I recently had to stop taking my vyvanse due to some bad side effects and holy shit I forgot how bad this was. I can’t do anything. I have so much shit I need to do but I sit down to do it and it genuinely fills me with dread. I am just staring at my computer. Even getting to the webpage I needed took hours of convincing. This is horrible, even caffeine isn’t helping. What do y’all do? How do you manage?
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Poorly. I’m unmedicated and trying to get on meds.
Are you in the US? What difficulties are you running into?
My current psychiatrist doesn’t want to prescribe me any stimulants because of the potential for abuse. For the record, I have no, uh, record of drug use. I don’t even fucking drink. I get the caution, but it’s deeply frustrating.
I found my current awesome psychiatrist at growtherapy.com. It took me a couple tries; I honestly don’t know how the first one still has a license to practice. No problems getting Adderall after that (other than the ridiculous hurdles the pharmaceutical industry has put in place). The behavior you are describing from your current psychiatrist is exactly the shit I was trying to avoid, and I spelled that out clearly in my first appointment with my current psychiatrist.
I run on auto pilot most of the time. I can’t forget something I didn’t remember to do to begin with. Double, triple, and quadruple check. The double check to be sure and the tripe and quadruple check because I forgot I’ve already double-checked.
As someone who can’t medicate my ADHD, even with caffeine because they all either don’t help or interfere with my panic disorder which is much, much more debilitating, it is… Not great, but I’ve mostly found a lifestyle that works for me. I’ve found careers that I can handle. Maintaining a household alone is… Very rough under the circumstances but it is what it is.
All that said, HIGHLY recommend staying active enough that you are tired at the end of the day and having an alarm clock with a bright light on it, or a dawn simulation ideally with smart lighting, a special alarm clock, or a diy solution with a full spectrum lamp and an aquarium timer (guess which one I did during college). Maintaining a good schedule and waking up in the AM feeling at least reasonably well rested is paramount, everything else goes to hell if that isn’t maintained, and if I’m not physically active during the day, no amount of melatonin will get me to sleep within a routine.
Light alarm clock sure is a game changer. Isn’t there something that is primarily an anti-depressant, but also works with panic disorder and ADHD? I just know that there are many where 2 of the 3 overlap. But sure, a stimulant would be bad for you.
I have strangely also been in states, over years, where caffeine induces panic. In hindsight, it might have been as simple as a magnesium deficit, but no doctor bothered to check.
I’ve even had benzo prescriptions over years, and cut it down to 0 with relatively high magnesium supplements. Not saying it is the same in your case, extremely unlikely even, just the general concept that something has been missed.
Chaining dozens of coping methods together helps a little bit, including:
- strictly working with lists. When I do it and it’s not on the list & checked off, it doesn’t count as done. What’s not on the list doesn’t get done
- implementation intention: Since my brain refuses “must do now” situations, use a trigger like: “If it’s not done by 8 p.m., work on it with a stopwatch for 15 minutes”
- for the list, turn everything into a module. Instead of “do the kitchen”, have subitems like “collect all garbage”, “sort by food / non-food”, “clean surface 1/2/3/floor”. For studying & work, a module is always 25 or 50 minutes of full focus, no distractions. When I have to get up to get water or pee, it counts as failed and is not checked off
Yay, life on hard mode.
Routine, write down EVERYTHING (because anything verbal doesn’t register for me), and struggle through it. I’ve been trying for years to find the right medication, I don’t even know the name of the one I just had to stop due to severe insomnia and dizzy spells. Which has been the theme for every single one where the dizzy spells are so bad, it’s no better than my scatterbrained ADHD brain. Yes, even Vyvanse made me very dizzy; I was so hopeful for that one…
Badly
Caffeine and THC. Go away with your prescription drugs!
THC unfortunately does not help with studying for my physics exam 🥲
Before i even knew i had it, caffeine. One cup of coffee and maybe a soda per day. No more or otherwise it’d make me tired. Its no replacement for meds but other things helped too like keeping notes, getting enough sleep, excerising, and one of the things i still do today, taking the frustration out of daily tasks.
If something bugs you a lot or stops you from being productive, find a way to make it easier or at least less annoying. Problem solve. Its one of my biggest drivers for dopamine hits and making your life easier by just getting rid of little annoyances makes it easier to function overall.
All that said, like others mentioned, I didn’t function well before meds. Honestly i feel like i got off easy but its not really helpful to compare your situation to others.
I hope anything from this post helps you out man.
Buddy, I’m like this medicated. I don’t cope, I don’t manage. I can’t get a proper job and I’m increasingly ready to plan my exit.
I used to use caffeine but i stopped a few years ago. During the pandemic i went on adderall because i was struggling to help my kids do online school. I stopped adderall because i moved and adhd’d away my therapist.
Mostly i cope with routine. I eat the same foods for breakfast and lunch most days. I work on unmasking and being radically honest about my struggles with adhd to people around me. I setup auto billpay as much as possible and i cycle through the same few hobbies so i dont waste too much money.
I’ve recently found that sleep is very important to my body’s needs. If my sleep cycle is fucked then my symptoms get wild.
I find that pre-workout mixes with caffeine and creatine tend to help me.
Just worth noting, creatine causes your muscles “soak up” more water so you’ll need to drink more to keep the rest of your body hydrated.
Unfortunately I have a kidney issue and creatine is not an option 😔
I suppose I cope by having almost 40 years of coping mechanisms that I use to keep me mostly okay. I let my mind fugue in the morning when I wake up. I have a routine that I try to stick to. I have a job that allows me to hyper focus on problems and get the dopamine hit from solving those problems. I don’t have to interact with others for the most part to do my job. I spend a lot of time at home, use ear plugs, or headphones etc. if I can’t make my mind focus I try to do something else. I take breaks. I set alarms for just about everything. And reminders. So many reminders. I also have a very supportive partner. I’m sure there’s other stuff I had to learn to do to mask that I’m forgetting. But for the most part things just work because I put a lot of work into making them work and even then I am not always successful.
Caffeine, lots.
Only way to get through dread is to go through with it. If you want something to stop, finish it. I have pretty light adhd, but for me it was like steeling my mind before base jumping. Sometimes you don’t want to do something. You’re scared or tired but you must FORCE yourself to do it. I have a mantra that kind of helps me. I tell my self that I must do what must be done. And kind of make the action feel like it is inevitable like I will do it even if I don’t want too.
