I just started methylphenidate today after getting diagnosed adult adhd at age 39. I know it's not great to have caffeine while on it, to avoid some of the more twitchy side effects. But I drink a lot of diet soda. Sometimes two cans/day, sometimes six. I had two cans this morning 6:30-7:30 while getting ready then hit the pharmacy at 9:00 and took my first dose 20mg at 9:30 seemed to do the trick. Second dose at 1:30, feeling clear and productive so far. It's 9:30pm now and I have a headache, presumably because I haven't had caffeine in twelve hours.

I'd be okay cutting out caffeine completely at some point but for now I'd still like to start my day with a diet soda so I can handle the kids and save the meds for getting it done at work.

How much should I separate the caffeine from my beds, time wise?

Hello-

I moved from NYC to Athens, Greece, about 6 months ago, and ADHD medication is just about impossible to get filled. I am a 55-year-old woman, and I work remotely (US East Coast hours) I am really struggling. I have been out of my ADHD medication for a bit of time now and ended up ordering Modafinil from an overseas pharmacy. I know that is sketchy, but I really don't know what to do. It helps a bit with focus, but I find ADHD medications work better for me. I have visited many pharmacies here in Greece and a few psychiatrists, and they all have the same message of the medications not being readily available in Greece. Hoping someone could offer advice or suggestions. Thanks -

This is mostly just me letting out all my emotions rather than asking for advice; but if anyone has anything to share, please do. Quick disclaimer: this is me talking about giving up on getting diagnosed and medicated for ADHD, not life in general.

So I was diagnosed with ADHD back when I was 7. I was on something (maybe Ritalin) for a couple of months before my mom took me off it and that was that.

Fast forward to 2 years ago, and I decided to start the journey to try and get re-diagnosed and get on some sort of medication. I don't know how realistic this is, but the ideal situation would be taking something in the morning to help with executive functioning throughout the day, and then take something (could be the same thing or different things) at night that doesn't put me to sleep, but rather just silences my mind so that I can naturally fall asleep in 10-15 minutes and not 2-3 hours.

Important contextual information: my medical care is done through the VA. If you know anything about the VA, they are (mostly) free, but they are the longest, slowest, lowest quality care there is.

So the next two years go by something like this: primary care doctor refers me over to mental health. Mental health says they're overbooked and understaffed, so they'll refer me to a community care place so I can get seen sooner. Side note: ANY time there is a referral to deal with in the VA, it's a 2-3 month process between referral being written and new clinic/doctor being found and selected.

So they refer me to a community care place where I start seeing a therapist and waiting on them to test me. A few months later I do the test. Their findings were that I had ASD, general anxiety disorder, and mild substance disorder, but no ADHD. My therapist tells me that with all the sessions we've had and being ADHD herself, she thinks that the results are wrong, and urges me to get a second opinion. That was last spring.

Last summer I moved, but kept my therapist and just had virtual sessions. So, I meet with my new doctor and tell him I need a referral to be tested for ADHD. He puts in a referral to mental health. In my first appointment with them, mental health says "Oh, yeah. No. We don't do that here. We just provide a therapist. So I'll put in a referral to someone that can do that."

He refers me to a local counseling place. I show up to the first appointment and explain everything to them, to which they say, "Oh we don't do testing here. We used to at our other office 1.5 hours away, but that guy retired two years ago. What you need to do is go to this place about 4t minutes away. They specialize in ADD and ADHD and they'll be able to get you sorted out."

So I tell the VA who says they then need to fill out a Request For Services form (which I had to show them and teach them how to fill out). That was right after Christmas. I've called the VA multiple times since then to get an update, and they haven't had one.

This has all been going on while I've been fighting a completely different battle. The short version is that I've got a mystery illness that causes me to randomly pass out, usually around 3-6 months apart. I've gotten multiple tests done by the VA (or by referrals) since May of 2021. I was on medical leave for 6 months back in 2023 when they gave me nearly every test they could. In total I have had: EEG, EKG, Echocardiogram, 30-day event monitor, MRI, CT scan both with and without contrast, stress test, tilt table test, and sleep study test, none of which have yielded any positive results.

Now I haven't worked or driven since August of last year, and am still no closer to an answer. Oh, and remember how I said that all of the referrals and tests and everything from the VA is low quality and takes forever to process? It's been just as bad for this journey.

And to make matters even better, I just learned this morning that my therapist of 1.5 years (who is the absolute best) left her job at this clinic. So now I don't even have anyone to let out all my messy emotions to while they translate it all into thoughts and ideas I can use.

At this point I'm just ready to give up on it all. It's just been one thing after another. Taking hit after hit. I've told myself countless times that it would all be worth it once it's done; but hell, at this point I don't know if it will ever get done.

It shouldn't be this hard to get this done. Hell, if I had normal insurance I'm sure that I would have already gotten the diagnosis AND have gone through the myriad of meds to find the one that works best on me. Unfortunately, that's not an option right now.

Maybe some miracle will happen and this will all be over soon. But I'm done fighting for it–with the VA, with doctors, with policies and procedures–I'm done fighting it all.

In the VA, you learn real fast that you have to be your own best advocate. If you don't remind a person about __, or call and make sure that __ got done, it will never get done. Well, so far 2 years of fighting for myself hasn't gotten anything done. So I've come to the resolution that nothing ever will.

I was diagnosed with adhd about 1 year ago. In my early 50s. The meds are incredible and stop my brain running a million miles and hour. My issue is that when I wake up in the morning all the meds have worn off and my brain is just screaming at me. It is a hideous way to start everyday, makes it really hard to get out of bed and I arrive at work already stressed. Does anyone have any suggestions for managing this?

Does anybody know where to find USEFUL strategies? It seems like every strategy I've ever read should come with the disclaimer, "If you don't have ADHD this will work."

I've been trying the "write a daily plan and stick to it!" for the better part of 35 years.....nope. s Seems like the people who write little strategies don't believe the condition exists.

have struggled with concentration, motivation and procrastination for As long as I can remember. I have trouble with regulating emotions, I often isolate myself when I feel overwhelmed and battle self doubt daily. Is this something that an ADHD medication could help with? I have always roughed it out and just thought this is how life is for some people….I am embarrassed to ask about meditation because I don’t know if I really need it. Any suggestions or advice would be great. I have tried therapy for several years but my nothing has really helped so far.

So, I was driving my dog to the vet today, and ended up stopped behind a truck with its flashers on. I went to pull around it (starting from a complete stop), and ended up mirror to mirror with another car I had not seen come up on my left. She rolled down her window and started screaming at me. I really thought we had just bumped mirrors....maybe my fight or flight kicked in? I thought she was going to try to claim I had done something big. I left, and she followed me for almost a mile. When I finally got out of the car I could see that the plastic on my car was dented, and that was it. I know you are supposed to stop for all accidents, but it really didn't feel like an accident....more of a near miss and frustration at my own stupidity. Is it an adhd thing, to try to believe problems don't exist if you don't deal with them? I really don't know what possessed my mind at the moment....I think i was scared because she was yelling, and i didn't hear or feel any sort of scraping, so the fact that it was an "accident" didn't kick in. Now I have two tickets and my insurance to deal with. Please tell me I am not the only one to do something so impulsively stupid. If I had taken 2 minutes to think I probably would have pulled over and dealt with it like any other accident....but i didn't.

Are there any reputable websites for diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD? Everything I have researched so far has negative reviews and seem to be scams .

I'm about to take a standardized test, and I've been given the opportunity to have music to help me focus. I usually turn to Spotify playlists for keywords like "ADHD" or such. Problem is, I have to submit an unopened CD for examination to prove it doesn't contain test assistance.

So I need a commercially-produced CD of instrumental/non-vocal music with a strong beat. Any artists/cds I should consider?

Hello everyone. Looking for some general help here. So I'm 38/M and was diagnosed with ADHD about a year ago. I'm taking medication to help but am still finding it almost impossible to find any drive to focus or start on tasks that don't interest me, even though it's my damn job. I have a very technical mind but work in a job where most of my day deals with logistics and correspondence. Neither of which do anything for my dopamine chasing. So my question for you all is, how do you give a crap about stuff that doesn't interest you? I know the consequences of not performing well, but unless I'm up against a wall, that fear does nothing to motivate me. I've made it pretty far in my career path. But like most jobs, in order to move forward I had to hang up the steel toed boots and put on some khaki pants and now I have to fight my deep-seated oversion to delayed gratification

Hey so I was prescribed 10mg twice a day and the first 2 weeks I felt really focused a couple weeks later not so much.

I reach out to my dr and informed him about it and he upped me to 15mg twice a day. The sad part is it kind of felt the same. Nothing noticeable. Is this normal? I’m not sure how I am suppose to feel.

Randomly posting here, in the hope writing it down may help... or maybe you have advice.

Background: 50M newly ish diagnosed.

Scenario: Just walking through the train station, and saw a woman, who seemed vaguely familiar, sitting. We made eye contact and she smiled in a way that made me want to go back, and talk, even though I may not speak her language (i live in a country where English is not the common tongue). Now it's too late, i'm on the train, but now I'm totally obsessed with who she is...was... do I know her...?

Now that's just one issue of dozens per week. Like a piece of music will jump into my head and I cannot rest until I find out what it is.

So how do you all deal with this? Turn off the obsession...

Thanks for any tips in advance.

My girlfriend (26F) and I (29F) have been together a year and six months. I was diagnosed with adhd 5 months ago. It changed my perspective on every aspect of my life.

I have always had issues with keeping my home clean. There’s always a pile of clothes next to my bed. I avoid washing dishes until I literally have no choice. Most things in my home just float around and wherever they land, they stay. I speed clean when someone is coming over, but otherwise, I just anxious and trying to figure out where to start all day.

Since my diagnosis, I’ve learned a lot about how people w adhd use systems to help them operate. I grieved the fact that I just didn’t know what to do to make myself operate like a “normal adult” and that I spent so much time berating myself for it constantly in my head. And then I started trying different systems people suggested on TikTok.

My gf typically works from 3-12pm. Sometimes I’m home from work before she leaves, sometimes I’m not, so we don’t typically get to spend a ton of time together during the week. My gf got a concussion in January, so she’s been out of work then. Although I had previously spoken to her about feeling like I was carrying the mental and physical load of the house, of course I took over most things during her recovery. She’s improved a lot, but still waiting to be approved to go back to work. She’s started back doing things around the house…and I’m starting to get irritated.

She typically does the laundry. We have a mold issue in the basement (working on getting it fixed), and I have pretty severe asthma, so the mold inspector strongly suggested I don’t go down there. So she’s been doing my laundry for me since then. I realized today that she never gets to the point where she doesn’t have clean clothes. I do. Often. I have a lot more clothes than her. I haven’t said anything bc she’s technically still recovering and she’s had a lot of headaches recently, so I don’t wanna be a dick about it.

Prior to the laundry and the concussion, the only task that was solely hers was the dishes. I was the only one cooking then, and my only request was that when it was time for me to cook again, I would have what I need clean (so not everyday, maybe every other day or two). She agreed to this. I frequently had to wash dishes before I cooked and then I’d put off cooking until late bc I was avoiding the first task of washing dishes. If I said something to her about it, she’d say that it’s unfair that I can’t help her out sometimes.

This started a lot of arguments bc I already feel like I carry ALL of it, and now you want me to also do the ONE thing you do? And I don’t wanna be dramatic, but she did some things. She’d straighten the living room, clean the toilet, make the bed, and always cleans up after herself. If we needed to clean off the kitchen table, clean the whole bathroom, mop, clean our room, clean the branches out of the yard, rake leaves, change batteries in smoke detectors…etc. unless I ask her to do it, it won’t get done. We live here…together. I shouldn’t have to ask anything, bc we live here together. It makes it really hard to get anything done bc if I have to be the catalyst for it all, the paralysis starts.

Any cleaning system I’ve tried to implement for us, she just stops doing it after a few days and of course, so do I. I’ve taught her how to wash the cast iron pan 4 times. Each time she leaves it dirty and says she doesn’t know how to wash it.

Initially, I thought maybe she has some neurodivergence too, so I decided to give her some grace. Well, she is on medication for depression, so yes, she does. But then one day, I asked her to bake some cookies. I told her to follow the instructions in the package. When the time was up, she told me they were really soft and she didn’t think they were done. I told her to follow the instructions on the package (I’m a nail tech and I was doing nails at the time so I was focused on what I was doing and didn’t have time to troubleshoot). She decided to leave them in there longer. Of course they were as hard as rocks. She’s done this with brownies before too She said “well don’t ask me to bake anything again”.

So of course I asked her to bake something again. Bc I felt like it was weaponized incompetence at this point. There are literal directions and you’re just choosing not to follow them bc you’d rather I do it anyway. And now I’m worried that this is what’s happening with everything else. That she can just not do what we agreed on bc she hopes I stop asking and just figure it out myself.

I love her. She loves me. She talks about marriage and family, but I make it clear that she hasn’t shown me that she’s the kind of person I can raise a child with yet bc I need to know I can rely on her. I don’t want to be in charge anymore. I don’t know how to improve this. I just want a clean home and to feel good about the space I’m in and I need her help. I want her to follow through with the things she says she’s going to do (this expands into other areas, not just household chores). I don’t want to break up with her over it or anything. With the concussion and depression, I don’t want to be insensitive to what may be going on in her noggin, but I am struggling and frustrated.

Any advice is truly appreciated. I am very sensitive and w the only other post I’ve made on Reddit, the comments made me cry lol, so please be kind even if you disagree with my point of view.

Also, if there’s typos, I’m sorry. Any time I try to edit a post on here, I can never just click on the part I want to edit, the cursor always goes back to the end. I have given up. So if anybody knows how to fix that, please tell me lol. I’m sorry this ended up being so long, if you made it to the end, thank you ❤️

Hello, I’m 28 and

After a whole life of fighting against my ADHD i just recently started taking 27mg of methylphenidate, I’ve only been on it for two days and though I felt the effects already (mostly making it easier to think and as a really anxious person this feeling of not feeling the anxiety but still having all my racing heavy thoughts? Idk how to explain this lol) I don’t know if this is for me.

The thing is before this I was a kind of heavy?weed user, mostly using it during weekends to watch series and play video games and nights during the week at night to get some better sleep(which most of the time also made me sleep really late) it was never a lot of smoking in one session but enough to be feel the high. I was also feeling like my life started to go downhill because I would wake up a little groggy after weed and most of the time ended up not getting out of bed until 3pm, but other days I was able to do everything normally and even exercise.

When my neurologist told me I can’t smoke weed at all if I was going to use medications she told me the side effects could be a manic attack or even a stroke so being the anxious person I am I stopped weed and gave away everything two weeks before starting taking the medication.

But I’m surrounded by weed users, and I feel everything is getting boring? Not my friends specially, but watching a movie or series without weed is boring, playing video games doesn’t feel the same.. I have this heavy feeling telling me it’s going to be really hard to find that kind of dopamine again..

I know it’s probably too early to think about this now, and it’s probably the stoner in me just trying to get back to an “easier” way of getting dopamine. Also before all of this I was already getting anxious thinking weed was starting to become an addiction but convinced myself I could stop at anytime. Now I miss it, but the idea of a manic attack or a stroke makes me scared enough to not get even close to it.

On the other hand, alcohol is also making a comeback among my friends lol. I don’t really drink too much, maybe two times a month? I haven’t really gotten drunk at all for more than two years because when I was younger I made too many mistakes and I constantly remind myself not to drink too much, but now it feels like it would be my only source of fun?

I don’t really know how to explain what I’m feeling now, I was the kind of person who wouldn’t really like a partner who doesn’t smoke or drink because I found them to be too boring, now I’m that person and I feel like I won’t know how to have fun. I feel like I won’t ever get those laugh attacks with my friends after a smoke or a those stupid drunk conversations.

I’ve been reading a lot, I’ve been thinking after a while on meds I could try just not taking the pill the day of drinking or smoking just a little bit when the effects fade but my anxiety makes me think that the possibility of something bad happening to me because I tried to drink alcohol or smoke weed while on meds is like a death sentence.

I will talk with my psychiatrist and psychologist about this, but I want to know if anybody else ever felt something remotely similar, what did you about it or even if you never experienced something similar what do you think about it.. anything to ease my mind a little.

And just as an example of my anxiety, the first day I was supposed to take my pill I was so nervous about the side effects I almost gave myself a panic attack after deciding to read the little paper that comes with the pills and reading that there was a possibility of “sudden death” 1 in 10.000… I didn’t take the pill that day and waited three more days..

For the past 12 years being married, my husband (35M) and I (34F) have had a challenging relationship of ups and downs. We love each other very much. We are committed to each other. However, he is a super smart, engineer-minded, disciplined, organized person, and I'm all over the place. We have the same arguments all the time. It seems no matter what I do, I always screw up. He carries most of the mental load and household responsibility because he's very good at running our home like a well-oiled machine, and I have a hard time just keeping myself together. Common themes are: "why did you put that there? It goes here." "I told you that yesterday. Apparently you weren't listening." "You didn't wash the towels last Tuesday and that was the day every week you agreed to wash all towels." "You said you'd be home in 15 minutes. That was 25 minutes ago. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. If you don't say what's true, then you're telling me a lie."

My doctor just diagnosed me with inattentive ADHD last week. I'm about to see a specialist. I'm new to all this. I'm open to therapy and meds, but I haven't explored any of those options yet.

I believe that my husband is being as patient as he can. But he is frustrated with me beyond belief, and I'm exhausted with having to "try harder" all the time, and when I improve one area, it seems like I screw up in three other areas. One step forward, two steps back.

In my career, I am VERY successful. I work full time, make a good salary, and I love what I do. So I definitely contribute a large portion of our income. I do well at work because it's a structured environment. But at home, I'm struggling.

Any advice? 🥺

20F, been on 20mg vyvanse for over a year. The medication helps me a lot and works for me, however some of the side effects such as dry mouth are really irritating to me. I have to do a lot of talking in my day to day life and it is so beyond annoying to constantly be drinking water yet my mouth is STILL dry. I am wondering if any of you are on a medication that doesn’t have dry mouth as a side effect, and if so what is it and what side effects do you experience. I am able to manage every other side effect of the vyvanse, but the dry mouth is really unbearable (I drink a lot of water too). Thanks in advance.

So it's 4:10 in the morning.....

Does everybody else when they wake up at this time end up not going back to sleep because they're debating whether or not to go back to sleep?

Hello,

I'm from the UK and I've always had a feeling I have ADHD traits.

I'mucky that I have private health care through work which will cover an assessment.

I'm looking for some feedback on theses providers if anyone has had an experience with them.

Onebright
ReCognition Health Limited
(Melios) Healios Ltd

Has anybody else's ADHD symptoms worsened as they've aged? I'm 45 and I'm about 5 years ago my symptoms really seemed to ramp up. I also have a condition where I need their produce nor absorb melatonin the way the rest of the population does so that's always been a fun addition.

Hi 47(F) based in UK, new to the sub...Hi I have my assessment in a couple of weeks, is there anything I should know ahead of it, do I need to prepare or just wing it like I do with everything else in life??

Hi! Does anyone have any good book recommendations about-

• grieving your lost childhood/not having been able to have a childhood and/or
• overcoming resentment about being consistently failed by parents/teachers/mentors in childhood (and being stuck on what could have been if they hadn’t)

The only books I could find are on childhood abuse or other severe trauma and that’s not what I’m looking for

Where do I start, I knew I had ADHD and Autism however I never thought that I had Bipolar 2 which has come as an extreme shock. I had prepared myself for the ADHD and Autism but now I have been thrown.

If I am being honest with myself my mood is always hard to determine and can change very quickly and easily so BP2 does make complete sense, but now I just cant help but feel like I have failed my self the past 37 years as I have ruined so many friendships and relationships due to all of this.

Now I have to go on mood stabilisers for 8 weeks before commencing ADHD meds which my psychiatrist even said that mine is a very complex situation, so now I am unsure what is going to work for me and I feel like this is going to be a long few months of trial and error just to get to a point where I feel better.

I thought this appointment was going to give me that sigh of relief but now I just feel numb to the whole thing and just wished my brain wasnt so broken, I guess the only positive now is that I know and there is a plan in place to get me back to a better baseline with my mood and adhd, then there is the autism side of it that I will also need to find a way to manage. It feels like a lot right now and I just needed to vent it.

I (28F) was diagnosed as a child with adhd, I didn’t take medication (vyvanse) till I was 14. When I started I didn’t have any other mental health problems and took my medication during school only, when I went to college even less so (maybe a few times a month). When I turned 20 I was hit with serious depression and anxiety, was prescribed Zoloft and Xanax had a baaad time with the Zoloft that basically created a huge fear of any kind of drug. I haven’t gotten any new adhd prescriptions partially because of that. As time has gone on I’ve gotten the depression and anxiety relatively under control but I also developed OCD symptoms(not diagnosed) As time has gone on I’ve started to consider maybe trying adhd medication again and seeing if it helps with the mental health problems I’ve developed since stopping and obviously the other struggles that come along with having adhd.

My questions are

I’ve only ever tried vyvanse and adderall and don’t know if either of those would…work for me, have you tried something different and liked it more? Why? (I don’t like the intensity of vyvanse/adderall even pre anxiety I had my issues with it)

If you have other mental health problems has your adhd medication helped or hurt those other issues?

I also am a bit afraid of taking a medication everyday, does anyone else take it “as needed” and does that have negative effects?

Appreciate any advice or input :)

Hi I'm M24 been single all my life (dated a women once around a year, on the internet, never met)

Since I grew up having a lot of low self esteem. I couldn't see myself having friends so stayed by myself but growing up it feels like I wanna have someone by my side too, i see everyone at least once in their life time having a girlfriend but me, i can never say that. I barely talk to women, I'm scared irl but over text and call, I'm so chill. I feel like women have way too many expectations that I can't try to fulfill but at the same time, i see women as friendly beings. At the same time, i see a lot of below average looking guys hanging around women who knows how to dress better. It's like I'm in constant rambling with myself "if those guys can, why can't I?"

I just feel like my head won't let me be in a relationship or even having a connection with people.

It's like for a relationship, women ask too much attention(at least from the women I've talked with) i really can't give that.. cause my thoughts would be wandering here and there trying to do things it wants to do. Always questioning about about uncertain things, just living in the moment.

There are women who genuinely shew intrest in me. It's just me who avoids em, i feel like they're too much of a disturbance to deal with even though they would generally text or probably when they miss me. I feel guilty later on for doing it.

When I'm interested in a girl, i tend to be a questioner rather than have a meaningful conversation (it feels like I'm having much stimulated conversation) cause I'd be understanding about her while I'm an insecure dude myself. I usually think twice before texting cause I don't trust my initial thought cause it's bad ( my thoughts keep jumping from one to another) and there are times when I say things unfiltered and it sounds so dumb. Literally something that would set somone off. Sometimes I don't understand how to answer properly.. my ability to grasp a situation has gotten worse.

I'm driven to broken people as they seem so much interesting as they would be having some wicked story. So I can advice them on things for better future as they convo would be in calm phase ( this is kind of stimulating too)

In the end, i really do ghost people cause they can be so much overwhelming at times even though they haven't done anything wrong. This time gap would set this "not interested" tagline and would reply with less energy later on.

I just wish to have someone around me, just a companion is all I ask for, i don't seek intimacy. I really don't keep any expections of them staying cause people eventually leave. Also, i struggle with a around bunch of people, i tend to step out but when it comes to one on one conversation, I'm in constant battles with myself but I can say that I'm a little better at masking things, like I do maintain a body language of giving respect and being nicer. ( This is not friendship seeking post but post to understand if what I go through is normal or not)

Anyways I'm seeking medical help now. Doctor told me, there are signs of adhd so I'm posting here. I haven't actually tried medication yet but I'm willing to.

Thank you!