fact it's sometimes called "selective attention" because of this. You focus OCD level on certain things and just can't be bothered about others
• It is usually accompanied by very high intelligence, as a result of this and the above you end up being rock star at certain things and sucking at others. I learned to read and write at 3 read wrote and spoke two languages fluently by 7 and was coding in C++ by 9. Got into Mensa in my teens.
• So the obvious roadmap is to (1) find out what you're good at, and (2) double down.
• Do NOT ever use ADHD as an excuse, in fact I'd say it actually puts you ahead at certain things. But don't let it get to your head either.
• You NEVER tell anyone except your closest circle that you have ADHD, kind of like you never tell anyone except your closest circle that you smash an absolute fuck ton of chicks, you just appear oblivious to the thing and let an air of mystery build around the whole subject. (Same goes with hard drugs too)
• Speaking of smashing, I have this thing where if I sleep with the same girl more than 3-4 times, it doesn't count anymore. Like I get absolutely zero satisfaction and just go through the motions to keep the plate spinning. Though this may be due to something other than ADHD. (I had a pretty shitty childhood overall)
• I was pretty well ostracized at every circle I've been in, had to change schools twice before high school because of my impulsive behavior being dangerous to other students. If you have it your kid will probably have it too, I'd say godspeed and I hope you have the patience of a prophet.
• If you obsess too much over it you'll do nothing but keep fucking yourself over. If you saw what I went through while writing this post I'd be cringing hard right now, I circled my 2-bedroom apartment running naked at least 15 times, had 2 glasses of whiskey, smoked a fuck ton of cigarettes, watched a dozen Youtube videos and shaved my dick hair, all while trying to put my thoughts together.
• I myself used to obsess over it a lot and think "oh man I'm going to tank hard" before I sat down to study before every midterm. (Needless to say there wasn't much studying going on anyway) I maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and scored quite remarkable at every single college exam because it naturally came to me, and I barely managed to finish a BS in Engineering by what I call a complete act of God (and a fuck ton of amphetamines) I went to a top school for a MS in Engineering but dropped out because I couldn't be bothered.
• Nowadays I don't obsess over it anymore because I'm very good at what I do (if you're very good at something you'll hear it repeatedly from other people, that's how you know) and I proved to myself in multiple occasions that I'll make a pretty good living with it wherever I go. I still feel very socially awkward because of what I went through when I was a kid. But this isn't a yuge problem since you're pretty good at a few niche things you'll have a lot of time to hone in on your soft skills and make yourself a very unique and interesting personality.
• Comes in handy with women as well since you don't have to act like you don't give a fuck but you actually and without control can't give a fuck. I always did better than average with women and I did especially well with women at times where the aforementioned self doubt didn't cloud me (Good Looking Loser has an article on this self doubt thing, was very inspirational to me) I noticed that when my business life went well, my dating life automatically started to improve so I mostly focus on inner game, lifestyle and business nowadays.
• Nicotine use, particularly smoking, seems to be very popular among ADHD users as well. I think this is the brain's subconscious attempt to self medicate. And it works. But the funniest is when you do coke in a group, where everyone gets mad psyched but you're sitting and chilling super calm because it doesn't get you very high just fixes you.
  

This is what comes off the top of my head, ask me anything. Cheers

Edit: Oh and one last thing. Blogs to follow are Wall Street Playboys (seriously this is my New Testament, every single word these people write is RIGHT including and especially how they predicted Trump's victory a year ago) and Good Looking Loser because he's no frills no bullshit straight to the point and his advice WORKS --especially read his article about self doubt. I haven't tried any of their paid products because I'm very skeptical about affiliated anything.
Editing also seems to be one of my quirks, I believe most of my posts are edited at least once.

[BelyyTigr]

OK I'll make 2 separate posts.
This one is what I do re management of my ADD.
A second one will be "my story", type of thing.

1)Sleep and rest. Really import, especially 2 days after a late night.
2)Fresh air around greenery. Standing on tarmac near a road doesn't count.
3)vitamins and minerals. complex carbs. good proteins. fruit and veg. fish multiple times per week.
eggs for the choline etc
fish oils. avoid things like lard, baking fats etc.
4)nootropic type stacks. But I don't take any prescription or controlled or quasi controlled meds.
5)lots of exercise, but not over-exercise.
A bit of muscle work. Cardio blasts atleast twice a week too.
I also like stretching and qi gong type stuff.
6)be organised. VERY organised. A military type fashion. Avoid mess and clutter like the plague.
colour coded files. do it watching tv or listening to music. its boring but it really helps.
7)know what you are and what you aren't.
8)experiment with different learning and working styles - visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.
try dictating letters/notes instead of typing/scribbling all the time.
9)take time out for socialising, fucking and hobbies. During the day if need be.
10)I'm my own boss and run 2 careers parallel.
Working in a big corporation for someone else just wouldn't work for me.

Some specific things. I often take 5 or 10 mins out during my working day for exercise or catch up with a friend on the phone.

I'm involved in import-export, investment and also starting a creative career. So there's a natural ebb and flow. Peaks of activity followed by waiting, or just clocking off early etc/having a laid back social type meeting with a colleague.

Sometimes, I'm really in "the zone". Other times, my mind feels out of sync and I feel like I'm just pissing about, feeling like a caged tiger or "tigr", I should say!

I've resisted taking meds. Sometimes my management of ADD is really good (IMO). Other times I feel like I'm missing something.

So it would be great to share ideas/experiences with other ADD-ers here.

PS another area I'd recommend is NLP, hypnosis and meditation. Even "power naps".
Also trying something like to chess, and learning to relax into a "low phase" concentration whilst playing.

[Kinko]

Have you ever tried a digital detox? Quitting smart phones, computers, internet and other computerized devices

What is your diet like? Does it include processed and denatured foods...

[Kinko]

It sounds like people with "ADD" use computers a lot (apparently due to the ADD) and they take pharmaceuticals for "treating" their ADD which apparently is like a bandaid but possibly the pills makes matters much worse. Those pills are strong stuff and in my opinion may fasten "ADD" harder down making it a permanent and irreversible behavior.

I am going to rattle off another probably highly unpopular opinion, but I think taking pills for ADD is (in the long run) substantially worsening peoples conditions. My recommendation is to use as many all-natural remedies possible in order to naturally reverse symptoms of ADD. That means no drugs, no steroids, no testosterone booster shots, no Adderall (which is practically equal to Methaphetamine), and seriously limit computer time, no smart phones at all, and especially little to no Internet usage.

ADD was probably a medical oddity before the Internet...

[Passive Menis]

^Are you speaking from experience, or are you just a hippie whose immediate reaction to any problem is to propose only "natural" solutions while condemning everything else without reason or evidence? That you think ADD meds are equivalent to meth shows that you don't know what you're talking about and all of your reading on this subject probably comes from hippie blogs and not personal experience or actual research.

Personally, I have been taking Vyvanse (Adderall with a more gradual release, and what I would recommend to anyone considering medication - start with the lowest possible dose) daily for a little over a year, and it has improved my life dramatically. Before I started taking meds, I would constantly trap myself in the same cycle of procrastination, distraction, and then massive stress, regret, and hyperworking as the deadline finally arrived. Meds allowed me to break out of this cycle - be warned though, you have to actually WANT to break out, as it's just as easy to spend 2-3 hours browsing forums and reading about unrelated topics on meds as it is to do productive work.

It's also true that the meds have diminishing returns over time and I'm considering going off them know that I've put my life on a new track (like another member said above, a big part of it is just seeing what you're really capable of). Here are some other tactics I've found helpful for treating ADD:

+Binaural beats - This may seem New Agey but there are many scientific studies showing that people with ADD have abnormal brainwave frequencies (more Delta and fewer Beta waves), and showing that brainwave entrainment (binaural beat therapy) significantly reduced unfocused behaviors associated with ADD. I listen to 20hz Beta binaural frequency whenever I need to get shit done and it help tremendously (especially late at night when my meds are out of my system).

+Exercise Regenerates dopamine receptors, which people with ADD have fewer of. Try to do it as early in the day as possible (this is better for your sleep as well).

+Diet Avoid wheat, sugar, and processed/refined foods. Personally I think clearest when I'm on intermittent fasting + Keto diet. Make sure to stay hydrated as well (especially if you're cutting out the carbs).

+Meditation Not sure on the why here, but this definitely helps.

+Pomodoro Technique - Very simple productivity method: work for blocks of 25 minutes, take a five minute break, and repeat for several cycles before taking a longer break. When I first started this, my ADD was so bad that I had to do 20 minute blocks with 10 minute breaks, so you can start smaller, but either way this will increase your productivity markedly.

+Block out distractions Assuming your work requires the use of a computer, add a site-blocking extension to your browser (I use BlockSite for Chrome) and blacklist all sources of distraction (or even better, whitelist only the sites you need for working). Once you're finished with working, you can disable the extension as a reward.

That's my advice from personal experience, good look OP!

[Nater]

I’d like to start by thanking each and everyone of you for answering this thread, except Kinko who is preaching the hippie gospel.

@The Thing, can you please expand on this.

Quote:

Ritalin (Concerta, Adderall, ...) works until you decide to stop using them, at which point your dopamine system is fucked forever.

How does it fuck your dopamine system?

From what I’ve read so far on the internet, people who have ADHD contrary to popular belief have less dopamine in the brain. We are somehow less stimulated. What the drug does is it raises those levels of dopamine. Like a person who have diabetes and has a low level of insulin. Needs insulin injection to keep functioning.

Quote:

So the obvious roadmap is to (1) find out what you're good at, and (2) double down.

I like this! Better than find what you like and do it. What I like changes every 2 weeks or so.

Talking about game and girls, I can relate to the spinning. Even though I am not a big player (yet). I get bored of the girl I am sleeping with easily. Desire of novelty I guess, I’ve read somewhere that people who have ADHD are more likely to divorce at some point. Will post the study if I find it.

I also have a clown kind of game which hurt me in the past especially with Eastern European girls. I am learning how to tone it down.

Keep it spinning!

@The Thing Are you still under medication or no?


@PM thanks for the constructive feedback. I will try some of the recommendations and will report back. I also posted a good video on the previous page that talks about solutions and what one could do to be more productive. One thing the doctor talks about is externalizing motivation. I wonder if you guys have any insights about this?

Quote:

It's also true that the meds have diminishing returns over time and I'm considering going off them know that I've put my life on a new track (like another member said above, a big part of it is just seeing what you're really capable of).

This was my fear. I wonder why you need to raise the dosage every time. Why do you feel like stopping them? Can you be as productive without them?


Let’s Make Adhd Great Again!!

[stefpdt]

^^Bro he isn't talking about increasing the dosage. He's talking about how using a medication like Vyvanse can help you realize what you're actually capable of accomplishing. You will eventually reach a point (usually around the one year mark) where you might not even need to take meds any longer because you've already established neurotypical brain patterns.

This has nothing to do with needing to increase doses. It's about finding a dose that works for you, sticking to it, and living your life as a normal human being. Your life will probably change for the best once you start with meds and come to understand what we're talking about.

[stefpdt]

(11-18-2016 10:26 AM)Kinko Wrote:  

It sounds like people with "ADD" use computers a lot (apparently due to the ADD) and they take pharmaceuticals for "treating" their ADD which apparently is like a bandaid but possibly the pills makes matters much worse. Those pills are strong stuff and in my opinion may fasten "ADD" harder down making it a permanent and irreversible behavior.

I am going to rattle off another probably highly unpopular opinion, but I think taking pills for ADD is (in the long run) substantially worsening peoples conditions. My recommendation is to use as many all-natural remedies possible in order to naturally reverse symptoms of ADD. That means no drugs, no steroids, no testosterone booster shots, no Adderall (which is practically equal to Methaphetamine), and seriously limit computer time, no smart phones at all, and especially little to no Internet usage.

ADD was probably a medical oddity before the Internet...

This is a good example of why you don't tell most people that you have ADHD. The public is still very much under hypnosis by mainstream media and misinformation.

@Kinko - Do you really think that the type of men on this forum haven't already tried the strategies that you've suggested? I know that you probably don't realize this, but the ADHD brain is inherently different than the neurotypical brain.

A 'digital detox' isn't going to restore anyone's cognitive abilities. You're just suggesting that people with ADHD should alter their environment and habits, which is the type of advice that some of us have been hearing (and practicing) for decades.

Good sleep, a clean diet, exercise and taking high-quality ADHD medication is 1000% more effective for helping people with ADHD deal with *the current environment* that we live in.

I'd LOVE to use only natural medicine to treat ADHD...if it was anywhere near as effective as prescription meds.

[Kinko]

Hi stefpdt, it is not at all my intention of being unsympathetic. Maybe I come off that way without even knowing it.

The first time I remember learning of ADHD was in grade school a friend had it. He was very up front with everyone about his behavior and medication. He would sorta snap during class with frustration of just having to sit there in a chair. He would often just stand up from the desk, take his school supplies, tell the teacher to screw off, and leave class. It happened almost every day for him. He was my friend. He took Ritalin to ease things. He never shared the drug with classmates. Back at home, his parents were abusive and blatantly mistreated him.

Last time I saw him, a couple decades ago, he was selling heroin by the gram.

I have taken Adderal several times. It is a heavy duty drug. It was almost like taking MDMA. These are hardcore drugs. In my opinion when people reach the point of possibly benefiting from psychedelic medicines, it is not to be taken willy nilly. It is only for one or two times of use with those at most. That is my opinion. And taking Adderal and Ritalin on a daily basis cannot be healthy at all no matter what your symptoms, even if it temporarily eases sypmtoms, I can guarantee Adderal and Ritalin and Modafinil are not healthy for anyone.

Our body and minds are delicate. As you get older you will learn the same thing. Our bodies were never designed to withstand highly potent substances like heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine -- those are all just way too powerful. Adderal and Xanax are terrible too.

I am adamantly against the westernized approach with prescribing pharmaceuticals for everything, however, those pharmaceutical companies are somewhat completely honest about Side Effects. Next time you get your perscription filled for Adderal or Modafinil or Xanax - look along with the bottle is a packet of papers (that nobody reads) and it includes all the side effects that have been recorded from the use of the drugs. 99% of people just throw that packet away. But the companies are telling you straight up, they list all of the dozens (if not hundreds) of side effects from the pills people purchase. For some reason, 99% of everybody throws the information packet away and just wants those pills and the fix.

Again I do not want to tick anybody off but I am a believer in naturopathic remedies, and not so much ingesting "medicine". The best cures tend to cost next to nothing. Just do not give up trying.

[ThrustMaster]

I visited a shrink to see if he'd diagnose me as ADHD this year. I wanted to try Addy. He did, for the most bullshit of reasons - namely because I've made some decisions in my life that against what would've been very lucrative and good for me. Anyway got my aphetamines. I don't take them not sure I like the effects much.

[Zep]

Got diagnosed last year at 50. My life has been a total mess because of bad diagnoses and bad medications. You guys are lucky because the internet has made everyone get up to speed on the knowledge available. The first time I tried adderall I was blown away! The first time in my life I could sit still for an hour and read something...I felt so liberated, I felt like now I could finally get control over my brain and therefore my life. But, it wasn't a cure-all, I'm learning that now that I can sit, thanks to the Adderall, I still have to WILL myself to learn something, and it is still a real struggle. I put a timer on today, for 10 minutes, and I kept looking at it going "when is this thing going to ring!"...

This is how I felt. Imagine yourself standing up, and surrounding you is a box, juuuuust enough room to have an inch, one inch of movement, the box is made out of bricks, so you know that it is solid, and within reach is a handle which can let you out and be free, and you know you can reach for the handle and let yourself out at anytime, but, if you do, you lose. That's how I feel, almost trapped, very stifled, and I WANT to learn, but this feeling of being trapped eats at me and I want to scream. It's a struggle right now.

[Kinko]

Hey zep, that sounds like deep rooted torture, like your soul or psyche is in a state of paralysis. There must be a long term naturopathic mixture of cures and regimens that can remedy ADHD. I would never give up trying.

ADHD must have corrolation with vaccinations and flu shots, anti-biotics, or perhaps something else. It is such a mystery.

About Adderall: that is a hardcore drug. I remember the first time I took it, being high like a mild MDMA trip. I tried it several more times after that and each dose became less euphoric. It did not help me study, because I was too high. I just wanted to flirt with girls.

Later I read more in depth about Adderall and learned it is closely related to methamphetamines. These drugs are more potent then the body can naturally handle. Something like methamphetamine use can cause permanent neurological damage. Heck, a lot of pharmaceuticals (if not all) do just that.

Just because Adderall brings relief to ADHD symptoms that does not mean it is going to be safe to continue consuming. There must be natural cures for this.

[Kinko]

Oh hey I did not realize how multiple people are slamming me for making suggestions. No offense I seriously do not understand what you are all going through.

[fiasco360]

I recommend if you do take ADHD medication such as adderall or vyvanse that you take the lowest dosage possible and if you see side effects and want to get off of it, taper off.

[Kinko]

I once had anxiety (most likely from a poor diet, exercise, and generally having a bunch of stupid American traits). A doctor gave me a script for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. I took it constantly mostly sniffing the pills like how I used to sniff heroin.

Anyways the anti-anxiety drug made me depressed. So the doctor have me another script for anti-depressant. Actually he circulated me on multiple anti-depressants. It made me so sick and scared and sad I wanted to commit suicide.

I never committed suicide but I felt so awful I wanted to die. I acted insane and psychotic and so the doctor then put me on an anti-psychotic drug, and told me I had to take it for the rest of my life. It drove me nuts and I told him to eff off, so he sent me to a 72 hour mental place. They gave me valium for a few days.

The whole nine yards. Eventually I told the doctor to screw off and got off all the pills and it was done dangerously on my own cold turkey without any caring supervision at all. Actually I kicked drugs in an abusive household, while kicking those pills was the most wonderful step towards better health I ever made, my family was ultra ignorant and due to their ignorance while I was withdrawling it shattered my relationship with my entire family.

I do have a heavy hippie backround but not much anymore.

[Kinko]

"I recommend if you do take ADHD medication such as adderall or vyvanse that you take the lowest dosage possible and if you see side effects and want to get off of it, taper off."

That is not the full story how it works. Those pills can give unhealthy side effects after weeks, month, years, and even decades after you totally stop ingesting them.

Humans were not designed for ingesting pharmaceuticals and highly processed drugs and narcotics.

[Rawmeo]

I think it's not long before we see a new disease called "introvertite" which causes people to feel like introverts. And how lucky, big pharma even found a cure for it! Unfortunately though, it's a long term cure and you have to pay for the medication.

[Zep]

(11-24-2016 12:24 AM)Kinko Wrote:  

Hey zep, that sounds like deep rooted torture, like your soul or psyche is in a state of paralysis. There must be a long term naturopathic mixture of cures and regimens that can remedy ADHD. I would never give up trying.

Thanks dude,

I suppose I am 'a tortured soul', but, at 50, I"m tired and bored of the designation. I'm tired of being miserable, had enough, done. It used to be my identity. I'm sooo bored of it now. That part of my life is over. It should have been over by 35, but the wrong treatment for too long. Fuck. I missed out on prime years because of some bad bad mental states brought about by crazy brain chemistry

I won't give up trying now, believe me. The progress I've made in the last three years has been incredible.

I've tried dexadrine, ritalin, concerta and now adderall. I give every medication about two to three months if I'm not having bad side-effects. The Adderall is really a god-send, but is does have limitations, and those are covered by the doctor in the video posted on page 1. ( thanks for that, poster, he knows what he's talking about ), so because of that, I'll be bringing up Guanfacene and Atomoxetine to the doctor and see if I can take less Adderall with a combination of one or the other. I'll let you all know how it works out.

I wish I could get you guys to experience a panic attack like the ones I used to have. You'd be begging me for Xanax, "dude, this is fucked up, dude, please please give that Xanax, please man, this is fucking scary, dude, pls, make this stop." Uh, I was tired of it all and at 45 was seriously contemplating offing myself. The problem with Xanax and the other Benzodiazepines is they are like Heroin. The first time, one mg will do the job, two weeks later, you need 2 mgs, and so on, and then when you don't get 2 mgs in, you have a panic-attack..lol...so, you need MORE to calm that one down. What you have to do, is get symptoms under control for a while, and then when you feel fairly stablized, you have to be tough and say "time to come off"..and do it very very slowly. I know a guy who used to drink a lot, this man is 60 years old and his build is ridiculous, huge biceps, a V taper, fuck! 60! I said "man, you look great for 60"..he said 'I was an alcoholic, decided to clean up my life, but went cold-turkey off the drinking and screwed myself up, now I have use a colostomy bag" ... Whoa. So, whatever you're addicted to...just taper off, I don't like these cold turkey stops after years of abuse because your whole bodies chemistry is dependent on it.

If there's anything to take away from my story, it's this....doctors aren't gods, they are often over-worked and are doing their best, but, now we have the internet....research research and research some more, and give a medication a chance for three months, and then dump it if it does not work. This was the mistake I made, a shrink convinced me that my problems were emotionally based and therefore I should continue on the medication as prescribed. Big mistake. It's true that my issues have roots in an awful childhood, BUT, symptom management is a must before any of that stuff can be dealt with.

Say a doctor wants to check out a massive gash on your leg, you're in so much pain that he can't inspect it. The first thing he has to do is manage the pain you are in ( the symptoms ) effectively, then, he can explore the wound.

A friend of mine, a truly gifted individual, prizes for his gift, etc, etc, etc. Four years ago, was sitting under an overpass, contemplating suicide, had to go to the homeless shelter for food. Found his way into a doctors office, the doctor asked what meds he was on "WRONG MEDS BRO!!! YOU ARE BIPOLAR"...the new doctor gave him meds for bipolar..boom! Two years later his business is thriving, he's got himself a hot girlfriend and he's gained a much needed twenty pounds.

For the future, I'm hoping that there will be diagnostic machines that can detect a persons chemistry and what minerals or vitamins might be really off. Who knows, maybe I need massive doses of Vitamin B. I don't know, and I don't know how to check. One day I'll go that route if I can afford it.

Anyhow, this has been long, I'll let you know if I make any more progress with new meds.

[Nater]

My appointment with the psychiatrist was advanced to this week but I am a bit desperate, I've read some reviews on the internet and they are all bad. Students are complaining how tough she is and how she's not really willing to give medicine.

Do you guys have any advice on how to prepare for the meeting? This is basically my only shot to get the medicine since I am kind of broke right now, I can't afford an ADHD specialist.


I was thinking about writing a list of all the symptoms I have so I don't forget anything, any other ideas on how to be more prepared?

[tawm]

(11-28-2016 05:21 PM)Nater Wrote:  

My appointment with the psychiatrist was advanced to this week but I am a bit desperate, I've read some reviews on the internet and they are all bad. Students are complaining how tough she is and how she's not really willing to give medicine.

Do you guys have any advice on how to prepare for the meeting? This is basically my only shot to get the medicine since I am kind of broke right now, I can't afford an ADHD specialist.


I was thinking about writing a list of all the symptoms I have so I don't forget anything, any other ideas on how to be more prepared?

If your psychiatrist is averse to ADHD stimulant medications, she is living in the dark ages. Literally the first step to treating ADHD in modern medical literature is trying Dexedrine (Adderall or derivatives) or Vyvanse. I can't offer much advice for you other than that--I'm assuming this person is unwilling to diagnose the issue and has stringent standards to them. Be aware though, most insurance still has a high copay (even generic Adderall for me comes out to like $120/month).

Also note from my experience with ADHD meds: be choosy with the "brand" of your medication. Each company makes its pills with different additives that affect not only the delivery into your body but also the side effects, neurological effectiveness, etc.
[/i]
I've lived with ADHD my whole life. Was put on Ritalin in second grade, then to Adderall/Wellbutrin in 10th grade before voluntarily ceasing medications in 11th grade until I turned 29. The Marine Corps was organizationally very tough for me, I was never a motivated guy but was smart enough to fly under the radar while always being the funny guy that charmed his way to semi-reliable mediocrity.

Now I'm out at 30 and my life is still on the knife's edge of chaos with very little order. ADHD is truly an executive impairment. With that knowledge, you begin to understand that 1) life is not fair and 2) suffering is inevitable.

Interesting tangent that has to do with the "hunter" theory of ADHD. When conducting combat operations or even in field training environments related to my primary job, I was never so focused or "on it". I truly loved the field/deployments and understand now that the only time I can truly care about things is when you hear rounds pop off--as lame or corny as that sounds. I firmly believe that people with ADHD have a problem with the "tyranny of the present", where the mundane is stressful but the extraordinary becomes your "zone". This may explain why you get such positive effects from meditation--one of the first precepts of it is learning to be present.

[Zep]

(12-05-2016 12:23 PM)tawm Wrote:  

Interesting tangent that has to do with the "hunter" theory of ADHD. When conducting combat operations or even in field training environments related to my primary job, I was never so focused or "on it". I truly loved the field/deployments and understand now that the only time I can truly care about things is when you hear rounds pop off--as lame or corny as that sounds. I firmly believe that people with ADHD have a problem with the "tyranny of the present", where the mundane is stressful but the extraordinary becomes your "zone". This may explain why you get such positive effects from meditation--one of the first precepts of it is learning to be present.

This is a fantastic explanation of the ADHD issue..."the tyranny of the present", yes, exactly, that's the feeling I wrote about above, being confined in a very tight box, knowing the handle is there to release myself out, but if I do, I lose.

"The mundane is stressful but the extraordinary becomes your 'zone'" Yes again! This. I've always excelled whenever intensity was needed, but stamina? Forget it. I feel safe with chaos around me, unsafe with too much calm.

I'm trying very hard to deal with the nothingness of an ordinary day, it really is a challenge. Just to be in it, and not get itchy feet and flee from the moment. It takes a lot of discipline man, and I constantly fail. Just have to keep trying.

[MrBoombastic]

The "scientist" who created the ADHD label admitted on his deathbed that it was a fake disorder. Either way, Ritalin/Adderall can really help you focus and get work done, so it's useful for that at least. Then again it's basically legalized meth.

[tawm]

(12-05-2016 11:42 PM)MrBoombastic Wrote:  

The "scientist" who created the ADHD label admitted on his deathbed that it was a fake disorder. Either way, Ritalin/Adderall can really help you focus and get work done, so it's useful for that at least. Then again it's basically legalized meth.

Low-energy, no-effort post. 2/10 because you got me to reply.