Medication is a leg up but not a cure for ADHD. Some people can come off medication and be perfectly functional adults, others will need support for their whole life. I was first diagnosed in 1998 but we were still in the early days of really understanding it along with learning disabilities and how we treat them. In addition I was already an adult so many of my habits, and brain pathways had been established already.

Today, I still fidget, I still forget things, I still nod my head and pretend I listened but nothing was captured or understood, I still get moments of hyperfixation and times where I cant find any motivation to do anything even preferred tasks. Probably the hardest thing for me is impulse control and executive function, and its the least affected by my medication.

I struggle with communication and authority and can react poorly in social situations because of this impulse/executive function difficulty. Thankfully I have support other than just chemical, I have an ADHD coach (she is ok), and a Therapist who is fantastic.

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I am mostly treated but my ability to pay attention (not the length of my attention span, but the fragility of it I guess) is not fully “normal”. It’s still night and day when I don’t taken my pill though.

Sidennote, I instantly become better at ALL genres of video games when on my pill. Which is a nice little side effect.

Edit: incidentally I haven’t taken the pill yet today and im on my phone so I do not have the ability or desire to follow that template haha.

I will still talk the ears off an iron monkey given the chance

I will still get hyper focused on occasion but less often. I also get moments of less hyper focus but still like ‘in the zone’. Basically hyper focus but I remember to breathe and drink water consistently.

I still have my rotating rogues gallery of hobbies though it cycles a lot slower now which is really nice.

YouTube Shorts is still like crack for my brain still so I have to block it on my browsers and use an alternative app for YouTube (grayjay) on my phone if I don’t want to blow an entire day. I also won’t touch tiktok with a 10 ft pole as I know it will be just as bad if not worse than YouTube Shorts for me.

I got diagnosed last Christmas and started treatment as part of the diagnosis and the changes the medicine did to me are night and day. I started on 20mg Ritalin Uno (methylphenidate modified release). Now I’m on 20mg morning +10mg afternoon.

I still fidget with things constantly about just as much as before but as an engineer this is also how I see the world and do my job the best so I’m happy in a way that it didn’t stop completely. The biggest change for me is all the noise in my head have been tuned down so much that I can actually think straight and focus on stuff. Before I felt like a constant blast of 10 radios playing at the same time in my mind all with different topics, tones, music, conversations, anxiety, traumas, hobbies, work etc. Now it’s almost gone and I can see and hear clearly what I actually feel and tune into just one at a time. My general mood and mental health has improved significantly since I’m more calm and confident and can take much better decisions and act upon them. I feel like i improved 5 fold on my work and still have a little energy and mental capacity left for myself when i come home.

The best thing is that I now have better abilities to protect, understand and accept myself and my own behaviour. I now have the ability to actually take actions to improve. As an example I used to get stuck on YouTube shots for hours and hours but actually took the action the other day to protect myself and it is now blocked on my phone so I simply just can’t go there anymore. I also stopped many other small dumb routines and finding a way to get out of them and stay focused on what I actually want to be doing.

Remaining symptoms is probably hyper focusing (like writing this post way too long compared to what it needs to be) but I’m better at steering the focus now. It’s also stil completely Impossible for me to remember names, dates and future plans unless written down and checked multiple times. Also still going to bed waaay to late because brain is racing in the evening sometimes if the medicine wears off early. Depression is also still lurking around in the background, threatening to show itself but I’m getting better and better everyday as I’m slowly finding my new self.

Eddit. Forgot to mention that I also tried concerta 36mg but it absolutely did not work for me even though its supposed to be tye same. I got drowsy, had sleep issues with insomnia. Felt dizzy at random times during the day making it dangerous to drive. Got extremely tired when I got home and fell asleep on the couch because of dopamine crash just to be absolutely unable to sleep at night regardles of what I did. Ritalin is releasing much more precise for me and doesn’t linger around for too long to cause sleep issues. I sleep sooo much better than i have ever done when I’m on Ritalin.

Diagnosis: early/mid 20s (family upbringing prevented earlier testing) years treated ~4

Edit: diagnosis (when originally diagnosed) was ADHD, prognosis Autism, general anxiety disorder, depression.

Medications: adderall quick release- ineffective, delayed release - ineffective, Methylphenidate -effective/but short lived, Vyvanse - effective and current used solution (barring shortage)

Eased ailments: Focus and executive function improvements. Jitters and constant motion reduced. Internal thought processes now under control. Need for constant interaction as a form of stimulation (chatter box) reduced. Job performance and quality improved. General memory improved.

Gained ailments: Hunger repressed. Slight weight management issues. Thirst increased. Caffeine now causes jitters, increased heart rate and anxiety. Medication fatigue (energy crashes, ups and downs if I forget to take medication). Sleep issues (insomnia) if medication taken too late in day.