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Did anyone else lose their hobbies or fun personality after starting ADHD medication? I just started and it's better than drinking 12 red bulls but I don't enjoy my primary hobby (video games) anymore.

Yes. Taking those things ruined my mind, my libido, my social life, all so I could get a degree that failed to get me a job. Not worth it, those things are fuarrrking evil.

>>2883 Yeah... So far it's just meh. I'd rather be what I see as normal than become a shell of a person.

Don't take drugs for ADHD unless if you're clawing at the wallpaper. Don't let them give you drugs to make you a little easier to deal with. Your hyperfocus and eclecticism is your greatest strength.

>>2886 I'm going to continue not taking it for a few weeks. If anything I'll try the Ritalin type.

>>2886 This. The drugs are basically zombie pills. They make you completely compliant. ADHD is barely even a disease, it's just how your mind functions and has many benefits in the wild (while hunting etc.) It's a fake made up disease to put people in a box who aren't meant to be in a box. There is nothing wrong with you, it's society that's wrong.

>>2882 Have you considered not taking them daily? Like I don't have ADHD myself but I do use MPH(ritalin) and amphetamine from time to time.

I'd be wary of ingesting something that can do that, but how is not enjoying videogames not a win?

>>2895 How IS it a win exactly?

>>2895 It's not that I don't enjoy them. It's like I am a different person. I can't just sink time into them. I have to be working on something at all times. Of course I'm happy to be productive but I wish I could relax like I used to is all.

>>2888 yeah its fuarrrked up but it doesnt change the fact that functioning with adhd is hard in this societu without the meds. its be a zombie or be homeless for some people. im not saying its not wrong and this just makes it even more fuarrrked up but just pointing it out.

>>2940 Yeah I wish it were made up and I didn't need the pills at least I could not take them. But they help a lot. Passing college cause of them.

>>2941 Mhm. If you were the one that also said the relaxing thing as recreational user thats the only thing that keeps me from being addicted. I can't meditate, I feel like I lose my "soul" on them. Some of my friends with adhd use them on days they are doing work and stop on off days. I dont know if this is an option for you. It might make sleeping hard.

>>2943 Yeah I'm actually awae right now. It makes sleeping hard but I may just start taking breaks. I've never taken breaks before. I've been on meds for 3 years now everyday.

>>2882 For ADHD i just try to dont think about it. But drugs dont help. I just know this C:

>>2889 THIS I have ADHD and I have the exact same problem as OP. Not taking em some days and just screwing around doing whatever makes a world of difference.

>>2954 You're right the days off are great for enjoying your hobbies. Tbqh

>>2956 plus there's the additional benefit of never getting tolerance or a lessening of effectiveness, at least if you take enough screw around days. i perhaps take too many as I only take stims 2-3 times a week with occasional multi-week breaks, but I've been doing this 3 or 4 years and haven't had any tol gain etc. a year of daily dosing had the effectiveness noticeably decrease until i'd taken a break for a few months - my dose is now back to what it was when I first started and i've felt no need to increase it. also makes you appreciate it more when you know what it's like to not have it. feels like I was missing a huge chunk of myself before I started meds but it also felt like I was missing a huge chunk of myself when I was using em all the bloody time, now I feel I sort of have both chunks present.

Just started taking Extended Release a couple weeks ago. I've worked up to around 12mg doses which feels just right so far. I don't perceive any innate effect while on it (supposedly, it induces euphoria in neurotypical people, as their dopamine distribution is fine as is), but I notice that I commit to tasks that I'd usually drop within minutes or never start at all. My mind generally feels much clearer, like I have real agency over my consciousness. ADD has consistently and pervasively filled my life with anxiety. Being deemed ahead of the curve in public school made me into someone who wants to achieve and always feel challenged to improve. ADD has crushed that desire cyclically, without fail, as I tell myself that I'm finally going to get my life in order and "start caring", only to slide to failure in the same, crushing way as before. That's why, for me, reaching an understanding of how my brain functions (It's not 'wrong', the anons that have pressed this point are absolutely correct. It's just sadly incompatible with society, and I can't always make the world work around me.) and being able to adjust it with medication has brought significant relief, like being let out of a horrible cage that I've been in for as long as I can remember. I can argue along with you that pharmaceuticals and much of clinical psychology as a whole are designed to pathologize, make compliant and control. So I have to ask you, OP, why are you taking medication? Is this a decision you made for your own sake, or did someone tell you it was right? Your body and mind are in question, you must consider yourself above all else. Don't compromise your happiness so you can be deemed normal.

Well, don't take the drugs if you don't like the effects~

>>3461 >arted taking Extended Release a couple weeks ago. I've worked up to around 12mg doses which feels just right so far. I don't perceive any innate effect while on it (supposedly, it induces euphoria in neurotypical people, as their dopamine distribution is fine as is), but I notice that I commit to tasks that I'd usually drop within minutes or never start at all. My mind generally feels much clearer, like I have real agency over my consciousness. >>3469 Well I've taken them for years mainly for ADHD, however lately I've noticed its been causing me to become withdrawn and irritable with everyone. I quit taking it a few days ago and it is very hard to get things done but I am much more relaxed and happier off them. They made me feel very buzzed out so I feel a bit better now off for now until I am back on them in a few weeks. Thanks Lain anons

What is up with all the people ITT complaining about getting a legal speed prescription? That is, assuming it's not some bullsoykaf like Concerta/Ritalin. >but I don't enjoy my primary hobby (video games) anymore So? Do you want to remain the same forever? Would you complain like this if you dropped some acid and picked up new hobbies afterward? Try something new. Most video games are a waste of time anyway. Read a book, go on a nature walk, join a club...

>>3555 I've noticed that it can make me more derisive as well. Although it feels to me like it amplifies my emotions and social energy as a whole, so there's a net positive.

>>3562 Do you mean decisive?

>>3566 I meant derisive as in I might think worse of other people or feel compelled to be impolite. In the same vein, I feel more love towards friends. It's like a holistic boost to my emotional energy.

>>3567 thats weird, no adhd not sure if you do so that could be why, but it makes me feel kind of dead inside or soulless. im very energetic and excited about life. But im unempathetic and unsympathetic, the depth of my emotions feels sort of one note. As if adderall turns everything into a spectrum of fun rather than the more complex range of human emotion. Of course with friends there is tons of interest and a lot of talking, but its like the conversation exists in a bubble where im not showing more love because i have more love, i have less, rather its just easier to express the love in part because its not as deep.

>>3573 It might be because of dosage. I take around 10mg.

I don't know about y'all but methylphenidate gives me the best grades and it's amazing.

>>3587 that could be very very true. When I have taken just 10 there is a lot less of that empty feeling obviously, but it could also be that there would be none at all if I stayed at that and had never explored higher doses. My initial dose was 30 or something as well. I noticed that dosing isnt exactly some kind of linear progression, but when you take those higher doses commonly it becomes contextualized as such. I want to say theres no benefit to giving people stimulants, but part of me feels and is curious what could have been had I been given an appropriate dose with therapy. It would be very hard for me to pursue that now as I know how going overboard can be fun, and also my doctors probably wouldnt prescribe it as they know I have had addiction issues regarding stimulants.

>>2888 >It's a fake made up disease to put people in a box who aren't meant to be in a box. \ i can't focus enough to pass my basic classes at community collage, theres no place in the world for people like me unless we take those soykafty pill, and even then they're might not be,

>>3619 This is what ive heard too and I dont have adhd and have no reason to doubt. That statement could also be said about literally every mental disease anyways. EVERYONES in a box, thats the nature of society. Unless you are willing to die or go homeless, which isnt something to expect everyone wants to do, medication often seems far preferable compared to "going my own way" just for the sake of going your own way, especially when what you seek to acquire in doing so is within societies boundaries. Some hills arent worth dying on. In addition its found that the conditions that produce adhd usually are under stimulation as a child, unresponsive and absentee parents, it leads to less neurotransmitters of things like dopamine as an adult. So thats what you are fighting for when you claim adhd is a fake mental illness or not a problem, absentee parenting. Now of course the answer is better parenting, but if you already are fuarrrked and are an adult now and you have school to do and bills to pay what are your options? There is a difference between societal and individual solutions, adhd meds are a bandaid bur a very necessary one. If person you were replying to was arguing its not a long term solution id agree, but saying its "fake" is false unless you really want to go down that road. There is clear indicators and clear environments that produce it.

Not at first, but eventually. Prescription amphetamines didn't seem to change my behavior much to the outside world, but internally it was profound. It felt as if a part of my brain that was "asleep" had woken up. When I started, I can't even properly describe it. It just made me a better version of myself. Faster reflexes, sharper wit, more tenacious and true to myself, socially adept, MUCH better with words, and most of all: free-thinking and confident. But eventually it started to feel like a faustian bargain. I'd have a blast doing anything, surge with so much adrenaline that I felt like I was gonna fuarrrking explode, I'd exercise insane amounts, stay up playing vidya extremely precisely, write great music and take great notes. Felt like I was ascending into godhood or something - but my body was falling apart. I already don't eat much, but on amphs I would go for up to 2 days without eating anything. Like, at all. After a month it started getting worse. I started feeling weak, pale, and flimsy until it kicked in, then I stopped feeling it kick in at all, and entered a grey, neutral state. I grew very apathetic and numb. Everything was bright and loud and irritating. I socially withdrew and became very secretive, quiet, and disdainful towards people. Most of all - it stopped improving my attention span. And getting more of the stuff was going to be a pain in the ass - so I forced myself to quit. I've decided the "zombie" effect is likely caused by lack of good sleep, and not eating enough, with the amphetamines forcing your flimsy body awake, propped up like a ragdoll. It's worth noting that amphs cause insomnia and appetite suppression, which backs up that claim. The more that you take, the more severe the side effects are, and the less you feel them. Pair that with an extremely unhealthy lifestyle, emotional issues, and unhinged mindset, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Could've easily killed me. The cure is to quit taking them. I'm serious, quit cold turkey. If you've got work, take a week off. If you've got school, wait until vacation. But set aside a week or two to completely cleanse yourself of it and tend to your health. Recently started very cautiously experimenting with it again. I've reached the conclusion that everyone has an invisible upper limit. If you take too much it suppresses the natural urges to eat and sleep, and you'll waste away. Even if you're somehow getting OK sleep/meals - if you take it ALL the time, something somewhere in your mind is going to be paying the toll, and being drained. The problem is, you always *want* to take more, even if you shouldn't, so you don't notice the side effects getting worse. I'd recommend taking like 2-3 pills a week, then increasing if you feel it's not enough. It's *probably* okay to TEMPORARILY dose more than normal when you know you'll need to [eg. finals week, crunch time for projects at work, SHTF apocalypse funtimes, etc] but make sure you're not subtly raising the bar, keep that weekly use regimented. Likewise if you're on vacation, try taking less. You'll possibly even grow more sensitive to it as tolerance adjusts over the vacation. This could all be awful advice, but it works for me, and seems the most rational. Think about it, this way tolerance building is essentially a non-issue, you've got no chances to accidentally overdose, you still maintain a mostly normal schedule, and the drug's introduction to your body is nice and gradual. Ease into it, don't dose often, adjust your use based on observations. Adapt your environment, habits, goals, resources, and hobbies around your brain's 'mechanics' and behaviors. The important part is just: Be disciplined. Amphetamines dish out useful enhancements and insidious hazards in equal measures. Don't be afraid to use them strategically - but always use them wisely. >>3567 Holy soykaf I thought it was just me. Amphetamines stimulate EVERYTHING for me, not just attention, and I end up surprised by how much I love my friends and family, and how much I hate the negative parts of my life. I'm suddenly more emotional, susceptible to having my feelings hurt, when normally you could roast my ass off and I wouldn't be fazed. If I put effort into being more stoic I can easily ignore it though >>3623 You're right that it's a parenting issue but there's a defeatism to that viewpoint. So let's say our parents were bad, I know mine were, and let's say that affected the way our attention spans developed. Is it really our only recourse to take these fuarrrking pills for the rest of our lives - on the borrowed time of some megacorp supplying our life force, no less? Is your mind really that fuarrrkin boned? Someone somewhere flips a switch and you're toast, is that really living? I'm still a teenager [barely], holding out hope that I can train my own attention span, hoping I have enough neuroplasticity left to shape my own habits. Maybe it's a pipe dream to completely reform my brain, but I bet I can repair parts of it, at least.

>>3711 Im not saying be defeatist or its a pipe dream either. Im just saying its for you to decide and you may decide you need it and there isnt necessarily any harm in that because there might not be anything better. You also may decide you need it just to survive for a bit so that you can figure out how to live without it and manage on your own. Theres deaf people who choose to not get cochlear implants because theyd rather be in a world that appreciates deaf people and want to work towards a culture that establishes that. That sort of thing is an option and I see no harm in it, its just a difficult path that also not everyone can take (if your deaf and blind for example as an analogy for an extreme debhilitating case of adhd or depression).

im an addict so ive expressed contempt for it in this thread that I now take back. I think adhd meds is or were at least overprescribed, but after spending a lot of time trialing meds and being in therapy, outpatient programs, etc. I have a pretty concise idea of how I think it should work. For one, and I know some people have expressed a liking of it, but I think methylphenidate is awful. Of the four people I know its prescribed to, none of them take it except to study, and everyone else I know abuses it worse than adderall or dex. Not even because its more enjoyable its just more compulsive in my opinion. But thats just my experience. I think for one it shouldnt be prescribed if you are under 16-21. I think wellbutrin along with/or therapy groups focused around adhd should always be trialed first for 2 - 6 weeks. Wellbutrin has been shown to be effective for mild adhd, and its also far less addictive. Some abuse it but its rare, and in fact if you are against wellbutrin I think even a prescription for a high dose vitamin tablet should be tried first. If the wellbutrin works thats great, but whats more important is it gets the person in the habit of taking medication and specifically one that wont induce a high or even be noticeable. If adderall is the first thing you are prescribed, even a 10 mg pill will induce euphoria for many and at that point the person will have the image that medication is supposed to make you feel good or directly help you with no major effort on your part. If the above doesnt work I think adderall or other adhd meds can be prescribed starting at just 5 mg, possibly even less, and then in 1-2 weeks if the person isnt seeing improvemrnt the dosage can be increased. Ideally medication shouldnt be "felt", it should subtly alter your brain chemistry to produce results that are visible over time not immediately. In a non addict this is ideal anyways, but for someone who is or has potential to be an addict it again gives them a clearer view if the medication is working or not (and not just if its fun), as well as in general reduces the potential for abuse. This also allows the person to stop with less issues if they notice anything they dont like This wont eliminate its misuse obviously, but it wont create addicts or cause any incredibly long term damage this way as long as the person genuinely wants help. Its in the individuals hands at that point. Id ask many of you who disagree just to be honest (with yourselves) as to whether you take it to have a blast studying or make mundane tasks easier, or if you genuinely just need help and it would only work for you if you were prescribed it/used it in a way that isnt similar to the way I presented. Its not an issue if you are the former, but that isnt the goal of medication for mental illness.

The story about losing soul on amphetamine is so true. I felt like i was some kind of god while in fact i was a soulless beast. I enjoyed lying and doing nasty things. I became a robot that did the necessary things all the time but i had zero new ideas and never tought about life, lost all my philosophy. i couldn't enjoy anything that didn't involve me doing some robotic work. I couldn't watch a movie or an anime, i couldn't read a text if it was longer than 2-3 pages. I hated to sleep and i wished that i wouldn't need to sleep at all. (while i'm clean i really like to sleep, and i really like dreaming and thinking about things while lying down) even my thinking patterns was like some robotic work, thinking up things like: ok, now i have to think about this, and when i'm ready, i'm gonna think about that. "Oh, philosophy and emotions? that's useless bullsoykaf, i have to think about profitable things. " And lying to myself constantly: thinking about myself like some übermensch while jerking off to the most bizarre sick things i could think of several times daily. The only positivum is that time doesn't fly while stimmed, unlike with sedatives, and you have more oppurtinity to stop. and you probably can do your work and school better.

My family made me take adhd medicine as a kid, and I haven't felt the same since, even nearly 12 years after stopping the prescription.

Would anyone happen to know if psychedelics cure ADHD? I am interested particularly in DMT. I have read that psychedelics cure OCD and depression, and these conditions are often co-morbid.

>>3883 I could somewhat imagine psychedelics being helpful for *treating* OCD and depression but I don't see the link with ADHD.

>>3888 Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Depression and OCD are probably both caused by some fault in the serotonin production/ absorption mechanism, whereas I think ADHD is caused by a fault in dopamine production/ absorbtion. Do you think that perhaps the neurogenesis from psychedelics could "fix up" the prefrontal cortex, and possibly alleviate some ADHD symptoms? I have read about people having great focus and clarity after tripping.

So IDK what's up with my brain aside from a brain avm, but I use dxm to help my social and mental issues. I hate the syrup and the gel caps even more because of what it does to my stomach and stool. So I prefer to extract it. I am struggling between thinking I would be better without it and believing that I need it because even weeks without it I will just go down hill with motor skills and be angry until I do it once and be like normal again. But I attribute the negative effects to the additives and such. It really has changed my life. I was never diagnosed properly as a child or properly medicated. I was given a lot of bipolar meds like seroquel. That soykaf is the devil. But if I try quitting the dxm my head physically hurts along with a ton of other issues. >>3883