I said this in another thread, but I predict overdiagnosis of ADHD (as a mechanism to get access to Adderall) will come to lights as one of the biggest scandals of our time.
Last I checked, ~5% of the population suffers from ADHD.
The short-term benefits seem really high. And ADHD sits at one end of a normal distribution — lots of people suffer from elements of it, particularly when doing solitary work which requires lots of concentration.
[0]Mine requires regular video call checkins. As per law, we need to physically visit once a year or so. The original diagnostic visit was as thorough as I’d have expected from a traditional office visit. The main difference is that this doc was easy enough to book an appointment with that I could schedule one while dealing with ADHD. I might not have followed through if I had to wait 6 months and take an afternoon off to visit in person first.
But if you managed to accomodate yourself to just be able to actually rest to a usable state ... more power to you, and I would like to hear more!
I do have a feeling that if I exercised daily, and slept well for 8 hours every night ... I might not need that boost from those meds. But the meds do keep me more organized so that I am actually managing at least the sleep thing? Unless I take them too late? Trade-offs everywhere :D
I've had both adderall and ritalin scripts (both long and short term variations). I'm convinced that adderall is prescribe incorrectly. It is the most effective medication by far (there is one other that is basically meth, but nobody gets it), but it is significantly more prone to addiction and abuse. It's also harder on the body and brain. Many countries won't normally prescribe adderall for ADHD and they are getting along just fine. As an extreme example, and one I don't agree with, in Japan possessing adderall is illegal but they still prescribe ritalin.
Adderall should have been seen as a last resort medication. Like a doctor prescribing ketamine to help with your depression. Instead you can get an adderall script if you tell your doctor ritalin isn't working on your second visit.
On what basis? Does him taking your "life saving medication" somehow make it less effective for you? Or are you concerned that if normal people take for performance enhancing reasons that'll cause the government to crack down and impact you negatively? If that's the case, shouldn't your ire be directed at the government for instituting said crackdown, rather than adults making decisions for themselves?
Both are true. Neither will happen. So... yay society.
Imagine if asthma medicine became so trendy that you had to hike up a mountain to get it. Great. If I could do that, I wouldn’t need the medicine in the first place.
I liken it more to a shortage of insulin and everything the diabetic can eat screws with their blood sugar horribly because that's how society kind of works for someone with ADHD and executive functioning. Everything is frustrating, everything is waiting, everyone seems so fucking slow (and it's not their fault you have to give people grace), everything basically "drains the tank".
I have to work with my doctor and the pharmacy in order to adjust my prescription so I could be prescribed the right kind of medication that works for me that also jives nicely with what the pharmacy inventory gets and I also have to make sure none of this looks like drug-seeking behavior so I have to talk with full disclosure with my doctor and be very forthright with frustrations. It's been a nightmare since the shortage happened. And if I didn't have other people in my life that care, I wouldn't be able to handle any of it on my own especially during the months when getting my prescription was more than just the next day after my prescription runs out usually.
So, uh, one time I mentioned to my doc that sometimes my meds were wearing thin by lunchtime. He wrote for another 15 pills that month so that I could break some in half for an additional half dose at noon. (I’m on a low dose of my stuff. Adding another half wasn’t a Dopesick jump or anything.)
Turns out, because ADHD I often forgot to take the afternoon dose and ended up with a couple weeks of buffer. That was a nice outcome on its own.
I'm pretty sure I have ADHD (the test I took which was a standardized test has me on the low end of ADHD)... I've tried some stimulants and it is almost like your brain is so wired, the the drugs over-saturate it and exceeds a threshold and causes a sort of "crash"...
My regular doc has me on Clonidine because "BMI" (they don't want me to Belushi/Farley myself). Clonidine only helps with slowing my brain down, but doesn't help with the focus the way stimulants should (in theory). I'm still as unfocused but just slower, mentally. Which can be good, mind; and it helped my STRESS level during an insane level at work, but not really with focus or motivation issues.
In terms of stimulants I've had in my life: Caffeine - usual addict (I drink two 240 mg energy drinks, maybe three a day. Wen I was an alcoholic and drinking heavy I would drink 4 cans a day - thankfully I'm no longer drinking and reduced my caffeine)
Ephedrine - as a teen, when it was legal (pre-2000s sudafed ban - when you could buy it in gas stations under the name mini-thins (which I think now are just... shitty caffeine pills last I heard)). I would get all tingly (like weak MDMA physical effects, but no real mental effects) I would crash hard shortly after, just fall asleep, when the drug was still in my system (e.g. most people wouldn't have crashed/fallen asleep)
Methylphenidate (Ritalin)- A coworker whose son had ADHD gave me some back in the early 00s. I tried both a lower and regular dose, both knocked me out. I was hoping for this magical "boost" - and maybe it wasn't the right med, and maybe it wasn't the right dose. IDK, I don't think I'd want that, because my understanding is Adderall is more effective (it's meth, where ritalin is more similar to the cocaine molecular structure - anyone please correct that if wrong it's been ages since I read up on this stuff).
MDMA in the past. This one doesn't knock me out, but it's also extra-serotonin goodness, and the rush is very nice (I bet if I took a lower/micro-dose of MDMA it would be more like Ritalin and Ephedrine) - and this was back in the 90s when MDMA was good - sold by Sammy the Bull Gravano on a mass scale, and you knew it was pretty pure (except the one time someone obviously sold me DXM which is 100% NOT MDMA LOL)
I currently take Venlafaxine, which also helps my focus very very slightly. It reduces my anxiety, which is why I take it, and in the same way Clonidine helps slow me down, so does Venlafaxine. It doesn't help me focus, it just slows me down.
So energy levels it is different for at least some people with ADHD (in fact it's funny - my friend shared a link the other day about this effect saying "if you get tired after stimulants like this, you have adhd" (maybe it didn't say tired, but the gist was the same). Looking up info - it says 2-6% of people may get tired instead (I assumed this was everyone with ADHD, but maybe it's a subset of them, then).
I only WISH I had the chance to be rx'd and TRY the damn stuff. It may not work, but at least give me a chance. I'm overweight yes, but my ticker is good. And I understand with alcoholism my "potential" for abuse is there (but I have no desire for opioids even though I've had them for medication).
The whole thing is rotten, how we manage it, how our society is built, and the demands placed on us (it's gotten worse the past 20 years, every job wants you to be 10 jobs at once). The only way TO be in this society is ADHD multitasking wizard, who can only activate for the bossman under extreme duress, and have no volition on their own, and struggle because of it.
Ritalin with ADHD: You get tired a.f. to the point of doubting if you got correct medication, because it was supposed to be stimulant but then you realise, that despite the feeling, you can actually just do stuff. You feel calm. You might experience the previously unfathomable "I hate doing this, but it needs to be done, so I might as well", without needing the stars to align, you just do it. After few hours this stops and you actually need to go lay down. Then you spent several months with your doctor getting the dose right, because needing to lie down after 4 hours is annoying
Ritalin without ADHD: Feels like super-coffee: more energy, more optimism. But not more focus. Actually, maybe less focus? Might help you zoom around your house doing chores, but not really tackling any sort of deep thinking work.
This matches experience of some acquaintance that went to a party, and might have sampled certain crystals, got quiet and tired while and while others were happy and energetic.
For both - dosage is tricky, and it is easy to get you to spiral into anxiety. Also, it is not good for your heart.
> I cannot tell you how much literature there is trying to convince you that Adderall will not help healthy people, nor how consistently college students disprove every word of it every finals season. That makes “only give Adderall to people with ADHD” a moral judgment, not a medical one. Adderall doesn’t “cure” the “disease” of ADHD, at least not in the same way penicillin cures syphilis. Adderall will give everyone better concentration, and we’ve judged that it’s okay for people with terrible concentration to use it to overcome their handicap
[0] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...