I got diagnosed with ADHD last week. I already got diagnosed two years ago, but ignored my diagnosis. Got prescribed a modified release Methylphenidate that I'm supposed to take everyday, start with 10mg for the first two weeks, then up my dosage to 20mg for another two weeks and then up my dosage to 30mg after another two weeks (does that even make sense? from the stuff I read online people keep saying they only take it every other day during the week and I'm supposed to take it daily and up my dosage at that?). I'm quiet skeptical about ADHD so I my question is – aren't the meds going to make me feel worse long term? I grew up as a chronically online/chronically in front of the computer/the TV kid, pretty sure I fried my dopamine receptors very early on in life and couldn't feel joy ever since. If meds are supposed to make your brain produce more dopamine/make it feel better with the amount it already has, aren't they going to fry my dopamine receptors/perception of happiness even more long term when I get off the meds? Once MPH is out of my system, isn't the happiness/pleasure threshold raised again, but much much higher? There also seems to be very little research in terms of actualy long term permanent side effects, it all just seems so fishy/scammy, I don't know.

>>33318842 (OP)
>skeptical about ADHD
what issue are you going to the doctor with?
>dopamine
yeah pretty much
its a bandaid which you *could* become reliant on

>>33318920
>what issue are you going to the doctor with?
yeah, well, I gave it a try, since everyone everywhere is constantly talking about it, new symptoms are constantly being associated with ADHD etc. Maybe I phrased the thread subject wrong, I do believe ADHD is a thing, but maybe a bit blown out of proportion... Especially in terms of treatment, it sounds insane to me to prescrive amphetamine derivatives to people who have never taken any "serious" drug that could potentially carry a lot of permanent side effects. People are like "meds changed my life, I feel so much better", yeah man, no wonder, you just got a literal shot of amphetamine into your bloodstream and your fried dopamine receptors felt something they haven't felt since the time you've burned them by doom scrolling for 12 hours straight. I don't know, it's weird.

>>33318920
I'm not sure if I understood the question, so I'll elaborate – the issue I went to the doctor with and go to therapy for is chronic anhedonia, lack of motivation, feeling like I don't have the drive to do anything in life and don't care anymore to achieve anything, just general feeling of doom and not being able to get anything done. Everything feels like a monumental, insurmountable thing to do, starting activities is hard, finishing them is even harder and getting joy out of them is impossible (even "pleasurable" stuff like watching movies, playing video games, listening to music etc). I don't have depression, at least that's what psychiatrists and my therapist tell me. I can get out of bed, I take care of myself etc. but it's all so hard, daunting, unfulfilling and boring. Also have a huge problem making decisions, it's literal hell the way I'm indecisive. I can't finish stuff, I get distracted, I keep putting stuff off until last minute, until I'm forced to do it because of potential repercussions. On top of that, I'm constantly "afraid" to do things, afraid to meet, people, afraid to go out, afraid to try something new, there's always something anxious going on in the back of my head. I guess that would do it for a short summary.

>>33318963
Even the most trusted meds aren't curative, and they're tools to help you build yourself out of those habits/mindsets and form new neural connections to deal with your problems. A compounding factor when determining efficacy or even safety of meds is that many just take pills and hope their problems away, which doesn't work to create lasting change, and once the meds stop working you're right back to square 1. So, you should consider the psychological and behavioral aspect regardless of if you choose to use them, and, if you haven't given an earnest try to using behavioral modification methods, maybe consider those first. Consider CBT or DBT, or hell, consider doing everything you can to simplify life and detox from the things crowding your head. I have similar symptoms, though no diagnosis because I never sought one, and I can tell you that spending 3-4 years without a cellphone, spending a lot less time with screens or pointless bullshit that didn't actually exist, working simple manual labor jobs, and generally just trying to keep my attention within my immediate circumstances had me feeling much better and less overwhelmed. Your attention span increases when you have less short form, immediate gratification distractions around, you're less squirrel-brained about mundane trash like politics or the state of the world or how your life compares to unrealistic internet personalities, and eventually you can appreciate what you have more. Also, if you haven't ever tried them, consider using psychedelics once or twice, they can change your whole perspective for a while if you use them with the right intention, in the right setting. You're not broken, you're perfectly adapted to your environment, it just happens that your environment is filled with poison and distractions. If you change your environment, control your mindset, and cut out all the noise, what you'll be left with is what will have meaning, and in meaning joy can be found.

>>33318842 (OP)
>Are ADHD meds a scam?
Yes and no. Yes they get over prescribed to kids who are energetic, big pharma counts on retarded parents to get their children misdiagnosed so they make $$$.

No because the meds themselves genuinely help people with actual ADHD. They don't cure you, they won't make your life amazing overnight, but they help you focus just enough to learn better habits.

>Is ADHD itself a scam?
No. It's real. It can be found genetically (shank-2 gene) and identified in neurology (malformed prefrontal cortex). The brain is a physical organ. We don't doubt physical disorders or conditions, but we doubt brain conditions despite it being physical too because we can't see the disability in a skull. But it's there and is real. What people debate is the explanation for it's cause.

Some people say it's trauma related, others say it's environmental, some say genetic, some say it's all three. Some wacky theories point to ancestral hunter/farmer theories that suggest ADHD is a genetical holdover back when we were hunter gatherers. Some dumb theories claim it's because of lead paint intoxication.

No matter the cause, it's real.

>I grew up as a chronically online/chronically in front of the computer/the TV kid, pretty sure I fried my dopamine receptors very early on in life and couldn't feel joy ever since. If meds are supposed to make your brain produce more dopamine/make it feel better with the amount it already has, aren't they going to fry my dopamine receptors/perception of happiness even more long term when I get off the meds?

Dopamine isn't the happy chemical. That'd be oxytocin and endorphins. Dopamine plays a role, but dopamine is to do with satisfaction. Happiness like contentment or love would be different.

Anyway I was a TV/screen kid too. I have ADHD as well. You could blame screen time. Or alternatively, take it as evidence of ADHD. An ADHD kid can't hold onto dopamine. So what does he do? Stays hooked to screens to self-medicate.

>>33319049
beautifully written, thank you for this.
>>33319084
do you take meds for your ADHD? If yes, how do you feel when taking them vs. not taking them? Also, if you are taking them, does it get better? Does the brain fry from being a screen kid go away and you feel motivated to do stuff, or I don't know, just like life's worth living or something?

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>>33318842 (OP)
>will it make it worse long term
Try it and find out
>will it fry my dopamine
No. That isnt how it works.
Your brain will accommodate changes in neurochemistry. Worst case it builds more receptors to accommodate your daily dose and then you wont feel anything.
If you stopped, your brain, in very much the same fashion, will down regulate to accommodate not having that daily dopamine spike.

Tik tok does more "damage" than methylphenidate can, even. People (who generally dont understand neurochemistry) really panic about the wrong things.

But anyway, I digress, try the medication, see how it works for you. If you dont like it, you can stop. Your brain will go back to normal. Its fine.

>>33319084
>dopamine is satisfaction
Its motivation ya nut.

>>33318842 (OP)

Methylphenidat is a central nervous system stimulant, that means it makes your body go out of balance. End of story.
It makes dopamine/noradrenaline stay in your system for longer than it's supposed to and that puts stress on your whole body and mind. What do you expect from taking a stimulant drug? That it has no side effects?

It masks problems you have with your life and big pharma claims that it's medicine, but it's only masking the underlying issues you have with your life so you can be a productive member of the workforce.

Stimulants can be useful in certain exceptional scenarios but they should never be used daily. If you decide to try, try it once first and then see what happens. Maximum is 2-3 times per week, you should give your body time to heal. Although my advice would be to take it only with intention to complete a task that will directly benefit your life once.

I have to add that the first few times, even weeks of using might even feel fine, but it always gets worse and side effects actually increase over time. And when you take a break then you'd be fucked.

>>33323868
That's what I'm saying. I've been prescribed a modified release version, not an instant release one, so it's a little different. The modified released should be taken daily due to slower release. But still, it's taking drugs, that's why I'm hesitant and like you're saying, it feels scammy. I don't really believe in the "big pharma" stuff, or some conspiracy do enslave us all, but I do think it's a business that thrives off of people in need and people in ADHD definitely are valunerable and in need, so it makes them easy to exploit and I want to avoid that.
On the other hand, I feel like I've tried everything and nothing works, it's just as if my mind was completely different from a regular person and it's slowly killing me.

>>33319123
>do you take meds for your ADHD?
Yep

>How do you feel when taking them
At first it was weird, I felt like a robot, felt like my soul was wearing a condom. My head felt 'tight'. I was given so much focus and had no idea where to put it. Once I got used to it, it got better and helped me function.

>Not taking them?
Tired as shit, wanna sleep all day, brainfogged.

>Does the brain fry from being a screen kid go away and you feel motivated to do stuff? Or I do t know, just like life's worth living or something?

Yes. But not because of the meds. Ultimately it goes away when you find something(s) in life to be motivated for. If you have nothing to feel motivated for, you will feel zero motivation, period. When I got a job and a wife and a kid on the way, I found everything worth living for. That was from my efforts. Those efforts were easier to execute thanks to meds in part, but ultimately it was done to me to go and start small steps towards developing a structure and a routine.

>Tired as shit, wanna sleep all day, brainfogged.
As in, the same as you've felt before ever taking the meds, or worse, with a visibly lowered "baseline" of feeling bad?
>Ultimately it goes away when you find something(s) in life to be motivated for.
That's the thing for me, I used to have dreams, I used to care about what happens to me and my life. Now I've just given up and I'm "only" 28 years old. The anxiety I feel is purely instinctual/primal, as in, fight or flight or self-preservation, because when I rationalize, I don't really care much about most things... It's slowly killing me.

>>33324060
didn't click the ID to reply, so just for the record I was replying to this of course.

>>33324250
>As in, the same as you've felt before ever taking the meds, or worse, with a visibly lowered "baseline" of feeling bad?
Honestly I can't remember. I wanna say worse but I am not sure if that's true. Simply because I am aware of what normalisation feels like. Back when I was unmedded, that Brian foggy tired and focus-less state was my 'normal'. When I took meds for the first time it was so different and weird and strange but it became my new normal. So when I go off of them, the old mindset feels more potent that I remember. Hard to say.

>That's the thing for me, I used to have dreams, I used to care about what happens to me and my life. Now I've just given up and I'm "only" 28 years old. The anxiety I feel is purely instinctual/primal, as in, fight or flight or self-preservation, because when I rationalize, I don't really care much about most things... It's slowly killing me.

Yeah it was like that for me. I didn't get my life into shape until I was 29. The biggest thing that held me back was my own thoughts, honestly. I was blind to so many opportunities precisely because all Id do all day long was maladaptive daydreaming and rumination. All I would do was intellectualise my own suffering, until I could no longer identify my own emotions. Just locked up in my own head like a fool.

Anyway the way out of it is to rely less on your thinking, more on your actions. Even if you don't feel like doing shit just do it anyway. Do it while feeling shit. Anything, man. Walking a dog, cleaning the dishes, going on a trip, anything that uses your body. It shuts the mind up. Meds can help in so far as it gives you all that focus and you crave to do something to go spend it somewhere. But I'm sure it can be done without meds.

ADHD means requiring some shit to fidget with to process stimuli. If you aren't fidgeting with your body aka going and doing shit, then it will pick your thoughts to fidget with instead. You will pick at yourself mentally

>>33324517
>I was blind to so many opportunities precisely because all Id do all day long was maladaptive daydreaming and rumination. All I would do was intellectualise my own suffering, until I could no longer identify my own emotions. Just locked up in my own head like a fool.
This 1:1 sounds like me. Scary.

>Anyway the way out of it is to rely less on your thinking, more on your actions. Even if you don't feel like doing shit just do it anyway. Do it while feeling shit. Anything, man. Walking a dog, cleaning the dishes, going on a trip, anything that uses your body. It shuts the mind up.
Fuck, I know this is the way, I know it because it has worked in the past, just going out there and doing it. I make music and I tend to "wait around for inspiration" which of course never comes and I end up doing nothing for months on end, but then one day I'll just sit at the desk and make something great by forcing myself to do it. But that's the problem, the starting phase of stuff, the "forcing myself" part... and the the "finishing" part... and then everything else that makes everything seem monumental and insurmountable... It's so fucking hard.
>Meds can help in so far as it gives you all that focus and you crave to do something to go spend it somewhere. But I'm sure it can be done without meds.
So you'd say it can be done without meds? I mean, feeling better the way you feel better after the meds? Or do you think it's quiet impossible to push yourself to the "starting" phase of doing stuff without meds?

>>33324819
>This 1:1 sounds like me. Scary.

That's cuz you got the same disorder as me. What I described there was the emotional dysregulation and maladaptive daydreaming that ADHD comes with. At least the inattentive kind. Adhds are all their own individuals but there's some funny similarities between us all. (Notice how many ADHDs type in parenthesis like this to include more bonus content to their writing lmao. Seriously, scroll up and count or watch for it future ADHD threads.)

>It's so fucking hard.
It is. That's why you gotta roll with the ADHD. You are never going to get rid of it, neither am I. There's no cure. We will die being this way. So the logical move is to lean into your ADHD. That means stop trying to do things the normie way. You can't force yourself to start something? So don't force yourself to start something. If you feel like you need to start making music, don't make music. Do something entirely different. Don't choose it consciously, just let yourself glide into 'side-questing'. Example: I need to do dishes. I can't be assed. Instead I end up going to the store. Then walk the dog. Then whatever. I'm still doing stuff. It's not the stuff I wanted. Eventually I get around to doing it, side questing into the main quest. It still gets done.

If I were to sit there and force it and force it, I'd end up in a mental knot and nothing gets done. So listen to your ADHD. If it doesnt wanna do something, don't do it. Let yourself be as ADHD as fuck. Respect the ADHD and it will respect you.

>>33318842 (OP)
Let me preface this by saying my (undiagnosed) ADHD might be on the milder side, so this advice might not work for you.

Stumbled upon this post in an ADHD related thread sometime back, helped me start managing it on my own, without meds.

Other than what's said in the pic, start eating healthy. Most importantly, cut out caffeine and sugar or foods containing sugar. It will be hard at first to give up on favourite snacks, so do it gradually. Give yourself one day of the week to really indulge, but otherwise try to stay off it.

Pick up a book if you don't read (chances are you don't, because it's hard to focus on long stretches of text with ADHD). This site readwok.com was a huge help for me as it allows you to read regular books one paragraph at a time, think like reading a VN.

Hope this helps, good luck.

>>33325775
Saved the screenshot, thanks a lot!

>cut out caffeine and sugar or foods containing sugar.

That's impossible for me... The caffeine I can cut out (isn't it helpful for ADHD though?), but the sugar is impossible, unless you mean like added sugar, something like a Snickers bar or something, then that's fine.
It's just everything has sugar and I'm talking about natural sugar, like fruit, vegetables, nuts etc. I eat all that and it has quiet a lot of natural simple sugars too, so I'd have to start Keto or something for that, which I simply can't.

>>33325197
>(Notice how many ADHDs type in parenthesis like this to include more bonus content to their writing lmao. Seriously, scroll up and count or watch for it future ADHD threads.)
Holy FUCK, I do the parenthesis shit like ALL THE FUCKING time, wow.
But to kinda bump my meds question, do you think you'd be able to manage your ADHD without ever starting meds? Or do you think they're important?

>>33318842 (OP)
Humans have been making all sorts of different things day-to-day during the last 300K years
hunting, gathering, crafting, growing stuff, raising cattle, leisuring, battling neighbors, running, swimming, sexing, raising their kids, etc.
notice how an 'ADHD' person would have been perfectly fine doing a little of this, a little of that every day in a primitive society

here comes mr Shekelberg who needs you to sit at a desk for 8 hours straight. of course, some people can't do it, so he comes up with an 'illness' and its treatment:
you're being rewired into a good obedient slave thanks to chemical dopamine.

>>33327690
>here comes mr Shekelberg who needs you to sit at a desk for 8 hours straight. of course, some people can't do it, so he comes up with an 'illness' and its treatment:
>you're being rewired into a good obedient slave thanks to chemical dopamine.
yeah, pretty much. I don't really believe in the whole "jewish conspiracy" thing, but I guess the whole 9-5 desk job that is slowly killing you is very much real and making people extremely unhappy. Whether ADHD is a normal thing or not – I don't know, but I'm pretty sure the constraints imposed by modern society force a certain mentality/desired behaviour which is definetely not ADHD friendly and wants you to be as fitting to the rest of society as possible.

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>>33319049
I wasn't told any of this when I was prescribed MPH. This is starting to sound like a whole lot of placebo and I'm not surprised in the slightest

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>>33327659
>do you think you'd be able to manage your ADHD without ever starting meds? Or do you think they're important?

For me? I definitely needed the meds. It wasn't until 27 when I got a rough idea that I had ADHD, and I was 28 when diagnosed, almost 29 when I got my prescription. I built up a lot of shit habits, lack of routine, misery and complete aimlessness my whole life when I went undiagnosed and had no clue. I also was juggling cPTSD as well from a very volatile and aggressively abusive upbringing too. I don't think I could have managed my ADHD without the meds. I believe I can now though, since Ive been thriving and have unlearned a lot of unhelpful shit and learned how to structure myself.

>>33329476
>I also was juggling cPTSD as well from a very volatile and aggressively abusive upbringing too.
Are you me? wtf. Did you do something about the cPTSD? I suspect I might have that as well, also from a shitty, volatile upbringing. Did you take any meds specifically for cPTSD? Or did perhaps the ADHD meds help with that a bit?
Seriously, the stuff you’re describing about yourself sounds like my life, the age bracket is also very similar I believe. I’m 28 now, how old are you?

>>33329581
32 now. cPTSD I somehow managed to quell on my own, read some neat literature on it, some helpful emotional and mental exercises like socratic dialogue, and finding my relationship to God was the biggest proponent to my growth and overcoming it. And of course, moving away from my family & getting my act together kept me progressing.

>>33318842 (OP)
ADHD is not overstated and ADHD meds are a wonderful thing. Amphetamines are perfectly fine at the doses they're prescribed. However, different medications treat different people differently. I personally fucking hate every amphetamine because it makes me feel a sense of deep urgency and also because it makes me so horny it's distracting. Some meds (like elvanse/lisdexamfetamine) were really, really bad for this, and also came with a horrid comedown. But it was perfectly fine to try, I just wouldn't want to live like that.
>>33318951
When we say we feel better we're not talking about the dopamine, we're talking about the fact we can actually pay our bills and reply to our emails and do our homework, depending on what stage of life we're at.
Anyway I fucking hate the way amphetamines make me feel so I take bupropion. There's no high and no comedown whatsoever. I love it.

>>33330765
Oh, to add to this, OP: There's two excellent non-amphetamine meds out there right now for ADHD. Bupropion (my fav) and atomoxetine. Atomoxetine also had no high or comedown for me, which I loved, but it also sent my heart rate into the stratosphere which was not ideal. It doesn't do that for the overwhelming majority of people though.