The lighter side of ADHD
Image: Gif of Steve Urkel looking around confused
Caption: When I take max dose of an ADHD stimulant and it makes me passout on the couch
One of the things that helped me find the right prescription stimulant in my 30s was telling the prescribing doctor that I had tried cocaine in my 20s and found it very calming.
"Here's the address of my dealer, suit yourself."
Prescriptions are way cheaper!
Maybe not in the US
Yes, apparently they can do a lot with that information. I'm not sure what to say though. Coffee can make me really tired, or extremely stimulated like a cartoon squirrel.
Cocain isn't calming at all! It tastes horrible, makes my throat go numb and dry which makes me gag, while everyone else seems to be somehow enjoying themselves and wanting more.
I'll be over here smoking my 16th joint of the afternoon while daydreaming of every anime fight scene I've ever seen all at the same, while taking out only half the trash before I start mowing either only the front or back yard while 2 songs simultaneously play in my mind thank you very much
You probably don't have ADHD.
Nah babe, all our brains are wired different! Plus even a trained medical professional wouldn’t make an assessment like that over one comment, c’mon lol
I don't think it's that cut and dry. Coffee makes me jittery AND sleepy
Lol yes I told my doc I tried Adderall in high school with a friend and we were both like wow I feel so focused. She then later got diagnosed and I was like yeah, she told me I should get checked out. Turns out there's a reason I felt focused lol.
When I was a kid, I refused to take the meds we were trying out for my ADHD because they made me crash hard. I would fall asleep in classes because I had no choice.
Fast forward like 30 years and I’m taking Atomoxetine. Seems to work pretty well for me and I can focus on work. I can usually tell when it runs its course at the end of the day though. I basically start randomly zoning out. Using my brain constantly all day to write code probably doesn’t help though.
Cocaine does absolutely fuck all for me. The few times I tried it, I was convinced my friends were getting screwed over because I got absolutely nothing from it.
Our brains are constantly understimulated. It takes effort to try and raise the level back up. When you first get medicated, it's like someone took a load off your back that you never realised you were carrying.
We also tend to be sleep deprived. It is harder to fall asleep, so the level at which we do requires more exhaustion.
Combine these 2 and the sleep thing makes sense. We are suddenly able to just relax, possibly for the first time. We are also constantly tired. It's not surprising we can fall asleep!
Thirdly, many of us self medicate with caffeine etc. Medication makes us but that back.
Those are a big part of it, it’s also that our brain chemistry interacts with stimulants differently.
One of the major effects of stimulants is the increase in availability of dopamine. The under-stimulated feeling comes from a lack of dopamine due to the reward system not functioning properly in ADHD. When the stimulant forces a release of dopamine it’s not as “stimulating” to an ADHD brain that didn’t have much dopamine to begin with, whereas a neurotypical person experiences a huge abundance of dopamine and feels incredibly stimulated and energized.
I definitely feel more alert after taking my adhd meds. Not taking a nap with them in my system. It slows the frantic thoughts, but I still feel more awake.
I can nap on Modafinil, which is a narcoleptic drug used only off-label for ADHD. It's basically like coffee on coffee.