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Ritalin.
I’d heard all the stories about zombie kids and such. Then at 30 I was diagnosed with ADHD and it explained so much. My first ritalin was a life changer. Not a zombie - I could focus on what I wanted to, get things started, music stuck in my head gone, so many other things. Not perfect, but so much better.
I’m still pissed that for most of my life since I haven’t been able to have it or anything else to help.
I’m amazed at how many parents, including ones of my generation [millenials], are afraid of ADHD medication. Especially considering the volume of research on ADHD and the effectiveness of stimulants that has come out since the 90’s.
“But it will change little Timmy’s personality.”
Yeah, that’s hyperactivity. Not his personality. People don’t normally act like the Looney Toons Tazmanian Devil on crack.
“But he might become dependent on it.”
And i’m sure people with missing limbs spend a lot of time worrying about becoming dependent on prosthetics. You know what you should really be concerned about him becoming dependent on? Drugs and alcohol. Because self-medicating is real and the statistics are not in Timmy’s favor.
I have a below-knee amputation. I AM dependent on my prosthesis to get around. lol
That’s the thing I especially liked about the ritalin - no waiting days for it to get to a working level, it kicked in, worked, and when it was gone, it was GONE. heh. Which meant I could take it when I wanted to get stuff done, and if I didn’t care about getting stuff done, I could refrain from taking it, and that worked perfectly.
And the zombie thing - I’d almost said - but I realized after my experiences on it… yeah, kid might look like a zombie because instead of being distracted by everything, they’re sitting there concentrating on their work, getting shit done. Not staring-into-space zombie, GETTING-SHIT-DONE-POWERHOUSE lol.
Keeping and maintaining ADHD medication is so freaking difficult these days. It’s exhausting.
My wife has AuDHD - diagnosed with ADHD about the same time I was (age 30 for her, too). She’s still able to take meds, and yeah, it is a damn struggle every single month.
And recently, the hospital system her PCP is in changed the rules so that you have to have therapists re-confirm the diagnosis every three months. She already had to drug-test every three months (ironically to make sure it was detected so they know she’s taking them and not selling them… :eyeroll:)
Yeah my boy friends pharmacy refused to fill his script because they deemed his dose so high and called all the pharmacies around so his doctor had to lower his dose and now it doesn’t do anything for him. Yeah it sucks to have ADHD these days.
Ah, for fucks sake.
In fairness to pharmacies in general, what many don’t know is that a pharmacist has more medical training than a doctor on medications and how they interact, so doctors do listen to pharmacists on that topic (typically) - and have reason to do so.
That said, this sounds like bullshit to me. A doctor or psychiatrist probably knows the dosage better imho, so this fucking stinks.
I’m sorry :(
Yeah he’s been on that dosage for years through 4 different doctors. It’s not like this current one just started him at a high dose. He’s one of those people who metabolizes his meds very fast. Like give him a 20mg adderall and give him a drug test 8 hours later and he’ll pass, kinda fast. Every medication he’s on is a higher dose than average. And the pharmacist can see everything he’s on too.
Ay, I’m so glad you found what works for you! ☺️
lol, sounds like you didn’t catch my last sentence, but no worries, I found it amusing <3
I’m reading correctly you have it now, right? I’m glad you have it now :)
lol, this is completely unimportant
but
No, I had it initially, and then - as I said - I haven’t had it since then, alas.
Ah, okay. I misunderstood what was meant by your first comment
If they’re experience was anything like mine, the first two to three days is the only really effective time. There are other lasting effects, but nothing compared to the first few days. Those days are a tiny glimpse into what life COULD be like with a more neurotypical brain, but we don’t usually get to stay that way.
I was able to have it for around a year, give or take, but they kept trying to send me to the therapist for something like an annual re-diagnosis or something - “Yes, he still has it!” I guess… this was 2007-2008 and in a small metro. So I wasn’t able to keep it.
I think that’s long enough for the initial to wear down a little, but they did put me on 20mg tid, so while sometimes I did get a little energy boost, for the most part, that was what worked the best - and I could absolutely easily sleep on that, tending to support the level. heh.
The initial dose I had was 10mg, and yeah, after a while they bumped it to 20mg because I adjusted a bit, but it was still useful as long as I had it.
But as you allude - I even still remember how it felt, and I’ve been able to tap into that a little bit. Not to overcome executive disfunction, but it somehow helps me focus when I want to a little better somehow. Somehow just having it helped me accommodate a little better. Sometimes. Well, occasionally. Well, it feels like it anyway, or I can at least say “I know what I would do if I was on ritalin right now” hehehe