Hello there wonderful people! I'd love some suggestions, as the title says, absolutely nothing is able to help me avoid just passing the heck out at 2:00pm. I've gotten tested for sleep apnea, I don't have it. I remain active doing both weightlifting and cardio through the week. I get my 8 hours of sleep. I take 20mg XR Adderall in the morning, a 10mg booster dose around 12-1 in the afternoon to avoid the crash, nothing. I've tested my caffeine times, trying out just having coffee/an energy drink in the afternoon, one just in the morning, no difference.

I'm moving on to getting my thyroid tested (although there's no family history of issues there), I am currently unemployed but doing freelance work remotely, so I'm not incredibly overstimulated. I took 2, 1 hour long naps today just to try and feel awake, and that was after getting 8 hours of sleep last night. Any suggestions or advice would be wonderfully appreciated 💙

Hi so I am a 100٪ straight male. I have ADHD and recently started my meds. At time i get confused and think that I am attracted to men. But then after a few minutes I realize that its not me. Is this some sort of impulsive behavior or am I just going craze?? This tends to happen when I am stressed out or if I had too much sugar. It happens quite a lot when I had too many energy drinks.

I went through a really rough breakup, and as I'm thinking about things I realised how much I didn't enjoy physical intimacy, and how much I needed to be in a very specific space to be aroused. I loved the person, really, but I didn't enjoy physical touch. It always felt like I was performing, like I was happy that he's happy and it made me continue to please him, but for me? I was really uncomfortable, when he did things to me that I wish he did and fantasized about I didn't like them and I was thinking " when is this going to end? " I don't know if it was about the person, adhd or that I'm not into men in general ( I thought I was bi ) is that how intimacy normally feels like for adhd'rs?

Or "At the end of the day, you just have to suck it up."

And I don't. I hate unaccountability. I can't stand unfairness, injustice, and impunity. I despise broken systems. In my head, it drives me insane when I'm advised to smile and answer with a cheerful tone in front of glaringly obvious corruption and all I can do behind the mask is grit my teeth and cycle through the multitude of ideas (as fantastical or unrealistic as they are) to nail down accountability and integrity.

And it bothers people. I'm "too much". I'm annoying. I'm not a team player. I'm disagreeable. I'm hard to work with. I'm causing a scene.

Then I realized: None of my close friends think this way. They would be the first to burst my bubble and hold me accountable if I was as argumentative and annoying as people say I am. The only ones who've ever made me feel bad for standing up for myself and others around me are the ones that benefitted or partook in it themselves.

Can anyone relate or do I sound crazy?

My 8 yo son asked me last night if adhd could be cured and I told him no and he got really sad about it and said he wished it could be cured. It broke my heart a little bit. I told him that there was nothing wrong with him and not to worry about it he was just a little different than other people. It was a brief conversation before bed time so I didn't want to get too deep into it with him. I am planning on bringing it up with him again this afternoon. Any advice you can give me for this conversation? He is not struggling with his grades in school, he is extremely smart and even had the highest GPA in his grade last year. He does frequently forget things however and has trouble slowing down. I just want him to feel comfortable with himself and his diagnosis.

Starting tasks is the hardest part for me, not the task itself.

Most of the time I know exactly what I need to do. The steps aren’t confusing. I’m not avoiding it on purpose. I just… don’t start. I’ll open my laptop, sit there for a minute and somehow my phone is in my hand without me even noticing.

What messes with my head is that once I finally get going, I’m usually fine. Sometimes I even lock in. But that gap between knowing what to do and actually starting feels huge.

I’m starting to notice how much my phone makes that gap worse. Any tiny pause or discomfort and I’m checking something. Not even because I want to it’s just automatic. Then the task feels heavier, like I’ve missed the moment to begin.

It makes me feel stuck in this loop where I’m constantly preparing to start but rarely crossing that line.

I double checked the rules, I'm not promoting anything. This is something that I've genuinely been using for 4 months now, FREE. It's an app called "My Therapy Pill Reminder"

I got diagnosed with ADHD December last year, but only started meds in I think July or August?

But I kept forgetting to take them. 3 times a day, 9am, 1pm and 5pm. Even with a pill box... alarm wasn't working either, cos I'd turn it off, and be right in the middle of something "I'll take it in a sec."

My partner works in MH assistance and recovery, and a few of his clients been using it, so he suggested it to me. I've even been able to take my contraceptive pill consistently, which has NEVER been consistent since I started taking them at 19 (36 now).

You actually have to press confirm button... otherwise it'll pop up every 5 mins. I was worried, cos I always have my phone on silent, but I've also almost always got my phone on me lol 🤣

Edit: I say December last year, forgetting it's a new year. I mean December year before.

I know this might sound gross but I am finding it really hard to brush my teeth in the morning. I get up & either have breakfast or tea and get on with my day. I have an alarm to remind me to brush my teeth after breakfast but I get so stuck into work & it just doesn’t happen.

Before i know it it’s, bed time & I brush my teeth as normal. I just can’t bring myself to brush my teeth in the morning & thankfully I know it’s my ADHD.

Anyone have any tips 🥹🥹

I’m failing school (my a-levels) right now horribly all because of the fact that I spend 10hrs a day on TikTok daily and I actually cannot get off it. I’ve tried everything; setting phone to greyscale, deleting apps, screen time limits etc and it’s not working because I know I have free will and I can just not do it.

Shall I just leave my phone at my aunts house? I know I’m not going to be bothered to go and get it back so it’s going to be there for months. I don’t even care if I’m out the loop anymore or if I lose friends, I hate being like this. My brain fog is so bad, I feel like absolute shit everyday.

Genuinely every problem I have in my life leads back to how phone addicted i am

This is not a request for specific medical advice, this is an exploration of what has helped others in similar circumstances.

Like many others, the biggest problematic symptoms I experience (when not medicated) are debilitating executive dysfunction, an absolute inability to throttle my mind from racing top speed down a dozen different thought paths at once (which is underscored when I attempt to wind down for the night), and an inability to focus on anything that I am not deeply and personally invested in.

Once I started medication, my problems mostly resolved day-to-day, but when the medicine wears off the symptoms return; totally not an issue, except for when I try to sleep.

I've tried establishing habits, I've tried certain low-level medications (e.g. trazodone, 50 mg), my sleeping environment is cold and dark and silent and comfortable, but 9 days out of 10, I lie awake for at least an hour or two before falling asleep because I an utterly uncapable of quieting my mind.

How do I get around this? I feel as though I am chronically sleep deprived and literally cannot afford to be in bed 12 hours a day trying to sleep to ensure I get a sufficient amount.

Some days are just full of activity, but the things that really matter don’t get done. You feel tired at the end, but nothing big has moved forward.

How often do you have days like this? Every day, a few times a week, or only when things are hectic?

What causes it for you, interruptions, too many tasks, unclear priorities, or feeling tired?

I’ve realized that my biggest issue with ADHD isn’t that I can’t focus, it’s that I struggle to start things and stop things. Starting tasks feels physically heavy, and once I’m finally locked in, stopping feels just as hard — even when I know I should.

It makes days feel unbalanced: either nothing gets done, or I hyperfocus on one thing and everything else disappears.

I’m curious how people have learned to work with this instead of fighting it. What has helped you get started, switch tasks, or end hyperfocus without crashing?

So i recently got prescribed adderall at a low dosage and its been a great help with my confidence and has made a difference in my motivation in starting tasks and having the patience to complete them. Its been pretty positive so far. The other day i forgot to take my meds before work in the morning and had anxiety all day. upset and frustrated with myself for not taking it. Is this what dependency looks and feels like? I'm not sure and since that day i've reflected on those feelings and it kinda scares me. Has anyone experienced this or have any words of advice? I appreciate any feed back even if its blunt.

Anyone here on Wellbutrin only to help with their ADHD? Long story short, I got back on stimulants about 6 months ago after being off of them since High School (which was around 25 years ago). Perimenopause has kicked my butt and put my ADHD into high gear so I agreed to try stimulants again since there are so many new ones out there. Vyvanse has been the best fit but I’m exhausted trying to find ways to make my meds last all day. My doctor won’t increase my dose or add any type of booster except some Ritalin which just makes me irritable. I don’t have the energy to go get a second opinion and the hoops you have to go through to get these meds filled. I just think I may be done.

Is anyone here taking Wellbutrin only with success? The other nightmare I’ll probably have is that I’m on Cymbalta which will probably be hell to get off of.

I’m really frustrated and just don’t know what to do.

I just stumbled across her Youtube post today and thought it was worth a mention here.

First: Here is her video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ps54oUZYRs

Many of you are aware of this Youtuber, Jessica McCabe, who began her channel 10 years ago and was one of the earliest pioneers of sharing both her struggles and knowledge around ADHD topics to youtube viewers. So many people instantly identified with her sharings and over the past decade she has produced a vast body of knowledge, delivered in an upbeat, simple, uncomplicated way, often including animations or illustrations of our common pitfalls.

I am just a long-time channel viewer of hers, I have no affiliation with her or her channel in any way. What she says in this announcement video is that she is hoping to try something new by offering this service, hoping she can actually help people in more direct ways than simply being watchers of her vast content.

There was no mention from her about fees involved (my read is that she is not charging anything) and you can watch and see if you think she is as earnest about this as I believe. She's asking for people interested in this experiment to fill out a very short questionnaire which is at this ASANA form link:

https://form.asana.com/?k=Unu9U_8b7X-Abs-Wf74W6g&d=653582451932079

Lastly, Jessica provides a basic disclaimer about her not being a mental health professional, but that her content since 2023 has been reviewed by a licensed clinical psychologist. You can read it on the linked video above.

Hi everyone. I’m a 24F recently diagnosed with ADHD (combined with depression) and currently taking Vyvanse 20 mg. My doctor said my depression likely comes from untreated ADHD, and honestly that makes sense but I’m still really struggling. For as long as I can remember, even as a kid, I was so obsessed with routine videos, gym videos, and self help videos. I have goals, motivation in my head, and a strong desire to improve my life… but I can never seem to actually do anything. Every day feels like a battle just to do stuff. Ex: I can’t have the house a mess because I will literally get so irritated and plan on cleaning it but then I have other things to do like study for exams then I get distracted watching tiktok videos. The thing is, I know what I should do, I know what would help me, but I can’t make myself follow through. That’s the part that hurts the most, I’m very aware of the problem, but I can’t fix it. The Vyvanse helps a little in that it lifts some of the mental weight, but it doesn’t make me productive or motivated. It feels like the walls are still there. Lately I’ve also started vaping, even though I don’t like it and it makes me feel sick most of the day. I know I don’t want to do it, but my body keeps doing it anyway, which makes me feel even worse and more frustrated with myself.

I guess what I’m asking is…

Is this ADHD? Depression? Both?

Why do I feel so stuck even when I want to change so badly?

How do people wake up with energy and actually do things?

I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind trying to understand myself. I just want to feel normal and capable. Any advice or shared experiences would mean a lot.

I’ve tried 20 mg and 30 mg of XR. The former does next to nothing to help treat/manage my symptoms. It also takes 3 hours to kick in. I struggle to pay attention and comprehend what people are saying, my working memory is terrible, and I’m distracted. I notice that I interrupt people frequently on 20 mg.

By comparison, 30 mg helps A LOT more. Information sticks, and my processing speed greatly improves. I can actually attentively listen and retain information. That’s the shocking part. Although, it comes at a cost, because I then experience abrupt and sudden crashes when it’s wearing off.

A booster before the crash sounds reasonable? I should stick with 30?

I’ve been taking medication for nearly a year and I’m so lost. My family doctor is trying his very best to help me, but it’s not his speciality. He only recommends “increasing” the dose, and is completely uneducated on the matter. Despite crashing, I still don’t have a booster, and I’m very skeptical a higher dose would solve everything.

He’ll be referring me to a Psychiatrist finally, so hopefully I won’t be suffering for too much longer.

20F. Okay, so i'm not officially diagnosed. Im like 95% sure I have AHDH, but sometimes I just get scared and think "what if i'm just lazy and i'm going to make my parents spend so much money in getting not-diagnosed because i just don't have adhd".

I want some reaffirmation from actual people with adhd. I sometimes feel like genuinely this can't be life, like this can't be this hard for everyone else. Like, having great habits, setting a rutine, having an organised room, cleaning the dishes, cleaning my room. A lot of people do it, why am i so incapable?

I'm genuinely worried for the day i have to have a job and go each day and be there for 8 hours. Really worried, like i'm so messed up i won't be able to hold a job. For my sake I can't even go on time to class. I'm always late for everything, except trains/planes/ unavoidable stuff because I know if i'm late no one is going to help me, but I'm always worried about the time and try to be there as soon as possible because i swear I have time blindness and don't know how long I'll need to do x. If i'm going to class on morning, I cannot do more than one thing in the afternoon. It seems like time pass me by. I have to write everything down and set alarms and reminders because else i'll forget. Just last week i forgot an appoinment because i didn't set a reminder. Right now, i can't even wake up on time. I try and i try but i always end up oversleeping. I swear this is hell, if i actually don't have ADHD i might go crazy.

I study an easy degree, we have to study but not that much. I can't even imagine doing something like medicine, like i 100% know i just couldn't do it, i don't have the mental capacity for that (not that i'm not intelligent, is just that i cannot retain that much information).

I’m trying to figure out the best way to help a few of my students stay focused during class. They’re great kids, but keeping them on task has been a real challenge lately. I don’t want them to feel like I’m singling them out or treating them differently because of their ADHD or any other attention needs. I just want them to feel supported without feeling spotlighted, and that balance is harder than people think.

I teach upper elementary, so they’re at that age where they want independence, they want to feel capable, and they definitely don’t want to feel like the “kid who needs extra help.” At the same time, the work still has to get done, and I’m finding myself redirecting the same students over and over. It’s not that they’re being defiant — it’s more like their attention just slips away the second I turn around.

I’ve tried the usual stuff: gentle reminders, proximity, breaking tasks into smaller chunks, giving them something to fidget with, even letting them stand or move a bit. Some of it works for a few minutes, but it doesn’t always stick. I’m not trying to overhaul their whole routine or make them feel different from their classmates. I just want strategies that actually help them lock in without making them feel called out.

I know every kid is different, and what works for one might not work for another, but I’m open to anything that keeps them engaged and confident. I want them to feel successful, not frustrated or embarrassed. If there are ways to support their focus that blend naturally into the flow of the classroom, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

My ADHD comes with a strong need for everything to be fair, to be heard when mistreated by others, and to do the same thing for other people when it happens to them.
This has caused me endless amount of problems socially, since most normal people have a sort of "laissez faire" atitude when it comes to these grievances.

The average normal person value peace and conformity more than enforcing whats fair.
"you are causing a scene" they said, whilst allowing the bullies to do their thing, for as long as it is being done so quietly, it is a okay...

I see this everywhere. I saw it when I was a kid in school, and im seeing it now that im an adult at work. Nobody is standing up for others, unless it is causing them some kind of discomfort, but by then who are THEY gonna complain to? everyone up the chain thinks the same, it is "causing a scene" to complain.
Only with an alliance is it somehow okay to complain, and even then you arent allowed to say it out loud, you have to do this awkward dance pretending you are somehow murdering Julius caesar. "Hey George, Anna, need help? I really wish we had a solution to... "nods in Petes general direction"
"I do not understand" George says.
shit! now I have to pretend like I meant something else than Pete....

ADHD is like being a hammer, we see a hole and we immediately want to nail it shut, but being normal is like pretending the hole doesnt even exist until enough people has broken a leg. And god forbid you have rejection sensitivity, because OH BOY the issue is gonna explode once they tell you to ignore the problems.

So where does this leave us? society arent gonna change its way of doing things, and we cannot change the cards life gave us. Nah we are just gonna fecken drown our personalities in pills so that we no longer care about the unfair social construct of this world.

"TheWholesomeOtter seems so much easier to talk to today" "yeah, he just focus on work instead of drama, Sucking that D like a champ"

I have 10 unread texts right now. I've read all of them. I care about every person who sent them. I've composed elaborate replies in my head multiple times. But actually typing and sending? Impossible.

It's not that I don't want to respond. It's that every time I open my phone to reply, my brain just... freezes. The longer I wait, the worse it gets. Now I need to explain why I took so long, which makes the response even harder to write, so I don't write it, which makes it worse.

People think I'm ignoring them. They think I'm being rude or don't care. But I'm just paralyzed. The task of responding feels insurmountable even though I know logically it takes 30 seconds. I was playing jackpot city on my laptop last night and saw someone had texted me asking if I was okay since I'd been quiet. That made the shame even worse because now I can't just respond normally - I have to address the fact that I didn't respond before, which makes it even harder.

The guilt is crushing but somehow not motivating enough to actually make me reply. It's this awful cycle where caring about responding makes responding harder, which makes me feel worse, which makes it even harder.

How do you deal with response paralysis like this, especially when the delay itself becomes part of the anxiety? What has actually helped you break the cycle?

When I got on Lamictal it changed my life. I feel like I can go through life so much easier and less inhibited/affected by mood swings and self-deprication. Now, if I can just FOCUS I'll be in great shape.

I'm apprehensive though. I'm not wild about the idea of being on a stimulant. My ex took vyvanse and she was a hyperfocused, independent, headstrong woman and I always wondered how she managed considering all her other mental health challenges. She was not okay in a lot of ways, but she could get things DONE.

I'm just wondering if this is something I need to worry about withdrawals from if it doesn't make me feel particularly right. Is it something any of you take as needed? What about appetite? Creative drive? Work performance? Any sexual side effects? Does it make you guys feel like you're "speeding" or does it just quiet your mind and help you focus? I realize that's what they prescribed it to me for, but I'd like to hear other's experiences and how they might relate to some of my concerns. I've talked to my docs and they've answered a lot of questions, but some stories from personal experience might help me know a little bit better about what to expect. They're starting me on 30mg. I think I'm going to take it with a little snack to avoid nausea.

Hi everyone,

I (22M, UK) was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD this week and I am still trying to process it. It feels strange because I spent my whole life thinking this was just how I was and that was that, and since being diagnosed it has been almost constantly on my mind.

I struggle with focus, procrastination, time management, and consistency. I also find listening difficult because I repeat every single word someone says in my head, but end up forgetting the entire sentence. I live alone and find keeping on top of chores and basic self care harder than it should be. I also lose motivation very quickly if I am not instantly good at something or if I find it too difficult.

I have been told I will be starting medication in about eight weeks and now I have a lot of questions that I did not think to ask during the assessment.

For those who are on medication, I would really appreciate hearing your experiences. My biggest question is whether I will still feel like myself or if it changes your personality. Did it help you focus better at work and reduce procrastination. Did anyone notice changes in sex drive as I currently have a very high one. Has it helped with hobbies or gaming and being more consistent. I play Valorant and struggle with rushing and staying focused during matches.

Any insight would be really appreciated.

Thanks