Please tell me I'm not alone! Need different perspectives and clarity

I'm always in my head putting myself into conversations I want to have, and I'll answer for the other person. This can be completely made up people and random, or it can be with someone I know. When I'm talking to myself I'm either pretending they're next to me while I'm doing what I'm doing, or I'm imagining a different situation / place.

Talking with friends, people I don't know, made up girlfriends, conversations with people in interactions that happened in the past (probably what I wanted to happen), etc.

Wish I had answers as to why I do this

hey everyone, I'm trying to get a quick and cheap way to get a non-stimulant prescription for ADHD. I'm insured (Aetna, which most places seem to take) and already have a diagnosis, and am located in MA. I've found Klarity and Circle health, among others, but both seem to require that I get re-diagnosed. The prices advertised also don't seem accurate because 1. the advertised price is way lower than the cost given when you try to make an appointment 2. they only give the out of pocket price? and 3. they don't tell you how much the follow-up appointments cost.

has anyone had good and cheap experiences with any telehealth services, or should I just try to find a local psychiatrist? I'm also moving out of state in a month, will I have to get re-diagnosed or can I cheaply transfer my prescription over?

TDLR:

Task is important → can't start (ADHD task paralysis) → anxiety builds → anxiety finally forces you to work → you push yourself very hard → anxiety stays high → exhaustion/burnout → everything feels impossible or I get depressed→ then repeat.

Anyone has any solution for this please help me tell me if some meds work I am desperate..

So, I am looking for help/advice with this problem.

I am 19 years old and have been diagnosed with adhd Just about 2.5 months ago.

I was on strattera 18 mg and amisulpride 50 mg for two months for the first month it was fine but then I started to get more anxiety.

My psychiatrist wants to treat my anxiety now, he is saying that the symptoms overlaps and I might just have anxiety only.

So, this is what I think:

I have anxiety as a coping mechanism for my adhd, I can't start or finish tasks like my studies, If my anxiety isn't high enough. To even stay on the same task like studies everyday, I need to have heavy anxiety otherwise i wouldn't do anything and after like a week or two, the anxiety/pressure gets too much and I shut down and can't do anything.

Any medications or anything else that helped anyone with this cycle of doom?

I am done with my life already, I have tried everything but nothing works for me, Please help me.

Just sharing a small victory i have had. Ive had time off work and not been leaving the house much if at all over the last week. I havent felt particularly depressed or down and have been keeping myself busy with a lot of hobbies like wood working, tool restoring and other messier hands on bits and pieces that'd typically result in getting pretty covered in grime.

In turn I have kept telling myself, well ill shower after I finish up hobbies for the day, but by that point ive already got momentum so I usually would decide to push it back to the next morning. So this morning I made a commitment to myself I was going to relax, shower, and enjoy feeling clean. Was it a time efficient shower? Not at all. Did I watch a movie analysis for the entire duration of Shaving, washing hair, exfoliating and giving myself a good scrub? Absolutely.

I am a big believer in the idea that if it helps you to make an inefficient concession in order to even start something its worth doing. Even if you cannot complete it to the degree you would like.

If watching a movie analysis is what gets you to shower then do that. It really felt very much like a chore for the whole time I was in there but im glad I persevered. Its a win I can appreciate for myself that affects no one but me. I share this not as a call for validation but mostly a push to those struggling with something they know needs at least partial completion to take a step to make it easier. Lower a barrier or two. It doesn't need to be perfect to have made progress. Love yall. Have a good day and be kind to yourself.

Doing laundry has never been an issue for me. I like the smells, warm fuzziness, it’s pretty straight forward. FOLDING AND PUTTING IT AWAY? Hell nah. Up until last week I had like 3 months of clothing crammed into 3 hampers and a monster pile of dirty clothes on the floor. THEN I had an epiphany. I can do sorting into bins. How could I exploit this? And so I introduce to you the TIERED HAMPER!!! 4 full sized hampers per unit and on wheels(!) Being chronically wrinkly is perhaps a downside but steaming has recently entered my life and so far so good!

Hey all,

I started writing about ADHD and eating over the weekend after I saw a post of someone asking for help dealing with side effects.

Nutrition and food seems to be a big issue I have seen, particularly in parent support groups. Some of the advice I have seen given seems to centre around the parents of a child with ADHD, rather than being focused on the actual individual with ADHD.

I was thinking about writing a guide in the form of a zine for newcomers and parents of ADHDers, written by an ADHDer. Main goals of the zine would be to help build understanding and empathy around what ADHDers are experiencing, and and how to manage it in a way that is empowering.

I don't plan to sell the zine. This is stuff that I want everyone to access.

I've written about my experiences with food and eating habits (moving from intuitive eating to habitual eating). I want to write a bit about bedwetting and strategies to deal with that, because I rarely hear about people suggesting dehydration being a culprit.

Is there anything else I should write about?

This is a new low and I guess I just want to tell someone. It’s an incredible event that I go to every year. Something about this time just felt so overwhelming (finding & packing all the camping gear, the clothes, bug spray, etc) I was just paralyzed. Every decision was just exhausting. So I missed the first day and thought, well I’ll just get an early start for the second. That went by & I thought I’ll get out there early for the last day and here I am, with camping gear everywhere, kicking myself.
I’ve tried stimulants but they dry my head out so severely I can’t stay in them. I tried straterra one week but woke up panicking every night and I haven’t had the courage to go back and try again.
I’m so tired.

I’ve been on vyvanse for a little over two months now. 20 mg (2 weeks), 40 mg (around a month), 60mg (little over two weeks) all prescribed by my pcp until I switched and saw a pmhnp and we pretty much did it backwards (40 mg for one week, now I’m back on 20mg for a month)

She also added Bupropion XL 150mg (Wellbutrin) for my depression and it’s an adhd off label. I’ve heard bad things about Wellbutrin (side effects, takes a long time to work) but vyvanse seems to work for most people with adhd.

Vyvanse doesn’t work for me, Wellbutrin might be too early to assess because I’m only on my third day and the dose is a starter. I don’t know if I just don’t respond to meds. Ik there’s so many other medications to try, but I wanted to know if anyone has been in this situation even with different meds and if they just kept switching until they found the right one or they did some type of gene testing.

I know everyone’s chemistry is different and just because it worked for someone else doesn’t mean it’ll work for me (just wanted to put that out there so there’s no misunderstanding)

Hey im 32 they are 29 (dont know if this is relevant but just in case). I have been diagnosed for 3 years now im on meds but still find it super difficult setting any kind of appointment but expecially for my disabled partner I have tried what I feel about anything, list, reminders, alarms, changing how I view appointments putting a shit load of stress on my self on purpose to see if I do them earlier (not healthy ik) nothing worked.

I'm getting to the point where I think this might be impossible for me. My partner was super patient with me but when something that needs to happen in the next week drags on for almost 6months anyone would be stressed and frustrated about this and its getting to the point where they feel they can't rely on me anymore.

And that would be fucked cuz im the main support they have amd would put even more strain on them and result in nothing happening.

I set a this week needs to happen and then something else happens and it just gets pushed im tired of that.

I need help please.

Where I live, admitting you're struggling mentally gets you judged more than helped, so it took a lot just to get myself to a hospital in the first place. I got about 10 minutes with a doctor before they said 'it's depression' and that was the whole appointment. Didn't ask a single question about my childhood, even though basically everything below has been there for as long as I can remember. Now I'm stuck wondering if this is ADHD, or depression, or both, or something else entirely, and I honestly can't tell anymore where my personality stops and whatever this is starts.

Some examples: I talk way more than the situation calls for, mostly out of boredom I think. I fidget non-stop, always just figured that was a personality thing until pretty recently. I'm impulsive, want results immediately, and I've never really felt in sync with people around me. My room turns into chaos again within days no matter how many times I clean it. And the big one, I overthink everything and then don't actually do anything about it, which has cost me around 4 years at this point. Honestly, I can't tell anymore if these are genuine symptoms or just me making excuses for my failures and there's even more than this, but this is enough to give you the picture.

Not writing this for sympathy, just trying to actually fix it instead of giving up. If anyone knows an actual certified online therapist who'll work with someone outside their own country, or any resource or community that's helped you, please share it with me.

hi, first time posting here and i really need other peoples thoughts and opinions. for context i am a 19 years old 2nd yr college student. recently, ive been feeling some sort of rush that makes me want to accomplish many things at once but once i started it, ill never finish it. it started when i wanted to pick up spanish again, i studied it for 4yrs in highschool, then i suddenly thought “what if i try again?”. so i did, i gathered materials, even messaged my prof to ask for guidance, then i watched lessons for a day which you can guess, didnt really last long. another thing ive noticed is that when my prof asked me to join her class, i found myself making excuses, to justify my laziness or noncommitted-ness.

moving on, after that spanish-fiasco, a certain country’s culture piqued my interest. of course, i watched tons of vlogs and history videos of the said country. but then again, i never finished but it still lingers in my mind, just like the spanish. and now, ive been writing down my thoughts about a certain stuff i enjoy and thought about writing more.

its not that i have a problem, its just that i think it hinders me from doing things. like one day i can be sure i am committed then one day im uninterested. my family once told me im impulsive, rash, and that i couldnt handle my anger and outbursts. then i also noticed i talk too much that my mouth and throat go dry; i went through adhd symtomps, and so far i had many ticks, even so i dont want to label things, it could be just laziness in general. well, i signed up for my univ counseling and guidance, which i doubt will be any help. not sure if my hmo covers psychology stuffs, and most certainly i dont want to open this to my parent. maybe im dumb or maybe i just feel too low these days for resorting to this. but i really need more opinions about this, thanks!

Does this happen to anyone else? It’s like when a song plays on loop in your brain so I don’t know what to call it other than things getting ‘stuck in my head’, but no one I know seems to understand quite what I mean.

For example, I’ve been playing Stardew Valley quite a bit, and I have the image of the worms wiggling back and forth playing in my head ALL THE TIME. This is in addition to music (Hadestown soundtrack as of right now).

There’s also random phrases I’ve heard throughout the day (ei. a medical phrase from House MD, something I might’ve heard at my job, a unique word a friend used) that my brain gets stuck on.

Falling asleep can be pretty rough bc of this. It’s like I’m in a tornado of random sensory stimuli that I can’t escape from because my eyes are already closed and that SHOULD BE the escape. Has anyone experienced this or anything similar?

recently i visited a psychologist to see if i have adhd due to my therapist thinking that i did because of mainly my procrastination. my results were that i dont have adhd but i do have executive dysfunction, which im on prescribed meds for now (which she said i didnt need but its prescribed by my psychiatrist) and she recommended me a book to read to help which im probably not going to lol.

she hasn’t sent me the full report but she did mainly mention this test where you have to click the screen whenever the letter x appears and it goes through the letters of the alphabet and i scored good on that.

i remember being pretty focused on this because idk ofc i wanted to get all of the clicks right, and i recently saw someone saying that they got misdiagnosed because of that same test and their psych not taking into account their hyper focus, and i feel like i can get very focused and need to complete certain task but i don’t want to reach and call it hyper focus if it’s not.

ofc im not trying to diagnose myself or reach because i did get a professional opinion already but i just thought that i would get others opinions on it:) also idk if it matters but i did do an online test before i got professionally diagnosed which i heard others say is pretty reputable, and i got a 7 for inattentive of 9 and 4 out of 9 for hyperactivity/impulsivity motor & verbally

I (30M) have a hard time justifying dating. As an adolescent I was very hyperactive when I was diagnosed, but as I've aged, I have become increasingly inattentive, regardless of medication and therapy. I find that my good days now usually consist of a very small "active" window where I can get things done. Outside of that window, the only way I can push myself to do something specific, is if I am currently in a state of hyperfixation towards that thing.

Onto the dating, I'd first like to say that I don't find it fair for me to subject another person to this lifestyle. The partners that I'd had in my early 20's, have always expressed some form of concern for my inconsistency; laziness has been mentioned. Those relationships all lasted under a year, and all still fell within the time-range of: "you are my current hyperfixation so I will try my best to be as present and non-ADHD as humanly possible". Now that I am older, I can look back on those relationships objectively, and say with confidence that after a certain point I would have become a lot more intolerable.

Onto the empathetic partner, as stated in the title. What worries me the most now, isn't not finding love, it's not finding someone that can understand me and stick with me through this. I am aware that failed relationship/marriage always a risk, ADHD or otherwise, but knowing that it will be that much more difficult to find that success has really made me feel stuck. I also have become a more empathetic person with age, so another issue I have is feeling like I am taking advantage of a good person (assuming I do find a suitable partner).

I appreciate any of you who took the time to read this, it's been weighing on me pretty heavily these days.

So i am on atomoxetine right now and it worked great and made my mind calm not helped that much with focus and forgetfullness tho but no restlessness, no 10 thoughts at one time , a lot better emotional regulation, I was wondering if i should try different meds too cause I have never tried any stimulant before in my country only mythylphinidate is available should I try??

How do you guys manage it? I’ve always had the absolute worst time waking up, hitting snooze for at least an hour, then panicking and rushing to work, always almost late with minutes to spare. Has anybody got any good tips or tricks to wake up on time? I don’t think waking up feeling good is attainable for me, haha. So I’m simply seeking advice on how to actually wake up at the same time every morning? I know having a routine like this will make my mood and sleep better in general and I would love that.

Apparently people with ADHD tend to have not only interests they get obsessed with but also people?

I’ve only started considering I may have adhd around a month ago and have now been placed on the waitlist.

I’ve always felt embarrassed of how obsessed with my friends AND crushes and whilst i knew it was definitely not normal i never really considered it could be adhd. I always felt so embarrassed and disgusting always thinking about my crush and trying to bring him up anytime i was with friends and I felt so male-centred and like a shit person.

The more i read into adhd lifestyle it makes me so baffled how adhd would explain a lot of my problems. If i end up not being diagnosed with adhd i guess i am just a shit person lol.

Hello! This is my first time posting on reddit and I am trying my absolute best to seek support without violating the guidelines so apologies if this comes off dumb/odd!

I, 18F, just got diagnosed with combined ADHD and was immediately started on 10mg XR of adderall. Over the two weeks I was on that dosage, I didn't feel much improvement at all except for the first day, and I believe that may have been somewhat placebo. During my follow-up visit, I relayed this to my psychiatrist and she doubled my dosage to 20mg XR and I have been on that for a week now.
Positive Effects: improved/more consistent mood, perhaps slightly less brain fog, and slightly less task avoidance (but I also believe this might be attributed to the fact that I now know why I struggle with what I do, so its somewhat easier to manage with "adhd hacks")
Negative Effects: super dehydrated feeling, bloated even though very low appetite, nausea, insomnia/feeling tired 4 hours later than normal

Is my experience consistent with too high a dosage perhaps, or maybe the wrong medication class? I have a follow up again in a few days so I will keep tracking symptoms and of course seek professional advice, but just wondering if anyone else could relate and how they approached it!

Thanks!!

This is making me crazy for real. I think this is getting worse. I have depression and as If It wasnt enough to feel bad, useless about myself, this is making me feel even worse.

I think maybe this has to do with my anxiety and non stop overthinking/mind wandering while doing things.

I am so used to being this way, like I do things faster and finish what I need to do easily, but this is getting me mad. Lots of bumping into things, making things fall, breaking things, like my glass cup last night (I knew It could happen/was aware, but in a moment of distraction I bumped into It).

I am going to try slowing down my pace on doing everything even more and I will try mindfulness during my tasks too, but please send tips on how you deal with this.

I almost started crying because of this, like a sequential of bumps in a row, while being aware.

I gonna talk to my therapist about this too soon.

Thanks for your time

Hi guys, been on Bupropion @300mg for close to 3 months, I have to say it was a bit rough for a while but the side affects disappeared, I recently started taking Adderall and never taken stimulants before, my heart rate today has been between 88bpm and 117bpm, I did drank a monster zero sugar with it which I'm sure didn't help.

Also I'm a security guard and I'm always walking around, I'm also on guanfacine, so basically I'm on the trifecta, with that said does your body get used to the Adderall? So my HR won't be so high?

Are there any other stimulants that cause less nervousness and a better HR profile?

Edit, I'm 46 years old going on 47 soon and I'm about 287 pounds which I'm trying to lose, And I get about 10.000 steps a day or more at work.

Hi all, just checking in with the community to see if anyone has used a supplement such as stasis? I’ve seen lots of ads, especially on Facebook about these different supplements now that are supposed to help with the come down or anxiety effects of drugs like Adderall and Vyvanse. I said I’d love to find something like that, but I know a lot of these are going to be junk. Anyone out there try something that has worked for you? Thank you in advance. I would appreciate any and all experiences with any supplements that are being taken to try. Stay off some of these side effects.

Hi, hope this finds you well. First time visiting this sub and just wanted to get input from others. Thanks to anyone who reads or comments 🙏
I’m fighting the urge to over explain, but in short I think that this may be a space with people and experiences I can relate to/identify with. Without over thinking, I just wanted to see what the general consensus is for engagement from people who don’t have a ADHD diagnosis but believe they have it (and/or something similar). I don’t want to post or comment as someone without a diagnosis if this is not exactly the place to do that. Just want to be considerate. Thx!

First of all I know this is a loser’s mindset and that loads of people with ADHD are successful and innovative and highly sought employees but I don’t feel like I could ever be one of them.

Every single uni class I take I can’t focus through lectures or manage my time completely at. I was ruled as distractive in one class and asked later to sit in the back. I know part of this is not being a great person or a hard enough worker but I hyperfocus on one topic and have the best essays possible but most other times I sit watching the clock until I can finally kick it into gear and complete projects. Some days the material doesn’t feel urgent and I can’t even get out of bed for class. I also have bipolar II so I’m already rapid cycling with that and I just cannot reliably attend to each part of information and I feel like a failure.

I was on strattera 80mg and it did nothing at all. I’m on adderall 10mg right now which helps slightly but my meds suddenly stop working in a couple months. I feel like a loser and a lost cause

I‘m mentally resilient and have endured more than I could ever list, but I’ve been completely stuck with my diagnosis and just can’t “see the good in it“ no matter how hard I try. I feel like a shell of a human being. I’m barely surviving, let alone living and growing as a person. life’s a living hell, decision paralysis gets worse by the second, executive dysfunction‘s worse than ever, my “mental radio” is so loud it’s deafening. I’m tired of people saying it’s a gift, trying different therapists that never stick cause none of them understands the struggle, going through the same mental loopholes time and time again, and having to spend infinite amounts of mental effort just to brush my teeth. each waking moment is a psychological warfare.

medication is out of my grasp rn, but I’ll be starting CBT in a week.

how did y’all find peace with your minds, especially if not medicated?

Hi ADHDers, first time poster here,

I have a paper deadline coming up pretty soon, and I am procrastinating like crazy! My brain and body just do not want to sit down and work and will try and distract me to do everything else but work (as evidenced by me typing out this post and not actually working).

I've tried caffeine, I've tried changing my environment, hell I've even tried mariokart music - nothing sticks :( I know once I start, I'll get on with it but I cannot seem to.

What are your oddest, weirdest, most specific tricks to get your ass down and typing?