Ask HN: How to Deal with ADHD? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to Deal with ADHD?

11 pointsChadNauseam5 comments

I've been diagnosed with ADHD, but I don't like Adderall much because when I come down I get very irritable.

I've been able to manage it and be productive of work, but I get distracted so often that I end up having to "work" 10 hours a day to get a few hours of actual work done.

I've recently started taking Modafinil, and it works much better and with way fewer sides than Adderall, but I don't want to take it more than once a week because I'm afraid of tolerance. From [0]:

> Anecdotally, the real troll under the bridge for modafinil seems to be that one can develop tolerance, where it no longer has the stimulant or anti-sleep effects that made it so awesome (it has been speculated to be related to liver metabolism). For example, poker player Paul Phillips took 2-300mg daily for a long period and said the effects “have attenuated over time. The body is an amazing adjusting machine, and there’s no upside that I’ve been able to see to just taking more.” (Such comments are common online among those who have used modafinil heavily, to the point where I have successfully predicted tolerance for such users, and I carefully avoid using modafinil more than weekly, if that.) The lack of academic support for these observations of tolerance is a little strange—users hardly have any incentive to make up downsides about their favorite drug.

But Modafinil makes me so much more productive that it's easily the best day of my week when I take it. I get all my work done in a normal amount of time and then I have plenty of time at the end of the day to relax and hang out with my friends and family. I'm really desperate for a way to have that level of productivity without medication. Does anyone have any advice?

[0]: https://www.gwern.net/Modafinil#tolerance

Hi, I have ADHD. I went to a doctor for a long time for it and I ended up on this treadmill where I was constantly taking higher doses of meds and layering meds on top of each other to get the same "effect." I was on vivance and then adderall, and every few months the doctor was stepping up my dose of these.

I got a lot of relief from Modafinil, and I think its the best drug for ADHD. Any stimulant will develop a tolerance. Its just a fact of life. I've had good results mixing Modalert and Pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine is cheap, and effective. The molecule contains a portion of the amphetamine structure. If you choose to go the drug route. Caffeine also works wonders, but I personally find in my middle age I can't tolerate large doses anymore (I get acid reflux and anxiety at moderate doses).

But, now I have to give you the hard truth. Drugs can help you in the short term, but they're no cure, and they put the wrong idea in your head-- that drugs can fix you.

You have to take control of your mind. You can look for relief from drugs but largely that will result in an addiction to stimulants. I think the only viable treatment is self discipline and meditation and that won't be perfect. Please feel free to discount this, but I believe our minds have an "interior" which can be explored.

You have to be absolutely true to yourself and honest about the things that distracts you.

And you have to put system in place to stop things that distract you.

- I am using blockers on my laptop and my mobile because these are the two things i interact the most with.

I used to heavily browse youtube during the day and in evening used to have a lot of work which used to get pushed to the weekend. I got sick of this and then i started blocking everything for during 9am to 7pm.

Apart from that look for other things which sucks energy out of you. And add few things that gives you extra energy.

Few things that gives energy could be - Gymming - Evening Walk - Taking a shower - Short nap

I am using "Cold Turkey Blocker" on my Laptop and "Stay Focused" on my phone. It has reduced the time i spent distracted and thus i've gained bit more time for productive things.

You have to monitor the amount of complexity you can take on both on and off of your meds. The irony is that off of your meds, this is a much more difficult thing to do with adhd—especially in a work environment.

If you’re looking to continuously grow and take on new responsibilities in your professional life, your performance will need to be at a minimum consistent over time. Just wait till you have kids one day if that’s something you want to do-you’ll be thankful you have your meds ha. The struggle is real and I feel for you though.

Work with your doctors to get the right medication and dosage.

Don't avoid medication just because it is medication.

Accept the fact that you have adhd and that you will have days of low productivity. This will overall make you happier.

Work on the systems in your life to support your deficiencies. To do lists, calendars, reminders, etc.

Be realistic about what you can do. It's easy to have a very productive day and then extrapolate to a month or a year and come up with some unrealistic estimates.

Previous threads: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=adhd

A few threads in the past few weeks:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastMonth&page=0&prefix=fa...

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