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Comment by darkhorse13 | Hacker News Reader

Thank you for posting this. And since these are all basically just anecdotes, I would also like to add mine. I got hooked on anxiety pills after a diagnosis (not the same thing as ADHD, but still), and the withdrawals were genuinely the worst things I've ever faced. Like I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemies. With drugs, especially habit forming ones backed by Big Pharma, you should always be on the side of caution.

Moreover, some of the comments are literally about starting drugs a week or a month ago. God forbid, the long term effects could be entirely different. I started struggling with my dependencies after about a year or so.

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Thanks for this, my big fear is the effects of long-term use. I've had friends who were superheroes on Adderall, lost tons of weight, changed their lives. They couldn't see how manic they were.

It is an amphetamine. Go to r/ADHD and read the thousands of enthusiastic stories of people that just took it for the first time and are basically just high. I took medication for a while and it helped me surmount a bunch of issues. Now I can do well without. I never liked the effect on my body and mind.

The effect doesn't go away, you just start expecting more of yourself. Without medication I was really happy if I could focus 30 minutes in a day, that would have been like a once a month event. On medication I feel like shit if I just got 4 productive hours on a day. So sure not every day is like the first days after you start, but it never goes down to even close the level you are at without medication.

> Moreover, some of the comments are literally about starting drugs a week or a month ago

Yes and note that you know that. We're aware that long term things might change, so we point out that we're only a week in. Use your judgement from there, add as many pinches of salt as you like.

Additionally people new to a thing are WAY more likely to talk about it than others, because it is new and novel and interesting to discuss. See also: vegan, keto, crossfit, peloton, etc. Old timers tend to jump in when there's misinformation, but aside from that they stick to the sides.

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