#ADHD ers: please help with an open-ended question regarding medication. Looking for advice based on people's own personal experience, not 'studies have shown'. I would love for a few people to share their personal experience of being on a stimulant for the first time, especially as an adult. For some reason I'm really nervous about taking it for the first time, I think because I have so many other chronic health issues, particularly chronic pain, and I'm really really really hoping this helps me. All of my other health problems have resisted treatment for 15 years so I have a lot of trepidation around having tried dozens and dozens of ineffective treatments.

I don't know exactly what my question is, besides 'what should I expect?' A big part of my problem is that I always attributed my functional difficulties to how poorly I felt, but I'm feeling a little hopeful that maybe the reverse might be true, that my difficulty functioning has caused me extreme stress that has led to my feeling so poorly. Has anyone had a similar experience? I would love to hear about (hopefully success, but be honest) stories of how treating ADHD with medication has intersected with other health conditions. Do you have any advice about navigating these early stages, particularly dealing with side-effects, navigating with practictioners, sleep interactions, and finding the right medication/ dose?

I'm looking for advice based on personal experience, not on 'studies have shown'. Thank you!

#disability #chronicPain #AskFedi #AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #Boost4Reach #fibromyalgia

@coppercrush I started in grade 3, but was on ritalin and concerta from them until my mid-30s if you'd like to hear my experience (I still have a prescription but don't bother most days)
@Canageek absolutely!

@coppercrush I'm a BIG fan. I hear that the modern drugs work even better for a lot of people, but they're also a lot more restricted in a lot of countries and orders of magnitude more expensive.

I would never have been able to graduate high school let alone university or get a PhD without them, the only reason I'm not taking them now is that my job is so easy I don't really need to

@coppercrush If you have specific questions, I'd be so happy to answer them
@coppercrush I will also say the side effects can be truly horrendous, I had the darkest moods, whenever they'd wear off I'd be fine if everything was going well. but if I cared even the slightest inconvenience for the hour a day when it was wearing off, I would just go to pieces, so I'd have to schedule not doing homework or anything during that specific hour
@Canageek this is what i'm worried about. i asked the doctor about it and he very much downplayed it which annoyed me, because I've seen it happen to other people. it was very typical 'believe in the best case scenario' doctor stuff.
@coppercrush to be fair, none of the other people I've talked to who have used ADHD medication, which is not a small number, 15 or 20 I think, have had that symptom. as I understand it, I'm unusual in that I have gotten every negative symptom, which is a tiny fraction of the total people
@coppercrush Oh, and the appetite suppression is real, when I stopped using it. I have gained a lot of weight very quickly since I'm just not used to processing hunger that strongly