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Comment by CathedralBorrow | Hacker News Reader

> the danger is that they're fun

I don't know about others, but fun isn't the word I'd use to describe the ADHD medication which I'm basically chained to for life because I cannot function without it, and yet causes me so many other problems that I need to work around or cope with like loss of appetite (food is no longer a thing I enjoy), insomnia, anxiety, restlessness and mood swings. Where's the fun part again?

Are you willing to be skeptical yourself and understand that you might have blind spots just like the people you're talking to?

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> But in the beginning -- especially if you've never experimented with stimulants recreationally -- you'll feel better than you ever have. Stimulants are euphoric. It's a trap, it wears off. Side-effects are likely. I've said it in a previous comment, but it's profound and interesting until it's not, and once the stimulants are gone a dark depression is very possible.

As I said further down. It's most certainly not fun later. And it was a difficult as all hell to finally quit.

I can absolutely believe that this was your experience, but where I lose you is when you state with certainty that everyone else will experience this the same way you did. I certainly didn't.

I'm not saying anything about everyone else. I said "From experience: ..."

Either way, I think we're actually on the same page here, based on what you wrote above.

Not my experience at all. Took Vyvanse and Dex for a few years. Able to stay at the therapeutic dose, had no temptation to exceed it. 10-15 mg equivalent of Dex changes my day, and will do so month after month after month. Under psychiatric supervision I did go as high as 40 mg, but that was too much. Side effects are not great, makes me jittery, elevates my heart rate, but the mental benefits are amazing. The stuff completely calms me down. (I have ADHD, for real.)

I have been on and off stimulants many times, short, medium and long intervals. The worst that happens is when I go off I've got no energy at all for 3 days.

When I would restart stimulants I would get the euphoric effect for a time, and then it would fade away over a few weeks. I have never been tempted to chase it.

Everyone's mileage is different.

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