To me, being on the meds makes me feel… weird? Slightly hollowed out? I can’t find the best words for it, but the whole chorus of sensory input and thoughts and impulses that I’m used to off-meds somewhat quiets down and my head feels a lot emptier.
On the other hand, it has the significant advantage that there is more space for the things I do want to focus on, and I’ve figured out I can sort of fill the void with music. It creates a padding, further suppresses distractions, and I can filter it out quite well if I need to focus more intensely. It slightly depends on how well I know the music, but that’s not a hard-and-fast rule either.
So I admit it’s useful for being productive during the day and by extension good for my self-esteem and mental health if I know I can get stuff done, but I also enjoy when it wears off in the evenings and I sink back into the familiar bustle.
The side effects like heart rate, blood pressure, occasional feeling of anxiety and nervosity out of nowhere and increased sweating suck though. I could really do without them.
Same when I got on ocd meds. Love being able to go and do a thing without compulsively making lists of every other tasks that I could be doing.
Eli5. Isn’t it just microdosing amphetamine?
Yeah, more or less. Stimulants tend to have a contradictory calming and/or focusing effect on the ADHD brain. I don’t remember why exactly but it probably has to do with dopamine regulation, which our brains crave like a zombie does brains.
My diagnosis kind of explained why I can drink inordinate amounts of coffee or energy drinks (don’t do this) and sleep like a log 30min later lol
Some brain cells make dopamine to reinforce behaviors. Dopamine slots into receptor, you get that feeling of satisfaction.
A protein in the brain cell wall vacuums up excess dopamine so it doesn’t just flood the brain forever, constantly triggering the receptors.
ADHD brain cell dopamine vacuums are just always on max speed all the time.
Methylphenidate slows the vacuums down so the dopamine doesn’t get sucked right back down, meaning it actually has a chance to reach the receptors and do its job.
It’s not quite that our brains crave dopamine, it’s that our brains are too good at tidying it up, kinda like someone following around behind you as you set the table, putting all the clean dinnerware straight into the dishwasher unused.
I ran out of Vyvanse three weeks back. It’s been months my rather low dose didn’t do its full effect anymore, I just didn’t go back to see my doc to get it adjusted. However, looking at how much of a disorganized mess I am these last couple of weeks, I guess it was still doing something - holy shit am I not getting much done, like, at all 😬
Yeah, I’ve felt a bit of the same. My meds don’t seem to do much until I miss a dose then I’m like… Whelp, I’m fucking useless today.
At first the drugs have a kind of amplified effect, as that simmers down, the effects are still there, it’s just, not as pronounced and noticable.
And to be clear to anyone who isn’t ADHD and on meds, they’re not magic. The ADHD is still definitely there, all the medication does is dim the effects to a more manageable level. Before medication, trying to get something done that my brain wasn’t super interested in, would be like trying to nail jello to a wall. It just wouldn’t happen. Now I can actually get myself off the couch, put down my phone and do a thing without feeling like I’m dragging my corpse along for the ride.
my first dose of adhd meds was atomoxetine and instead of gaining clarity of mind all that happened was 56 hours of insomnia with gut wrenching nausea
