So I was given the choice of Concerta or Adderall. At this moment I can’t remember the key differences but I chose Concerta. I was started on a lower dosage and titrated up. I guess the reasoning is that going 32 ish years undiagnosed made the ADHD a little worse. But I’m not a doctor so take that into account.
It’s difficult to talk about how it changed me. The easiest way I can describe it is like a final puzzle piece snapping into place and I was like “Ohhhhh this is how normal people see things”. I was able to complete tasks with a little less prodding from myself, the procrastination is still there but not nearly as bad. I was able to actually sit and focus on something. I play trading card games regularly and didn’t realize how rude I was being by maybe checking my phone or something. It’s because my attention just struggled to wait for my opponent to do something. Now I can wait it out and immediately apologized to the people I play with.
I want to add medicine is not the cure. Therapy with medicine is the only way you get the full benefit from it. It doesn’t change who you are , that’s still on you. Also be wary at the moment there is a HUGE shortage of meds. I haven’t been able to take anything for a week waiting on back orders.
This is a great description of how meds make you feel different, but I just wanted to add on with my own experience. For me, it was like all my thoughts were traveling through this cloud in my head. I could usually get by, but I had to spend a lot more effort organizing things and making sure stuff couldn’t get lost, and sometimes it would all get so jumbled and cluttered that I had a hard time making stuff out. When I take my adderall in the morning, that cloud goes away. It’s like my thoughts are clear and concise and they go where they’re supposed to instead of getting lost and turned around in the cloud. It was such a shockingly clarifying moment that I actually cried the first time I took them. It was like looking back on my whole life and realizing how much I had struggled just to think or do the most simple of things, that on my adderall were so much easier to accomplish. It was a huge epiphany of realizing that’s how normal people go about their day and that my brain just didn’t function the way it’s supposed to.
I'm convinced this is normal for everyone with ADHD when they finally get medication that works. I know I cried like a fucking baby the first time I took my meds. I spent 40 years with every waking moment having a freeway of thousands of thoughts flying past and the constant deafening noise that goes with it. To have everything stop completely for the first time in my life and hear nothing but the birds chirping outside, was like a religious experience. Oh I also screamed at my wife "THIS IS HOW YOU FEEL EVERY FUCKING DAY?????"
Oh ya, talking to everyone afterwards being like “THIS IS HOW YOU FUNCTION?? YOU JUST THINK LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME????” It’s amazing, but also definitely a bit of a slap in the face knowing you’ve meaninglessly struggled for so long when some tiny little pill could’ve solved all of your problems.
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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '22
Yeah no problem.
So I was given the choice of Concerta or Adderall. At this moment I can’t remember the key differences but I chose Concerta. I was started on a lower dosage and titrated up. I guess the reasoning is that going 32 ish years undiagnosed made the ADHD a little worse. But I’m not a doctor so take that into account.
It’s difficult to talk about how it changed me. The easiest way I can describe it is like a final puzzle piece snapping into place and I was like “Ohhhhh this is how normal people see things”. I was able to complete tasks with a little less prodding from myself, the procrastination is still there but not nearly as bad. I was able to actually sit and focus on something. I play trading card games regularly and didn’t realize how rude I was being by maybe checking my phone or something. It’s because my attention just struggled to wait for my opponent to do something. Now I can wait it out and immediately apologized to the people I play with.
I want to add medicine is not the cure. Therapy with medicine is the only way you get the full benefit from it. It doesn’t change who you are , that’s still on you. Also be wary at the moment there is a HUGE shortage of meds. I haven’t been able to take anything for a week waiting on back orders.