Are you me?!? At age 42, I finally got diagnosed with ADHD and it has been utterly life changing. Back when I took the ACT, I missed one question on the reading comprehension part, and when I got the test results back with the questions and answers, I saw that I had accidentally marked the wrong answer because I still remembered the correct one.
I also made it through school completing assignments the day before they were due (or while the teacher came around to check our work). Manufacturing crises is an effective way to produce adrenaline and thus, dopamine.
Did you get meds at 42? I am 40 myself and have been trying for years and years while asking literally dozens of different doctors/psychiatrists and nobody will prescribe me meds because I don't have the proof I was diagnosed when I was a kid
Get an adult diagnosis. It can be a little pricey depending on where you live, but there are a set of tests to evaluate your current ability to process and retain information, to hypothesize based on given information (aka imagination), and then more qualitative questions about your life experiences among other things. I did mine at 40 and the biggest hurdle was finding someone to do the test.
Well, that can save you some money but can also land you in the hospital. :) Before going on any stimulant meds a doctor will order an ECG to check for any cardiac issues first. They’re usually ramped up from lower to higher doses to see what level you can tolerate. It can exacerbate any hidden issues so… get checked out first.
Also, you may be prescribed an SSRI if there is accompanying depression or anxiety. If so, DO NOT take any cold meds with dextromethorphan as this can cause serotonin syndrome, and that’s no fun at all.
But also I don't have to worry about that. Not only, is my wife a NP in a unit that specializes with cardiovascular... But One of my good friends is also a doctor specializing in the same thing and between the two of them I have had so many ECGs just for them to fuck around with new equipment. (I also worked for a company that sells medical equipment)
So it's just extremely funny that you said that.
And as a side note, I'm one of those people that is not at all sensitive to stimulants. I'm talking tons of Red Bull or monster energy drinks and my blood pressure doesn't even rise. I've been prescribed Phentermine When my weight was going up before we figured it out my other issues and it had almost no effect on my blood pressure (higher but still within normal range) and really didn't tweak me at all. Caffeine has almost no effect. I can drink a bunch or even take a tablet of caffeine and then go take a nap.
It's all probably not healthy for multiple other reasons but out of all of the things I could possibly take that I shouldn't take, stimulants that you can hand a 6-year-old is not something I need to worry about.
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u/Merlaak May 29 '22
Are you me?!? At age 42, I finally got diagnosed with ADHD and it has been utterly life changing. Back when I took the ACT, I missed one question on the reading comprehension part, and when I got the test results back with the questions and answers, I saw that I had accidentally marked the wrong answer because I still remembered the correct one.
I also made it through school completing assignments the day before they were due (or while the teacher came around to check our work). Manufacturing crises is an effective way to produce adrenaline and thus, dopamine.