I was diagnosed with ADHD and started on medication at 12, but not really told anything about what it meant for me or how to deal with it, and when I was 18 -literally when my parents dropped me off at college- was told I was autistic
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My personal experience since starting on methylphenidate in October and moving on to lisdexamfetamine. Let me preface by saying medication is not a cure all, there's a lot of things to work on still -
I put things away that I notice are out of place now. When it's time to walk the dog, I don't have an excuse ready or put up a fight. I'm on my phone less when something else is at hand, like watching a movie. I keep and maintain closer contact with friends and reached out to old ones to positive effect. I'm not overwhelmed by lights and people being out in public (that would sometimes happen so badly my brain would shut down, I basically stopped seeing and the world became completely unfocused, on a complete autopilot [I think this might be a form of what is called dissociation]. I stay on the phone with my family for more than five minutes and give more than perfunctory answers.
I don't get any euphoria from it, and it doesn't keep me up for days like I expected (if anything, I sleep better or at least with better consistency). Appetite is like it's not there, slight sexual wonkiness (not fully bad, but something) with an increase in libido, definitely more headaches, and the need to keep a lot more hydrated which is annoying and then accompanying bathroom trips.
TL:DR: I wish I had known way sooner and been medicated
Hm. I think my ADHD is quite low on the spectrum, and maybe meds would be overkill. And fuck, I could not deal with more libido right now. Lockdown has me down bad.
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What the other comrade said is good advice and bupropion in particular I can vouch for (further up in this thread). There are also alternative things that can be supplemented to possibly help with aspects: caffeine+l-theanine which is definitely better than caffeine alone, the taurine found in energy drinks is possibly effective in ADHD (but avoid the sugary ones), modafinil (under prescription from a doctor) which has some alternative benefits if amphetamines aren't well tolerated.
Also if the ADHD is low (but still causing issues) in low doses meds feel like virtually nothing to me, if I wasn't looking for a difference I wouldn't notice one. The Vyvanse that I'm on starts at 10 MG and goes all the way up to 70, I'm just starting to get some improvements at around 50 mg a day but my ADHD is pretty severe evidently. If it is ADHD (not that there's any reason to discount that but there is always the possibility symptoms are an overlap of other comorbidities), a low dose like 10 mg could provide enough benefit without notable side effects, and is worth exploring under administration with a doctor.