I’m a 45-year-old dude who’s only now coming to grips with having probably lived my whole life with undiagnosed inattentive-type ADHD. My wife and online communities like this one (and formerly Reddit) have helped me see that I may have been playing life on hard mode by pretending I didn’t have ADHD.
My doctor had me try Strattera (atomoxetine) about a year ago, but all it did was make me feel like I was nervous.
Have any of you inattentive-types had any success with simulant meds? I know it would be a lot of trouble to get officially diagnosed and even more trouble to fill the prescription, so I wonder if it’s worth trying.
edit: Thank you everyone who shared their experience. It sounds like Adderall or Vyvanse are effective for focus and executive dysfunction. If anyone is still keeping tabs on this conversation, have you had any improvement in forgetfulness/distractedness with simulant meds?
it is absolutely worth it. It’s so life-changing that it’s worth the struggles to get on a medication. I’m on Adderall, and have tried Focalin and Ritalin but neither worked for me (caused anxiety among other issues), once you find the right medication for you it’ll change your life for the better.
Also for what it’s worth, it might not be as hard as it seems to get diagnosed and get a prescription. I originally went to my family doctor talking about my experience and research into ADHD, and she prescribed a low dose of Adderall that day. The real hassle, at least for me, has been having to remember to call every month to have the doctor refill my prescription, and scheduling and attending appointments every 3 months. There are no auto-refills for stimulants, at least in the US, because it’s so federally regulated. and it’s a medication you’ll be on for life most likely. even so, it’s definitely worth it in my opinion.
oh that’s interesting. I was under the impression that a GP wouldn’t prescribe simulant meds without sending me to a psychiatrist first. I’ll have to talk to my GP about it then. I haven’t discussed it with her since I came off atomoxetine.
From my understanding it’s uncommon but worth asking about! I started seeing a psychiatrist shortly after to manage it further, and still see one to this day for 3 month check ins (and to manage various other conditions). I doubt my GP would have been willing to raise my dosage as high as I needed it, but it was a good starting point then because I was already on the medications, it has been easy to transfer to other doctors and continue getting my prescriptions. I’ve never been screened for ADHD or anything like that.
Was the right medication alone the perfect fix for you or did you need therapy as well?
Echoing what others have said, get the meds. I’m 39 and have been taking Vyvanse for a couple years; when I forget I am a mess, I can’t believe I made it this far without.
The generic is being released this month in the US!
I am primarily inattentive and take Vyvanse, have for years, and I love it. I have tried Strattera and had a similar experience to you from what I remember if that helps. Fair warning though, generics just came out last week so insurance usually makes you try cheaper alternatives like Aderall as Vyvanse is like 400$ a month retail. Aderall is fine but I don’t like it as much as Vyvanse, its stimulant curve is far less smooth than Vyvanse throughout the day for me.
Anecdotally, I ran out yesterday and today has been a fog more than I remember and it was impossible to do anything. It was kind of a good reminder to get it filled, it makes a huge difference for me haha.
Anyway, hope that helps, it’s definitely a journey not designed for ND people so keep at it.
Thanks for opening this conversation. It’s been in my mind as well, I’m 41 and only a few years ago realized I’ve had inattentive ADHD my whole life.
Hopefully your doctor is better then the first one I talked to. He just said that ADHD meds are “performance enhancers” and didn’t think I was fucked enough to get access to the cheat codes.
I have. Years after my adult diagnosis, I finally caved in and got medication. You are definitely playing life on hard mode.
The path to the easier mode won’t be fast unless you are lucky. I first took Vivance because that was all my plan would cover, and I got the “sudden rages” side effect, which affected work.
Adderall works better for me, but I’m trying some other stuff too as I think it is not solving the problem as much as I initially thought. It gets me to the point where I can focus and be motivated to act until early afternoon, and I’m not sure the focus/attention part is as good as I need. For the moment, I have a supplemental low dose at 1pm.
What I still lack is good executive function: decicive decisions, with subsequent actions. It’s better, but I don’t see it as anywhere near “the norm” yet.
I’m 38. Diagnosed with combined (everything) type ADHD 2 months ago.
The experience for being on meds for me has been life changing. I’m on elvanse (vivanse in the US). It’s like suddenly being in the driver’s seat of my own mind. The guy that was driving before was an idiot. I can now just choose to do stuff.
What struck me is that not only are you playing on hard mode, but everyone else is playing on easy mode and telling you it’s hard mode. “Life is hard” means something completely different to everyone else.
Definitely try it again. Medicating ADHD is really well understood and incredibly successful for so many people. I think it’s insane not to give it a go and see if it’s right for you.
The stigma around being medicated is completely backwards imo.
A friend of mine with inattentive ADHD liked Vyvanse when he was on it
I have hybrid ADHD but now that I’m older it presents itself as inattentive mostly, Adderall is great for focus for me, straterra helps my impulse control and mood regulation
Im about your age and am not the “hyperactive” type of ADHD. I’m on a stimulant and have been for a month or so now.
Do it.
But don’t make any plans for your first day of meds, Holy crap.
Yes. Do it. Different types may make you feel better than others.
42 year old woman, diagnosed with ADHD last year. I have inattentive type and I’m autistic as well.
I’m on Medikinet adult (Ritalin XR) and it helps me with focus and executive dysfunction. It may take a while to figure out your dosage though.
Yes hugely. Adderall and vyvanse work great for me. I’m on vyvanse now because of the addrrall shortage
Would you look at that! I’m on Adderall right now because of the damn Vyvanse shortage.
I’m on atomoxetine at the minute, plus I have stimulants for work. Honestly give the atomoxetine another go, I had mad anxiety for a couple days and then it calmed down and went away, doesn’t come back now. To answer your question stimulants, for me, are incredible. They don’t completely fix the executive distinction but they make it a hell of a lot easier to deal with. The atomoxetine helps a lot too, but it isn’t as powerful as the stimulants (but it also doesn’t run out and leave you with 0 ability)
Wow, I’m 36 with recently diagnosed ADHD, and I’m really interested in all the posts here. I’ve been using Vyvanse for the last month. While I Love that it’s suppressing my appetite, I don’t feel like it’s doing very much for my ADHD.
39, got diagnosed a year ago and also put on vyvanse. That’s pretty much the experience I got. However I did realise how much the constant feeling of starvation distracted me from my job (programming).
One correlation I am seeing is that fatigue makes everything worse. Melatonin before bed (and not being forced out of bed early in the morning) makes almost as much difference as the stimulants.
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I choose to play life on hard mode. But when I discovered that I actually was playing that way back in the day, the psychiatrist and I experimented and titrated to Adderall XR. We tried Ritalin, and some other new SSRI at the time. Can’t remember the dosage, not remembering is a feature of ADHD.
During that time, I would take the weekends off, because I love how my brain works except it pisses of the SO, but, by doing so I was able to learn the difference between my chemical imbalance and work towards being mindful of neurotypical expectations.
These days I’m able to function with espresso in the morning, I find some good south American beans, yoga and meditation. I also work on hard shit because it helps me get into flow. I find that the medicine reduces my ability to get lost in my hobby projects.
I would definitely suggest being open to experimenting with meditation to figure out your ADD tendencies but also work with a therapist to work on cognitive ways to refocus, rebalance and be attentive. Basically learn mindfulness. Also learn to accept that some days are ADHD days.
Good luck.
