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A casual community for people with ADHD
Values:
Acceptance, Openness, Understanding, Equality, Reciprocity.
Rules:
- No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments.
- No porn, gore, spam, or advertisements allowed.
- Do not request for donations.
- Do not link to other social media or paywalled content.
- Do not gatekeep or diagnose.
- Mark NSFW content accordingly.
- No racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, or ageism.
- Respectful venting, including dealing with oppressive neurotypical culture, is okay.
- Discussing other neurological problems like autism, anxiety, ptsd, and brain injury are allowed.
- Discussions regarding medication are allowed as long as you are describing your own situation and not telling others what to do (only qualified medical practitioners can prescribe medication).
Encouraged:
- Funny memes.
- Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
- Questions on confusing situations.
- Seeking and sharing support.
- Engagement in our values.
Relevant Lemmy communities:
lemmy.world/c/adhd will happily promote other ND communities as long as said communities demonstrate that they share our values.
- 1 user online
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- 168 users / week
- 211 users / month
- 394 users / 6 months
- 1 subscriber
- 551 Posts
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- Modlog
I will allow this discussion but in general it’s frowned upon to discuss obtaining medications illegally, and its against the rules to encourage others to take a medication or where to find it.
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It depends on what your doing. Caffeine, exercise, diet, and sleep are all reasonable. But if your using stronger drugs without doctor supervision, that’s a bad idea.
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How difficult was purchasing the meds on the dark web?
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Why self-medicate for ADHD when you can do something more effective than using drugs?
i.e., eat a ketogenic/carnivore diet (see Dr. Chris Palmer and Dr. Georgia Ede).
This right here is exactly why you should talk to a doctor first.
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I can understand the slippery slope of allowing people to share their self medication stories. Mine is cigarettes and coffee, and I’m not recommending it to others, it’s just how I cope. And I don’t think many would have an issue with that specific comment, but, if someone keeps recommending a dark web site to buy Crystal meth, and claiming that it’s cured them, I don’t think that’s a message we want to be sharing with desperate or curious people looking for answers and support. Or if people start pushing their essential oils and magic potions as a substitute for actual medical advice, then this community can no longer be trusted to give honest information.
This. As an addict I wouldn’t wish this hell on anyone. Speak to a doctor, get properly measured doses. Scientifically figure out what works and doesn’t work for you.
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What are you self medicating with?
I’m self medicating with drinking lots of water, sleeping 8hrs everyday and eating healthy and nutritious foods at every meals. :)
And most importantly, lots of cocaine
I feel like cocaine would work really well for this
That’s just what everyone should do.
Not OP, but I’ve heard that a lot of people use booze and weed to stop the neverending thoughts.
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:(. Is that why a crossfade is so relaxing? I can actually concentrate on one thing at once?
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Other stimulants work. Just not as well.
Certain over-the-counter sinus medications, for example.
Well I did self-medicate a bit while waiting for the actual diagnosis and I think that would be valuable information for the doctor as well, only if I could tell about it honestly. The meds can be used to validate the diagnosis after all. But it also gave me insight on what works and what doesn’t and how. Where I live one has to try 2 different meds (usually both are methylphenidate) before lisdexamphetamine and for me at least the mf’s cause quite awful side-effects (like dissociation) which elvanse doesn’t so at least now I know not to force myself to the bad ones and go through the process to get to the ones that actually do the trick.
Substance abuse is pretty common among ADHD people but you can’t get the diagnosis if you admit that or get caught in the screening (drug tests are also required here for the meds). Probably many drug users too have ADHD but they never got proper diagnosis and treatment and never will.
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I want to talk about this bc instead of sleeping I’m still gripped with energy from the 10mg IR Adderall I took 20 hours ago. And I’m out of the diazepam they scripted to help. I hate my meds rn and can’t get the pro’s to try anything else with me. My low season is about to start and I’m really scared, I’m already drinking too much, started smoking cigs again. I tried two different ADHD meds since I got diagnosed Oct '23, decent results with stratera but bad, can’t tell if it’s real kinda dreams, couldn’t eat either. I really don’t like Adderall, it just feels like cocaine, going on 9 mo. I was at my best micro dosing mushrooms during the year I waited for my diagnosis. I dialed in to .017-.020 mcg as my sweet spot. Over .021 made me spacey, which wasn’t a bad day, just less balanced.
We have to talk about self-medicating as a community bc people end up drinking, smoking, over-doing psych’s, self harm. We need to be real, and ready to have harm reduction conversations with people that can’t or don’t get a diagnosis. We need to be able to educate and help each other when there is no physician to consult OR you have a lazy-ass NP that only spends 5 min to figure out what refills to send. It’s going to be another 6 weeks before I have a chance to get referred to another NP and I don’t know what my options are. OR you lost your fucking letter and the providers make you start the process over, which is what my partner is dealing with. I’m in the US and our insurance costs 1k/mo for this FUCKIN BULLSHIT
feeling sassy might delete, good luck out there
P.s. all the trans people in my life diy, and they all found mentoring communities to learn from, some on 4-chan. Why can’t neurodivergent people get together and share strategies, instead of walking through life feeling like a piece of shit bc you can’t hold down a job or socialize sober. Those are symptoms, and those of us that went through the diagnostic process are LUCKY to be able to talk about it and help bring others in to reduce the harm of their coping mechanisms. This isn’t reddit, you want a heavily modded space, head on back. I want real stories, from real lives, warts and all.
Sorry, I’m so tired and I can’t stop worrying about 14 things and my heart rate won’t drop below 80, and this prudish anti whatever attitude is irking
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I would get a second opinion if you can afford it. Newer doctors usually want to try non stimulant ADHD meds before jumping right to Adderall and Ritalin.
Boi howdy Ima tryin! People should also know Adderall to get up and Valium (Diazepam) to go down will increase your tolerance and dependency on both! I think these two are specifically contraindicated for that reason
If you have access to actual stimulants they’re a better choice… but in the absence of availability we’ll all do the best we can. There are non-drug options that I’d personally suggest before self-medicating (like trying to dedicate daily time to exercise) but, honestly, whatever works… I don’t judge you for how you’re coping with ADHD - I do caution giving some options (like alcohol) as advice since it’s quite destructive for some. But whatever works for you personally works.
Well, I can definitely say from experience that Cocaine and Bourbon is a very bad idea.
I personally think self medicating should be strongly discouraged in the community. Obviously, people who are already diagnosed and are dealing with medication shortages is one thing.
People diagnosing themselves is another. I not only understand mods not allowing it but support it. Taking stimulant medication can have a variety of health implications and require monitoring; especially when determining dosage and the proper medication regime. Fostering a sentiment of “I know my body == I have a degree in medicine” shouldn’t be done here (or anywhere imo).
I’ve already seen T mentioned in comparison. Which is a class C drug (2 years in prison). Amphetamines are class B (5 years). That’s just in UK, in Aus it’s a schedule 8 substance (highly controlled drug with serious penalties for possession). Allowing a community to advocate for self medication, especially in a community where our treatment is amphetamine, is just a bad idea and would be a great way to get a real unhealthy community real quick.
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I was following along with some of your other comments and whatnot, but this diatribe tells me a lot about your intentions behind this post.
I have ADHD, and I’m a medical student. I suppose in your mind that makes me one of the “dumbest motherfuckers” in training, but I will speak from the education and authority that I do have. There are many health conditions and comorbidities that can make stimulants a bigger risk than they’re worth. Personally, I have idiopathic sinus tachycardia, so my psychiatrist had me get a consultation with Cardiology before she would prescribe a stimulant because one of the major risks of stimulant medications is Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome (which is exactly what it sounds like) and if you have a high heart rate or other cardiac or electrophysiological abnormalities, it drastically increases your risk.
I get that getting by without medication is extremely difficult for some people. I had to do my first semester of medical school on hard mode while I got my official diagnosis and medical clearance for treatment sorted out. Healthcare access, particularly mental healthcare access in America (and pretty much everywhere else for mental health) is criminally abysmal, but that is not an excuse to encourage people to ignore medical advice and consensus regarding medication safety.
(And as a side note: Surgeons are really good…at anatomy. Most of the surgeons I have worked with would really prefer it if the primary care/family med/internal med/literally-anyone-else doctors did the pre- and post-op medication management. Anesthesiologists are the ones that are intimately acquainted with pharmacology when considering physicians in the OR)
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As long as you know what you’re getting into i don’t see the big deal. Doctor aren’t some higher beings, hell a lot of them are idiots, you don’t need a fancy piece of paper to understand a science (let alone a niche as small as medicine as it’s applicable to you specifically). Just put the legwork in before hand and you can probably even do minor surgery on yourself just fine.
Although this does not comment on the legality of substance that would be used for that, the law has no baring on right and wrong.
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What? How do you have this take towards one of the most important and respected jobs in the entire history of mankind? Self-researching/medication isn’t going to be comparable to a trained professional. Especially since they have extra resources specifically for medical research.
Sure, Doctors are only human and make mistakes from time to time, but there is a strict vetting process (that isn’t simply “fancy paper” as you put it) that only the most competent doctors are allowed to practice medicine. And a process to arrest them for malpractice if they fail afterwards. Without context of adhd, it reads like an anti-vaxer justifying the use of oils.
Medical advice should always be sought for these issues. If you didn’t trust a specific piece of medical advice? Get further medical advice i.e a second opinion.
If you need urgent help? Ask your doctor what can be done while waiting for your diagnosis.
There is absolutely no reason to think that the human body (esp. The brain) is simple enough that a layman can do it.
These are addictive substances with potentially dangerous side effects requiring specific doses and ongoing management. I’m on elvance and I needed to make sure my blood pressure was suitable before starting and then later going to a higher dose. People could be hurt, or killed with the self-medication advice and that isn’t a risk I would consider acceptable.
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Oh? Care to back that up with evidence?
And if a medical professional would give poor assessments what makes you think Billy-Bob with a 9 year old smart phone can assess him self better? If Billy-Bob does it wrong he could hurt himself or make his mental health worse.
What? There is nothing wrong with with researching symptoms yourself, but to think you are more correct than a trained medical professional is insanely egotistical.
“they got it right”? Ah, I see your issue. You are going to the doctor to confirm your biases and get treatment for it, not to get their professional opinion.
If they don’t agree; "can’t believe they got it wrong. They’re useless. " If they do; "hey they got it right for once. "
You are one of the people that I feel aren’t fit to self-diagnose. Your symptoms could have been autism, bi-polar, or various other conditions. Could have even been a combination. Convincing yourself it was 100% adhd is reckless and should be tempered by an outside opinion.
I’m not sure where this lack of respect comes from. if you are in the UK like me it probably stems from the lack of funding for the NHS leading to “revolving door” Quick assessments as they aren’t able to spend the proper time going through everything. I have my own gripes with the NHS but I trust that the qualifications they have makes them more specialised in dealing with my health than I or the average person.
“Deny treatment”, huh? Sounds like someone self-diagnosed and demanded medication and the only professional in the room wasn’t having any of that shit. How are they supposed to trust what you say your symptoms are when you are clearly biased towards what you think you have, you’d look like an addict trying to get a fix.
I doubt bigotry is involved, but if it was then you could easily get a solicitor involved and he could help prove that you weren’t reviewed fairly, by having a second doctor examine you and comparing that to the original.
Regarding research, doctor regularly attend medical conferences and research treatment options throughout thier career as medical sciences advance. You don’t stay a doctor otherwise.
If by “have you tried not being sad” you mean they suggested the usual rounds of meditation, exercise, diet, etc then that is perfectly normal to do and shows proven mental health benefits.
Maybe they offered anti-depressants/anti-anxiety to help cope? My GP did (as I had a report from work that suggested that I’m showing signs of depression) but I said I would rather a mental health specialist assess the symptoms as they can overlap with adhd and I want a fair assessment for when they do.
I seriously doubt they mentioned race/etc.
This part I can sympathise with. I waited 4 years for adhd to get treatment and I needed to chase them for updates every step. It’s frustrating, sometimes I feel like they are throwing pills at me and throwing me out the door hoping this time it will improve. (though in a way that’s really the only way it is done right) I wish their was more monitoring/reviewing of treatments, but I am perfectly fine with their knowledge on the subject.
I attribute this to a lack of funding and a huge waiting lists rather than simple negligence. There simply isn’t enough budget/enough doctors/enough time to give everyone the time they need.
That said; as frustrating as it is, that is no excuse to recklessly/stupidly to self-diagnose and self-medicate. Doing so invites health risk that I’m not comfortable with people taking.
Waiting sucks I know. If that is unbearable then seek private treatment. If that is not an option then wait like everybody else. Until funding improves that’s what we are stuck with. This “circus of drug gatekeeping” is there for a good reason, and it is because a layman is not a good judge.
Wait, are you seriously claiming a doctor has less knowledge than a layman? Really? 8 years of studying to somehow know less than the average person?
Going to assume you are being hyperbolic rather than actually believing this. It’s one thing to be frustrated with the current system; it’s borders on conspiracy theories thinking they are all incompetent for no good reason.
This is insane. No one should be doing this, least of all people with mental health issues. There are MANY steps that allow human error to mess things up. Messing up the measurements via simple misreading of a decimal is a simple one that could get someone hurt, and maybe even killed. The LD50 is only 96.8 mg/kg from what I found. If you don’t know what LD50 is without Googling what it is, then stop immediately. You are not anywhere near informed enough to be doing this.
Phycosis is a also common side effect of its misuse. And I’m not convinced anyone doing this would have sound judgement.
Letting someone decide their own dosage for an addictive drug is also a recipe for disaster.
There is no sane professional that would consider this bootleg treatment safe enough to match commercial treatment.
If you aren’t stopping immediately, then at minimum don’t spout these dangerous ideas that could get someone else killed.
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Plenty of people in every profession are idiots, doctors included. They are no more special than mechanics or programmers.
The ‘strict vetting process’ is only a method of keeping the supply of doctors low. Literally, that isn’t conspiracy. Edit: although that is a u.s. issue specifically.
This in no way sounds like anti-vax rhetoric? Doing actual research and doing something that doesn’t affect others is literally the exact opposite of what those people stand for.
The human body is just another machine. You can learn it as easily as you can learn how to fix whatever horrible sound you engine is making. The only advantage a doctor has over a layman is more direct access to resources (both knowledge, as in easy access to research, and tools, such as blood tests), but that doesn’t exclude a random from using those resources themselves.
Firstly:Those two professions are also skilled and a lay man should not pick up. A bad mechanic causes car crashes, a bad programmer causes security issues. Maybe for minor things like weird car noises, or maybe installing a mod for a game would be fine, but comparing medication to weird car noise is not comparable.
Secondly: it takes 8 years to become a fully fledged doctor and one of the the most competitive jobs to go for, and for good reason, as it is people’s lives that are at stake. They maybe idiots in other areas, like can’t cook or bad at spelling, but they are medical professionals and it is their job to ensure your safety.
If you are going to be constantly state they are just as incompetent as the next guy you are going to need evidence. For that to be the case.
I agree that this isn’t acceptable, but I’m struggling to understand how this supports your argument? you think the doctors they pick for that “low” numbered group is just as incompetent as the people they didn’t pick? They are picking the best/more professional doctors from the lot and the rest don’t make it or try again another time.
Anti-vax see themselves as doing “Actual research” and that doctors are “idiots that don’t know what they are talking about” (or corrupt). That all they have is a “fancy bit of paper”
They don’t understand how dangerous ignoring medical advice can be because they don’t know enough about the science behind it and think their research online is sufficient to keep them informed.
Then why does it take 8 years minimum to study for it? Even if it was “horrible engine noise” kind of fix unless this would be 100% accurate of the time, it can potentially break the “car”.
If it is so easy to get into the profession then go become a doctor and save lives. Should be easy to beat those “idiots” you seem to be implying are rampant. After you’re a doctor I will put a bit more weight into your opinions. Especially the one were some doctors can be idiots.
Wow, almost made it sound if those things were easy and not important at all.
Sure, technically. In the sense that every random person has a chance to go to medical school.
Not everyone can pass medical school. Definitely not everyone should.
But unless you are 100.00% confident that not a single person would be negatively affected by self-medication instead of doctors advice (or even absence of advice) then your energy is better put to complaining that there aren’t enough doctors to meet demand rather than trying to advocate they can be substituted with sufficient Internet research.
You really have issues, my guy. Your obsession with authority is something you should get help shedding.
First and foremost, yes a layman should pick those jobs up. It’s not difficult to get the basics down and to safely work on things. Ffs sounds like you are terrified of even changing your own oil. i don’t expect people to swap out their own engines or build their own OS, but plenty of ‘advances’ knowledge can be learned in a week and be useful.
Secondly; the reason it’s competitive is because the number of doctors is artificially lowered by government intervention, not most people failing out of school or some shit. It’s also common knowledge to anyone who has ever worked in or adjacent to the medical industry that plenty of people in it are complete morons; hell there is a worryingly high number of anti-vaxxers even! Which i didn’t appreciate you comparing me to, jackass.
The lay person can have access to plenty of research materials, they just aren’t bundled in a major network, and many tools that you’d need to watch out for in self medication are cheaply available from smaller clinics.
We both “have issues” its why we are on the adhd community. But “Obsession with authority”? Hardly.
It’s a healthy respect for a profession that takes a lot of hard work and talent to get into.
All you’ve done is complain they are “stupid”, they only reject treatment due to bigotry, that an average Joe can somehow compete with 8 years of dedicated study. That universities are “degree factories” All without proof as if it is self-evident.
This isn’t healthy scepticism, it’s borderline conspiracy theory territory rooted in mistrust for the establishment. You are trying to shoot down my arguments by stating the whole system is corrupt and cannot be trusted. To me this blind mistrust mirrors the anti-vax sentiment. if you don’t want to be compared then don’t go implying that the whole medicine industry is out to get you.
There are idiots in every profession. What’s your point? That doctors would need to be idiots too? Maybe, but the difference between other professions would be overwhelmingly on the smart side of things. Also; Doctors could be idiots but that doesn’t mean they aren’t specialised in their fields. I heard it is not uncommon for a doctor to have difficulties with taxes or cooking, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to bad medical practice, because if it did, they couldn’t be doctors as they would be kicked out. Bad doctors happen, sometimes human errors/mistakes happen, but not at the rate that you can disregard any medical advice from them.
You would need a better “proof” than that if you are going to prove that most doctors opinions are not to be respected.
Basics are not enough to do advanced work. Practicing medicine is probably one off the most advanced work you can do.
Regardless if the number of doctors is artificially lowered or not; It’s still competitive. Meaning higher quality candidates are a survival pressure. So unless you got some more conspiracy theories for how a “moron” is picked over a good doctor, then there is no arguing that the majority is qualified for the position.
A lay person is not trained to research. Not taught on critical thinking skills, not trained on symptoms to look out for, heck some people don’t know how to use a computer. They shouldn’t be given the chance to hurt themselves through silly self-medication advice and shame on you for encouraging it.
Hell it is even recommended that doctors do not self-diagnose, and they certainly are not allowed to prescribe themselves class-B drugs whenever they want. No way a layman should.
If a medical professional doesn’t trust his own bias to cloud his judgment, you shouldn’t either.
“He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” this same principle applies to medicine as well.
I hope you stop self medication, and seek proper medical advice. However we both know your stubbornness won’t let you. Even if a registered doctor came in this forum to convince you it is dangerous you would ignore him. regardless of what qualifications the person convincing you has you would stick to your opinion.
This is particularly frustrating to me as from my point of view you could hurting yourself slowly, both mentally and physically, and I worry this is affecting your life in ways you can’t objectively see.
I can’t stop you from doing this to yourself, but I can ask you to stop giving this advice out to avoid other people hurting themselves.
I mean, with regards to the trans community, hormones aren’t typically outlawed as controlled substances to the degree that amphetamines are. So basically you’re setting yourself up for a VERY hard fall should you get in trouble. Almost all medications for ADHD are severely controlled drugs. So pretty sure there’s not really an easy path for “self medication” in the way that the trans community is managing to obtain hormonal treatments.
What do you mean? Testosterone is a controlled substance.
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Yeah.
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The problem I have with self-medication (of ADHD meds or any other substance) is not so much that people are doing it - as you said, it’s a rough world out there, and you do what you can to survive and function.
But - “Medical supervision of treatment” is (or should be) not just a couple of empty words. All ADHD meds can have serious side effects and contraindications that you don’t necessarily know about beforehand or notice by yourself. Discovering your un-diagnosed heart disease by taking amphetamines without supervision and getting life-threatening arrhythmia can just feel like “I’m getting a bit dizzy for a time after taking the meds, no need for concern, I’ll just take it easy” (I know, because I have arrhythmia, and wouldn’t know it if I hadn’t had an ECG, as I barely notice it happening). Medical supervision should catch that kind of thing, that’s what it’s for.
You and I don’t know who reads this and what kind of conclusion they will draw, and what kind of risk assessment they do beforehand trying it out themselves. Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you have done your full research, and are aware that there is a chance you might harm or, if particularly unlucky, kill yourself doing this (especially if you cannot verify the purity of your medication, it could be cut with anything), and have weighed that against the benefits of being able to do work and function better in everyday life, I have no problem with you self-medicating or talking about doing that.
But if you don’t transparently communicate these risks, and how you came to your conclusion that this is the only way for you, it looks to others like an easy way to forgo the harder, non-medical, not-as-effective but also not-as-dangerous ways to treat yourself, implying that everyone can and should do it this way.
And I understand why some communities want to curb that from the get-go. Some rules are written in blood.
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Not for me, I literally don’t notice it unless I know it’s happening right now and “listen” for it.
But I’ve been told by other patients that they feel it as light-headedness or dizziness, may feel their heart pounding or like they can’t breath, or like the heart/body skips a step, and if the arrhythmia exacerbates to fibrillation, people lose consciousness very quickly (and may or may not die if untreated). Maybe that translates to your experience, but I don’t know. Generally it’s described more as a continuous feeling for some time, from a couple of seconds up to hours. But it varies a lot. ECG monitoring helps there.
But my specific arrhythmia were also found quite a long time ago, by chance during a standard exam for sports competition fitness as a child. So for pretty much my whole life I’ve been barred from stimulant and basically psychopharmaceutical medication of any kind, since pretty much all of them can cause or exacerbate heart conditions.
Seeing as I totally don’t notice episodes, a scenario where someone didn’t go to that exam and unsuspectingly walks around with that same or similar heart condition completely untreated, and kills themself by self-medicating and slipping into fibrillation is totally possible.
That said, it’s also not a very wide-spread condition, just a rare possibility. Still, please continue to advocate for yourself to have that checked out!
(Edited for an attempt at brevity)
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I don’t understand how one would self-medicate? You’d need Amphetamines and those are as expensive as the amphetamin-based medications.
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