I take lisdexamfetamine daily which I had to titrate on to as Ritalin was having a lot side fx on me, it felt like being a coke/crack addict again where as the dexamfetamine for me is super clean, zero side fx and occasionally I just get a dosage bump upwards…., but I still often need a break for a few days-week every couple months when it feels less effective, my doctors do recommend it as well. . Overall though, my medication and overall diagnosis (I was unofficially diagnosed as a kid, but not officially til I was 34) has been a huge deal for me, it’s meant I’ve been given help with managing my general anxiety disorder with proper medication and I’ve been able to come off my ineffective medications for depression (I’m actually microdosing mushrooms as a way of helping me manage it instead) along with diet, exercise and basic stuff, before I commit to another medication, that just makes me feel absolutely numb. Having my ADHD medications undercontrol had certainly helped with my self confidence and ability to understand what I need in order to stay healthy like remembering to eat if I get hyper focused on something for hours, to exercise properly a few times a week, which is a massive one for my personal well being, following simple tasks through like keeping my space clean and liveable…. I still have bad days for sure, it get into tantrums when I’m really stressed and get in to arguments or overly upset with my parents, friend evens. Things can still feel overwhelming as fuck, and there is no medication that can change the way my brain works in most ways…living with adhd dyspraxia, dyslexia, all the other things that come with being neuro-atypical can be really tough.
My creativity is defo not effected , which is good, I had more issues getting motivated to actually do something when unmedicated. I used to get this crippling inability to make a decision, and would spend literally all day stuck, and it could be as something as simple as what I want for lunch and then end up not eating all day. It massively fucked with my creativity, and ability to get anything really started. I’ve been particularly impressed with how this blockage just melted away after a good dose of super clean pharma speed with no come down, and no over stimulation effects. I’m actually way calmer while I’m on it, along with my pregablin for general anxiet
Maybe you should rather look into dopamin detox as well… I know that drugs work … was selfmedicating my whole life …
but all those stimulants are no good in the longterm and after a few weeks / month your back to where you started … only worse … that’s why I’m planning my dopamin detoy right now.
I struggle with focus and attention. I choose to not disclose my clinical diagnosis if that’s ok.
but I just came to chime in about a book I’ve started reading recently. (full disclosure, I got the audiobook and I mostly listen in the car).
Deep Work, by Cal Newport was recommended to me by my boss a couple of weeks ago. I told him something about being dissatisfied with my work output - probably something to do with switching from one task to another throughout the day.
Anyway - the content of this book is interesting to me. And you guys might be into it, too.
It’s not a “how to” - it’s more of an “it is what it is”.
But so much of what he talks about resonates with me. For example - allowing yourself a distraction like 1 game of whatever on your phone while you’re at your desk is really way more disruptive to your output and concentration that you think, because Science.
Same is probably true for me visiting Elektronauts during the work day…
In any case -
try an experiment - if you work at a desk: take your iPhone or android and put it way out of reach. Then notice if you catch yourself reaching for it when it isn’t even there.
(I was doing this).
I keep it in a drawer now unless I NEED it.
ADD/ADHD is not a choice. But you learned an elektron box. you’re smart and determined. you can inject little increments of discipline into your lifestyle and gain real benefits from doing so.
Now I promise myself I’m not even going to browse another thread for the rest of the day!
That’s why I’m thinking to switch to just a smart watch for a few month … I can phone if needed … listen to a podcast/music and that’s it. Or a dumb nokia phone. Would come a tiny bit cheaper
Why? No browser, no games, twitter … but you know what time it is and can phone / listen to music while at the gym … I’m at the gym right now not focussing on training so there’s that!
We measure behavior/cognitive state for diagnose and treatment. Heart rate, location, movement, concentration, anxiety, amount of green around in the environment the patient is, etc… We use a mobile phone, a wearable (polar H10). Also we use (if the patient wants to share, but that’s with everything) the usage-monitor on the mobile phone.
I think, but we are not there, for everyone the mobile phone it’s like sitting next to a bag of sweets.
and i think people with ADHD react even more to that, can can be helped being more able to live in this crazy addictive world for everything around us all the time. That’s a vulnerability for many people with ADHD, and everyone is confronted with these ‘tricky and persuasive elements of the world’ 10000 times a day
I’ve never really considered the biometric aspect of wearing a smart watch for controlling adhd. I see people wearing them and notice them checking every notification that appears, tapping it to clear the screen. Seemed like the opposite of what I would want
Yes so the thing is you set the watch screen up to not show anything but the time/date and maybe the weather.
The watch is very helpful since I can press a button and say “remind me to…”. This is very important for ADHD since the mind wander fast and we tend to forget things.
The secret to managing ADHD for me is to use a calendar so I have a schedule and set reminders so I complete all the daily tasks I need to do. Smart watch is very helpful there. It is also extremely helpful for exercise which is also a must for me. Exercise keeps me nice and relaxed and I sleep much better at night, which the watch also tracks.
Well… if you don’t have a smartphone with you … obviously no “mirrored” notifications from twitter and what not popping up - that’s the whole idea - in my case
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 7 and then again at 14 and again at 24 so I have no doubt that I have it.
When you read the books on it I can literally check every single box of symptoms and behaviors associated with it.
I do think that all good creatives have something I have no doubt about that. Our brains are literally weird differently then a “normal@ person. ADHD is a real mixed bag, it is most certainly a disability and in the literal sense of the word, and what’s worse is it’s one that doesn’t show…you see someone in a wheelchair and you know on sight that they need certain things to assist them in life (the wheelchair itself, ramps, a specialized vehicular to get around, etc etc) but with ADHD I’ve found and experienced in my life that we have to work much harder to do what the average person often finds easy…that being said with ADHD often comes positives like the fact that we do think differently we are often creatives. ADHD can also often come with higher IQs, depending obviously on where one is on the spectrum. Also because we think differently we learn differently and in my experience I’ve found that I tend to learn more thoroughly than those around me, I think that’s just the nature of comprehending and taking in information differently, being more “visual” thinkers etc.
in life it makes all of the expected payhx more difficult, school, holding a job, relationships and marriage. We are had a significantly higher risk of drug use and suicide. And I can attest for that personally. Engaging in risk taking behavior etc I’ve been though all of it myself, heavy drinking, hard drug use and risky experimentation. Trouble with the law, sticking my dick in strange places.
Fortunately for me I made it out of my 20s without (fatally) overdosing, not becoming addicted to anything I didn’t kick, not killing myself not getting anyone pregnant that I didn’t want to and only with minimal trouble form law enforcement.
I’m married and I have.a 5 year old daughter, I don’t do drugs anymore and haven’t in a long time, I don’t do the club scene anymore though I miss it dearly I’m not partying like I used to and I love a pretty straight life now. I almost didn’t make it several times, more times than I care to remember.
It’s not easier but it’s different, having gone through everything sort of forced me to want to live straight. I still have a lot of trouble working in a field that I’m not using my creative abilities.
At one point I worked for one of the major drum machine/sampler companies (I’d rather not name it because I’m sure some of my former employers read these threads) and I did really well there for a few years, I went from beta tester to project manager in the span of 2 years and I loved that job and out my all into it but once I got promoted it became less about being creative and more about being a manager that combined with some series life events that happened to my wife and I made it where that job didn’t work out. After that I went into sound design and worked for Arturia for a coupon years but unfortunately it was only gig work so it wasn’t permanent. Those jobs where the only time in my life where I’ve been content with working, every thing else I’ve ever done for work has been brain-numbingly painful:
So I guess my point is that ADHD never goes away, for some reason in the 80s and 90s people used to think it was a childhood disorder but it very much is not. As we get older we figure out workarounds so we can function in traditional life easier (or we don’t and we get into trouble).
I’ve found that having ADHD has also been a serious mixed blessing for music production. I am very proficient in sound design m, programming synths, creating drum samples from scratch, making interesting and complex soundscapes, understanding new synths and modules very quickly and using them in weird and interesting ways…_BUT when it comes to finishing tracks…that’s a whole other story. I come up with ideas that I like literally every time I sit down in front of my gear but then I come up with a new song idea and another new one and a really nude synth patch that doesn’t fit with any of them meanwhile im experimenting with some new unexplored feature of one of my synths or drum machines and nothing actually gets done. I have a lot of fun but 90% I don’t finish anything. I’ve written tracks and even released stuff and have done remixes for some of my favorite bands but that was like 10 years ago and even though im a much better producer, musician and sound designer now than I was then im still trying to figure out how to reign myself in and focus on ONE idea and seeing it through.
So yea it’s a mixed blessing and it never goes away we are weird differently and though we have a lot in common behaviorally and in terms of symptoms we all struggle differently and find our way through life differently.
Having a child with ADHD I imagine is not easy, I’m not sure if my daughter has it she’s too young to know for sure but on the plus side the resources and education system are phenomenally better than they were in the 80s and 90s. I would humbly suggest being cautious in terms of medication all ADHD meds are just stimulants and it’s very hit or miss I’ve had zero luck with meds so just educate yourself if you do choose to go down that path.
Anyways sorry I didn’t mean to write a novel but it’s a subject that’s near and dear to me because it’s been a constant roadblock in nearly every aspect of my life.
I don’t think you’re reading this thread if you can’t relate to that! And thanks for sharing–we all definitely have as many differences as similarities.
I know that drugs work … was selfmedicating my whole life …
essential stuff.