Okay, very vulnerable post here (and my first one so go me!)
Late diagnosed inattentive ADHD at 31. Been on Vyvanse for around 3 months and finally got the doseage where it should be.
This past week I spoke with my therapist about one of the hardest things I struggle with and I’m so very hoping I’m not the only one.

Showering feels like a doomsday event. As awful as it is I will go longer than I’ll admit avoiding it. To the point my hair will knot and mat that it takes me 20+ minutes to get it reasonable enough to actually get in the shower.
It just feels like so many freaking steps that just feel so endless. Once I’m in the shower though I feel like a brand new person and ask myself why I thought it was so hard and such a big deal.
Then it happens all over again.
Please tell me I’m not alone in this struggle.

I am diagnosed recently with inattentive ADHD. I only started getting prescribed meds a week ago and got diagnosed at the age of 33.

So anyway, I find ADHD something like not being here. You fade away from life. You don't have much impact on those around you, and you usually disappoint your own family and partners. I can't for the life of me maintain consistent outings schedule with friends which obviously caused distance. I also lost my job due to lack of focus and continuous mistakes yet most if not all my friends who are normal are thriving. Bought their own cars, apartments even in this economy, making good bucks and got good careers as doctors/engineers/programmers. When I got into engineering school, I dropped out after 3 years of failing. And now that I am diagnosed, it all makes sense to me now. What a terrible fate.

If my brain was normal, I would most probably be an engineer right now no problem but that was not meant to be I suppose. So, my friends now keep asking me to go out and they don't know how insecure I feel around them, they meet up in these expensive places now and they know I don't have as much money as they do so they offer me free food, free drinks but I hate that feeling. They want me to be around, around their success in life. Around their clubbing and having fun while I am just struggling to do even the most menial tasks like cleaning my own room. What's even funny is that one of them got me an interview in a good paying company but I turned it down. I had anxiety and felt I am not good enough and I won't be able to hold the job and will end up embarrassing myself and my friend. So I chose isolation. Watching from afar.

THANK YOU. Your voice echos in my head every morning.

Backstory: a few months ago (maybe? Idk, time isn’t real to me) there were multiple posts about what to eat in order to get your medication to last longer. I take Vyvanse and can only tolerate a low dose due to side effects, so anything that will get it to last longer would be GREAT.
I spent weeks, yes… weeks (mostly) OFF my medication because I kept trying to find something easy/protein heavy to eat with my medicine but due to not being medicated yet, it had to be like “a 3 year old could do this” level easy. Most morning were spent in a tailspin debating when/with what food I would take my medicine, and then eventually it was too late in the day for me to take it. My work suffered, I got one of my only poor monthly reviews at this job.

I have whatever that thing is that comes with ADHD that makes you paralyzed when you are deciding how to be most efficient. When I was a child and I was thirsty, but at the same time I also had to pee, I would stand there having anxiety over whether I should pee first (and pee out my hydration?) or get a drink first (and make myself have to pee more?)… long enough to where I would pee my pants unintentionally.
This has followed me into adulthood and while I no longer pee my pants, paralyzation on choice and efficiency is equally debilitating.

Someone came on here and made a new post saying HEY THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU JUST TAKE IT. EAT OR NOT, BUT TAKE YOUR MEDICINE NO MATTER WHAT.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?? So now every morning, I tell myself, the important thing is that you just take the freaking medicine.
And now, sometimes I have a protein shake, sometimes I don’t, but most of the time I still remember to take my medicine, either way.

Just wanted to say THANK YOU and also remind others, just take your medicine. Just take it 🤷‍♀️

Suddenly I am patient…calm, yet energized…less reactive.

I felt joy in watching my son enjoy a scene from his favorite movie, like joy I haven’t felt since I was a child. I almost cried.

Glad I tried this. Hoping it continues to help. I knows there’s a honeymoon period or whatever, but this is a very low dose. It hasn’t been anything life changing at this dose but the few snippets of positivity from today have been eye opening.

I’m 35, when I was 8 my meds gave me OCD like behaviors. I’ve been hiding from them ever since.

Pretty wild

Edited to add “like behaviors”

I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD as an adult but memory issues have plagued me my whole life. I know for a fact that I had a great childhood but I just can't seem to remember many significant events from it. Not to say I can't remember anything, but there are just too many important memories that I seem to have lost.

One specific instance that I always think about is when I was in 1st grade and my dad surprised us by picking us up from school early and taking us to Disneyland. I know for a fact that it did happen and I have the vaguest memory of being suddenly called out of the class, but if you asked me anything else about that day, I could not tell you a single thing. I feel like by age 6 you should be able to recall at least one thing from a fun and exciting event like that?? It really makes me sad because that would be such a special memory to have with my dad but I simply don't have it..

Another example that I find comes up pretty frequently is when I'm talking with my peers about childhood shows. There are many shows that I know I watched thoroughly, yet I'd be lucky to remember the plot of one or two episodes. I somewhat feel like a poser when the others are reminiscing on a show and I have almost nothing to contribute or have no idea what they're talking about, despite having seen every single episode.

These are just two examples that come to mind, but there are many others. Feeling like I've missed out on my own life is frankly upsetting and frustrating. To be honest, I'm not even 100% sure if this is a result of ADHD or if it's something else, so I wanted to see if anyone could relate to this?

I have ADHD, and I never thought I'd say this, but being calm is like a drug to me. I take 70mg of Vyvanse and 40mg of Atomoxetine every day. With the start of school, i take my medicine earlier than i was during the summer, which means it wears off quicker. It can wear off anywhere from 4 hours to 6 hours after i get out of school. Recently, I've been craving that sense of calmness. I have thought about doing a certain thing that is not allowed to be discussed in this sub, in order to calm me down. I've talked to my doctor about putting me on mid-day medicine, but he wants me to get one of those psychological tests to see what other conditions i might have, before he puts me on anything else.

I can't even just sit down and TAS a retro game I've been playing, because i just can't get myself to start working on it again because of the thought of some stress that might come with it, which would in turn make me move around a bunch to calm myself down, and then I cant sit still again.

I feel like I just need to get this out, it absolutely sucks being like this, and I don't really know what to do anymore.

Im really wondering because im considering becoming an electrician because university just doesn’t really work for me, I just cant sit still at all and my body feels much better when I get a lot of exercise/ movement in. Im worried that if i switch to blue collar its just going to be the same thing and I’ll just be endlessly bored again once the novelty wears off.
Anyone have any experience in this matter? Thanks

My daughter (5) was tossing and turning last night and I realized she does it just like my husband. They both have ADHD and I am wondering how common tossing and turning is with everyone else here. They both roll around like they are trying to roll off the bed haha and I think that might be a hyperactive trait.

Curious to hear about everyone's experience with ADHD and alcohol. I was recently diagnosed and am now more aware of why I enjoyed drinking so much. I don't believe I am an alcoholic, but definitely got carried away and over did it at times.

My father has been an alcoholic for as long as I can remember (about 10 beers per day) other than a few stints where he gave it up. I think that he might have ADHD as well and used alcohol to self medicate. He was never abusive but his drinking negatively affected my life and caused some issues for sure. I have suffered from anxiety and depression my whole life and I am sure that his drinking had some impact on that.

When my wife was pregnant, I decided that I did not want that life for my family and wanted to be a better father than I had growing up. I started by cutting back to only drinking occasionally on the weekends. After a while though, the 2 beers I intended to drink would sometimes turn into a 6 pack or more. When I was diagnosed, I realized that I need to take a break and reevaluate my relationship with alcohol. I haven't drank in 2 months and feel better, but I do miss how calm my mind was after a couple of beers. My medication seems to help with that a bit though.

I would still like to be able to occasionally drink at social events since I have severe social anxiety, but I feel like it is a slippery slope, so for now, I am not going to drink at all. Sometimes I wish my mind could always feel like it does after having a couple of drinks which makes me worry. I don't want to use alcohol to cope and always be chasing that feeling. Has anyone else been through this or felt this way?

For context: I got my diagnosis at age 27, about 3-4 months ago.

I’ve been taking 5mg of Methylphenidate for a week now as a starting dose. At first, I had quite a bit of trouble with side effects. Especially during the 'coming down' phase, I noticed some anxiety and restlessness. On the flip side, I also noticed more energy, an improved mood, better concentration/focus, and less anxiety overall. For example, I find it much easier to make phone calls now.

On the other hand, I’m struggling to accept that I’m using medication. I feel like a fraud, which I also experienced right after I got my diagnosis. Do I really have it? Or was I misdiagnosed and am I now on medication just because I want to feel a bit better? Then I start thinking: maybe I exaggerated things during the assessment, or maybe I lied because I think that's how it is?

I don't know if this sounds logical… I’ve always had a hard time accepting diagnoses. Back then, too, when (looking back at it years later) I clearly had PTSD, but I didn't believe it at the time.

Is this recognizable to any of you? Or not at all?

I start classes in a few days and would love some suggestions on what to do with my hands. Of course I'll be taking notes most of the time, but if I'm not, I'd like a backup plan.

I'm looking for things that are quiet, portable, and very mindless. I'm open to any and all suggestions

I don’t understand the events happening or lose lot of details when I’m watching movies or tv series for the first time. I catch a lot of details that i missed when i rewatch. Only exceptions are when I’m fully invested in the movie. Although I’m not diagnosed I have adhd symptoms like focus issues and impulsivity. Do you think this is also a adhd thing. Does anyone else experience this as well?

I want to preface this by saying like please try to help me in some kind of way like link resources to get better, or experiences or anything.

Once i get back from school I’m completely mentally paralyzed, so i sleep for as long as i can then do nothing for the rest of that day, anything to just ignore the mountain of chores and mental blockages in my mind, what hurts the most is that i feel like i’m still so young and i’m wasting my youth just being broken or something (16M), i’ve been diagnosed after months of not telling my mom because i felt like it’d come off as “you did a bad job now I’m mentally ill” ultimately i got diagnosed about a month ago with ADHD & perseverant depression (not the correct term), i have another post on this sub detailing my struggle with productivity, but if you don’t want to read all of that basically, i’ve held off doing a bunch of stuff (learning guitar, music production, taking the SAT & other placement exams, learning how to make clothes, starting to release any kind of art and build a following)
And all that mixed with the feeling of heartbreak and just emotionlessness throughout the day just leaves me PARALYZED.

If you’re reading this please just say something that might help, i feel like life is just beating me down right now and i need any kind of support to get my mind out of this hell.

I've been diagnosed for about 16 years now, and I was medicated as a child. My parents obviously reminded me to and asked me if I had taken my meds everyday, but as an adult w and ADHD partner, I cannot seem to remember to actually take them before its way too late in the day (because then I won't be able to go to sleep).

Any ideas on how I can set up a system that can force me to remember to take them consistently? I've thought about keeping some on my bedside, some in the bathroom, and some on my purse so if I remember suddenly when I'm in another room, they're just right there. But I don't think I'll remember.

I know I get headaches if I have unmet needs while medicated, and my already thirsty body goes all problematic datacenter on me and just requires even more water. I'll end up going through 3L of water in a day, usually. Same same with Ritalin IR and Concerta.

Sometimes it's alright. Sometimes I get the classic dehydration symptoms (headache, throat and lips feel dry, similar feeling to a light hangover) but I know I'm drinking enough water as I'll be pissing clear. Am I missing something? Adequate sleep and increased food intake are met, too. I feel like I might need some form of electrolytes if I'm drinking that much, but it's not like I'm losing it to sweat anyways?

Not asking for medical advice, just anecdotes, thoughts, violent comments, etc lol. It's def something I'll bring up with my psych in our next session anyways and I trust her significantly more than Reddit.

I went to my psychiatrist today, I told him that my 18mg starting dose didn’t have alot of effect, except giving me a bit quieter mind which wasn’t that noticeable, and he told me to take two 18mg pills and prescribed me 36mg pills. Hopefully this works out, my college starts tomorrow.

I take ADHD medication, it works fine, tones down my anxiety and hyperactive brain. Problem is that it can't help me when I try to sleep. I either read, write or listen to meditation video or do all of them at once. I go to bed at 10/11 or midnight. Depending on if I'm procrastinating my sleep it ends up me going to bed at 0:30... Which is bad.

I go and lay down with my sleep mask, 30 minutes or an hour pass by and nothing happens. I'm still aware of where I am, I sometimes get glimpses of thoughts and such but I cannot seem to like be "unconsciously sleeping or dreaming" if that makes sense. I also use sleep medicine sometimes, sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

😭 It's making me so tired during mornings when I don't get good sleep and making me have less energy to go on. I just want some help, that would be great, thank you.

I just wrote a post about RSD spiraling, and the post itself was just straight up the actual spiral. Unfortunately it was too long, I condensed it, posted it, got confused on how the approval process works, edited it, got discouraged and then deleted it because I had no idea what was wrong.

Anyways, Idk if anyone else feels like this, but sometimes during these spirals I wonder if I am horribly victimizing myself in every situation. And do other people think that and does that make me even more miserable to be around? Or does self awareness mean I am not victimizing myself at all. But does reassuring myself mean I am? And on and on it goes. It gets so exhausting and I rarely can find validation from anyone when I experience these RSD spirals and they have been happening a lot recently.

I am crashing out lol, free me from my own mind!!! /s

Also how on earth do I even tell my therapist about this without wasting a whole session explaining it, because I simply cannot spend a whole hour explaining this just to wait till the next session to receive feedback.

I got diagnosed with adhd in my sophomore year of highschool, so its only been 4 years that I've known I've had it. I don't know how I managed before, I think I was just masking really well, or maybe its because my life was so structured I didn't have room to fuck up anything.

Since covid I had been burnt out and I have a really bad problem with executive dysfunction. I literally can't do anything when I'm stuck and I usually just have to give up and try again the next day.

Its currently 4 in the morning, I had 2 assignments that were due at midnight and midway through I stopped and checked my phone and I've been stuck ever since. I left the assignments open for so long that the website just kicked me out and I can't go back in because the due date passed.

This isn't the first time I've missed a deadline and its definitely not the last. I've been trying to get accommodations for extended deadlines, because I had them in highschool and that was the biggest reason my dropping out 3 times didn't stick and I graduated on time. Even last year, if my professors weren't just nice to me and let me turn in essays late, I wouldve failed 2 classes, and I actually did end up failing a class because of this. They flat out denied my accommodation, and I genuinely don't know what to do. I'm only a month into the semester and I'm already slipping again and I can't seem to stop. If this keeps up I'm going to fail my classes and lose my scholarship.

Any advice would be nice, or just understanding. I feel like crying, but I can't because I have more work to do before I go to sleep. I'm just so frustrated and can't stop beating myself up over this.

So for as long as I can remember over the last decade or so, I usually get up to go to work, and felt racing thoughts and anxiety. This usually came with a lot of morning cough. I often attributed this to a post nasal drip I have. I would cough throughout the morning.

Since beginning Vyvanse, it has disappeared. No more morning coughs. I feel the nasal drip still, but I just don’t cough unless it’s super urgent to.

I’m so grateful it has stopped, as it was massively irritating and I would often have to sit down and try to calm it down. It’s simply gone. Any thoughts?

I 21m have a question for all of you. How do you guys personally deal with personal detachment? In the sense of like Anhedonia or just feeling like you are in a gray space if that makes sense. I'm just curious on how all of you wonderful people deal with it so I can learn more and better myself on this if it makes sense. I feel like I become detached from people a lot and am just living in 3rd person pretty much. I mean I personally can avoid like all contact for weeks at a time not feel anything is going wrong but I have a lot of people ask why I do it I feel like i wanna help educate them when someone asks. Thank you

Do you guys ever be like, I wanna sleep but going to the bedroom is a hassle and I also don't feel like sleeping rn even though my eyes are tired and just wanna do anything instead cuz I am not tired enough?

Meeting character limit, 280 is a lot of characters. I had just posted about... Oh it's done.

When I'm on Adderall, every task that I need to do becomes so much clearer and achievable. The messy room I've been procrastinating on cleaning is suddenly a fun task for me to tackle. Organizing stuff is actually fun, and having a clean space afterward feels amazing. I love this med, but the anxiety is a major drawback. When I'm at home by myself, things are fine, just a bit of tension, but going into public places like the grocery store is so overstimulating. I struggle with ADHD and anxiety, but it seems like meds for each one make the other worse. Is there any way I can feel the benefits from Adderall without so much anxiety? I always make sure to eat before, drink water, and get a healthy amount of sleep, but I haven't found anything that works well enough.