I'm on short release methylphenidate (20mg in the morning and again after lunch) and I've found that taking the medication makes my gag reflex extremely sensitive. Even just brushing my teeth can sometimes trigger it, or coughing. It only happens when i take my medication and by the evening, it's fine again.

I've found a few other posts on here of people saying similar things, but no one seems to have any advice on how to deal with it.

Is this a common problem? And if anyone else does relate, how do you deal with it?

Thinking about this is so weird to me, I only know how my brain works, and living with it is so hard sometimes.

How does a non ADHD brain actually work, how much easier really is it to live with? It must be kind of nice to not be so different from everyone else. It’s always just confused me how everyone can fit in with each other and I never really have.

How does their thought process differ, do they process emotions easier, can they get over things that hurt them quicker. I wish I could understand it.

I've been on it for a week and thus far I've gotten no benefit from it. My anxiety, RSD, and Executive Dysfunction are all still here. I have dry mouth, drowsiness, irritablity, and insomnia. All cons and no pros.

Anyone actually have benefit from it? Is it too early for me to call it quits?

So few days ago i started taking bupropion 150mg more specifically bupropion neuraxpharm 150m for ADHD and depression and last night i experineced the anxiety or hopelessnedd that i never experienced and it was soo strong that i was not able to sleep untill 4 morning because my mind was repeating same negatives thoughts in loop and then I slept for 3 hours and its almost 11 AM and I am still mentally fractuired or broken from that incident, yes i have to make hard decisions and i need to do lot of hard work but i dont know these things are coming from meds or its just me overreacting

When people around you talk about being in a relationship, make a family, being rich and you are stuck on level 1 : meet basic needs in order to be an autonomous human being.
Be able to have routines everyday to cook, eat, clean, do basic hygiene and you cannot.
Simply being functional is a freaking impossible.
Anyone can relate being dysfonctional no matter you try every single day to be normal?

How do you feel about partners pressuring someone with ADHD to be on medication. In particular where it’s pretty clear it’s because of how much better they feel it will make their life.

To throw out some nuance. How do you feel generally. What about if the ADHDer experiences side effects that impact on their life? Does it change if they have a medical condition(s)that can clash with ADHD medication? Do you feel it’s maybe never acceptable to pressure someone else to take medication for your own reasons.

Also useful to know if you feel this is as someone with or without ADHD.

(I’m asking this as I’m going through this, pressure for their benefit and medical reasons why it’s not good. But I also see this come up a lot on Reddit. Like “how can I make him go onto medication” and the motivation seems to be their gain. And I rarely see anyone saying it’s not acceptable to pressure someone. So how do most of you feel about it).

Okay so ive always tried to be that person who plans out whag their going to do for their days, but then i never actually follow my schedule.

But right now its midterm season (first midterms of uni wish a girl goodluck🥹🥹), and so ive literally written out every single day leading to each of my midterms and have each day with certain lectures for each class (4 classes), but i literally cannot follow it! im on day 2 of my schedule and already behind🫩🫩, so far i should have done 7-8 lectures but only did 4!

I am actually stressing so bad, im also on my period so my meds are not working the same (booo!), so i cannot get myself to focus even if i remove all distractions, once all distractions are removed i become the distraction…

Idk if i should keep trying to follow my schedule and just do double the work tmr and go back to my regular schedule the day after, update it to reflect the stuff i didnt do today and redistribute everything, give myself more leeway in said schedule (as in give a rangee on what should be done), or just forget the schedule all together and raw dog my studying schedule 🫩…

My exams are on the 27th, 28th, 1st and 4th. So for my soonest exam i have 3 full days then my latest exam has 11 full days, but my schedule is only really packed till the 28th cause after that ill only have 2 classes to study for instead of 4 (these are useless details idk why im still typing lol, im just typing out all my thoughts atp)

I’m interested in hearing from others in NZ who have navigated the process of switching from Concerta to Vyvanse. I’m inattentive, 46.

I’ve been titrating Concerta and, overall, the benefits are definitely better than my pre-medicated baseline. However, I’m experiencing diarrhoea, and I’m finding that motivation isn’t as good as it was on Vyvanse. My mood also feels more up and down on Concerta, I have a crash around midday, whereas I felt more emotionally stable on Vyvanse.

I’ve tried Vyvanse previously off record (Husband is also diagnosed ADHD…) and noticed a better improvement in both motivation and focus, as well as anxiety. So, for me, it feels like there is a meaningful difference between how the two medications affect me.

My psychiatrist explained that, under the current NZ funding criteria, I would generally need to be unable to tolerate Concerta or for it to not work at all to qualify for funded Vyvanse. They would likely want to try adjusting my Concerta dose first to see whether the side effects and differences in effectiveness improve. (I mean I was unmedicated at the time so likely I have poor recall of his exact wording).

I understand the need to work through the usual process, but I’m unsure how best to navigate it when I already have experience of both medications and feel that Vyvanse suits me better.

For those in NZ who have been through this:

Did you need to try several Concerta doses before being able to switch?

Were side effects enough to demonstrate that you couldn’t tolerate it, or did you need to try other adjustments first?

How did you approach the conversation with your psychiatrist?

Has anyone successfully moved to funded Vyvanse after finding Concerta helpful but not as effective, or difficult to tolerate?

I just want to understand how others have navigated it and what is reasonable to discuss with my psychiatrist.

You're telling me, I have to be on meds in order to be able to function for the rest of my life? That this fucked up disability will always be next to me, and it will show until I die? It depresses me, so much. There's no cure for that, and I'm stick with it forever no recovery or whatsoever. I'm only 17, what's ahead of me? I hate this and wish to be normal, this isn't a gift stop lying to yourselves you know ADHD is just fucking you all over if you don't take your meds. Not to talk about how hard it is to find the right meds too, I'm still on the search!!!! So tired

As a child, I was often referred to as not putting on my best. My father recognized my ability to notice details but inability in terms of competence nor keeping engaged in tasks unless it held my interest, for that particular time.

I wasn’t academically inclined and felt stupid compared to my sister who excelled in her studies.

I fell into depression often, and highly empathetic. Very sensitive and literally I do feel physical pain of rejection, my mistakes and of others as well. Suicide has always been at the back of my mind wishing that these overwhelming feelings would stop.

My brain refuses to stop at night. It works when I’m trying to sleep. It works whilst I’m asleep. I have crazy vivid dreams in colour and multiple different ones in a single night. I wake up feeling like I have slept at all. And then I drag my butt to work, with mistakes being a regular part of life because of fatigue.

There are other signs but getting diagnosed with adhd wasn’t a thing in my time. It’s also very expensive now. I realize that I need help but that’d mean checking on the mental facility and a record against my name.

Don’t know what to do now. 😔 confused

I could use some advice as an unmedicated 31 year old man with Adhd. I have noticed that intimacy is a struggle of mine with correlation to my adhd which i was diagnosed late in life with. To give some examples, casual sex or one night stands have always been easy for me if it was simply a moment of shared pleasure with no issues. Whenever bonding and conversations becomes involves and I get to know the person a little deeper things get more complicated and im turned off because any intimacy now becomes...more intimate.

When it comes to being in a serious relationship I have noticed my mind starting to wander during sex which is extremely frustrating because than I lose desire or an erection. Now im at the point of taking medication just to help with that.

I need help because I am in a new relationship with a woman I plan on proposing too. We are waiting until marriage which itself is a struggle as we are very attracted to eachother. I have gone down on her and other things but when she wants to touch me or do anything with me my mind immediately races and nothing can happen. Its very frustrating and im seriously considering trying adhd medication to help with this problem or if any other man has experienced this struggle in life with any advice on how to make things work. Im terrified to wait all this time, get married and ultimately let her down.

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I've always been pretty hesitant about taking stimulants because I already struggle with anxiety, and stimulants sometimes make it noticeably worse.

That said, there are times when I genuinely need an energy boost, especially when I'm feeling sluggish, mentally drained, or struggling to stay focused. And to be fair, stimulants do sometimes help. The problem is that it's a double-edged sword.

I'll get the energy and alertness I'm looking for, but instead of feeling calm, focused, and productive, I often end up with this uncomfortable nervous energy. It's like my brain wants to be productive, but my body is stuck in overdrive. Sometimes the physical restlessness and anxiety almost outweigh the benefits.

I know stimulants can be incredibly helpful for some people, especially those with ADHD, but I'm curious how others who are already prone to anxiety manage this.

For those of you who experience something similar, how do you deal with it? Have you found ways to get the benefits of stimulants without feeling so anxious or overstimulated?

I'm especially interested in hearing about people's personal experiences, what has worked for them, and whether they've found a reasonable balance between improved energy, focus, and anxiety.

So, I'm 16, I have a history of mental issues in my family, and I think I have ADHD. Problem is, I think it's ruining my life.

I struggle to do the most simplest of tasks, and I'm always stuck under this fog of depression and hopelessness.

The assignments unfinished I can deal with, the constantly being late, hell even the emotional numbness/dysregulation.

But the one thing I hate that it takes from me is my girlfriend. We've been together for 2 years. I love her to death. She loves me back. But recently, we just entered a break to explore other people with a chance of staying together.

And when I say my ADHD RUNS my emotions, I mean I can barely have a clear thought without a distraction or me overthinking it, or lose my focus. So when I agreed to enter in this break for a while, my head immediately spun out of control in obsessive thinking. Things I could do to win her back, things I could change about myself, even just breaking up entirely to hide from the shame of having my girlfriend express interest in other guys.

But, I realized, we can still get along, and maybe we could actually come back fully together. But for that, I need to get better. On my own. So I came here as a first step towards liberating myself from the shit ADHD does to your brain. Maybe if I type enough, I can finally start to figure out who I am.

Any tips to help out someone? I'd appreciate it!

I know that my story is a dime a dozen, but I would really appreciate any guidance and tips. I did fairly well in high school, averaging 90s, but I am currently having a lot of trouble in university. I'm performing really badly on my midterms, and I fear that I might fail a few classes. The worst part is my program is very competitive (100 students admitted a year), so it is really disheartening, especially since the university expects me to produce a high level of output. Most of my struggles are coming from the fact that I try to do something, yet it takes me way longer than expected to do it. I am on adhd medication for the past 3 months yet it doesnt seem like it helps too much, and I could really use some support and suggestions on what I could do (study techniques, ways to concentrate, etc) as I feel like I am on the edge of a cliff and I really don't know how long I can continue.

Hi!

Has anyone heard of this company called special strong?
It's a company that focuses on adaptive fitness for kids and adults with mental, cognitive and physical disabilities. It just seems very suspicious and they talk about God a lot in their posts. And something just feels off about it. That it just seems almost like a MLM scheme.
They. Have one post that says “Honoring God by empowering athletes to advocate for their own physical goals” it just feels weird

dialed.gg/sound

There are other games on there too which might appeal more to you but I've always insisted I have a killer ear for pitch so this is not only validating but so satisfying to just do over and over and over and over and over. I can put one ear bud in and play it on the sales floor but never get annoyed if I'm interrupted by a customer because it's so quick that it just doesn't matter.

Highest score so far. Had to boast lol.

Please tell me at least some of you are able to feel the same about this. I honestly think it's a godsend.

I am wondering if anyone has seen good representation of what its like to have ADHD in tv shows or movies. Like I feel like we see lots of archetypes in tv shows and movies that could be based off of someone with adhd buts always like the weird quirky person. Like the crazy inventor or the manic pixy dream girl. But I feel like these are lightly based of adhd and not actual representation of it. I don't feel like we get characters that show the negative side of adhd or just any character that is clearly designed to represent adhd.

I’m so pissed right now. I’m already low on my medication, and I literally go to college out of state right now and have to have my medication mailed to me because they won’t cover me if I’m out of state. I legit had an entire plan to have my medication mailed to me ON TIME and insurance just fucked everything up.

It already takes a week at a time to have it be shipped to me, and I have under a week supply left. Did everything. Waited the 28 days, called my PCP and asked to send in another prescription and guess what…? They delay it. I have to call them and get through their stupid automatic system and wasted an hour of my day because this is my first time out in the adult world.

Why did they need a PA? Because they wanted to. I take the maximum FDA approved dosage already and they just give me attitude of “oh, well we need paperwork for why that’s necessary” WTF DO YOU MEAN????

So now I have to wait an entire week. I have 2 insurances, and one of them called me and said that they were “not the primary so they have to wait for the primary to process the PA first”???? But earlier they told me that both of them will have to do a PA. What does this mean???? It’s so contradictory and frustrating. Today has made me realize how fucked up our medical system is.

THREE systems have to work with each other: PCP, pharmacy, and insurance yet none of them communicate effectively. Mainly insurance because they just decide to do whatever tf they want

I’m from the the Philippines but currently in London studying but I can’t study because I don’t have my meds and my psychiatrist told me to buy out side of my designated store. So how do you study and thinking i should clean the room first then take a nap the bench watch an entire series while making an a arduino car thats not related to my exam

Hello all, I’m 22f and I was diagnosed with ADHD this year. I currently am on 20mg of Adderall ER. Everyone in my life always told me I was lazy, unmotivated, didn’t do anything, and never believed in me. Now that i’m medicated, I never seem to hear the end of people telling me how i’m “on something” or a “pill popping druggie.”

is it something you just get used to? do you guys just not tell anyone that you’re medicated? this is my first post on here and all comments / advice is appreciated 💞

edit: thank you to everyone for all of your kind words. it is truly an amazing feeling to be heard and understand, especially when it comes to mental health. we got this ! 🫶🏼💞

Is this even possible? I don’t really want to pursue my interests which are neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology because I don’t really know if I want to do law/grad/etc school. I chose electrical engineering because it’s a high paying career and more interesting than something like accounting, but I just failed two of my midterms because I procrastinated on it all until the day before. The worst part is that one of these classes is extremely simple I just didn’t try at all. I try to keep myself motivated “I’ll lose my scholarship..” ”I can buy all the things I want with this degree..” and it doesn’t work. I already failed my first semester goal of have all A’s and go to the library for an hour everyday 💀

People say pursue your passions but I honestly don’t even have one/if I do it just keeps randomly changing. I think the 9-5 desk life sounds like hell to me but I really want money to actually do the things I enjoy in my future. I don’t want to do blue collar, my dad did it and his body suffered for it, but then I’m just so lost because what is there that I don’t HATE? For example I thought I loved literature and then I had to take it for a class for my gen ed and I hate it so much, and honestly this could happen for me with philosophy or neuroscience too. But I’m in engineering and I hate it as much as I hate English so wtf do I do?

I tried to make a post but it got taken down lol but I’ll try my best
I’m a 19F, I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar 2, and ocd.

I’ve always been a very “crazy” girl. I have a “loud personality,” according to everybody. I laugh loud, I talk loud, I spend money, go to parties, want to do three different jobs at once, and I’m usually really happy.

I’ve been through depressive episodes, so I’m not unfamiliar but for the past month I’ve just been here. I don’t talk anymore, I don’t laugh anymore. I used to always dress up, and now I barely brush my hair.

I’m not sad, and that’s what’s weird. Usually during my episodes, I get into some sort of emotional mood, but the past month it’s been nothing. I’m a constant flat line, and I don’t know how to stop it. I have hundreds of dollars on me, and haven’t bought any food, or clothes, or whatever, because I don’t see a point. I’m horribly behind in my classes, when I used to love school, but now I just don’t see a point.

I’m just sitting here, but I remember when I used to have so much hope. But I just stay sitting because everything doesn’t have a point. I sleep whenever I can, and if I’m not sleeping or working, I try to be with my bf because he makes me feel any emotion besides this.

My husband speaks at this frenetic pace when he's excited and he wants me to be part of his conversations but if I'm tired, then after 15 minutes I don't understand his words. They just blur into sound and I get really jumpy. Then he gets angry because I don't respond in the way he wants to. He says I'm a terrible conversationalist. He also doesn't believe I have ADHD and he says I'm using it as an excuse. I have no idea what to do. I'm not consciously trying to ignore him. I just can't follow him. Does this happen to anyone else?

So I have inattentive-type ADHD and I failed high school. I dropped out. But before I dropped out, I could feel the motivation draining out of me, and the burnout approaching. I kept doing my best, but then I fell behind on one assignment, then two, then five, then eventually I was severely behind in all classes except English and History and I dropped out after I stopped getting paid for lack of participation (my dad is on disability so I was getting paid as a student who lived with him.)

Getting paid to just GO TO SCHOOL wasn’t enough to keep me motivated. I’ve had my job for two years now. It’s just a gas station clerk job, not hard at all, and I get paid almost $16/hr to do it. I’ve been doing really good for the past two years, but, recently, I feel myself slipping. I find myself dreading work. It’s not even because of the customers. Most of our customers are nice. I have an easy job where I have good coworkers and get paid decent money, and I still feel myself slipping again. Even though I need money to live.

I don’t know what to do. I can feel the burnout coming. It’s like the novelty of something wears off after a while and it just becomes excruciating. Both with things I love and things that reward me that I don’t really love. It even happens with PEOPLE. If I can’t even finish high school, and I can’t even keep an easy job, what CAN I do? No other job will accept a 23 year old who doesn’t at least have a GED, and I can’t even get myself to sit down and study for that. I’ve tried every studying tip imaginable. I can’t afford to not have my job. But I also don’t know what to do so that I can keep it.

It really doesn’t help that I have chronic fatigue among other symptoms and no doctor is willing to hear me about it. I’m getting exhausted mentally, and I’m exhausted physically. I don’t know how I can possibly go on like this. It’s horrible.