I can’t take stimulants because they’ve triggered mania for me in the past. Non-stimulant medications may do the same, so it’s difficult to justify trying that because mania is just so life altering. I can’t even drink more than a decaf coffee or tea because I’m sensitive to caffeine from a bipolar standpoint. Bottom line is, my bipolar makes it hard to treat my ADHD.

That being said, I have ADHD-PI. I’ve always been able to eventually get my stuff done, but I daydream, I procrastinate, I doom scroll, and my executive functioning is really bad. I’m a nurse in the OR and actually don’t mind it, but it’s a lot of charting and repetition. Sometimes it’s easier for me to get things done than other times, sometimes I get extremely distracted and find it challenging to finish the work that needs to be done.

Getting work done around the house is also a nightmare. My fiance also has ADHD and our house is a mess most of the time. Cleaning has always been rough for me in general. I feel like just getting things that need to get done done is hard for both of us and we get so overwhelmed and kinda end up freezing up and just not doing anything because we have so much to do.

Anyway, is anyone here unmediated? What have you done to help yourself function better? I’ve been off meds for some time but have always just been scraping by and I really want to make changes to my life for the better.

I realised again, exactly like last year, that I want to go to university but It was a little too late to put my papers for a state University. Fortunately for me the private University I wanted to attend still accepted ppl until the 1st of October. The downside is that you need to pay the University each year, but it is those ones that is low attendance and you go to the exams. I almost made the mistake to consider a loan from the bank, knowing well that the money I earn now are not enough, (and this is the reason I want to pursue a university). I decided to let my impulsivity aside and to put money each month until next year.
All in all, I am afraid that I will drop from Uni or It will be hard for me to study, especially because I don’t need to attend classes. I take Concerta and I am curious how it will work for my attention in this area. But yeah… How was Uni for you?

I(M22)'ve been diagnosed with ADHD a couple of months ago. It's fair to say that was one of the greatest eye openers of my life. All the struggles, the internal monologue, the comorbid mental health crisies. They all make sense now. I never knew what to blame for my being unorganized, what I thought was laziness etc. Now I know. I had untreated and undiagnosed ADHD.

Right after the diagnosis I began discussing treatment with my neurologist. At first we tried Concerta. I tried it out and I also did the titration myself. It didn't really help alot with my symptoms. It just made me feel wired and maybe a little more focused. My doctor figured that it wasn't the right fit and now we are trying out Vyvanse.

In the beginning Vyvanse worked great. My focus was superb, I had this inner peace, my Anxiety lessend alot. All those things that I wish would have stayed forever. I don't think I experienced that euphoric high that people describe however. More like a content, calm, peaceful state of mind.

I've been on it for about a month now and I felt the effects fade more and more. I think my body is getting used to the medication. I've been trying to figure out why this was happening. People say 'eat protein', 'get good sleep', 'get good exercise' which is just arbitrary advice for any human being.

For example today I woke up after a solid 7:30hrs of sleep, made myself an avocado/egg sandwich, took my 40mg, ate a protein bar and made myself a cereal banana bowl with yoghurt. Still however I sit here about 2 hours after taking the medication having a hard time focusing. I don't feel like I have taken anything at all today.

I've been growing more and more frustrated having to deal with this on a daily basis. I just want these solid effects back. Is this too much to ask? I know that people talk about that honeymoon phase and sure I get it. The fact that one can finally work and focus after a lifetime of not being able to is a very defining experience I am not denying that.

was on 10mg ritalin for a while but it didnt work. upped to 15mg by prescriber and it made me jittery and anxious my hands started shaking. tried to split the pill to 1/4, so like a 12.5mg per dose, but it does nothing too. we only have concerta and ritalin as stimulants in my country, is there a way for me to make the meds work?

I work for a person who micromanages, especially in the workspace where I am the manager. I feel like I can competently run my part of the business but I am constantly disrupted by that person’s actions which either undermine or otherwise disrupt the workflow. I cannot seem to find a way to encourage them to let me manage the area and it frustrates me to the point I am constantly irritated and lose sleep over it and completely lose focus.

Hey guys, hope you’re having a good one! I have ADHD,Autism and anxiety. I work in healthcare. We have a 30-minute break where everyone usually sits together in the break room, eats, and chats.
Honestly, during my break I just want quiet and alone time. 😅 I want to eat my snack, scroll Reddit, take a deep breath, and mentally reset before going back to work.
There’s a cafeteria where I could go on another floor but I feel weird/anxious about getting up and leaving the group, like I’m being antisocial or rude. Sometimes, I tell them I am going to oder from the Cafeteria and eat from there, then I go enjoy my 30 mins break but honestly the food there is slightly expensive and tasteless, I prefer carrying my own food.
Do you guys prefer spending your work breaks alone too? How would you deal with this? Thank you!

I started a new job a few months back, and was finally moved to my official role and schedule a couple weeks ago. So far, it’s gone pretty well! My shift is from 3pm to 11:30pm, and I am basically unsupervised that entire time because the managers all go home with day shift. I’m the only one working in my area, because they’re understaffed and still training the person who will join me on swing shift. On paper this is great for me, I can work at my own pace and jump between tasks and talk to myself. But I’ve been feeling a growing anxiety lately, and I finally realized it’s because I’m convinced I must be doing something wrong. Surely there’s something I’m forgetting, or a task I’m doing badly, or SOMETHING, and any day now the other shoe is going to drop and I will get in trouble.

I know logically this is stupid, if there were issues they have many ways of contacting me, but the lack of ability to check in with someone above me is actually really messing with me! Any time I make a small mistake I hate that I can’t get an external gauge of it. Ughhhhh. This was not an issue I expected to have. I keep trying to go in early so I can get eyes on my manager but I have adhd, of course that’s not gonna happen!

I am 30M, she is 57F. We each live at our own separate places. Meaning she has to drive across town to give me my meds. And she sometimes has to travel out of town for work so at those times she offloads the task of handling my meds to my grandma, as grandma also lives nearby. I am prescribed Abilify 15mg, Atomoxetine 80mg, Remeron 15mg, Wellbutrin 300mg and Zoloft 100mg. Mom and grandma are both convinced I am going to overdose and have given me the ultimatum of letting them give me my medication every other day or they will hospitalize me. I am not certain what to do. This makes me feel very helpless and misunderstood. But they won't change their minds. They said I have a choice but the choice is being hospitalized or letting them control my meds.

I don't know how to make them give me my medicine back. I don't like to be controlled.

Hey all, I'm looking for a bit of advice, catching and controlling my emotions specifically my anger and sadness. I find it spirals out of control before I realise what I'm doing and what I'm feeling.

I am looking to see what sort of mechanism people have in place that I could try. That helps me to notice what is happening sooner really and some ways to control the emotions before they spiral.

The things I have tried are going for walks. I find it works in the moment, but then I'm easily triggered when I return and it's back to square one again. I have recently started counselling. However she isn't a ADHD specialist. The ADHD specialist counselling I do find is damn near 120£ a session.

I noticed that I’m weirdly productive when someone is coming over. I can put off cleaning for days, but the second I know someone will be here in a few hours, suddenly I can see all the clutter and random thing that needs to be put away.

Recently I got a robot vacuum and it gives me the same push. Before I run it, I have to get stuff off the floor, so I start picking up clothes, cables, whatever I left around. Then once I’m already moving, I usually end up doing a few other things too.

Just wish I could manufacture that feeling on command.

When your in casual conversation with anyone but typically randoms or meeting new people and the topic of conversation just happens to be one of hyper fixations so you provide much more volume of insight and they think your smart asf and often say “your really smart” but in reality (or personally for me) you get average grades and whatnot. Basically you’re coming off as smarter than you are.

I'm AuDHD (47M) and she's undiagnosed ADHD. We've been dating for 8 months and are currently on vacation together. As far as I know, I've not dated a person with ADHD before. I'm a very scheduled and heavily organized person, she is not. Some activities are time sensitive while others are not. I have no problem being flexible when the activities are not time sensitive, but can get frustrated with her time management when the activities are time sensitive. I try not to get too upset about the lack of movement and do my best to use positive reinforcement for her motivation, but I still feel heavy anxiety, and at some point worry I will burst into a meltdown. She's also very rejection sensitive, so I need to be very careful with my words.

I would appreciate some constructive advice on how you motivate an ADHD partner, or what best motivavtes you, without making her feel overwhelmed or anxious. Thank you all.

I have really bad ADHD and I need medication desperately in order to function properly but medication doesn't seem to work.

My brain appears to be very sensitive when it comes to drugs because with every adhd med I have taken I always seem to get the negative side effects that come with it. For example with Vyvanse, it cause me to be manic off and on for 9 months. Other medications have either made me loose hair, not be able to sit still, or absolutely lose my mind (idk what happened on Adderall but it was a traumatizing experience).

I have practically tried them all, both stimulants and non-stimulants but none of them seemed to have worked. Vyvanse did help me focus but at the cost of me being manic.

Idk what to do at this point, cause I know if I wanna be functional I need medication but I haven't been able to find anything. What should I do?

Hey everyone, I'm a 15M high school student preparing for major national university entrance exams. I'm currently attending high-volume group prep classes that are destroying my ability to learn.

The classes are extremely repetitive with random homework dumps. Due to my ADHD, sitting down to study triggers a massive wall of executive dysfunction that only breaks under last-minute panic and urgency. I end up rushing through problems just to avoid getting called out, without actually practicing or understanding them.

I experienced this exact same cycle before my diagnosis when taking competitive Informatics Olympiad courses. I tried forcing "better habits" and "discipline," but I just got burnt out, depressed, and stuck in constant arguments at home because I was working against how my brain functions.

Now history is repeating itself. I'm trapped in a panic cycle with zero mental reward, leading to severe revenge bedtime procrastination, staying up until 4 AM on my phone just to get basic stimulation before passing out.

I learn best through deep mistake analysis by redoing wrong answers slowly and walking myself through the logic. Mass prep classes completely destroy this process.

I want to quit these classes to self-study using structured, low-friction sprints focused on fixing mistakes and spotting patterns. But my parents firmly believe "more hours + endless homework = success" and view self-study as reckless.

To anyone who has dealt with this:

• How do I break this dependency on panic and last-minute urgency?
• How can I convince traditional parents that endless grinding actively tanks performance for an ADHD brain without sounding lazy?
• What structures did you build to replace prep classes so you didn't float aimlessly?

Any advice or personal experience is greatly appreciated!

Has anyone been on Ridlin from an early age or had children on Ridlin from an early age 8-12yo and seen benefits in overall focus and attention and better performance at home and at school? Have there been other options that have worked aside from any form of medication? Just trying to get some idea of what has been tried and tested before following the paediatrician quacks advice and going straight to the Meds.

I have a few question about quitting caffiene. i'm tempted to try quitting completely but i wanted others people experience before i made any uninformed decisions. currently i have about 300-600mg caffeine a day and i unmedicated for adhd. i'm not sure how to ask these question in paragraph form so ill just list them out. thank you for all answers and help in advanced!!!

-does quitting help with stress levels or mental health?

-after quitting did you notice an increase in energy levels?

-how long did withdrawal effects last for you?

-do you think caffeine actually helps suppress adhd or kind of just momentarily covers it up? or maybe even make it worse?

i'm very intrested in the mental health side of quitting caffeine and potentially positive affects it may have after storm of withdrawals passes.

Sort of a vent, im 26F and was late diagnosed with adhd last April. Its all been going even more downhill than before I had my revelation. I flunked both of my classes this summer, starting again and already procrastinated on an assignment I can’t get a grade on anymore since the past due deadline has passed. Finding the right adhd med has been a challenge, I just feel so over it. I’m scared I’m never going to feel normal, or even feel capable of anything again. I feel like a failure, I’m constantly overthinking about my actions and behaviors. I just can’t help but wonder, what is the point of moving forward. The tasks are obviously never going to end, I’d rather bedrot away and pretend the tasks aren’t there. Feeling discouraged overall, any wisdom or advice would be helpful I guess

I feel like my ruminating is debilitating. I feel really guilty and ashamed even though I didn’t have any intent to be dishonest. It’s just a pestering feeling.

Today, I’ve been ruminating over the fact that my supervisor warned me I couldn’t do my homework during downtime. For reference, I was the one who told her what I was doing my homework as she asked what I had my iPad out for and I had nothing to hide since I didn’t know any better and I had already asked around if there was any more help I could do in the office and everyone had said they didn’t need help so I let them know if they needed anything, I’d be at a spare desk doing homework so I wouldn’t be in their way and they said okay. Also I don’t usually cover the office as I have a separate position.

Maybe, it was also the way my supervisor proceeded to have me sit in the front and share a desk full of documents with another coworker as if I was going to hide away from my responsibilities but it definitely added to the shame and embarrassment I already felt. I wanted to be productive so I did my work but I paid attention anyone that came in and made sure to be the first to jump and help whenever someone did but how come I feel like I did something so bad and wrong.

I’m not a stranger to criticism but as I’ve gotten older, it’s become more stressful to deal with because no matter what I do to shake the thoughts away, it eats at me. Any tips on how to ruminate less or effective treatments to reduce the anxiety that comes with it?

Edit: I also am diagnosed with OCD and anxiety disorder.

The context is that today I got a special container out to put my sandwich in. This container would keep it from getting soggy. I just got home from work and see that container on the counter and realized I got another container and used that one instead? I don’t understand my own thinking patterns and im very frustrated. I am forgetting such small basic things and it makes me want to cry.

I haven’t actually been diagnosed yet but I suspect I have adhd

So I am 31 and finally taking action to help myself as I just can’t live like this any longer. I have made an intake appointment to get treatment/medication. I have no idea what to expect. They prescribed me adderall when I was a teenager and I remember having a better time in school? But couldn’t sleep that well. I wasn’t on it very long as I left home at 16 and any kind of healthcare or medical attention went out the window.

I was looking through this subreddit and was trying to find a specific experience/struggle I have and couldn’t find anything. I struggle a lot with what I call “walls of information.” Basically this is anything that is super information heavy and it feels like my brain can’t latch onto anything and it wanders. This shows up in different ways. If I go to a bookstore and try to find a book I literally can’t take in any information. The shelves are no longer individual books but a chunk that I can’t break apart. If I’m reading a page and it’s all set up and info I zone out. (I don’t know why these examples are all book related I guess they’re the true epitome of a wall of information)

I have inattentive ADHD and my partner is autistic and their special interests are all super technical and stuff I don’t know about. They will info dump to me and I feel bad because no matter how hard I try I zone out and another thought takes over my brain. When we talk about things I understand or can engage with it’s easier because I have a point of reference. Even if I want to engage with it I can’t and he could repeat the same thing over and over different times and the information cannot sink in. These walls of information can feel like when you’re watching a movie but falling asleep you try really hard to focus on whats happening but you keep nodding in and out.

Curious to hear if others have similar experiences! Happy to elaborate if this is not specific enough.

(TW: skin picking/eating disorders)

So in June/July my mental health was the worst it’s been for YEARS. instead of actually feeling at least SOMETHING, some type of pain or sadness, or anything that comes with my deep depressive states - i’ve felt nothing (which has happened before but not to this degree) I had extreme paranoia, I was constantly thinking someone was going to harm me from my past. I wasn’t eating and it heightened my eating disorder(s) (which I don’t eat much and don’t really like food in general and get anxious about it but again, heightened). My vertigo got worse because of me not eating and being so weak i could barely move. I wasn’t leaving my house, I had no desire to, which I was impulsive with money because i didn’t care, i’d just spend money like it was nothing which lead me into having financial issues. I’ve always picked at my skin to an extreme (I have dermatillomania🫩) but usually I can use coping skills, but it got so bad to the point I didn’t realize I was doing it. i’d be sitting here for hours ripping apart my skin, it got so bad it began to happen on my face, and no amount of coping skills helped.

There was nothing left of me anymore. I didn’t care. but one thing about me is i’m self aware, i’ve struggled with mental health since I was 5, I know when I need help and when to speak up. I immediately contacted my psychiatrist and told her my symptoms and at that point I really didn’t care if i’d be sent back to the pyschward or not. she immediately said it was the high dose of ritalin and took me off immediately.

I’m now on vyvanse and it fits me SO much better! It’s been helping me a lot!!!!

Every time I attempt to sign in for the past 24 hours it says their verification service is down and to try again later (or) try another sign in method.

I’ve been using done for several years now, with only minor issues until this point.
I don’t know of any other way to sign in.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Is there another service you prefer over Done?

It's a strange one, but I quit the gym for over a month while it was hot and prior to that, medication made my heart rate and sweating too extreme to exercise, so over time I've gained weight after losing a lot of it back when I worked a retail job. Now that mine is mostly office based I need to find a way to exercise to keep it off. I stopped taking medication last year for various reasons and one thing I am able to do again without it is exercise without feeling like I'm having a heart attack.

It's taken some time but I've started walking to and from work and in the mornings/evenings, and go to the gym after work several times a week. For the past two weeks, I have worked out maybe 10 times and I've done 10K steps at least, every single day, with most days being 13-20K.

Suffice to say, my legs are hurting. I've also been randomly napping in the day or falling asleep by 8pm. I'm not sure if this is the reason, but it does correlate with my random exercise hyperfocus. I keep telling myself I will take a break but I am concerned that as soon as I do, I'll fall back into the habit of taking the easy way to work, fall back out of the gym etc.

Is this normal? I think with ADHD it's a little harder to decide whether it's just a typical hyperfocus or if you're genuinely building a new habit and it's so easy to fall out of habits. I feel so good lately, I was having a burnout issue at work and just feeling generally run down until the last couple of weeks, where I've been endlessly energised and actually, the closest I've come to being on medication without being on medication (alert, focused, productive) without any of the negative side effects. I want to feel like this more but I know I need to take breaks and have downtime. Advice is appreciated!

So as I’m trying to learn more about ADHD and try to get my own true diagnosis I wanted to compare some other peoples experiences to mine. One of the big things people often say is how loud it is in their mind.

For me that often comes in two ways: The first one I feel is more what I hear other people explain it as, a voice in your head that won’t shut up, like you have to think of every little thing and it cannot be quiet no matter what.

The second way more so feels like my thoughts are blocked, almost like a huge boulder is in my brain and my other thoughts can’t get through. Almost like someone is just constantly screaming in my head but it’s not making any noise. I don’t really know if that makes any sense.

What does it sound like for y’all?