I recently had to stop taking my vyvanse due to some bad side effects and holy shit I forgot how bad this was. I can’t do anything. I have so much shit I need to do but I sit down to do it and it genuinely fills me with dread. I am just staring at my computer. Even getting to the webpage I needed took hours of convincing. This is horrible, even caffeine isn’t helping. What do y’all do? How do you manage?
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I don’t. I vaguely function for months on end, eventually get overwhelmed and panicky, then consume excessive amounts of caffeine and giggle to myself till the caffeine crash hits and I’m too tired to think.
Badly
Only way to get through dread is to go through with it. If you want something to stop, finish it. I have pretty light adhd, but for me it was like steeling my mind before base jumping. Sometimes you don’t want to do something. You’re scared or tired but you must FORCE yourself to do it. I have a mantra that kind of helps me. I tell my self that I must do what must be done. And kind of make the action feel like it is inevitable like I will do it even if I don’t want too.
As someone who can’t medicate my ADHD, even with caffeine because they all either don’t help or interfere with my panic disorder which is much, much more debilitating, it is… Not great, but I’ve mostly found a lifestyle that works for me. I’ve found careers that I can handle. Maintaining a household alone is… Very rough under the circumstances but it is what it is.
All that said, HIGHLY recommend staying active enough that you are tired at the end of the day and having an alarm clock with a bright light on it, or a dawn simulation ideally with smart lighting, a special alarm clock, or a diy solution with a full spectrum lamp and an aquarium timer (guess which one I did during college). Maintaining a good schedule and waking up in the AM feeling at least reasonably well rested is paramount, everything else goes to hell if that isn’t maintained, and if I’m not physically active during the day, no amount of melatonin will get me to sleep within a routine.
Light alarm clock sure is a game changer. Isn’t there something that is primarily an anti-depressant, but also works with panic disorder and ADHD? I just know that there are many where 2 of the 3 overlap. But sure, a stimulant would be bad for you.
I have strangely also been in states, over years, where caffeine induces panic. In hindsight, it might have been as simple as a magnesium deficit, but no doctor bothered to check.
I’ve even had benzo prescriptions over years, and cut it down to 0 with relatively high magnesium supplements. Not saying it is the same in your case, extremely unlikely even, just the general concept that something has been missed.
Pretty sure it’s bupropion.
Thanks, hope that helps OP! Paroxetine also comes close, at least. Prescribed against both depression AND anxiety. My feeling that it works against ADHD is anecdotal, though, as it started a massive productivity phase with no problems to balance workout, family and a challenging job, but one quick search finds this: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16669726/
Paroxetine had no effect on ADHD.
Drink an abhorrent amount of caffeine.
THC nicotine caffeine
Set reasonable goals they are easier to accomplish
Amen to that (same)
Before I was diagnosed?
Poorly, very poorly lol
It literally felt like I was try to fill a bucket with sand and the only shovel I had was a sieve.
I’d literally have to wake up 5-6 hours before I had to be anywhere just to make sure I could finish my breakfast and coffee before leaving. And then I’d still more often than not finish eating or drinking my coffee in the car on the way.
I feel you on the “Having to stop a med because of the side effects,” before I was diagnosed with ADHD I was diagnosed with anxiety and I tried about a dozen different meds for it ovwr the years before calling that off and just going unmedicated. Funnily enough after my ADHD diagnosis and getting on the meds I am now (Straterra) I’ve only had 1 panic attack in the last year vs one a week or so. And I’m able to start and finish tasks. It’s fucking witchcraft.
It literally felt like I was try to fill a bucket with sand and the only shovel I had was a sieve.
Couldn’t have said it better tbh
Caffeine and THC. Go away with your prescription drugs!
THC unfortunately does not help with studying for my physics exam 🥲
CBD+caffeine
Worth a shot, cbd has helped in the past
Pair that, coffee, and regular physical activity ftw
Also, lots of water.
heart exploding levels of caffeine, just keep adding more it works eventually
(do not do this I had to survive college somehow and was desperate)
caffeine tolerance increases very quickly, so one has to constantly increase the dose for it to be effective. I am currently trying to get a diagnosis after procrastinating for too long on that (why the hell does getting help to overcome my problems require me to overcome my problems). Not sure how caffeine exactly works in adhd brains but for me as how i understand it works in neurotypical also it should be possible to reverse the tolerance for caffeine by spending 2-5 days without any. Having gone through that i can say you need to be prepared to just lay in bed for that time.
Brother I am a physics student. I already am doing this. Just didn’t have enough coffee today I guess
I suppose I cope by having almost 40 years of coping mechanisms that I use to keep me mostly okay. I let my mind fugue in the morning when I wake up. I have a routine that I try to stick to. I have a job that allows me to hyper focus on problems and get the dopamine hit from solving those problems. I don’t have to interact with others for the most part to do my job. I spend a lot of time at home, use ear plugs, or headphones etc. if I can’t make my mind focus I try to do something else. I take breaks. I set alarms for just about everything. And reminders. So many reminders. I also have a very supportive partner. I’m sure there’s other stuff I had to learn to do to mask that I’m forgetting. But for the most part things just work because I put a lot of work into making them work and even then I am not always successful.
I run on auto pilot most of the time. I can’t forget something I didn’t remember to do to begin with. Double, triple, and quadruple check. The double check to be sure and the tripe and quadruple check because I forgot I’ve already double-checked.
Caffeine, lots.
THC, caffeine, and more caffeine
Honestly? Forty years of practice, anxiety spikes, external motivations positive and negative, fugue states… and I’m still barely getting by. I just paid $600 of late fees because I forgot to file my state income tax ten years ago. I’m sure I did them when I did my federal, I just… never sent it in? I guess???
I find that pre-workout mixes with caffeine and creatine tend to help me.
Just worth noting, creatine causes your muscles “soak up” more water so you’ll need to drink more to keep the rest of your body hydrated.
Unfortunately I have a kidney issue and creatine is not an option 😔
