Ooh, I could say SO much about all this. But it’s late and for once I have to try and get myself to bed cause I gotta wake up the kiddo at 6am for school, so I will cut to the medication point: heck yeah it’s scary. Mostly when you’re at this stage, where you don’t know much, or enough about it. I am ADHD and so is my son, who is 11yo. We’ve known for about 1 1/2 year now, and during the process of diagnosing him, I realized those tests were describing my whole life.
The first thing my son’s pediatrician said about treatment, was that there were medications that could help a lot, maybe not, but all her kids take the meds and it helps them tremendously. I was super scared about giving my (then) 9 year old such “horrible” medications (I have a friend who gave it to her son and she hated how the Ritalin made him act like, so she cut him off the meds and she swears that it’s the worst thing you can do – and I was instantly terrified by it). But after you do some studying, and after you talk to your doctor about it (or as many doctors as you feel is necessary), you’ll see how safe and effective these meds really are. The thing is, there isn’t just ONE medication, with ONE single dose, in a “one size fits all” kind of way, so it may take you some trials and errors until you find the one that is right for you (or not, maybe you’ll decide it just isn’t your thing and this is totally fine too!).
I was put on Vyvanse, and my son on Concerta. My psychiatrist said that the difference was mostly that the Vyvanse would be stronger, last longer, while the Concerta would have a “softer”, easier effect on you. I hated the Vyvanse. I was losing 1lb per day (which after having my second kid was AMAZING, but that was the only good thing about it), my heart would pound like it would jump out of my mouth all day, I couldn’t sleep even if I stuffed my face with sleeping pills, I got really moody, extremely irritated and started having anxiety/panic attacks too regularly. Keep in mind that sometimes all it takes for all this to stop, is to change the dose you’re taking, it may be too little, it may be too much, and changing may very well fix it. For me it didn’t. My son, on the other hand, was doing great with the Concerta (both are stimulants, and there are also meds that aren’t stimulants at all!). So I asked my doctor if I could take the same medication my son was taking. He then changed me to the Concerta, lowest dose (you always start with the lowest dose). And I really liked it at first. I played with the dosage as well, and found out that, for both me and my son, the correct dose would depend on the day I was going to have. Sometimes we’d need just the lowest dose, sometimes a higher one (for example, on school days I tend to give my son 54mg because it lasts longer so he can focus all day long, get home from school and do all his homework, and go to his tutoring class, etc. on Friday when he doesn’t have homework, he can take the lowest dose, 18mg. On weekends, holidays and vacation, I don’t even give him anything! These meds curb the appetite quite a lot, he is a skinny/fit kid, so the last thing he needs is to lose weight. By the way, he takes Cyproheptadine to make him more hungry, when he takes the ADHD pills).
So. With time, I realized I was still not sleeping (only 2-3 hours per night, when and IF I took some sleeping aid kinda thing, from melatonin to Lorazepam – which I took for the anxiety attack, nothing was helping me sleep), my anxiety was skyrocketing, at some point I couldn’t take this anymore and decided to stop the medication all together and try to access my feelings, see how I’d feel, try to work it out with my psychologist (I also have one), etc. It’s been now 7 months since I stopped taking ADHD pills. I miss the part where it REALLY helped me focus, I felt energetic and could do soooo much. But the anxiety and lack of sleep were killing me. Both are much better, actually the sleep is pretty alright, the anxiety at times is better, at times worse, but I know that it wasn’t JUST the ADHD pills that made me anxious. He weight gain was the biggest struggle for me, and until I was able to start working out and actually succeed in dieting, I knew it’d never go away, the panic and stuff. So now it’s all getting more and more under control, thanks God. I have to admit that the ADHD symptoms sometimes seem worse than before I ever tried any meds. I’m more forgetful than ever and I procrastinate like I have never before. However, the bad things about the meds are gone – AND I know there are still many meds I can try. Including non-stimulant ones. And I am totally open for it. I just stopped for a while because I felt I had greater issues I had to deal with, and to curb, and I wasn’t being abble to do that together with the meds.
Now, you’re a student. My son is a student. He has private tutors and his structure at home has always been the same – the difference, here, really is whether he takes his medication or not. He knows all the subjects. He is great in math. He can ace any test at school. BUT, if he doesn’t take his medications he will bring home a score of 55 out of a 100. Just for the simple fact that he can’t focus on the problems long enough to go through them, to understand and solve them. I know cause I was the very same kid back when I was his age. I struggled SO much. The math problems would scramble before my eyes when I tried to read them. I’d get an A with my private tutor and NEXT DAY take the test at school and get an F. Cause there, by myself, lacking confidence, I just couldn’t do it. So I totally get it! Now when he takes his medications, his report cards are all 85, 87, 95, 100 and so on. ADHD medication, in my son’s life, is the difference between bringing home 3 grades below 60-70 without taking meds, OR, with the meds, not getting anything below 85. So, you see. I swear by it. It hasn’t worked for me, so far at least, but it does wonders for my son.
Is it safe? Yes. But do we know everything about the side effects? Well, no. As much as it has been used since 1950’s, what I understood of all the studying I’ve done is, that there’s not much data about people using these meds for so long, in such a long term. In part because many people believed that ADHD was a kid thing, that it went away with age, and it felt like so because as adults we tend to curb it. To fake it. And sometimes we do manage it to a certain extent. As adults, knowing right from wrong, having greater responsibilities, bills to pay, children to take care of, etc, we kind of suck it up and figure out a way to do it, to live with it. Kinda. So it may look like the ADHD isn’t there anymore. We cope better, I guess, then kids. So anyway, there are not enough studies about the long term use of these meds and its possible side effects. HOWEVER, there isn’t anything proving it’s done a bunch of people bad, either. All they seem to know is that it’s safe (safer than aspirin, are you kidding me? I’m the migraine master, I love pain killers lol! So this should be easy, right?). It’s effective in most cases. But what my son’s pediatrician said that was the deal maker, for me, was: as of now, what you, as his parent, has to do, is to weigh the benefits of taking the medication, and the good it’s been doing in his life NOW, against the bad that it does to him, to grow up like this, NOW, without such a powerful tool to help him do great at school and life in general (I didn’t mention that the struggles at home went away, too. He was never ever a bad child in any way, but us being educated about ADHD, taking a parenting course with a psychologist, reading every book we could get our hands on, having him see a psychologist too, take his meds, reading about it etc, reeeeeally made life easier). And as I thought about what his doctor said, it took me back to when I was 10, and the zero information my parents had about ADHD, and all the judging, and yelling, and name calling, and my struggles at school and so on, and I thought… There is no way in hell I’ll let my children go through what I have been through. We have the power and the tools to take control of this and make it a good thing. Yes, because I do think it’s a good thing. ADHD minds are brilliant, if you ask me. And I wouldn’t wanna be any different. 
Ok, so aaaaaaaall of that was to say: read about it. Watch shows, talk to psychiatrists, ask people who have been through the same, and maybe most importantly, keep an open mind about it. You may find your med super quickly, like my son, or it may take a while, like for me (I still haven’t given up on it cause I felt it, I’ve seen it working a lot for me, just not enough, not for now), but at least give it a try because it can really make all the difference in your life. Just remember that no pill is a magic pill, so there’s gotta be a whole structure to help you better (family, partner, psychologist etc). And it seems like you have it, so I’m sure you’ll do well, whatever way you choose to go with this.
I know I wrote a lot, but seriously, I could keep on going for 3 days, non stop. 
There’s so much to it. I’m a 35yo mom of 2, happily married to the best man I have ever met (and possibly the only man on Earth that can deal with me and dare to say he is happy lol), I too struggled with what the heck I wanted do with my life professionally, I STILL don’t know what I wanna be when I “grow up”, so I’ve been a lot of things and dumped all of them, and although nowadays I can see how successful I am (I am a stay at home mom for the past 4 years, but hey, it takes a heck lot to be able to do this and truly say you have a happy life and a happy family), well… I still have dreams, I still want more, and I am still confused. Happily confused, as I usually say, because discovering the ADHD was more of a blessing than a curse, but you know… It’ll get better. I promise it’ll get better. There’s a lot of good things in your way. Shoot me a line anytime.
Good luck!