Hello fellow ADHD people!

I had a weird idea today. I've noticed that sometimes I have a single specific task that I avoid incredibly painfully, to the point where, even on my best days, I basically do everything else. And it makes other things easier because the more I think about the task that I'm avoiding, the more my brain is running away to do other things.

It made me wonder, maybe I can make a dummy task that isn't really critical, but make myself think that it is, and avoid it, therefore increasing my motivation to do other tasks as a form of avoidance.

Any opinions or experiences about this?

I currently have a sinus infection. That's annoying, but I've noticed for a long time that when I'm sick it's like I don't feel the ADHD symptoms.

I lose the constant slight understimulation and I'm more mentally sharp and content. It's like my body knows I need to rest and actually gives me the mental state to tolerate that.

Obviously it sucks to be sick, but it almost makes it a nice experience for me to be able to actually hone in and make a lot of progress on my projects or whatever without fighting my brain at all.

Anyone else experience this or similar?

Interested primarily in hearing from people who've tried more than one type of ADHD Zmedication, to compare their experience under each one. Also interested in people who just know what various different med types are targetting.

I'm in titration for medikinet's Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and it doesn't seem so effective. Very little difference to how i behave on it versus off of it, it does heighten my sense of fun and make me focus in videogames for longer though. It does make talking to people and masking a lot easier, however. I'm wondering if i should ask to switch to another one.

I've taken my largest dose of Adderall yet, 15 mg. I know it's not a lot, but I'm very sensitive to stimulants in general (almost zero caffeine intake). I generally take 5mg at around 9 am and leave it at that. Sometimes I'll take another 5 with lunch. Today I felt extra fuzzy, so I took 10 at lunch instead.

I feel like I'm still scatterbrained, but faster. Still context switching like crazy. Can't follow through things to completion. What gives?

Do y’all ever feel anxious about taking medication and just stop for prolonged periods of time?

I’ve stopped my meds for 6 months for reasons I’m struggling to discern… And I also have a tendency to skip doses and save my pills in a stash I never touch. I’m not even sure if most of them are useable because they’re so old… For some context, I’ve been using Adderall XR 20mg for 10 years now so I have a pretty good idea of how it affects me.

I finally took one of the newer pills today and I feel unbearably anxious about it, even before doing so. And it’s not like I’m anti-medication or anything, I’ve encouraged others to get tested and medicated because it substantially increases quality of life but there’s something about it that personally is causing distress.

Just looking for some insight with others that have felt the same.

Yesterday was very productive

I tried to discipline myself by not allowing myself to look at phone until I take my pills (most of them are taken after food) and it seems like it's working great. Routine is needed to me, but very often it breaks, so I don't know how long it will last. I also think it was successful majorly because I upped the dosage of my SNRI meds.

But anyway, I managed to both vacuum and mop the floor in some rooms, do the laundry and work outside as well and I didn't feel like shit at all. I also went to bed at 11 pm instead of 5 am lol

@adhd

And body weight if you don't mind sharing. I've been on 10mg xr (Adderall) for 5 months and it's been helpful for me. I'm about 155lb, just up'd my dosage and got perscribed a 5mg ir dose to take as needed as well so I'll be taking 15mg a day.

What dose are you all on, I remember scrolling through a reddit thread a while ago and almost everybody was taking really large doses imo, like 30 - 40 mg a day. Maybe that's sorta normal, I dunno.

Anywho with ADHD shuts down when they're bored?

I used to handle boredom fine, but now it feels like it's absolutely going downhill. I feel so sleepy the second I'm bored 😭, like almost an irresistible urge to sleep. Stimulation snaps me out of it, but it's so difficult to do the thing even if it's something I like, so most of the time I just sleep…

Sucks that I can't have meds in my country, I only have a SNRI against depression and anxiety. Anywho unmedicated has strategies that most of the time work?

@adhd

#adhd

Lapacho tea is made from tree bark.

It has been used as a herbal medicine by some native tribes, and there were attempts to hype it as a cure for all sorts of things. Scientific evidence does for the most part not support that, though. The claim as a cure for cancer has been disproven, and others, such as reducing skin redness, are based only on one study.

So it should technically be considered as one of the things that may or may not help a little more than water for some people, like green tea. Clearly no strong effect, such as Lisdexamfetamine.

I started taking it over 20 years ago. There was a suspicion of a yeast infection at the time, lab results came back negative, but in the meantime, I googled a bit and tried it. (Yeast infections are one of the many things it's supposed to help with, probably also a false claim.)

I did feel great in the week where I tried it, but my trust in the scientific method is very strong. The most likely explanation was a placebo effect, combined with drinking more than usual and avoiding dehydration, possibly a minor deficit of a micro nutrient it contains.

What it seemed to "fix"? For once what I now know to be undiagnosed ADD symptoms, as well as minor digestion problems that are always part of my life. (Poo too hard, too soft, too slimy, but rarely requiring medical intervention.)

Over the next decades, I occasionally bought a pack and drank it over a few weeks, and that always correlated with feeling great and enormous productivity and clarity of mind. Still, lots of more likely explanations for that other than Lapacho "curing" anything:

• reverse causality: Being in a good productive mood -> energy for making tea
• Usually not drinking enough water -> now that I made tee, I should not waste it
• Confirmation bias, placebo effect, law of big numbers. Lots of people have ups and downs, and certainly one of them in the world would happen to make Lapacho tea during theirs.
• Psychologically / subconsciously associating it with the first 1 or 2 times, where the improvement was just by chance.

But it just happened again. I went back to it, and I switched from a general mood of "life is hard right now" into a new golden age within a few hours. Again with a completely fixed digestion.

And this time, I question the science. It just happened too often. I had an exact measure of how much I drank before. I did not change the amount of caffeine, meds, or food. I definitely did not expect an effect, certainly not a strong one. I took various supplements before to avoid a deficit.

My theory why it might work? I think its mild anti inflammatory effect has not entirely been disproven, and maybe that happens to hit the exact spot of my specific problem. Maybe morbus crohn or similar, also related to gut bacteria somehow affecting or even causing ADHD (controversial, lack of evidence, but not clearly proven to be false, afaik!).

Well, if one of you has a similar situation, minor, but life-long digestion problems combined with ADD, feel free to give it a try. I drink a lot of it, like 1 or 2 cans. Not during pregnancy or when trying for a baby! (Unless that also is false.)

I describe a personal experience. Trust in established treatments with scientific evidence, not an inferred causality and applicability to your situation.

link to study https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(26)00091-X/fulltext?rss=yes

all stimulants in my country are banned completly, there VERYYY massive risk getting arrwsted even for bupropion
any non-stimulant which actually work also banned either very very very very controlled

only fcking atomoxetine for insane amount of money

Diagnosed with ADHD as a kid. Insomnia started in college and hasn't really gone away. I discovered doxylamine works, but I recently learned that these older antihistamines increase the risk for dementia and that the effect is cumulative. Age related mental deterioration is literally my worst fear, more than just straight up dying, so I've been trying to quit, even though I'm sure it's already too late since I've been taking them on the regular for 20 years.

There was a period of abouta year where the insomnia was so bad I was taking two Unisom per night, once right before bed and again around 3 AM (it's always 3 AM that I wake up and can't go back to sleep). This was around 2014-2015. Since then I've had to medicate on average once every other night at best.

I've tried a couple other meds. I've tried melatonin (usually as a gummy) but I habituate quickly. Anti-anxiety meds didn't really do anything and muscle relaxants just relaxed my muscles, not my brain. Magnesium doesn't seem to help either.

AFAIK I have good sleep hygiene, consistent bedtime even on weekends, only use the bed for sleep, actually this goes for the entire bedroom, no desk or computer etc. I'm early to bed and early to rise (hence my username), going to bed around 8:30 and (ideally) getting up between 5 and 5:30.

I've tried a few things besides meds, a weighted blanket helps a little but not much (I'm also allergic to something in it, so I have to have a top sheet between me and the weighted blanket and a comforter above otherwise my nose and eyes run. I've tried music, spoken word (usually audio books or calm YT videos in the background), white noise, complete silence. The trick with the books/vids is they can't be so engaging that they keep me awake, but they can't be so boring that they just become noise that can't out-compete my brain. I've even written my own little short stories and converted them to audio.

I've tried exercising. I like walking, so I often go for long treks around my neighborhood. I also have one of those half-a-bikes that you can use while sitting on the couch. It's great when watching videos or playing games. But effect on sleep is mixed. I also have arthritis in my left knee that gets worse if I exercise, so after a day or two I have to take an extended break until the pain goes away. I've seen a doctor about it and gone to physical therapy, but it remains.

Alcohol sometimes helps, but I absolutely don't want to self-medicate with booze. It will not end well.

Stress going on in my life obviously makes it worse, so there are times of relatively low stress where I can get a whole night in. I had a streak of about 2.5 months that just ended where I slept well consistantly thanks to having dropped a certification program that I wasn't passing despite 8 attempts at the exam. But now the uncertainty of where my career is going now that all my certs are expired as well as a general midlife crisis and good ol' existential dread have moved in.

And of course there's the stress caused by the insomnia itself. It starts with one bad night, I feel crappy the next day, then the next night I start worrying that I won't sleep again, making me feel even worse the next day, and it's a positive feedback loop.

So that's my situation. I've seen similar questions asked here and elsewhere and there doesn't seem to be a solution, unless someone can refute the antihistamine-dementia connection.

I am fully aware that I shouldn't drink alcohol while on Ritalin, however I do sometimes cook with it, so I was curious on if that's a major problem, as the relative quantity of alcohol is much lower than when drinking it. Say for instance a sauce that's 1/5 Sake (15% alcohol) of which you then use around 30-40ml. That's barely any alcohol, so should I be worried and maybe not take my meds when I'm planning on making food containing alcohol, or is it fine if I just avoid beers and wines and such?

Edit: The consensus seems to be that it's fine, especially if it cooks longer, because it's a low amount and at high heat the alcohol cooks away anyways. Thank you everyone for your input!

From the conclusion:

1. Support curated digital stimming: Blockers could provide familiar, soothing content that fits neatly into a set amount of time for digital stimming, helping users settle their minds without falling into doomscrolling.

2. Use task-based rules over timers: Distractions could be blocked until a specific goal is met (for example, “until I write two pages”) rather than setting arbitrary time limits for focus.

3. Use scaffolds, not crutches: Blockers could be framed as a way to build personalized growth and self-acceptance through affirming language that normalizes fluctuating focus.

Internet developers. Please fix the apps!

What else would you like to see in a focus app? Do you know any that do a good job (in the directions above ideally)?

Please make them stop. Why are they still legal? My neighbor has been using a mower, weed eater, and leaf blower for 5.5 hours. Nobody else ever notices the noise but my auditory sensitivities make me want to claw my skin off.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a project I’ve been working on called Social Battery. I shared it in a mental health space a while ago, and a few people with ADHD mentioned it could be really helpful for managing social burnout and executive dysfunction, so I thought I’d post it here too.

I often run out of social energy, and I wanted a way to let people know where I'm at without the dread of explaining myself every single time.

It's completely free, there are no ads, and you don't even need an email to sign up (just a username and password). I don't collect, sell, or use any personal data, and there are no marketing trackers. However, because I built this as a solo hobby project using free-tier tools, the infrastructure relies on Vercel for hosting and Google's Firebase for the database, which do standard server-side logging. I just want to be upfront about that for the privacy-conscious folks here!

What it does and how it works:

Real-time energy sharing: You update your battery level, and friends you connect with can see it instantly. No guessing games.
Anonymous Buddies: If you don't want to share with your friends, you can pair up with an anonymous user to keep an eye on each other’s energy and offer quiet support. Sometimes it can be comforting just to know that someone else is feeling the exact same way as you.

Weekly Vibes: It charts your levels over the week so you can actually notice patterns in when you usually crash.
Nudges and streaks: There’s an optional daily reminder to help you check in with yourself (easy to forget otherwise) and a streak counter if you like that kind of dopamine kick.
Home screen shortcut (PWA): You can install it straight to your phone screen, like a real app, so it doesn't get lost in your 50 open browser tabs.
The "Coffee?" button: A quick way to nudge a friend when you're both actually feeling social, skipping the exhausting back-and-forth planning.

I’m just trying to see if this is a tool that actually resonates with people or helps make socializing a bit less overwhelming. Would love to hear your thoughts or any feedback on it!

Link: [https://socialbattery.space/]

My wife is huge fan of media that takes place in the 1800s, and while watching shows like Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Quinn, or the various Yellowstone prequels, I started thinking about living in those times, and specifically, living with ADHD.

I don't know if this is necessary but: I'm not trying to insult or shame here. We all know that we have challenges, and whatever comes after this, or possibly in the comments, is just assumptions on what these challenges looked like through the lens of your typical person in the 1800s.

That being said, I suspect that there wasn't a lot of successful ADHDers in history.

Imagine living out on the prairie, and animals need fed and milked daily. The crops need planted by a certain time in order to to be ready for harvest, but not too early that they'll frost and die, and they also need frequent attention. A trip to your neighbors takes twenty minutes and going into town takes two hours. Preparing a complicated meal can be an all day process, and not even basic meals can be tossed together in less than an hour. No refrigeration means no stocking up on perishables, and leftovers are only good for a few hours. And to top it all off, nobody has ever heard of ADHD, let alone any medication, therapy or understanding for it.

Thinking about myself in those situations, I'd especially miss my phone: Reminders, calendars, alarms, being able to look back at what was said in a email or text conversation, and being able to pay my bills or check my bank account the moment I think about them, no matter where I am. I feel like I'd be lost and forgetting everything all the time.

Makes me wonder if the cliche Town Drunk character has ADHD. Chasing dopamine and is able to get by well enough that he can buy his booze and a bed to sleep in, but he's never really able to keep his shit together long enough to get any further ahead.

Not sure where I intended the conversation to go, but it was something I was thinking about, and I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on the topic. Could you have survived in the 1800s? Are there any careers that ADHD might have been helpful, or at least not as debilitating?

Super exhausted now. Some of the failed (red) tasks were crucial and are really going to bite me in the arse, and I didn't even get half a day for a relaxing walk or something. 0 income generated, 0 rest, just catching up at least 80 % on general life stuff. Had to skip all work-out, too (usually 3x per week).

So here is my "routine":

• snooze the alarm and can't get out of bed for 25 minutes
• protein shake, Lisdexamfetamine immediately
• usually guarana / black tea right after
• sit down and wait for the kick - but that takes an awfully long time!
  • managed to avoid dopaminergic things like doomscrolling while waiting
  • often watch a show as a compromise, though
  • manage todos, like even starting the list for the day helps a lot when the kick comes
  • start drinking a lot (no caffeine) within ~10 minutes, fast fill-up 1l, then slow down

A faster way is to take the meds immediately with water only, or even in bed, but it doesn't last as long as with the protein shake. Maybe a mix of both would work, like meds on empty stomach, but then protein shake and food 10 minutes later?

Showering works great for some reason, but I lately prefer an occasional bath at night. Is it the "thinking time" with no screens and the simple routine?

Trying to put down in words what it feels like taking Vyvanse for the first time as an adult diagnosed after 30.

After years of trying other treatments, therapy, non-stimulant medications, I’ve got my first prescription for a stimulant and today is my first time taking it. I was always wondering what would it feel like so I think I’d try to describe it:

After the initial physical sensation subsided (stiff feeling in the neck, jaw, a feeling like tension on the skin of the back of the head) and I’ve started my work day I’ve realized that I’m pretty much feeling calm. Like there was a race in the back of my head where each task was fighting for a priority and I was trying to accommodate the first one that came to mind, but now while the race is still there I can just methodically pick one out and focus on it for a bit, or switch to another while still remembering the first one. It feels almost mechanical in how calm the process is (maybe a bit too mechanical actually), and I feel less governed by emotion.

I’m still getting distracted, but it seems like distractions last much less and I don’t feel panic and urgency after returning to the task at hand.

Now I wonder what it feels like once the effect is over, and if I will be able to sleep tonight normally.

One other effect is that there is almost no hunger, so I had to remind myself to eat something. In that regard it feels similar to hyperfocus when I’m absorbed in a task and forget to eat anything. I don’t know if it’s actually bad since I do have enough weight that needs losing, but I also don’t want an eating disorder. Feels like I need to start planning my meals.

In order to deal with executive dysfunction, what works sometimes is to just do a little. E. g. instead of a full workout, I say: I can't do a full workout, but I CAN do 1 pushup, or 1 set.

Sometimes, I can do more with 0 mental effort, only the first one is hard.

At other times, I still don't feel like it. And here is the trap: I could force it like "come on, now you started, you finish!"

But the problem with that is that next time, the "just start" method does not work. The devil on my shoulder would say: "You know it's never just one pushup, more will be forced and squeezed out of you!" And he would be right.

Better to deal with nearly 0 progress occasionally than to lose the method! Be honest to yourself. If you said just 1 pushup, just do the one. More only when it's 100 % motivation-driven.

You not only miss your stop, but the whole way, your paranoid that you will. You will get distracted and then suddenly fear washes over you, only to realize your still 30 min away. Or maybe, on bad day, you need up on the other side of town.

Maybe you tried to gauge if you miss your stop but most of the roads looks that same and you have to ask the person next to you if you missed your spot.

Right now, i mostly solved this issue by turning on Google maps and following the bus route. Still have to remember to check the map every now and then.

Honestly, any traveling where your responsible for getting where you are suppose to is stressful. Going to the supermarket or any near by places is fine by me. Frequently i miss place like the pharmacy and head straight for the supermarket because i am operating on autopilot but that's not too bad. Going to a place i don't frequently make trips to, and to add to that, frequent turns with no obvious landmarks(like a mosque, Tower, Tree etc... cuz shop names don't do shit) and suddenly i am lost and have to turn on Google maps, just to reorient myself and ask 5 different people for directions.

Back in school, i would be setting in the front seat of the school bus(those were very small mini-vans) and when ever we changed buses or just drivers, i would be expect to guide the driver to the kids house, even though i am checked out the minute the bus leaves the front of the school. In comes the shame of 7 year olds giving the driver directions when i cant even do that for my own house until we are 5 min away.

Also, while i do plan on learning to drive(regardless of if i get a license), i don't think i will actually drive a car, specifically because i don't feel safe with my Adhd(plus the direction disability).

And i haven't even gotten to the problem of actually seating in the bus. Its very crammed and there's no leg room and when i tell my mom that, she just chalks it up to me being fat, even thought its a bone structure issue(i.e height) and not fat.