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I have always had very cold hands, but since I started on Vyvanse almost a year ago, I find that I sometimes also get this really weird internal sensation of coldness. I try drinking hot tea or something, but not sure how much it helps lol..
Does Vyvanse really cause lowered BP? Interesting.
REPORT ABUSEI used to play a few different MMO online war games. I was so into them, it actually became a real problem… I almost got fired from my job, and my (now) husband was going to break up with me… I don’t play any anymore, but I still miss them sometimes 🙁 I loved the strategy, and actually, strangely fitting in… I don`t get that anywhere else. 🙁
REPORT ABUSEI was administered the TOVA test (visual version of it only) AFTER my diagnosis, but when I was not on any medications. It said I was completely off the chart hyperactive, but only mildly inattentive.
I was diagnosed primarily innattentive ADHD lol. Something isn’t right.
(Then again, I did find it fun oddly enough – probably because I had a problem with online game addiction, and had quit ALL electronic games a few months previous… it was probably similar to how a stale beer would taste to a clean alcoholic lol. Anyway, I guess my point is, I would not rely on TOVA results only for diagnosis..)
REPORT ABUSEI somehow did very well in school until about Grade 10 – despite never ever having my homework completed, and my assignments constantly being handed in late. Parental pressure was a big factor; it was expected that I do well – though it probably took me three times longer to do projects than it took everyone else. Don’t even ask about grades 11 or 12, however – my home structure broke down, and I went from honor roll student to barely graduating.
Now I am 32, and been working on one degree for probably about 8 years lol, and still a year to go. I still do well in courses when I am interested, but I really struggle with the self-direction required.. and as for the “boring” classes, omg..
REPORT ABUSEI have seasonal affective disorder as well as ADHD, and took Paxil (a SSRI) for the depression last winter. It helped amazingly then, but I was not on any other meds at the time. This year I am taking Vyvanse, and tried Paxil again briefly, but it just made me feel sick. I learned too then about the liver enzymes, and potentially causing toxic accumulation of the medications. Instead, now I am using just a light therapy lamp, and it is working amazingly well. I used to think that it wouldn’t work for me, but honestly I never gave it a really good shot, I’d just use it “sometimes”. Now I have found that as long as I use it daily for 30 minutes to an hour, with the light shining down on my eyes from above (this is important), it works. If I even miss a day or two of doing it though, I definitely notice the depression coming on… I realize this won’t work with all kinds of depression, but I’d definitely recommend it for SAD, and it may possibly help with some others. When the light is shining at just the right angle into my eyes, I can actually feel the serotonin releasing now.
Just a note though, if you have bipolar disorder, make sure you ask your doctor first, as it can trigger manic episodes (though some studies have shown it can even successfully treat bipolar depression safely if used later in the day – using it first thing in the morning is more risky).
There is also a study being done right now at the hospital where I work, where light therapy is being used successfully to treat fatigue in cancer patients 🙂
REPORT ABUSEI’ve been taking it for about seven months, and I am not sure if I ever felt my mind really “slow down”, I am on a fairly low dose though. At this point, it doesn’t really give me more energy either. What it does help me do is focus better when I want to focus (though I have to make a conscious effort, or I will focus on the wrong things lol), and it helps me to organize my own thoughts better inside my head. My thoughts come just as quickly I think, but instead of being a whirling sandstorm inside my head, I can manipulate them into a (mostly) coherent pattern.. I still get restless at times, easily entertained but quickly bored, and am occasionally told I’m talking too quickly.. when I don’t take it though I am still restless but also actually feel stoned in comparison, off in my own world. (I purposely don’t take it if I want to zone out, like at a dentist appointment lol)
REPORT ABUSEI have a ukelele as well! I love it, because you can learn a song from scratch, new chords and all, in under an hour 🙂 I have an electric guitar and a clarinet as well, but with them I feel too much (internal) pressure to be perfect, and it sucks the fun right out for me.. Nobody expects too much from a ukulele, so I feel free to fool around and I have way more fun 🙂
REPORT ABUSEI also have a lot of difficulties making and/or keeping friends. I think that there are a few reasons for this.
1) I am kind of strange and random, and not what a “normal” girl (woman??) is supposed to be like, I don’t think..
2) I interrupt people. All the time. I try not to…
3) I also get excited and talk really fast sometimes, and I’m not sure if other people always follow
4) If there is TOO much going on, like at a party where I am trying really hard to act like I fit in, I will sooner or later get completely overwhelmed and just retreat off somewhere. Then people definitely think I am weird, but I don’t know how to explain myself.
5) Keeping in regular contact with people/remembering birthdays/etc… NO idea how to manage this.. I will go months without calling people, even people I really like and want as friends. I guess to some people, this comes across like I don’t care.. One co-worker told me just the other day that she isn’t inviting anyone to here wedding who she hasn’t spoken to in the last month. My jaw just dropped. She speaks to ALL of her friends, EVERY month??? I don’t even have any RL friends (LOL) and managing to do that still seems incomprehensible to me.. I actually asked an ADHD coach once for tips on this, and she had no real advice.. 🙁
REPORT ABUSEI have gone to one in person. She was nice but I did not find the sessions that helpful. We never really set any goals, and on the occasional time that we did she didn’t follow up on it next session, so I felt that it was pretty aimless overall… The advice was more miss than hit as well, she did not seem to care to incorporate ME into my solutions, everything was what works for her… and I don’t even know if she has ADHD lol..
I have also spoken with another supposedly well-known coaching service on the phone, but I found her to be overly pushy and almost rude trying to sell her packages, and it turned me right off. (She refused to wait until the end of the month to start, even though I told her I needed to for financial reasons. She went ahead setting it up immediately anyway, booking an appointment for me right away with one of her employees. Then when I insisted it had to wait, she never replied, or ever followed up.)
Sooo….. if anyone does have any success stories, I am interested as well! lol
REPORT ABUSEI agree that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and will do better in certain jobs (not necessarily poor paying ones), and that this is nothing to feel badly about. I decided to go into nursing long before I even knew what ADHD was (I didn’t know anybody who was diagnosed with it growing up). I just knew that I could never do a “sit down” job, and went with that. 🙂 I am also certified as a personal trainer! (random temporary career change lol..) I am not saying that having ADHD has never affected my job performance (it most definitely has), but I do feel that I am working with a lot of my strengths rather than against them.
I also have a friend with ADHD who is an amazing graphic designer. 🙂
REPORT ABUSEThey maybe could make ADHD symptoms worse, but then again, depression does as well.
I was on a SSRI briefly once, but it made my brain the opposite of slow and sluggish. For the first week, I had ADHD on crack instead, I had absolutely NO ability to filter out ANYTHING at all lol. I could not drive, even changing lanes was beyond me with all the visual input I was being bombarded with, and I could not handle even being in the same room as a television. It did settle after the first week though, and I am sensitive to meds to begin with, so I am not sure if everyone experiences that lol.
REPORT ABUSE@sdwa Unfortunately it is just social psychology that when a person does anything “wrong” (for example, shows up late, forgets a birthday, interrupts, doesn’t pay a bill..), other people will naturally attribute the behavior to an internal moral or character flaw in that person, rather than any external event beyond their control – such as ADHD. Of course, those same people will attribute anything that they themselves do wrong to external events beyond their control… it is just the way many people’s minds unconsciously work. Do your best not to internalize what these people tell you, if you can; their thoughts are flawed and untrue. I know it is easier said than done…..
I love the greeting card idea btw, for real lol.
I also actually prefer Russell Barkley’s factual attitude towards ADHD. Calling ADHD a gift seems patronizing to me, and seems like it would make an already misunderstood disorder even more misunderstood to those without it. We already struggle to complete many basic tasks that society expects of us, and are judged when we fail. Many of us also need to take medications just to function somewhat appropriately, and can be again judged for that. Some other people with ADHD may need accommodations that their co-workers or classmates may deem unfair. On top of all of this, we seem to have to constantly defend that ADHD even really exists at all. Then throw in those people who are faking ADHD for various reasons… To have all of this against us already, then to go around touting ADHD back to everyone as a “gift”, just seems to me like it could stir up even more negativity and stigma. Of course, with all the negativity, I can also see why people would want to counter that by saying “gift”.
I might just stick with Larynxa’s IDB explanation myself. lol 🙂
I do realize that ADHD is not entirely bad. I love the creativity, and being able to come up with solutions that are WAY outside the box. We also tend to be a fun bunch 🙂 But if I could keep the creativity and just lose all the rest, I would give back my own ADHD in a heart beat.
REPORT ABUSEI just have to add, I was fooling around with my son’s impulse-buy ukulele last night, and it is the funnest thing ever!!!! And really easy to learn, I went from knowing nothing at all, to being able to play two songs (from Adventure Time lol) in about an hour. I want to go buy my own uke now too… lol
REPORT ABUSEExplaining ADHD to someone who’s never had it, and in particular to someone who believes the whole thing is fake, is like trying to explain an orgasm to a bicycle.
LOL!! Too true
I have not told anyone that I have diagnosed ADHD, except for one friend who I strongly suspected also had it, encouraging her to get tested. (Her therapist told her no, but sent her to a psychiatrist anyway – the psychiatrist said definitely yes ADHD!)
I have come to a point atm where I honestly don’t care if people believe in ADHD or not. All I know is that my brain works very differently from most other people I know, and that medication helps me to function a bit more like “normal” people do. Call that what you will 🙂
REPORT ABUSEUnfortunately, I can’t not shop, or make my boyfriend shop for me lol.. I did however make another stab at making a budget, YNAB seems pretty user friendly and has a phone app. I also returned two impulse buys that were still returnable (almost like free money!! :)) and unsubscribed to all shopping emails I got. I am sure I am going to still buy some stuff I don’t need lol, but Larynxa is right, some control is better than none 🙂
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