Today I tried medication (concerta 36mg) for my ADD for the first time in my life (im 26 years old).

Result is fuck yeah! I feel like a human being whos able to focus on shit. Im so jealous of normal people having a decent attention span and decent working memory.

Congratulations that it is working for you. At 26 that is good. I've gone through my entire life battling ADHD, and a lot of times it really sucks, so it's great if you've found something that helps. Meds do improve life when they are properly administered.

What is having ADD like? Genuinely curious

@beegC0de you can't focus you attention on anything. Your mind is literally pulling you all over the place, except the one place you need to be. Whether it's sitting in class, trying to focus on work. The attention just isn't there, and it's extremely annoying and depressing. We end up getting labeled as slow learners. Their in some hyper-activity fur good measure, so you can't sit still either. When this happens with kids, they load them up with Ritalin, which slows them down, and makes them easier to manage, but doesn't necessarily help with learning, because it tends to make one passive.

This hits home with me. I got diagnosed late (24) and I went from homeless to close to 6 figures and killing it at a huge company. Sucks to feel like you rely on a medication to survive, and I could go on forever about the impact of mental health on the homeless. But my adhd meds and therapist/psychiatrist saved my life.

@iAmNaN I disagree with your last part. I think the biggest difference is off stimulants with add we usually only take in what we want to learn, while on meds we can focus on the stuff we need to learn. But I can’t speak for its effect on children since I was diagnosed at a late age but I can say it turns you more from a hyperactive personality to a listening one.

@zemaitis
@beegC0de
@iAmNaN
@NSGangster

Can tell from my brother - diagnosed with ADHD - that those meds quite make you a listener.

The long term effects of Ritalin though are horrendous.
Constant nightmares really fuck up a youngsters brain and behaviour.
The following years of replacement by illicit drugs don't make it easier. Potential criminalization and stuff.

Such medication and therapy has to be observed very very carefully.

Congrats. I’ve been on that medication before as I have ADHD and Aspergers. I was 15 at the time (now 26) when I started taking it. Unfortunately I stopped taking it at 18 as my GP refused to continue the prescription for me because a) he thought the dosage was too high, 54mg when he stopped it, and 2) he didn’t like the idea of it from the very beginning as at the time it was “new”.

Medication like that is brilliant as it really does help. There are days where I do miss it and could do with a dose every now and then. But I’m glad you have found something that works for you.

@scor i dont know about any long term ritalin negative effects. Yes you do get used to it and you need to drop after first couple months it for a week or two in order to sensitize dopamine receptors again.

It was a really long ride for me until I accepted that it’s time to fix my brain.

Last 7 years were all about graduating from uni, getting experience in the industry and barely managing to be in some relationships.

I was able to hyperfocus on career but then I was useless in all other areas (I guess I didnt have enough dopamine).

I don't have AD(H)D and I still have a shitty attention span and memory ._.

Glad to hear it's working out for you though ^^

Same here, but last week. Finally another dev with ADD.

@NSGangster they have found that children who are put on Ritalin are more likely to become addicts to other drugs later in life. Going on the meds later in does not seem to have that effect.

@iAmNaN Makes sense because the person is already developed at that point. In my case methylphenidate is working almost like coffee but lasts longer :D

Please stop taking that.

Let me tell you a story, I’ve been ADHD /ADD all my life...I would be counting ceiling tiles in elementary school, or focusing on other “more important things like software” in high school.. terrible listener... but never diagnosed till fall of 2017.. (23 years old).. I figured the stuff would help me focus and get more work done. They put me on concerta and upped the dosage each month or so. First two weeks of each dosage seemed great then the second 2 seemed not to work or headaches etc.

I thought I was very focused but I was focused on small things that didn’t matter not the big project.. I would dive very deep down rabbit holes or even do things like busy work and not realize it wasting time..
the entire 9 months I was on it I ate a lot less food.. have to remind my self to eat or drink water.

Come March 2018.. the medication caused me to stay up for 3 days straight (but i don’t realize it) ... started having crazy thoughts and couldn’t tell the difference between reality and delusions.. it all seemed the same.. ever have that really weird dream that you know is a dream, that you can control, and you do whatever you want in it cuz you know it’s a dream... well imagine that but not a dream...

It’s called psychosis... I had a literal mental breakdown at work.. they called the cops, I was sent to the hospital.. they checked me out said it was stress.. sent me home, police took my guns and crossbows and all that for safe keeping... anyway later that night my mind went even more crazy... and mind you I did not take more pills than I should have.. in fact there was slightly more in the bottle than there should have been at that time when the police counted. Anyway the situation got even worse.. ended up in the hospital for a week, lost my job.. almost lost my house.. etc.. the hospital tried to claim skitzo and bipolar.. instead of blaming concerta.. but then it was proven it was the concerta.

Moral of the story... I learned to cope with the how my brain works... without medication..... I turned my life around, saved the house, got a new day job making 30% more as prior .. and started my own company on the side.

Do not take mind altering medication.. any medication that passes the blood brain barrier is very dangerous... don’t take it. Please I’m telling you from direct experience.

Learn to embrace the ADD /ADHD

@QuanticoCEO its hard to embrace it when youre in a constant state of either anxiety (afraid of doing mistakes and looking stupid) and depression (ashamed of stupid mistakes which were done). My attention span is like 10 seconds. I can function only in a routine and cant think on my feet :/

@zemaitis one never ever ever ever EVER be afraid of making mistakes....

If you aren’t making mistakes you aren’t learning... thus you aren’t expanding you knowledge and improving yourself..

Two embarrassed of a mistake???... make a joke out of it.. it’s okay.. learn to take responsibility of the mistakes and move on seem like a fear from trying to hide the mistakes rather than quickly admitting to it fixing it and moving on....

It’s okay to fail... Edison failed creating the light bulb 1000 times before he figured it out... this notion you must get it right the first time every time and never fail is total bullshit.

Also try adjusting to a stand up desk. Also try talking the code to yourself literally have a convo about the code reading yo yourself.. whispering.. who gives a fuck it helps.

Write more comments of what your thinking per line

Also my add /adhd allows me to instead of focusing on one function.. I’m focusing on the project or file as a whole and switching between modifying different functions and stuff but I’m leaving comments along the way of my thoughts at the time.. I also have 3 screens one vertical for code, one monitor split between reference manuals in adobe,and one note and email.. the other monitor for powershells and terminals, and reference code.

I also have printed versions in binders of the reference material and data sheets. Cuz I’m always highlighting and writing things I notice.

Watching me from behind, I can promise and ensure the person watching thinks I’m chaotic what I’m doing is chaos jumping my attention from thing to to thing.. how could I get anything done...... there’s a method to my madness

Well I’m jumping so often, and allowing myself to jump around (rather than prevent it) I’m constantly reading code or reference material/ taking notes... which seems like a nightmare for add/adhd.. and it is ONLY if you are stuck reading one single thing in one area... give yourself multiple monitors... print some books.. and allow yourself that “driftablitly” now you are still reading shit related to the project or projects. But you are covering more ground...

Think of it like how a task scheduler of a multi threaded RTOS works.. you are doing a lot of things in shorter bursts and switching between them... rather than just powering thru one task at a time ...

My workflow looks chaotic ... especially from watching me.. but I’m one of the fastest in my department and because of reading and rereading large areas of code as I’m moving around the project I find more issues, and ways to improve things... because I’m “coming back” to things rather than stare at them for hours...

It’s crazy but it works...

@QuanticoCEO so just because you had a bad experience with 1 drug, everyone shouldn't use any drugs? WutFace

@Quirinus no I’m not saying that, I’m just saying my experience, and I’m suggesting find an alternative because because drugs aren’t the only solution, it’s a quick solution.. finding a natural way like for ADD, it’s just takes a different way of thinking, and control. It can be done.... instead of fighting the ADD learned after the “event” how to embrace the ADD, as a strength rather than a weakness.

Any drug that crosses blood brain barrier is bad ... period. Don’t fuck the brain up with chemicals you will regret it later in life.

@QuanticoCEO here you go generalizing again. Not all drugs are bad, and not for every person. Drugs actually helped me. So here, my anecdotal evidence to fight yours.

Even if all drugs did something good and bad, each person could weigh if the good outcomes outweigh the bad in their case.

Yes, a lot can be done with just the mind, but some things are really hard, which is what we are trying to avoid here.

@Quirinus awwww “really hard”.... well good luck in life... play the easy mode.... but easy mode doesn’t allow unlocks of certain features in life I can garrentee that

@QuanticoCEO If you have crippling depression, no amount of "just do it", "be happy", and "fighting" is going to actually solve the problem. You are delusional to think that, and people like you are a danger for sick people, especially suicidal ones. Fuck off.

It might work in some rare cases, but not for the majority. Thats the whole point of the disorder, people cant handle it on their own.

You think doctors are using drugs just for show? Theres been countless studies, talking therapy combined with drugs gives best results in general, and no amount of your wishful thinking on a basis of a single anecdotal evidence will change facts.

@Quirinus well then Darwinism ... fuck it .. I don’t care.. if people can’t handle reality and learn to adapt .... do the research or listen to others to change their thinking then to hell with them.. I don’t care... it may be narcissistic, but the reality is if you listen you will learn.. if you try you will succeed ... if you try .. go all the way.. do it.. don’t give up.. there’s no reason to give up.. fight.... period.. that it

Quick question for everyone in this thread who has ADD/ADHD... Have you made your employer aware, and would you make new future employers aware before accepting a role?

If you start top develop ticks, try going on Stratterra instead. Concerta gave me horrible urges to pop every joint in my body all day and pop my ears every 5 minutes