35 ms·

I knew day one. Three years have continuously confirmed what I knew day one. I wish I hadn’t been so afraid of meds that would help me.

ojkelly 4y ago
I’m exactly the same. I knew 40m in, right when it started to take effect. It was night and day. Like I’d just walked from a raging thunderstorm into a quiet sunny meadow, but I’d thought that I was in a quiet meadow my whole life. It was profound. There was a decade between me first seriously suspecting it, and that. Information about it is much easier to come by now, and more people talk openly about it. Without that, I probably would have struggled for much longer.
- RHSman2 4y ago
  'Like I’d just walked from a raging thunderstorm into a quiet sunny meadow, but I’d thought that I was in a quiet meadow my whole life. It was profound.' That is profound. Also says a lot about us as humans. Glad it's not raging anymore
mtsr 4y ago
It’s not on you. An enormous amount of stigma surrounds the use of stimulant medication, even if it’s one of the oldest and most studied psychiatric meds there is. And the stigma is continuously reinforced by all the people who don’t need it abusing the meds. Sure, there’s also some risk for patients using them properly, but for them it does not compare to the sheer benefits provided by the meds.
- FollowingTheDao 4y ago
  You are not deficient in stimulants. So using them is not the answer. Instead, look to nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/
  - eyelidlessness 4y ago
    Treatment with stimulants doesn’t treat deficiencies of stimulants. This is immediately obvious with patients who actually benefit from the meds, because they’re generally not stimulated by them. Treatment with many chemicals doesn’t treat deficiencies of those chemicals. In the case of stimulants for ADHD, they help regulate dopamine and norepinephrine intake. In practical terms, results of successful treatment include improved management of executive function, reduced social and sensory stress, and healthier sleep patterns. I can’t say what anyone else’s answer is, but stimulants saved my life because the impact of the things they helped me address were life threatening. Using stimulants as prescribed by my doctor was definitely an answer for me, and I am grateful for the life I kept intact because of that.
    - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
      Medications saved my life as well. That is not the point. The point is do you keep taking them and not look for the nutritional answer to your problem. If a B6 deficiency cured your ADHD would you still want to take stimulants?
      - eyelidlessness 4y ago
        > If a B6 deficiency cured your ADHD would you still want to take stimulants? Assuming you mean “if treating a B6 deficiency”, and assuming I had strong expectations that I could expect a cure, I’d consider giving it a try. I’d be cautious about any transition, as it could mean either significant side effects while still taking stimulants, or significant regression without them if the B6 treatment doesn’t work as hoped. But I don’t even have a strong expectation that I could expect equivalent or better management. The study you linked was conducted with children, and the conclusions based on observations of children’s behavior. Maybe that’s a good indicator that it’s helpful, but I have no clue. I wasn’t diagnosed as a child, my ADHD was noticeable to one adult in my adulthood enough to mention it, and my experienced symptoms are much closer to autism (again as experienced by adults, not as behavior observed in children, although those diverge much less for me). But the things mentioned improving in the study are very much not what I’ve struggled with having ADHD as an adult, nor things for which I sought diagnosis or treatment. The way diagnosis and treatment saved my life was helping me manage crippling anxiety and helping me make chronic depression manageable. It’s possible that exploring a nutritional deficiency none of my doctors have found with supplements no one has studied for adult ADHD… it’s possible that would benefit me. It’s a very high risk proposition given I have meds which work for me and which present no side effects so negative I’d reconsider. Moreover I haven’t had a single medical professional raise this possibility and with good reason. My treatment is working. Even if an alternative treatment might be promising… why would any responsible doctor propose disrupting a persistently successful treatment plan? I don’t know why you’re so motivated to disabuse me of my effective medication, but you’ll have to do better than showing a study which made children more tolerable. I credit my life to the meds that I take now, and there’s very very little I could fault them for. Asking me to reconsider that is asking an AWFUL lot.

ojkelly 4y ago

I’m exactly the same. I knew 40m in, right when it started to take effect. It was night and day. Like I’d just walked from a raging thunderstorm into a quiet sunny meadow, but I’d thought that I was in a quiet meadow my whole life. It was profound. There was a decade between me first seriously suspecting it, and that. Information about it is much easier to come by now, and more people talk openly about it. Without that, I probably would have struggled for much longer.

RHSman2 4y ago
'Like I’d just walked from a raging thunderstorm into a quiet sunny meadow, but I’d thought that I was in a quiet meadow my whole life. It was profound.' That is profound. Also says a lot about us as humans. Glad it's not raging anymore

mtsr 4y ago

It’s not on you. An enormous amount of stigma surrounds the use of stimulant medication, even if it’s one of the oldest and most studied psychiatric meds there is. And the stigma is continuously reinforced by all the people who don’t need it abusing the meds. Sure, there’s also some risk for patients using them properly, but for them it does not compare to the sheer benefits provided by the meds.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago
You are not deficient in stimulants. So using them is not the answer. Instead, look to nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/
- eyelidlessness 4y ago
  Treatment with stimulants doesn’t treat deficiencies of stimulants. This is immediately obvious with patients who actually benefit from the meds, because they’re generally not stimulated by them. Treatment with many chemicals doesn’t treat deficiencies of those chemicals. In the case of stimulants for ADHD, they help regulate dopamine and norepinephrine intake. In practical terms, results of successful treatment include improved management of executive function, reduced social and sensory stress, and healthier sleep patterns. I can’t say what anyone else’s answer is, but stimulants saved my life because the impact of the things they helped me address were life threatening. Using stimulants as prescribed by my doctor was definitely an answer for me, and I am grateful for the life I kept intact because of that.
  - FollowingTheDao 4y ago
    Medications saved my life as well. That is not the point. The point is do you keep taking them and not look for the nutritional answer to your problem. If a B6 deficiency cured your ADHD would you still want to take stimulants?
    - eyelidlessness 4y ago
      > If a B6 deficiency cured your ADHD would you still want to take stimulants? Assuming you mean “if treating a B6 deficiency”, and assuming I had strong expectations that I could expect a cure, I’d consider giving it a try. I’d be cautious about any transition, as it could mean either significant side effects while still taking stimulants, or significant regression without them if the B6 treatment doesn’t work as hoped. But I don’t even have a strong expectation that I could expect equivalent or better management. The study you linked was conducted with children, and the conclusions based on observations of children’s behavior. Maybe that’s a good indicator that it’s helpful, but I have no clue. I wasn’t diagnosed as a child, my ADHD was noticeable to one adult in my adulthood enough to mention it, and my experienced symptoms are much closer to autism (again as experienced by adults, not as behavior observed in children, although those diverge much less for me). But the things mentioned improving in the study are very much not what I’ve struggled with having ADHD as an adult, nor things for which I sought diagnosis or treatment. The way diagnosis and treatment saved my life was helping me manage crippling anxiety and helping me make chronic depression manageable. It’s possible that exploring a nutritional deficiency none of my doctors have found with supplements no one has studied for adult ADHD… it’s possible that would benefit me. It’s a very high risk proposition given I have meds which work for me and which present no side effects so negative I’d reconsider. Moreover I haven’t had a single medical professional raise this possibility and with good reason. My treatment is working. Even if an alternative treatment might be promising… why would any responsible doctor propose disrupting a persistently successful treatment plan? I don’t know why you’re so motivated to disabuse me of my effective medication, but you’ll have to do better than showing a study which made children more tolerable. I credit my life to the meds that I take now, and there’s very very little I could fault them for. Asking me to reconsider that is asking an AWFUL lot.