After trying adderall for a while, which just increased my anxiety, I tried atomoxetine which works based off norepinephrine. The effects were amazing.

But it drains my resources so fast, I feel totally exhausted after a day on it.

Thinking I should go with a lower dose.

SkyPuppeteer OP t1_iu5kyu0 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 6:40 PM

#292,845

Replying to sendnewt_s (#288,761)

Pretty much on the money! I either only remember the brand/general name, or the actual, specific classification (idk what to call it, I'm tired and haven't been getting enough sleep)

My pill bottles normally list it as Amphetamine-Dextroamphet (ER 20 - I know the 20 means 20 mg or whatever the dosage is, just don't know what the ER stands for), and my at-school pharmacy lists it as Dextroamp-Amphet (ER 20 MG), with it stating directly below that Substituted for Adderall (XR 20 MG).

This is the first time I've used a pharmacy other than the one I've grown up using/my family using, mostly just because I am currently out of state for college, and that's why I've been so... fascinated by these pills, because normally they pills I've gotten back at home were this opaque orange-brown color. Also, unlike my previous pills, I'm pretty sure this is the first kind (that I've taken) to have a bunch of these little crushed up pill or whatever it is inside, because my pills before made no sound, but these ones you can shake and it sounds like an actual maraca

If I better understood reddit, and knew how to do videos and shit, I'd so try to capture a small video of me just shaking one so everyone would be able to hear it

SkyPuppeteer OP t1_iu5oie3 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 7:04 PM

#293,491

Replying to Pickle-Unicorn (#287,498)

As someone who was diagnosed with ADD back somewhere between the two years that I was in 4th and 5th grade--(in the American school system), and have just gone to saying ADD/ADHD to then just simply stating ADHD as the years have gone by, and my symptoms noticeably went from being more ADD focused to then include hyperactivity traits/symptoms--I would greatly recommend trying medication!

If you think you may need, always try talking to your doctor about it, and seeing if you can get started on a low dose--and I mean A LOW DOSE!! You need to be able to see how it affects you, your head, your body, etc., and while a low dose may not be very effective, it also means side-effects will be minimized (this is very important to understand, especially if you do actually get started on focus pills. Trust me; I've been taking focus meds for years now, and have been through several variations of dosages, brands, etc, because of insurance/price reasons, as well because of how dosage or "power" adjustments had to be done or made. Biggest issues I've had with them all so far has been with eating--like, my stomach tells me I'm hungry, but a disconnect occurs between my mouth and upper throat, and while I know I need to eat, sometimes the thought of food is upsetting in itself, or like I can't actually eat anything (this is why I've had "meals" in the past that were like,,, just a milkshake from Arby's, so I got /some/ kind of nutrients, and I didn't have to chew). Sometimes I will get into the ADHD, hyper-focus zone, and even though I can feel my stomach clawing at me to eat something, I literally cannot stop myself from working (this is another scenario where that milkshake may come in). Taking meds after a night of no sleep, very restless sleep, or very minor amounts of sleep, will usually cause me to be VERY hyperactive and unable to focus, and around a year or two ago I started taking anxiety meds (and have for.. less than a year? been taking this specific kind of anxiety med that I'm directed to "take as needed," and usually when I feel like I'm having a panic or anxiety attack, I'll take them, sometime before I know something stressful is about to happen, etc., and pretty much every time I have an energy drink (to help me wake up, especially for these super early classes I have, but I somehow always forget that energy drinks tend to not work like that with ADHD) I end up having an attack of some sort, or one that lasts the entire day, and I have to take those "emergency meds")

That's a hella long way for me to say, go for it, try it out! But be careful of the side-effects that can come from being on it, potentially also being off of it (ask your doctor if the specific pills you take, if you end up getting prescribed focus meds, are ones you shouldn't stop taking "cold turkey," or if it's okay to not take them during weekends, breaks, etc.), and try and make sure you have referenced you can list that show why you believe you may need focus meds (hell, if your friends/family/etc can vouch for you, have them talk about or write down what symptoms they've noticed from you). You kind of want to do something like the last one, or else your doc may think you're trying to get access to restricted, controlled drugs, so you can get a quick high or so (this is also why I said ask for a low dose to try it out).

Medication doesn't work for everyone, and it's OK if it doesn't end up working for you. A lot of people may turn to meditation to help them, and I know my own brother kind of "grew out of" his ADHD by finding his outlet in sports.

If you just need, in general, ways to help you focus, I'd say trying and work with stuff relating to/around your senses. If I need to completely focus on a paper I'm writing or so, I've found that my sense of hearing can be actually really sensitive, and that what can often cause me to lose focus is audio cues or just general noises. Therefore, I use stuff like rainymood.com to help block out the noise, and overpower my sense of hearing /so much/, that it eventually becomes like white noise that I can easily ignore, and that quickly can get me into the focusing mode.

Sorry this was so long; let me know if you need any more advice, info, etc. I'm here to help as much as I possibly can!

SkyPuppeteer OP t1_iu5sj1g wrote on October 28, 2022 at 7:32 PM

#294,283

Replying to spider-bro (#292,043)

Lower dose, or maybe try a different brand/prescription. Talk to your doctor about the symptoms, and especially, let them know about how you really like how it works, and how it ended up working for you, but that you tended to crash after it wore off, and want to know what would be a good next step, or a good thing to try next. It's possible that taking other meds may help with it, or at the very least lessen the force of the crash--anxiety has been a common symptom that has come up for me while dealing with my ADHD and meds, so maybe a type of anxiety medication may help.

But, it also sounds like you might not have had enough gas in your tank to begin with, and that's why you felt exhausted. Sometimes, if I were take my focus meds after a night where I pretty much didn't sleep, my hyperactivity symptoms would increase, and it'd be insanely difficult for me to sit still, and/or focus (I bring this up just to show how not having enough of these "resources" in your body while on meds can greatly affect how the meds work for you). Try getting more sleep, and remember: for adults, you should be getting about 4-6 sleep cycles a night (3 stages of Non-Rapid Eye Movement, 1 stage of Rapid Eye Movement), and each cycle can last from anywhere between 90 minutes, to 120 minutes. (You may want to figure out how many hours of sleep it take for you to feel well rested, and try to figure out how long your REM cycles likely lasted during that (it'll be rough calculations, since each progressive REM cycle is supposed to last longer than the previous one), so you can then determine how many hours you may need at the very least, every single night. If you generally only need around, say, 8 hours of sleep, I'd say you're closer to that 90 minutes per cycle; if you're anything like me, and you can sleep from midnight or somewhere between 1-3, all the way until like 5 pm, you're likely closer to that 120 minutes)

Aside from sleep, make sure you're sufficiently hydrated, eating-well (don't just eat because you're body is screaming at you that you're starving--make sure some of your meals are kind of on the "heavy" side!), and take breaks to prevent yourself from burning out and/or causing minor to very serious health issues just from stress. You'll have a lot of energy for the meds to burn, and there will hopefully be enough afterwards for there to be either no crash, or not as serious as one.

And take this from someone who never liked naps growing up, couldn't sit still for them or actually fall asleep, never was tired enough for them, etc etc... The last times I had taken naps in the past few years has been after the first day, after getting home, of pretty much every level of high school, except kind of my senior year, and it was because I hadn't gotten enough sleep before, was suddenly back on my focus meds, and had had to deal with a shit ton more people after spending pretty much the entire summer away from everyone. Do you know what was /now/ the last time I took a nap? Literally just a few days ago. I've been going to bad a really bad times (my roomie also keeps staying up till like 2 or 3 am), and I have to wake up for very early morning classes (8:30 AM, with my alarms ringing to make I would wake up and STAY awake from nearly 6:30 AM all the way up until when the class is meant to start, and with almost everything being a 15 minute walk or more away from my dorm, I've been using a lot of energy. It's actually been really nice being able to do that (even if more often than not I end up staying asleep for like 2 hours or more), and it's a really good way to give your body a little jumpstart if it needs it

In any case, I hope you are your doc are able to work out something that works for you! Good luck with that!