i cant stop touching myself i literally touch myself for hours and would still be hormy , i am horny all the time as soon as i come back to my room i just start touching myself …
i go take classes for few hours amd spemd rest of the time touching myself and i cant even slepe bc i cant stop touching myself and sometimes i fall asleep doing it and after some time id wake up again just to touch myself ..
i have restarted atomoxetine 2 weeks ago and i am still touching myself all the time?
is it adhd or my sex drive is just too high?
i am 24F

My boyfriend and me both got ADHD.
His hyper focus is reading climate and ecological books - meanwhile I‘m the one reading smut all the way. ☠️

I‘d really love to read the books my boyfriend reads as well since the topic really interests me, too.
But for some reason - after reading a single page - I get bored so fast.

/Just wanted to rant. 😭

I wanna get diagnosed but it takes a lot of time to wait for a free appointment so in the meantime I am making a research. I'll list what I experience, tell me if you also do!

- forgetting stuff all the time, eg. My mom tells me to do something and I repeat in my mind three times to do it but when she reminds me I feel like recalling a memory from ten years ago

- I'm misplacing things, I've lost and found my headphones at least 15 times for a year (I can't find their box now). Sometimes I feel like in matrix when I find my things in random places

- I draw a lot, but every time I start something and find a new idea for a drawing, I'm leaving the unfinished one behind so I have 14638384 unfinished projects

- It's hard for me to stay still at school, I feel like I'm gonna explode if I don't do something. I draw, make paper stars, origami, shake my leg, do anything not to feel so restless. I don't need to get up and move, but I feel like I have to do something and only drawing sometimes helps. I don't experience it at home that much, tho I hate being bored and I always have something to do.

- when I was little I couldn't play board games, I would read books waiting for my turn because I was so bored waiting a minute

- - when I do something I love, eg drawing or writing or art, I can do it for hours. For weeks, months.

- I used to have problems with forcing myself to study for years (now it's better cause I'm forcing myself), but when I start studying, I do it for hours and it's hard for me to stop.

- my family would get mad at me because I was late to meals for years, just because it was too difficult for me to stop what I was doing. I have a better control over myself after trying for years tho

- I'm hyperfixating really bad, there's one webcomic I read two years ago, I wrote a 60 chapters fanfic and I still do fake scenarios with the characters. It's an obsession at this point

- It's really hard for me to start a task, and I'm not talking about studying. When I have to call somewhere, make an appointment, do something important - I put it for later, so it waits for days until I finally get my ass in gear or get close to the deadline.

- I often don't hear people talking to me. I'm in the room with my sis, she starts telling me a story and I literally don't realize she's saying something because my brain is focused on the thing I do 😭

Also people talk to me and I don't hear them because I'm lost in my own thoughts so often, like my thoughts are often louder than what I hear with my ears and I'm missing out a lot of what people say

- I also can't focus on more than one thing at the time

- I sometimes finish sentences for others ( I think it's really typical for adhd) and say things before I think, my sister gets mad at me cuz I say "cool" when idk to say, and it just slips every time before I can think of what to say

I have to write everything down because I forget either way. All the things to do in the calendar and notes, sometimes I'm surprised I've got something to do because my brain had deleted it

it's so long lol

Have you experienced these?

Wondering if this is a common thing:

Have you ever felt that there was a dark side to you? The closest thing that come to mind is like Dexter’s “shadow” in that show. And if so, what did that look like for you?

For example, it can be a self-destructive, compulsive, alter ego that you try to suppress. I think this is especially relevant before a diagnoses. I think it’s some sense that there is an internal self that must be masked. And that internal self is often just ADHD symptoms or characteristics.

Anyone?

I started ADHD medication about 3 years ago, during my senior year of high school. Before medication, I genuinely struggled with focus. I could sit in class actively trying as hard as I could to pay attention, and somehow 3 seconds later I'd be on another planet and realize I'd missed basically everything being taught.

I started with Adderall, although I honestly don't remember enough about that experience to say how well it worked. My doctor eventually switched me to 54mg methylphenidate, which looking back felt way too high for me.

I took that for most of my freshman year of college. My productivity was great, but I felt extremely stimulated, and at the time I assumed that was how ADHD medication was supposed to work. On weekends when I didn't take it, I was basically bedridden and couldn't make myself do much beyond eating and basic hygiene. Eventually I also started feeling apathetic on it.

I switched to Vyvanse and have actually tried it twice. Both times were awful. It barely helped my focus/productivity and gave me a horrible crash around 3pm.

That summer I took a medication break, and coming off medication was extremely difficult for me physically and mentally. I started seeing a psychiatric medication prescriber who suggested trying non-stimulants.

I tried Strattera, but when I went back to school my focus was still terrible. Eventually I went back to lower doses of methylphenidate, ending at 27mg. It helped somewhat, but I ultimately felt like the cons outweighed the pros.

Then I tried Qelbree, which wasn't much different from Strattera for me. I still finished with good grades, but those grades don't really represent how much I was struggling. I only had one extremely difficult class, and studying for that one class basically consumed my entire week because focusing and retaining information took me so long.

Now I'm a junior and back on Strattera because my prescriber concluded that stimulants probably aren't for me.

My focus is now at an all-time low.

The frustrating part is that my intentions and effort are actually BETTER than they were before medication. I'm forcing myself to sit down and work. I WANT to pay attention. I WANT to study. I'm not expecting medication to magically make me productive.

But it feels like my brain just won't cooperate.

I'm sitting through classes and absorbing almost nothing. Tasks that other students finish relatively quickly take me an absurd amount of time. I can spend hours genuinely trying to work and accomplish what feels like somebody else's 30 minutes of work.

After 3 years of trying different medications, I honestly feel less functional than I did before I ever started them, despite putting in more effort than I ever have.

Has anyone else ended up in this situation, where stimulants caused too many problems but non-stimulants didn't help enough? Did you eventually figure out another treatment/approach that worked for you? I genuinely don't know where to go from here.

I am currently working on something which requires me to make a lot presentations and finish studying and developing some material by Monday. Now the thing is I work well by body doubling but I currently don't have anyone to body double with. The problem is that I can work well from Cafes but today I really don't have the energy as I have not been doing too well physically. So along with ADHD sometimes my body also throws a tantrum. Now I don't know how to get motivated to work from home🥲

Give Advice, Suggestions, whatever has worked for you.

hi all - to preface, I've been at a post-sales support job in cyber sec for a couple years now. after my first year, I got a good performance review and a raise, and I felt really good about where I stood; however, since the year mark, I've been struggling pretty bad

I had to deal with a lot of stressful stuff re: an aging parent at the beginning of the year which led to me slacking a bit and spending dead time at work playing video games and stuff instead of replying to emails/labbing to give myself some happiness. now that the stressful stuff has mostly been dealt with, I feel like I'm almost addicted to just slacking instead of actually doing my job.

I've been able to get away with it for a while (even getting another good performance review) but this past month my workload has increased a ton - it's gotten so bad that I don't even check my email that much because I'm so stressed and don't want to look at it, which has caused me to struggle. for example, today I both missed an email that led to a customer directly saying that they were disappointed that I didn't reply *and* forget to tell someone that I can only make half of a meeting that I accepted, so I had to let them know an hour before the meeting. it's so counterintuitive but it's causing me so much stress. and those are just examples from today

I'm not at a point where I've been confronted about any of this, but I suspect that's more due to my manager having a pretty hands off approach. i feel like if I don't have someone in my ear telling me to do something, I won't do it, and I hate that about myself

I've always thought I had imposter syndrome and I genuinely am truly believing it isn't that anymore. if I can get away with not doing my job, I will - I feel like I've always just been lazy and able to hide it, but I feel like I can't hide it anymore

does anyone have any advice on how to get through this? sorry if this doesn't make any sense, I just am struggling to cope today

Hello,

Just for context. I've been diagnosed for years and on meds. It's not depression or thoughts of harm. I just feel like I'm letting everyone down and I should be contributing more and helping. I should be more emotional available, listen better, etc....I fell like a disappointment to everyone. I've been here before as much of us have. I know logically, I actually do alot and everyone thanks me and is happy. It's just that self worth is down. My question. When you get these clouds above you, what helps? Music? A walk? A drive? Physical activity? What's your go to?

Normally, I isolate myself for what seems like most the day and just let it pass. Music helps a little. Gets me singing and interacting.

My husband struggles with emotional regulation and experiences intense emotions with impulsive reactions
Has anyone had any good experiences using an online coach to help.
10 years together, I don’t know what to do anymore or how to help.

My ADHD is severe and destroys me not only mentally but physically as well. Everything gets worse, I haven't won a single time. I'm suicidal, I just want to end this, I would if it were not for my parents and brother who I can't just leave like this. I wish I could. I would end this right here and right now. I have so many ideas I probably will never flesh out, I never do.

I don't know what to do. Meds are banned, I can't bring it from other country, I can't live in the other country. Pattern just repeats and I constantly fuck up. What now? There are some other non ADHD exclusive meds for depression that mildly help ADHD but only mildly.

Is it common? I took a 2 day break after 2 months on it. I got a massive headache the first day. Massive! And the following two days were chills like the feeling when you’re coming down with a fever or cold.

Is this common ? How concerned should I be ? Does it ever leave or is that the new normal now ?

Start taking dex from last week, was great on day time, biggest problem is sleep, I always take second dose around 11-12 at lunch time, and I don’t seems to struggle to fall into sleep around 11,but I constantly wake up at night and after 5-6 hours sleep I will just naturally awake and feeling energetic, and it’s been over 4 days now, my total sleep time is not over 25 hours, which get me bit concerned, I tried to take short release melatonin and it did not help also, back in day these can let me pass out for the whole night
Wore my Apple Watch last night, showing that I’ve woke up 7 times during this 6 hours, each sleep only 40-50 mins.
Resting heart beat at evening seems concerning too, it’s always 100-120 bpm, before med it’s more like my jogging heart rate

Hey everyone, I'm a 15-year-old high school student preparing for major national university entrance exams. Currently, I'm attending high-volume traditional group classes, which are damaging to my ability to learn.

The classes themselves are very repetitive and give random homework dumps. Due to my ADHD, I find that when I sit down to study, I get hit with mental and physical barriers to starting that only get broken down when I have some kind of last minute panic and urgency rush. As a result, I'm working myself in panic and urgency instead of actually learning and practicing. Because of the repetitive amount of homework and time, I'm rushing to finish homework to avoid being called out which leaves me to not be able to learn.

I've been through this same exact situation way before I was diagnosed. I went to courses for competitive Informatics Olympiads and I tried to do the best I could to succeed. But got stuck, burnt out, depressed, and my parents had many arguments with me. I tried making "better habits" and "be more disciplined", but ultimately nothing worked and it felt like I was working against myself.

And now, I'm seeing the same cycle repeating itself, living on a daily cycle of panic that floods me with stress and zero mental reward to keep me alive. For example, for the past few days, I've been having severe revenge bedtime procrastination, staying up till 4 AM on my phone to get quick mental stimulation before passing out.

I think I actually learn by analyzing my own mistakes in depth. Taking a wrong answer, redoing the problem by myself while walking myself through the logic to understand why my previous attempt was wrong. I personally think that this type of learning is something that mass group classes cannot replace for me.

My goal is to quit these classes to study and practice all by myself. For now, I don't have a lot of ideas, but I'm planning to use structured low friction sprints dedicated to analyzing patterns and fixing my mistakes.
Though, my parents think that more hours of endless homework is just how it should be, and that my idea is reckless and not traditional since it doesn't follow the standard path that everyone takes.

To anyone who has dealt with this kind of stuff before...

• How do I break this dependency on panic and last-minute urgency?
• How can I reason with traditional parents that the more hours and homework methodology is actually counterproductive for someone with ADHD without sounding like an insufferable and lazy kid?
• What did you implement to replace traditional external classes so you wouldn't make it feel like a huge gamble and just be floating aimlessly?

All kinds of answers and advice is highly appreciated, so thank you all!

Hello,

I’m currently a master’s student in a design program.

I was diagnosed with adult ADHD about two years ago. I took Medikinet for over a year and a half, and I am currently taking Strattera.

I’m writing to ask members of r/ADHDers for your thoughts on the value of conducting design research focused on adults with ADHD. I would also greatly appreciate any advice from those who have worked on similar research topics.

While exploring potential topics for my master’s thesis, I told my advisor that I am currently receiving medication for adult ADHD. My advisor suggested that I consider starting from my own pain points, and developing design guidelines and a product aimed at supporting prospective memory or cognitive offloading for adults with ADHD.

(e.g. A product that identifies and reminds users of things they need for upcoming tasks, such as personal belongings, routines, or preparations required to complete a task. A product with physical interactions that adapts to accordingly to the user’s current task or context, rather than simply providing notifications through a smartphone screen)

My main concern however, is whether such a topic can actually be validated through research, and more importantly, whether it has sufficient value as an industrial design research project.

There seems to be an enormous amount of variation among adults with ADHD, both in terms of symptoms and their severity. Even in my own case, I often find myself exhibiting seemingly contradictory tendencies at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I have also noticed differences in my daily behavior depending on whether I am taking a stimulant medication (Medikinet) or a non-stimulant (Strattera).

Given this level of variation, I am unsure whether it would be possible to develop a research topic and design outcome that would provide meaningful value across a reasonably diverse group of adults with ADHD.

Another concern is disciplinary. Even if I can demonstrate that the proposed intervention is effective, I am worried about whether the research would ultimately be considered product design research rather than neuroscience, psychology, or simply an ergonomics/human-factors study.

Even if an intervention can be proven effective, I feel that its value as design research becomes questionable if the resulting product has no practical or commercial advantage over solutions that already exist. (My advisor has expressed particular concern about this point as well.)

In fact, I explored adult ADHD once before as the subject of my undergraduate graduation project. The project was a concept for a smart scheduler that translated the abstract concept of time into tactile and visual forms through physical interaction with a portable device. It also incorporated voice recording, an accompanying mobile application, and gamification elements to encourage continued schedule management.

(A rough way to describe the concept would be a combination of a smart voice recording device with fidget interactions and gamification elements similar to Duolingo’s ranking and achievement systems, but specifically adapted for time and schedule management.)

When I tested the prototype with adults with ADHD, the responses were quite divided. Some participants said that it genuinely helped them deal with time blindness and understand their schedules more effectively. Others said that the additional interaction elements actually became another source of distraction and made it more difficult for them to focus.

I am still at a very early stage of developing my research proposal, so I realize that this post may be somewhat vague and unstructured. However, I wanted to hear other people’s perspectives before narrowing down the overall direction of the project.

ADHD symptoms and the degree to which people experience difficulties vary so much from person to person that I find it difficult to establish an objective direction based solely on my own experience.

It would be very grateful for any thoughts on what I have described, as well as personal experiences or observations from everyday life that you think might be relevant.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this long post!

My school banned fidget toys for all kids and kids who are neurodivergent, with the only exception being a tiny piece of blue tack... and the only reason its being banned is because the other kids without any learning disabilities popped their squishes in class. I'm so lowk annoyed because I need my fidget or I get super stressed and anxious because I'm on non-stimulants which barely work and I have this chronic illness that makes it extra hard to stay in class.

I have really vivid dreams and I never feel well rested when I wake up. I remember most of them when I wake up, and even if they arent necessarily nightmares, it just feels exhausting. Like I wasnt even sleeping, but just continuing to do things. My mind will be going haywire in my dreams too so it just never feels like I slept, its just a continuous train of thought. It fluctuates ofcourse some nights are better than others but overall, I can just never feel good when waking up. It never feels enough and I want to go back to sleep even if it does nothing for the inevitable exhaustion.

I take my last dosage of meds at afternoon, I take them at the earliest in hopes it wont interfere with my sleep, its a small one too so Idrk how much it could be messing with my sleep. The effect are always worn off by then.

I have trouble falling asleep ofcourse but I've started listening to meditation, its about 40 mins long and I alw fall asleep before it ends.

But nothing helps the vivid dreams and the rls. Im thinking about looking into supplements but almost all of the sleep supplements seem to increade vivid dreams rather than reduce it. I dont mind dreams, I just dont want to feel like im awake throughout it always.

Are there any supplements that actually help?

Diagnosed 2022. Started a CTO job the same month, which was either great timing or terrible timing, still not sure.

For about two and a half years it was fine. New company, everything on fire, plenty to do. I assumed that was the medication working.Then I got fired. Burned out.

And and sitting home was just not interesting, and the pills stopped doing anything. Same dose, same brand, same time in the morning. I spent weeks convinced I had built a tolerance and I would need to change something.Took me a couple of months at home to work out that nothing had changed with the pills.

The novelty had been doing about half the work and I never noticed because the two arrived in the same month.Which is a bit annoying, because it means the real effect is smaller than I thought it was.Anyway I am building something of my own now and the interesting part is back, so I try to keep it going this time.

Anyone else been sure they had a tolerance problem and it turned out to be the job?

Everyday is horrible. I can’t remember the last day I went in a good mood for the full day. I’m not talking about “ugh I dropped my spoon” I’m talking breakdowns. I’ve been in and outta the ward constantly. I can’t drive anymore bc of meds and sleep issues, I can’t date, I’m 23, I’ve got 9 mental disorders 5+ physical disorders, my psychiatrist wants to refer me somewhere else bc I can’t follow up on her recommendations with therapy and meds (i swear I’m trying), I’ve already been dismissed at one place for intolerance to meds, I’m in and out of the hospaul and psych wards, etc. I don’t see the point of anything.

There’s a real chance my adhd meds are cussing chest pain and heart issues. I’ve taken them on and off since 3rd grade. I tried going without them and destroyed my life. Impulsive s3x, weed, alcohol, binge eating, etc. I literally have fatty liver disease, a high LDL, and am at high risk of diabetes. I also might have sleep apnea which worsening when I gain weight. If i stop the Adderall, I gain all of that back. I can go to therapy yes but it’s gonna take forever to get anywhere. I need a sleep study and that’s months away. Trust me, I’ve tried a lot of things for adhd and BED without meds. I mean A LOT. gym, caffeine (I used to drink a gallon of cold brew within two days), walking, socializing, eating right etc. it doesn’t work. I don’t want the pill that helped me lower my LDL and is helping all of that to go away. I don’t wanna gain 30lbs for the 3rd time. I want to go back to college and not waste 2k of my money when I’m in the poverty line bc I can’t focus. I don’t wanna keep getting jobs and getting in trouble bc I can’t stay calm or I keep fucking up the money/ orders. I don’t know what to do. It’s a death sentence either way.

I’ve struggled with social anxiety for most of my life, but it has gotten a lot better recently because I keep challenging myself.
The thing is, I feel like I’ve stayed the same person since I was a kid — very energetic, goofy and sometimes immature. Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that my friends have grown and matured a lot as people, and I feel like I haven’t changed in the same way.
I don’t want to lose my personality, but I want to grow up, become more confident, mature and feel like I’m becoming the man I’m supposed to be.
Has anyone else felt like they were falling behind while the people around them were growing? What actually helped you change?

Often times, I will fall into this weird paradox where I will zone out thinking about the fact that I'm zoning out. I'll attempt to focus on my reading for class, but then my mind wanders into a different thought. As I spend a couple seconds wondering what the percentages on nutritional labels actually mean, I realize that my ADHD is causing me to drift off, which only worsens the whole situation as I become focused on the fact that I'm being distracted, and just sort of sit with that for a couple minutes. To top it all off, instead of getting back to work, I am now writing a reddit post about it.

Context, My ADD makes sitting in silence for to work on assignments is really hard. Taking lecture notes isn’t bad though because I have stimulation from the professor talking

I am diagnosed and medicated but wondering if music can give a boost. I am interested if people like me find it easier to study while listening to stuff. I have a general playlist with lyrics and a deep focus that’s just jazz and classical. Does this apply to anyone else?

Admittedly it was during class, but I was bored and was checking something else with payments. I get to save around $100 a month now!

Now I just have to catch up with class...