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Comment by takemypills | Hacker News Reader

Addy. 5 mg. Every other day.

I know this will be down-voted, but I've been having issues focussing at work and completing projects for the last 10 years or so.

Visited a Psychiatrist (in Palo Alto). After listening to my situation, she followed it up with a detailed Q & A. She then prescribed 5 mg XR (extended release) of Adderall. Apparently "mild ADHD" is a thing with software engineers in their 30s and up...

The difference has been night and day. I'm completely focussed now, in the zone. I've even gotten side-projects that were languishing for many years, done and shipped over 2 weekends!

I take it only on days I need to focus and get something done. I also take weekends off and also take 1 week per month completely off. This keeps me from building tolerance. Also 5 mg Addy is like the LOWEST dose dispensed, so I feel ok with it.

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Adderall works but I find Vyvanse to be less intrusive and allows for greater behavioral flexibility which is a must if youre doing any kind of teamwork

Its been around for a while but compared to dexmethylphenidate, or Adderall proper, it doesnt have as much of the euphoria that makes it difficult to objectively assess work output, what with the slower acting formulation (but this seems kind of a given, since its a prodrug after all), it doesnt completely change your personality and you can more effectively context switch

edit: i have a perscription, due to attention span of a drosophilia melanogaster

Thanks for sharing.

Do you get good sleep with Vyvanse? The only -ve side effect I'm feeling from 5 mg XR Addy is that I fall asleep somewhat late (like mid-night or later) and wake up a couple of times, and get only 7 hours of sleep. Don't have headaches though, but I would love to get a deep sleep while on it.

I've been supplementing with a lot of vitamins despite the evidence that suggests that absorption of supplements is not the same as the ingestion of, for example, fish products to get naturally synthesized omega 3 protein. I've found that a mix of good foods that you enjoy eating, as well as other dietary changes mentioned above, has been a huge boon. Furthermore, any kind of exercise is good but I have found positive mood related changes as a response to recently getting an electric bike which has helped to get regular bursts of exercise throughout the day when I get bored of being around my apartment.

Much like how interleaved learning is a key trick to use to deeply learn subject matter, I've found interleaving a diverse set of activities has been key to finding that physical "balance" - human body itself is more than sophisticated enough to handle the self regulation itself but without the right component inputs your jets aren't going to be running at peak performance

I take xenadrine + b12 sublingual w/ similar benefits...

I've tried other caffeine heavy weight loss supplements with greentea and stuff, but apparently the key is (i believe) Caffeine + l-theanine. Together that helps with focus, I generally feel better if I can keep my Vitamin D up as well, as that's linked to depression and I'm deficient because of weight loss surgery.

Note: I do not use Xenadrine as a weight loss supplement, only for the energy aspects and not on a regular basis, only when I feel I have 0 chance of focusing and really need that boost.

Our life style is full of distractions. It is really easy to mark everybody as ADHD.

Just do an experiment. Teach your grandfather or anyone from previous generation who used to be a hard-worker in his entire life. Teach him how to use an smartphone, social network, watching Netflix TV shows, reading online news anytime, and checking timeline of his friends and families..

After 3 months he will end up having same problems that you have. Distractions, feeling busy, demotivated, procrastination, eventually feeling super tired almost always.

It is not really ADHD, It is just life style in 99.9999999%. And trust me. The fact that you came here to ask this question means you don't have ADHD or anything similar.

We always hear and read most of the good advises. But they are so simple that we ignore them. And in general people are just lazy and try hard to not be self-disciplined. Instead they are looking for a pill, anything that help them effortlessly with quick results.

I have a few habits but you have to do it at least for a week to see the benefits.

- Write my goals and tasks. - Light exercise in the morning. - Pomodoro + Pair programming during the work when I need maximum performance. - Prepare my stuff before going to bed. Don't leave a lot of work left to prepare in the morning (what to wear, what to put in the backpack). The rule is to burn least amount of mental energy as possible in the morning. - Leave meetings at any point that I realize my presence is not useful for me or anyone else. - Running away from noise. - Don't read any news/social-network in the morning or in the evening. It will kill your day if you read news in the morning and it doesn't let you save energy if you read news on evening. News is just toxic. You don't realize how much mental overhead will add to your brain all these negative news around you. The only time I read news is after lunch, in the afternoon while my brain cares least about it. You can't believe how effective is this.

Woah. 5mg XR is an extremelyyy low dosage. For comparison I’ve been taking 20mg XR and 10mg IR daily since I was 16 I believe. I also try and take breaks as often as possible. Definitely keep your dosage low like you have if you continue taking it. If you feel like you need a booster pill in the afternoon don’t increase your XR dosage, just add a 2.5 IR pill to some of your afternoons.

I learned to do the exact same thing and use it in the exact same way, except that I'm on 15mg XR. (The perils of being a programmer AND a gamer...)

20mg XR caused me to have long term memory loss due to REM sleep disturbance, which caused both work issues AND personal relationship issues, so I had to downgrade. Sadly those 30lbs I lost while on 20, came right back...

Doesn't it leave you shaky? I had similar results but the comedown and the tolerance were deal-breakers. I am completely absent minded but when I take those stimulants it allows me to focus which, I feel, finally puts me on a level playing field with everyone else. It sucks that the drugs have side-effects.

> Doesn't it leave you shaky

The 5 mg IR (Instant Release) did leave my a little shaky, and I also felt 'high' as opposed to feeling focused. I also felt the 'come down' you mention.

You should try the Adderall XR (Extended Release). Shire, the company that made the original Adderall IR, sold it's IR forumula and now in many ADD forums, people are complaining about the efficacy, salt concentrations etc. The Adderall IR are now manufactured in India, and the Pharma has standing FDA complains against it w.r.t. Quality Control, salt composition and concentration etc.

Shire makes the XR version now. You should try it if your doc can prescribe it for you. My Psychiatrist had me try the IR and then the XR in the lowest possible dose i.e. 5 mg, and it works for me.

Like I said, if you do end up on the Addy XR, do take complete breaks every few weeks. This helps with not developing tolerance, and staying with the lowest does, which will, in turn, keep side effects and long term changes (if any) to an acceptable level :)

It really does depress me how quickly and easily people in the US get diagnosed with adhd.

Here in the UK it takes about 6 months, has to be an adhd specialist, they go through every piece of medical history you have, school reports, cognitive tests, parent interview's.

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