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I always felt like the “odd one out” like there was something wrong with me. It wasn’t until my two children (now adults) were diagnosed that I found out why I didn’t quite fit in. My ADHD has affected my relationships, my work and my personal outlook on life. Sometimes in a good way and sometimes with disastrous results.
My first experience was with Ritalin SR. It helped me to focus while I was at work, but didn’t help with my morning and evening routines. Also I tended to be jittery at times with this med, so I decided to stop. I wasn’t getting the results I was hoping for and part of me just didn’t want to have to depend on medication…
It was several years later that I was finding it more and more difficult to cope and started Ritalin SR again thinking there was no other option. After a few months my GP reviewed my progress. I voiced my concern with the fact that I was also experiencing anxiety and depression. Anxiety was amplified by stress of getting places on time and Ritalin was not helping at all with that. Also my depression was made worse by negative feedback from my spouse and my inability to filter out all the feelings I experienced dealing with people in general. Pretty much the way Lollibyte describes it. I too over analyse; noticing every detail people emit with their body language!
My doctor suggested Adderall and I have been taking it for almost one year now. It has made a huge difference in my life. The anxiety and depression is gone. I am able to cope better with time management and I am not affected as much by negative body language.
When compared with Ritalin my experience is like night and day. It is like a switch was turned off and I can finally breath. I still have major problems with executive function, but I can step back and work it out. Still takes lots of effort, but now I can tune out the negative thoughts and focus on my strengths and weaknesses.
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