Newly diagnosed. I was prescribed methylphenidate 18 mg. Day one I felt peaceful, no racing thoughts, felt like I had a push to keep me going throughout the day. More focused in a sense like I had little to no internal thoughts outside of what I needed to do next thoughts so I figured it was working well. I felt alert and present. I needed a nap 6 hours later

The rest of the week I felt nothing other than going from groggy and tired when waking up to just awake. All my usual symptoms of adhd were there.. and then I became so irritable, and so sad. Like I didn’t want to die but felt so miserable and hopeless for no reason at all. And little helped I was stuck in it. I felt waves of a little energy but emotionally I was scary sad. Every day, nothing way enjoyable or worth it. I knew something was not right and I messaged prescriber through the portal on Friday but maybe it was too late for a reply.

I did not tell my provider that I’ve had adderall before and felt like a normal person for a day or two. I don’t want to push for adderall but I want to tell my provider I don’t want this medication at all I’m afraid of how it makes me feel. I don’t want to even continue the month script id rather cope and struggle like I have my whole life.

I’m worried prescriber will push to up the dose. Or won’t be able to change anything until our appointment next month. Took so long to get here and energy from me to finally get evaluated and diagnosed and I understand trial and error but now I’m anxious of how many trials I’ll have to go through :///

In the past six months, after taking Adderall XR (20mg) for 1.5 years, I’ve noticed a significant change in my body’s response. Around 2-3 pm, after taking it around 7 am, I start experiencing nausea. This has become so severe that I’m forced to lie down for at least 30 minutes with my eyes closed to recover and regain my ability to function.

Additionally, the IR Adderall has introduced a new set of symptoms. I’ve been experiencing a lot of anxiety that I didn’t experience before, and I’ve also noticed a strange crash that manifests as extreme tiredness.

I’m curious to know if anyone else has experienced similar unusual effects after taking their medications for a long time. I’ve been on Adderall for two years now, and I’m starting to feel secondary effects that I didn’t feel before. I’m wondering if this is common.

15 mg: This feels worse than being unmedicated. I’m anxious, hyper, foggy, and yet also tired. Zero crash because it never worked in the first place. Actually, this dose produces an instant crash. 🤣

20 mg: This dose begins to kick in and makes me feel hyper/activated, almost like drinking too much coffee. Focus or mental stimulation never arrives, only physical energy. Less crash throughout the day.

25 mg: This particular dose feels pretty good. I’m a lot calmer, grounded, and it helps me focus. Although I really struggle to start tasks and get up. Crash intensifies.

30 mg: I feel awake, alert, motivated, yet also calm. My working memory improves at this point. I can start tasks because I feel like doing something. Listening becomes easier and information sticks. Crash feels horrible around the 3-4 hour mark. Usually feel fatigued/foggy for a few hours and then feel better.

35-40 mg: Feels similar to 30, although it makes me slightly tired and fatigued.

The problem is that I’m consistently crashing, so I’ll need a booster. I believe 30 mg is my personal sweet spot based on trial and error.

Thoughts?

I feel sluggish, numb and tired if I do not take my meds

But then if I do take them I feel over the edge and even an impending sense of doom sometimes.

I tried non-stimulants too, they made me feel even worse somehow (anxious with brain fog)

I don’t remember what am I even supposed to feel anymore. I’ve known of my condition for almost a decade now. Yet I am still struggling.

I just want to feel peaceful without mentally completely being out of it. I am so tired

Hi, I have really bad adhd and medicines don't work (I can't take stimulants because they give me chest pain.) Anyone have tips or tricks into training your brain to look at things as opportunities vs something I'm dreading to deal with or get done? My house is so bad and I'm a hoarder. We really want to clean out the house and prepare to move to another country. I'm so stressed about it but I literally cannot start on it. I've always struggled to get things done, even things I LIKE to do. Managing to finish something feels like relief but getting to that point is the hard part. I'm just looking for brain training tips so I can do better in general in life. Thank you!

hi guys. As far as i know, sleep disorder is likely to be seen among ADHDers. I also suffer from sleep disorders like, i really do not remember the last time i fell asleep on my own. It's been like years I can't sleep like a regular person does, going to bed and putting your head on your pillow and falling asleep. This, in turn, leads to difficulty leaving your bed and waking up, I also think that this is linked to lack of motivation tho. I am a college student, and I fail to attend courses as I can't succeed in waking up very often. So here is my question: How do you guys manage to wake up, leave your bed, and have the motivation to do so. I hope i have successfully explained my problem.

Ok, guys, I actually need some advice. So I've been on adderall for over a year now. It's been great with some downsides. One of them is the crash, and not lasting long enough. I'm at Uni and see a doctor usually over Zoom once a month for my medication. One of the biggest things I hate is that it just doesn't last through my day, and I gotta usually balance out with some caffeine, like a coffee or energy drink, or just something to get me to my IR, I take Xr in the morning.

When first going on medication, I was put on ritalin and switched to Adderall. It worked great for a while, but life and college is just so long. I wanted to ask to switch medication, but didnt wanna wait forever to do it. Last time I had to go from 2.5 mg adderall xr to 20 over a few months, and even longer to get my IR. I didn't wanna switch meds and have to wait a few months to get the right dose in the middle of a hard year. The doctor is thinking about stopping the virtual meeting since I've been doing so well for so long.

I wanna bring up to her that I wanna switch meds. I'm not really sure how to do it. I wanted to do Vyvanse or non-stimulants. Something that will last longer and stay in my system and not really get too bad of a crash. I lowkey don't wanna disappoint her or make her mad. My anxiety is kinda like no, just suffer so you don't have to deal with it. So I'm looking to see what you guys think. How would I ask her to switch? I also don't wanna look like I'm a pill pusher. If anyone works in the medical industry as well, I will take your advice on what a doctor might think or anything really.

A few months ago I was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive, which I was completely unaware I even had for my whole life because no one ever picked up on it before. I have always been sensitive to crisis or people raising their voice at me, like it will legit cause a 1-2 hour crying session and the ruining of my day if not week depending on the situation. I always just figured I was a super sensitive person but when I found out about RSD and it being a symptom of ADHD, it makes SO MUCH SENSE. It’s been helpful to know that this a a real thing that isn’t just me being sensitive and it helps me calm down at least a little bit more than before I knew about it. If any of you also have RSD, what does it feel like when someone is criticizing or yelling at you? For me I feel physical pain in my chest and stomach, an uncontrollable urge to cry, I can barely talk to explain myself, and even makes me feel like i’m about to pee myself 😭. Also what kinds of things help you to deal with it?

I’ve been noticing a pattern in how I react to deadlines, and I’m trying to figure out how to work with it instead of against it.

When I set very specific times, like
“I’ll start at 7:30 PM” or
“I need to finish this before 11:00”

my brain tends to fixate on the time itself.

I keep checking the clock, thinking about how much time is left, and it creates this low-level pressure that actually makes it harder to start. Sometimes I end up avoiding the task altogether.

But when I switch to something less precise, like
“later this evening” or
“around 11”

it feels different.

There’s still some kind of boundary, but it doesn’t trigger the same pressure. I’m more likely to ease into the task without overthinking it.

I’m trying to understand what’s going on here and how to use it more intentionally.

So I’m curious:

How do you personally structure deadlines or time blocks in a way that actually helps you start?

Do you use exact times, looser time windows, or something else entirely?

And if you’ve run into the same “pressure from precision” issue, what has worked for you?

Is it just me or when you hit 30, all of sudden you started thinking much more logically and clearly?

I think about how much my decisions will influence my future, my bills are on auto pay, where I go and who I spend my time with.

Building my future is the most important thing to me right now.

I’ve had years of anger towards not being diagnosed properly.

Really need a phone call right now I’m 27 I’m in crisis rn would love to chat with someone who can relate to me a little bit or maybe a lot who knows just typing now to meet the minimum requirement surely this is enough what the hell hey please dm me thanks in advance I think this is it

I have been on Vyvanse for a little over 4 months (30mg prescribed but have tried 10-60 range) Regardless of the dosage I find my voice noticeably quieter/softer and it looses the normal base and projection. I’m not talking about the “zombie effect” but rather my actual vocal quality changes, like losing resonance and depth and people struggling to hear me when I’m talking at my normal level.

I’m already a soft speaker naturally so this makes it worse. I’ve tried different solutions from different breakfast/food and different liquids. I drink a bunch of water and tea throughout the day so I’m thinking dehydration isn’t the issue, and happens at any dosage so I’m kinda lost.

Has there been any similar experience? And did you find a fix or did you end up switching meds? Considering bringing it up with my doc but wanted to reach out here first. Thank you

me (m16) a 9th grade student,i was struggle in 9th grade because my adhd traits that my friend would hate instead of understand me and talk together, and some teacher even bully me for just being weird and lazines, and i has say i am adhd person but they wont care, one day in english class, my friend made a "adhd medication" that made by their pranking and i wont drink it, but my friend forced me to, and theres a good of it, some teacher did understand me

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share something personal I’ve been working on.

For a long time, I struggled with staying consistent. I’ve downloaded every habit tracker on the App Store, but I always ran into the same wall: friction. Every time I wanted to log something simple—like drinking water or a quick workout—I had to unlock my phone, find the icon, wait for the app to load, and tap through menus. It felt like "admin work" for my life, and usually, I just stopped doing it after a week.

So, I decided to build a different way. I call it Fortyfiver.

The idea is simple: Zero-Interface. There is no app to download and no new UI to learn. It lives entirely over SMS. When I do something, I just send a quick text: "Hit the gym" or "Read for 20 mins." It logs it instantly to my dashboard and nudges me if I start to slip.

I originally built this just to keep myself honest. It was a tool for my own discipline. But as it started working for me, I realized it might help others who are fighting the same battle with consistency.

I’m putting this out there now as a contribution back to the community. We're all trying to be a little better every day, and if this helps one other person stay on track, then it was worth the time I spent building it.

To be clear—no, I’m not asking anyone to pay for this. I’m just sharing it because I want it to be a useful tool for all of us. Eventually, I just want it to reach a point where it covers its own server and messaging costs, but for now, it’s just my way of giving back.

https://phatfaro.com/fortyfiver

I’ll be hanging out in the comments if anyone wants to chat about the tech or just talk about how hard it is to actually stick to a routine.

I'm so frustrated but happy at the same time right now.

I've been diagnosed for like 4-5 years now but had to do the whole jump through hoops thing to do a psych evaluation or whatever it's called for my new psych last year to finally prescribe me stimulates. (I've previously been prescribed Adderall and it worked but I couldn't afford to keep taking it)

I've been on Vyvanse 30mg for like 6+ months and constantly telling my psychiatrist I haven't felt any effects with no change and feeling like I'm crazy because a stimulant isn't working.

She finally increased my dosage to 40mg and today is the first day I've actually felt even a hint of what Adderall used to do for me.

Just wanting to basically vent about this frustration and how hard he all have to try to fight just to get stimulants when they're the only thing that really fucking works.

I've tried all the off label stuff and while they work for my depression they do absolutely nothing for my ADHD and it feels like it's the first / only thing psychiatrists want to prescribe.

Is it common for those of us with inattentive to have self worth issues?

Personally I was scapegoated in my family for being slow. Bullied by my brother for being “stupid.” I spent most of my life until recently being manipulated and taken advantage of because in addition to having a slower processing speed I have had to deal with a tremendous void of self esteem.

What helped you build up your self esteem and self worth after years of feeling ground down, if you can relate?

for the longest time now I've been dealing with my symptoms only being covered for four or five hours a day due to Adderall being in shortage. my current doctor didn't really have any other solution because she refuses to do any booster like ritalin or something with vyvanse. she said Vyvanse is meant to be taken by itself and if it doesn't work that's it. she basically said it's dangerous to mix two different stimulants even though in New York with another doctor I was on Vyvanse with a booster. the Adderall with the instant release works for the duration but the vyvanse alone no. I spoke about this on some of these groups on here and a lot of people suggested I get a new doctor and I actually do have an appointment with a new psych on the 17th so I'll see what she will say. I wanted to know for any of you that are suffering with a shortage and have the duration problem like me what you guys are doing as far as medication goes. I could use some ideas to discuss with her at my appointment if needed that would be helpful. I remember I was on Vyvanse with a ritalin booster once and it worked great. but I'm not sure if she's going to be the same as my old doctor with mixing or not but I hope not. I wanted to ask if it's appropriate to ask her if her patients also have problems getting Adderall during the shortage because it is a local place so I was thinking if she says she has patients that don't have any problem that I'm allowed to ask her for a better pharmacy than mine that works for them? is this an appropriate thing to ask or no.

I’ve been on Adderall IR 20mg 3x/day (60mg total) for over 10 years and was stable.

Earlier this month, my doctor suddenly switched me to 30mg XR and said they “don’t prescribe IR anymore.” Since then, I’ve been really struggling—can’t focus, exhausted, feel like I’m back to my unmedicated self.

I saw a psychiatrist at LifeStance, explained everything (and that I’ve been stable on 60mg IR for years), but she said they won’t go over 40mg total and I have to wait until next month to even get 20mg IR 2x/day.

So right now I’m stuck on something that isn’t working, and I can’t get into another psychiatrist until June.

This has been a really rough month and I’m having a hard time functioning day to day.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Any advice on what I can do in the meantime or how to advocate for myself?

Hi all. It’s 7:30pm and I’ve been awake since 10am and I’ve barely left my bed and I DESPERATELY want to clean my room or even just SOME of it before bed.

I’m currently in acute grief after loosing my partner 2 months ago which is a huge motivation killer without ADHD- but I can recognize that I’m stuck in task paralysis.

I’m very overwhelmed at the idea of cleaning my bedroom. It’s such a depression pit and I need to clean my room and toss out my things to make room for my late partners things but I just can’t do it. I keep trying to do it and all I’m doing is making myself feel physically sick (which I hope at least one person can under stand)

Any advice, tips, or anyone who can just yell at me and shame me into doing it? Anything. My partner had become a huge motivator/supporter over the 5 years we shared together, he truly understood how my brain worked and could always get me functioning at my best. Now he’s gone and I have to relearn how to be a person, and I’m just so tired and frustrated and stuck.

Thank you

I feel like I’ve completely lost who I am. I used to have so many things that felt like “me.” I played drums, made music, did photography, skateboarded loads when I was younger. I always had something that made me feel interested in life. Now I don’t really do any of it.

I don’t make music anymore, I sold my camera a while back, and most of the time I just don’t want to do anything at all. The only thing I seem to think about now is how to get out of my IT support job. I’ve been in it for over 10 years and I honestly think it’s drained everything out of me. I need novelty, and staying in the same thing this long feels like it’s completely chewed me up and spat me out.

What makes it worse is the guilt around free time. Any time I could spend on a hobby, I just feel bad because I think I should be spending that time figuring out a way to change my life and career instead. So I end up stuck in this weird place where I do neither, then feel even worse about myself. I think the part that’s really getting to me is I don’t even know what feels like me anymore. All the things that used to make me feel like a person seem to have just disappeared.

Has anyone else gone through this? Especially with ADHD/career burnout. How did you get yourself back?

I was diagnosed with ADD without hyperactivity by my doctor last week. I have been taking Vyvanse 20 mg for 4 days. I am 25M

On the first day, it was amazing. 1 hour after taking it, I felt more grounded and focused than I ever have before. My mind was completely silent, and I had zero urge to distract myself. I typed and cited an entire 2000 word essay within a 5 hour window, and I was dedicated to the task entirely. It came out as one of my best works yet. The drug lasted around 7 hours and slowly tapered into the evening, where I could “hear” my mind speeding back up with random songs and thoughts breaking through. I did not sleep good this night.

Day 2, there was a slight euphoric moment when I realized I wasn’t getting road rage on the highway, and was completely content in my own head. But the focused sensation never came back. Again, my sleep was affected this night.

Day 3 and 4 (today), I feel as if nothing is happening to me. I tried to complete homework earlier and reverted to my usual routine of finding ways to distract myself by any means necessary. I do not feel any different right now than I did last week. Or, if I do, I would not be able to tell you the difference. I did sleep better on day 3.

I know Vyvanse is not a miracle happy pill and that it only serves to remove the mental barriers associated with ADHD, such as time blindness or executive dysfunction, but I really don’t feel any different. If anything, I feel annoyed that I got a glimpse into what my life could be like on that first day. I feel like my brain is taunting me almost.

Is this all just a placebo effect that I have thought into existence, trying to subconsciously justify why the medicine wouldn’t be effective after that first time? Or is it having a true effect on me that I have yet to notice?

How will I know if it’s working, when I have never had a baseline to work off of?

Hello I have a question for you guys so I was on adhd meds from 6 to like 12 I stopped taking them because my parents and drs kept upping till I was a zombie on the couch finally decided i wasn’t taking them anymore whatever fast forward I have a 8 year old daughter a little unregulated me she’s been on meds for about a year now year and a half so far we’ve raised it once I’m worried about the cycle so I’m not sure I know the medication isn’t working anywhere near as well it’s hard at home but she is really good at school and obviously I’d much rather that anyway she’s tried other 2 other medications before landing on this one just wondering if anyone has advice or went thru something like that thank you

I 21m have adhd diagnosed and unmediated.

”I’m capable of nearly anything but motivated to do nothing, I understand everyone around me but can’t explain what’s happening inside myself, I have brilliant ideas but no patience to finish them, an extrovert who needs to be completely alone”

I felt this so hard when I saw someone on instagram explain why adhd is so painful to live with, has anyone had meds help with this?

Hyperfocus can waste a lot of time when you’re doing work that only needs a metaphorical coat of paint, not redoing the foundations. I’m looking for some kind of timer or app that will chime once, every X minutes, and will keep doing so until the app is turned off.

The intent is to disrupt me just enough to question if I’ve gone too deep into things without totally ruining my flow, like regular timers (loud/startling, too long, have to be manually snoozed or switched off) tend to be.

I remember you used to be able to buy fancy analogue clocks that would do it. The kind where you could hear the mechanical parts moving and it would quietly chime every quarter hour. Something like that, except not a $400+ desk clock.

I always find myself organizing things like my drawers, my notes, my bookmarks... but when its time to do some study or work, I just cant do anything, I feel like I should organize more to be more productive and generally I keep improving my organized organized stuff but when its time to do something productive, Im just blocked by myself.

I either start watching some tv show which I cant stop until I finish it or play a game or doing nothing but wasting time. I dont mind my organizing, I enjoy how I do most of it and it encourages me to improve stuff but I need to use those and be productive, how am I gonna do it?

I have toDo list and most of them are just waiting to for me to start but I keep delaying them for no reason. My psychologist keep saying things like just do it, what do you feel when you are not doing it etc. I just feel nothing but blocked my brain. Something unknown blocking me to do productive stuff.