I was diagnosed with ADHD October 2024, and am still on the journey of finding medication/dosage that works. I am on 50 mg of Vyvanse rn, which seems to be working okay.

One of my biggest symptoms and struggles with ADHD has been feeding myself. I know I have been using food as a source of dopamine since I was a teenager, but it really spiraled when I moved out to live on my own in the fall of 2019. I thought I just was picky, had an eating disorder, was lazy, or any number of other excuses.

The thought of thinking about what to eat, knowing what I have in the fridge/pantry, gathering ingredients, preparing the food, etc etc etc makes me feel paralyzed, until I realize its 3pm and I've only had a coffee all day. This usually leads to just ordering something I know I like and will be the same every time, and then I feel IMMENSE guilt for 1. wasting money and 2. being 'lazy'. I am trying to be kinder to myself, and set myself up for success, like packing lunches, making meal plans, and grocery shopping smarter/more often, but I still feel so stuck.

My lovely fiance is a chef, and he understands and tries to empathize with my struggles with food, but its not his job to feed me like a toddler, and cook/prepare every meal every day after he has spent the entirety of HIS workday cooking. He graciously cooks dinners, and we plan the week every Sunday, but I am still stuck with feeling paralyzed at breakfast/lunch, or if hes working later and I'm on my own for dinner. Every 'solution' I think of only lasts a week at most, and I know the lack of nutrients/consistent energy is making my ADHD feel worse.

Am I subconciously doing it on purpose because I know if I wait long enough I'll just eat out? Am I honestly just lazy and don't like cooking? It's getting harder and harder to stay kind and forgiving to myself when it feels like I just have no discipline.

As I am writing this post, it is the late afternoon, I have spent the whole day studying, and I feel exhausted and burnt out because I haven't been taking care of myself. I don't have the mental OR physical energy to even think about making food, so I ordered take out AGAIN.

I just feel so frustrated and lonely with these issues. If anyone has similar struggles I would love to hear some strategies/ coping methods. I apologize for the novel haha. Thanks for reading this far <3

im bad at editing photos but i thought immediately thought about this when i saw someone else post the original

Honestly, maybe Barbie has ADHD.

But, I had a lot of trouble deciding what to do with my life as a teenager. SO MANY JOBS SEEM FASCINATING.

Some jobs I remember researching were Bee-keeper. Optometrist. Model. Dermatologist (pimple-poppinngg). Voice actor. Veterinarian. And even today I come across occupations that leave me in awe. This year I've been interested in the world of Crime Scene Forensics and Detective work.

I'm currently 28F, and ended up teaching ice skating/figure skating for the last 8 years. I love it. Lets me put my energy into children.

Hi all, I recently got diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, which explains...a lot. I'm currently on Zoloft (50mg) and Wellbutrin (300mg), and was prescribed adderall.

One 15mg pill only gave very subtle effects for a few hours. I wasn't really focused, I did catch myself thinking of something while cuddling with my girlfriend and instead of blurting it out, I thought it just wasn't important. Is that the 'aha!'?

I ended up going back to my psych, who bumped it up to 30mg, 2x a day...I did feel calmer today, and I guess my mind felt clearer?? I DID notice: usually when I write, it's like 30 mins max, and today I sat for 2.5 hours. Is that my 'aha!'?

Posting on here because maybe it’s related to hormones, but I literally have no food hyperfixation atm and can’t eat. I love food so it’s not like that and this regularly happens every so often when food seems repulsing. I haven’t started any new meds or anything just my brain not working lol. Anyone got tips for how to get out of this? Tyia 💕

So I just bought a random set of glass marbles on Marktplaats (the Dutch eBay), because I suddenly missed the old days and regretted getting rid the glass marbles I owned as a kid. I've been researching vintage marbles for hours on end, and now I'm exited for the small collection I'm about to receive.

I (27F) am sure I’ve got some sort of hormone issue (altho bloods came back fine but still waiting on testosterone levels and some other stuff) or my AuDHD self is just super sensitive to my cycle changes. So, I’m trying to track my cycle and associated mood changes.

For example, I’m currently on day 11 and I took an ovulation test showing positive for LH surge. And, I mean … I have no idea wtf that means yet but I do know that yesterday I felt good (well, I felt okay) and since waking up this morning it feels like I’m in complete dopamine withdrawal. Like, I am trying to focus and my vision goes blurry and I realise I’ve totally zoned out. I cannot sit still, but equally feel like a zombie. My attention span is limited to scrolling and eating, and that’s about it.

So, yeah: does anyone track their hormones and moods, in the context of having ADHD?

I got diagnosed with AuDHD last year, immediately got put on medicine, and I think I first just felt relieved after having taken unnecessary antidepressants for almost twenty years and never feeling like it was what I struggled with. Since getting medicated I have started to a unmask so much that I sometimes think I’m getting worse? My sensory and sound is killing me. I’ve lost my appetite (no one should want that).

More than anything I feel increasing sadness that I can’t get fixed. I’m 44 and I feel like I have struggled to repress my inner weirdo my whole life. I’ve had tons of careers and haven’t been able to keep up with any of them, when people climbed up the career ladder I tried to keep my head over water. I’m at uni now but have NO confidence despite doing well. Where was my help, my fucking fidget spinners? As a child I had horrible anger attacks, hated all food and couldn’t stand being hugged. I struggled with reading faces and look everything seriously. No one suspected a thing, and it makes me furious.

As the title states I have started to sell of things. Not just for money but they don’t suit my life anymore. All the money I have spent on dopamine shopping, sugar, coffee. I could cry. I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore, clothes is just one thing, but from at least a former fashion lover, it’s important. I used to love all the prints, colours, all the things. Now all man made fabrics basically rub me the wrong way (huh see what I did there?)

I live in denim and crisp cotton shirts, it’s basically everything I can stand. Sport bras make me panic, jewellery feels restrictive. Has this always been me or is something wrong? Everything feels wrong. When I dress up I feel like I’m wearing drag. And I’m mourning my twenties and thirties when I should have allowed myself to be the introverted nerd that I am, instead of drinking, trying to have fun and getting burnt out because it wasn’t for me. I also mourn the the spending money I’ll never get back, the pathetic pension savings that are mine, and still feeling like I don’t belong - but maybe I could have.

I have the best husband and dog, a lovely house, and over all a great life. I just feel like I’m past my prime, and I never got to bloom.

EDIT - You are all amazing, I have a long train journey tomorrow, so I’ll sit and read all the replies properly 😊🥹

Also I never knew I wanted to be MOSS so much!

I’m not happy that so many of you are struggling - but hearing that it’s many of us that are here together is a nice feeling. I know that the ”do you consider ADHD a disability” posts have been up lately, and this is basically my take on it - does society fit around you? Does it feel seamless? Or do you have to adapt, mask, change, exhaust yourself in order for it to work with you? In that case I consider it a disability.

So I just want to preface this by saying that I’m not looking for sympathy or anything like that, I’m just feeling more upset than I probably should about this.

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have my boss teach me a new skill, turning wood on a lathe, and I’ve been making bowls. I started to accumulate all these bowls and I was like hmm.. what am I going to do with all these bowls?? So I decided to be a vendor!

I thought it was a great idea. I had a lot of people tell me how nice they were and etc, so I thought they’d be a hit. I wouldn’t have sold a single bowl unless my boss’ brother showed up, which lifted my spirits so I’m grateful for that!

I’m just feeling so defeated. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself, but I literally used up all my free time on the weekends and stayed late after work to make these bowls. I hand painted and cut out price tags, I set up the cutest display, and they weren’t even ridiculously priced. I’m not sure what to even do better next time, or if there even will be a next time.

I’m at least proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and trying, but I’m not getting my hopes up as much in the future. Does anybody have any ideas on how I can move past this and not ruminate on it for the next 3 months? 😂

Hi hi I started Vyvanse about a month ago, I don’t take it every day, usually just when I work, so about 4 days out of the week? I usually tru to eat a big breakfast with it and eat throughout the day even tho my appetite is completely gone. But when nighttime comes, I get such bad nausea.

Has this happened to anyone else?? With specifically getting the nausea at night? And have you found it goes away with time??

Diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago and have been struggling with depression and anxiety since nearly a decade.

I got married two months ago and things finally started to get better. I didn't have any major depressive episode and my GAD too was getting better until last week. I'm back to neglecting things as basic as hygiene. I do hypersfocys on cleaning and cooking occasionally, but any free time i have---i break down. I found a stray kitten I was trying to help, but he went missing and i can't stop thinking about him. There's a lot going on in my country. A whole forest getting cleared for "development" and a lot of wildlife is suffering.

I struggle when I learn about pain and suffering. I feel guilty of having too many clothes. Each time I throw waste, i feel responsible for climate change and animals suffering. (We reduce, reuse as much as we can but we're not zero wasters)

I'm crying in my bathroom as I'm typing this as my therapist isn't available for some time and I don't know how to function.

How do you cope when living feels like a chore?

I am ON TREND, BABYYYY:

https://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/trends/a64300137/intentional-cluttering-trend-2025/

I’m just working on the intentional part. Yeah you could say it comes more naturally to me. 💁🏻‍♀️

I turned 47 in February and today I got my official ADHD diagnosis - it means a complete overhaul of my medications, but what a relief to know I’m moving in the right direction!

I am 40 and recently got diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive. My doc prescribed adderall. The pills are 15 mg. I took my first pill this morning. Later on tonight, i noticed the bottle said take 1 and 1/2 pills day.

I don’t get why the doctor would start me on more than the minimum? From everything I’ve read, people start low and titrate up. I’ve had really bad reactions to antidepressants in the past when docs started me with more than the minimum, but what they believe would be a “therapeutic” dose for me. My past experiences make me terrified to start on too high of a dose. I weigh 125 if that makes a difference, but the doctor didn’t ask or weigh me. I’m going to stick with 1 pill for tomorrow (Sunday) and call the doctor on Monday to ask about it. Even 15 mg seems high from what I’ve read.

Those of you on adderall, what dose did you start with?

I am curious if anyone has tried pink tinted lenses. I have seen them marketed for light sensitivity.

Hi there, I’m just wondering if this community has some tips and tricks for me to share with my partner.

I am super self-critical and try to build myself up as and when I can, pursue activities with friends and remember “the facts” etc.

However I do sometimes need and want my partner to be able to be more of a hype me up source. It’s really hard as the more I try to communicate how much I need this, the more they feel “pressured” and shut down and don’t say anything. Which FEELS really upsetting, especially if I’m getting overwhelmed. I understand they freeze as they don’t know what to say… but at the time it feels like they are trampling on my heart and intentionally withholding the very thing I have tried multiple times to communicate means so much to me.

If they do try and offer some words of encouragement and affirmation when they’re under pressure, it sounds SUPER inauthentic and robotic. Which only makes the situation worse.

They had some pretty significant early childhood trauma from a parent abandoning them and have developed a hermetically-sealed don’t talk about or disturb the emotions and leave everything as it is and bottle it up approach.

If anyone knows of some great books to read about expressing emotion, especially positive emotion, how to verbally acknowledge love and warmth, how to celebrate someone’s wins please let me know.

Now that we are parents together we both have more pressures and get less sleep, but I see this as all the more reason to need to proactively build each other up and celebrate our wins. Express gratitude for the relationship etc etc. I also have a fear that my partner really needs to be more expressive so as our little ones are more aware, they KNOW how precious and loved they are because it is said to them.

Please help!

My husband (28M) is continuously telling me (28F) that "he feels like we haven't talked in a long time" and/or that "I ignore him" all the time. I feel like we talk often, but clearly the kind of talking we do is not what he wants and I'm afraid I'm not enough and I don't know what to do to become enough. We argue about my actions often and I just constantly feel like a failure of a wife.

An example that JUST happened:

For background context, my husband and I have just moved cities and started new jobs and both of us had ordered some company merchandise that we have been waiting on to arrive. I had ordered some clothes and he had ordered a nice backpack. Today I got my package and I was opening it while sitting on our bed. I had just showed him a new jacket and scrub cap that I had gotten (I'm in the veterinary medical field) when he said "I wonder when my backpack will get here." and picked up his phone to check. I didn't say anything/acknowledge that statement because I was about to open the next article in my package and I was also being kinda silly and I was putting the scrub cap on my dog's head. He then says something to the effect of "That's ok I guess, I didn't really want to talk to you about the backpack anyways." I don't know if it was exactly that, but it was something similar in a sarcastic tone. I then said "I didn't really know that was directed at me, was I supposed to respond to that?" or something of a similar sentiment. Apparently, what I should have done in that moment was apologized immediately for ignoring him, but because I didn't and instead tried to explain my POV and did it with a somewhat difensive tone, this caused an argument that lasted an hour. I say apparently because he told me then, and has told me over and over again in the past, that I never apologize or take responsibility for my actions.

This is NOT the first time this has happened, in fact it happens pretty much daily if not multiple times a day. I have tried to get better at apologizing for ignoring him, but now I have started to get met with the "You don't really mean that." rebuttal to my apologies. I am tired, frustrated, and most of all confused. He knows I'm diagnosed ADHD (diagnosed in 2022 or 2023, my memory is bad) and he himself was diagnosed in 2024, so should he not understand my perspective? I never mean to ignore him, and in that moment my response was 100% truthful - I didn't even catch that statement about the backpack was something I was supposed to respond to, I just thought he was thinking out loud. I heard him and didn't say anything, which is technically ignoring him, but it wasn't because I don't care or wasn't interested in talking with him, I just didn't even know what I was supposed to say to that. Not to mention, I was focused on opening my package.

I just don't understand how to navigate this problem. I thought that getting a diagnosis would help him understand me because then he would maybe understand that there is a neurological reason I sometimes don't hear him/ignore him, but clearly not. Despite this issue, our relationship is otherwise perfect, but I'm afraid this issue is large enough that I will eventually drive him away. This is not the first time we've had this argument, this has been going on for almost 10 years, and every time I just feel like his patience wears thinner and thinner. I love him and I don't want to lose him. I feel like such a failure.

Hi all I was diagnosed with ADHD by my doctor in November of last year. I have been on Adderall twice daily since then but I feel like it hasn't helped much. We applied for me to get coverage for Vyvanse which he seemed sure that I would meet the criteria for but after waiting 12 weeks I just found out that I was declined. I am feeling pretty hopeless because the few friends that I talked to on Vyvanse seem to be doing really well on it and things aren't going well at the moment. I have an appointment with my doctor next week but I just wanted to vent I guess and see if anyone can offer support or advice. I'm in British Columbia, Canada by the way for the insurance purposes

Hello,

I have recently been diagnosed with combined ADHD and am yet to start medication (need to get a blood test first).

Whilst I haven’t announced it from the roof tops the diagnosis has come up in conversation with a friends and also a few family members.

I have had more than half of them sort look at me like why are you bothering with all this ? Some have asked “why get a diagnosis ? What difference will it make knowing ?” And it was with an undertone of judgement or not believing me I really don’t know. Then after that I am asked “you aren’t going to take that medication for it ? Or you don’t need medication” and I am open to medication but not feeling safe to discuss it after these comments.

Have other people found this kind of push back awkwardness ?

(Would have posted anonymously but couldn’t find that option 🙈)

Hi I just started 20mg of vyvanse and its so quiet in my head now its unsettling and almost scary how silent everything is like I took a shower without having to argue with myself it's strange and I hope it gets better soon any advice or stories would probably help

Alright ladies, I am in desperate need of advice on how to handle this crappy situation. I am at a loss on how to do this in a direct but compassionate way because subtlety is not working :/

I became friends with a coworker (like having dinner once a week and almost always eating lunch together at work, hanging out on the weekends, buying each other christmas gifts) and I thought that things were all good. To preface this, I knew that there was some tension between her and our team lead. This tension stems from our lead getting the position over my friend- which my friend says hurt her because she didn't know the other person was applying and they had been friends. Now the other person tries to avoid her and limit interactions which seemed a little mean to me. My friend would make comments to me or vent and it became clear that she is still bitter over not getting the position, but that feels somewhat normal? (it has been a year or more since the choice was made, for context.) She seemed to be on okay terms with our other coworkers, aside from the fact that they are friendlier with our lead.

In January/February, my friend was talked to twice by our supervisor who had 'heard through the grapevine' that she had a problem with our lead and had been speaking poorly of her. My friend denied this, and said that our lead was the one who had been icing her out. She vented to me about both meetings.

In March I learn that there were specific comments that led to her being talked to by our supervisor. She had been training with someone in a different department (someone she was also friends with) and had begun speaking very poorly of everyone in her department- including me. Saying we are all too immature, we don't do our work, we have too much free time, we're always on our phones, overall we just aren't suited for our jobs. The person training her was so upset by this that she ended up telling our supervisor and requesting to never train my friend again.

Needless to say, I am pretty hurt. I had considered this person a trusted friend. I've babysat for her, we've spent so much time together, I tried my best to be there for her when she was struggling. I don't understand why she included me in these statements, let alone why she included all of our coworkers. None of what she said is true- we are busy *all day* at least 4 days a week, not counting when we go to help out other departments. Yes we are all 10+ years younger than her, but does that make us immature? We're all working at the same place, doing the same job...

She has been acting like nothing has happened and I have been slowly distancing myself. Choosing to eat with other people outside of the lunchroom (we are afraid that things said in casual conversation will be twisted and used against us by her), saying I haven't been in the mood to socialize much, limiting our interactions as much as possible. This has resulted in her pressing harder and harder for me to hang out (seriously though, what part of someone saying 'hey i've been feeling burnt out socially' means you try guilting them into hanging out with you multiple days in a row???) and glomming onto me at work. If she sees I'm somewhere talking to other people, she comes and inserts herself in the conversation, which promptly dies.

I have spoken to our supervisor about this, essentially just informing them of the tension in our department and imploring them to try and do *something* to help alleviate it. But I am at a loss on how to handle this on a personal level. I don't want to be mean or cause more problems with her, but I can't handle her clinging to me like this as if nothing happened. My current maaybbbeee plan is to find a time to speak to her face to face, but how do I frame this?? What do I do??? Please help me :'(

Does anyone else not get short term hyperfixations that other ADHDers seem to get? I keep listening to podcasts where the hosts describe becoming obsessed with something for a few weeks at a time, ignoring everything else around them, and then burning out? I don’t experience this and maybe feel a little imposter syndrome about it.

My “short term” hyperfixations are quite a bit longer. For example, during the pandemic, I became quite interested in viruses. I studied everything I can about viruses, including the different types, hosts, virus reproduction, evolution, vaccines, and vaccine manufacturing. In total, the interest lasted about 9 months or so. But I learned everything I could with the knowledge I have.

I am like this. I am trying to find something that will let me use my two monitors with my desktop and laptop. Ive bought 3 things that havent worked for one reason or another. I am very fortunate I can keep trying different things and this whole this doesnt work cycle usually doesnt happen.

The only other example was last year, I spent 100 total trying to find an excersise watch that actually counted my friggin steps properly and I never did... But as for returning it just is an extra thig I'd really have to go out of my way to attempt to do, including trying to find some way to repackage whatever. It's sooo annoying. I dunno just wondering if people can relate.