Adderall / ADHD + design
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- ********
I realize I'm opening myself up to a world of hurt by asking this question, but only looking for one or two "serious" replies... I'm 99.9% sure I have ADHD (surprise, surprise)... Any designers on QBN willing to share their experience with Adderall? I have 3 close friends that take anti-depressants and adderall, but none are designers. Does it help or hinder your life/career? I've taken adderall a total of once and did notice a slight difference in concentration levels... I fear I shall become a zombie...
- ********0
- d_rek0
I do not have ADHD and/or issues concentrating.
I've taken adderall a couple of times several years back when I was continuously experimenting with drugs and drug culture.
I hated, hated, HATED taking adderall. My normally calm, patient pensive self became jerky, irritable, and agitated. It made me feel wiry and unable to concentrate on much of anything.
I didn't then, and still don't, like it.
- ADHD brain: working at 50%. Take stimulant: 100%. Normal brain working at 100% take stimulant: 150%=overstimulatedjagara
- utopian0
paging mr. monospaced...
paging mr. monospaced...
paging mr. monospaced...- I don't have itmonospaced
- And that's Dr. monospacedmonospaced
- pressplay0
taking meds is a last resort I would say, as the downsides are obvious. I’d first rely on the natural capabilities of your brain/body. Try meditating, Yoga, autogenous training etc. There are plenty of practices just pick the one you can relate to the most. Avoid overly dogmatic / religious / hippie nutjob shit. Also check your diet and see what you can change there. These methods take some work and patience. If it doesn’t work, you can still get a prescription.
- jagara0
Well, your in luck. I have ADHD to the extent that i have given up graphic design as a career. I am extremely stress sensitive, and the unstable and hectic environment that is the creative industry does not work for me. Also, the hyperactivity makes continual work in front of a screen torturous to me, at least in the long run.
Regarding Adderall: i haven't tried it, because it is illegal in my country (Denmark). But i've been on several different meeds in the stimulant category, including methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, Motiron, Medikinet) and modafinil (Modiodal).
Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is wonderful when i'm on it. 2 hours of focus, restlessness/hyperactivity completely gone, social awkwardness gone, overview. Afterwards anxiety, shitty sleep and mood swings or depression. I take it very rarely.
Modafinil helps me focus, and takes away the problems i have with fatigue. It also completely ruins my sleep. It is normally given to narcolepsy patients, but is sometimes prescribed off-label for ADHD.
The good thing about the stimulants is, they can be taken when you need it (for instance, when you work). Unlike meds like Strattera (or antidepressant SSRI-type meeds like for instance prozac), you don't have to take it daily. Some doctors will have you believe you should take Ritalin consistently (3 times a day, for instance). Bullshit! Think of it like a cup of coffee (or a line of coke, if you're into that sort of thing). You take it, it works, it stops working. It's not a thing you need to take for weeks for the effect to show (although sometimes you do have to take regularly it over a period of time to let your body adapt).
Experiment with the stimulants. You might not have the sideeffects i have. Most people don't, and take it daily. Some people don't have any effects, good or bad. Try them and see what happens. A tip: try the non time-released versions first, it gives you a better feel of the effect.
Regarding your fears of zombification: try the meds, see what happens. If you get zombified, simply stop. I personally don't lose any creativity or become boring/less fun/a zombie when on Ritalin (again, don't know Adderall, but it's the same category (stimulant)). This fear is common. You have to try for your self.
If the stimulants don't work for you, maybe try Strattera. That is one of those you have to take over a period of time for the effect to show. I'm on it, and the effect is definitely not as radical as the stimulants.
Hope this helps.
- *you'rejagara
- You're insane. Don't suggest experimenting with stimulants! Fucking stupid. He should go to a doc.monospaced
- I meant: try them out via a perscription. Obviously!jagara
- Your situation sounds far more extreme than mine... However, I found great value in your reply. Thank you.********
- Glad to help :)jagara
- Why do i keep saying "meeds" istead of "meds"?jagara
- monospaced0
I knew before I clicked that this was a cirquemedia thread.
- jagara0
Oh, and @ukit2: "Nah, take drugs, much faster and less work"=that's seriously shitty advice. I hope you're joking.
Working out and meditation is a lot of work, yes. But for me, it's what keeps me healthy and fit, and it takes away a serious chunk of the ADHD symptoms. I have more focus, WAY less moodswings, WAY less hyperactivity. And that with no sideeffects (apart from looking and feeling better).
Also, diet is seriously important. Stay off sugar and caffeine (or limit it. sugar and caffeine is hard to avoid. Coffee is awesome ;). Eat healthy. It's working wonders for me.
- He doesn't even know if he's ADHD dude.monospaced
- True, get diagnosed!jagara
- yea, but really we're all just trying to get high. whether through working out or taking drugs. life is just one high after another.kodiak
- monospaced0
Anyway. Don't diagnose yourself. Go see a doctor like we've been telling you for months. Please.
- GeorgesIV0
don't listen to mono, he just want you to waste your time and money,
just score some adderall from your neighborhood soccer mom,
- monoboy0
Before you all go and start medication, I urge you all to consider reading a couple of books by Sir Ken Robinson.
Those described 'symptoms' are just personality traits. We have all been programmed to believe that super efficient academic output is all that society values. It's bullshit.
Maybe you are just highly creative?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Element-…
And
- I'm going with personality traits... I find "boredom tolerance" my number one issue...********
- #BornToExplore
http://www.borntoexp…********
- I'm going with personality traits... I find "boredom tolerance" my number one issue...
- ********0
- yurimon0
If you know you have it for sure,
to share my experience and Me personally would check my lifestyle, Diet etc. I would do a good detox. possibly see a practitioner for it.
Diet in my opinion from research would be #1. I stopped sugar, Corn syrup and stopped processed foods etc, everything I eat is fresh food from the farm and I made sure I was getting enough of nutrition, wholesome foods, sleep. .. also I would check hormone function etc. and drink clean un-fluoridated, un-chlorinated, metal free water. most people drink sewer water.
If it was me, I would clean myself up and check my health based on hormones and Nutrition intake.
I would find a good natural pro, A good eastern herbalist and Japanese style acupuncture. MY preference for focus techniques that helped me was meditation, and biofeed back for focus.
if you decide to clean up and decide to go natural after you know for sure what your issue is, thats what I would do personally.
check this out for starters
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/gu…- +1jagara
- +2formed
- yes, definitely use herbs and accupuncture for a chemical imbalance... great fucking kook idea... sighmonospaced
- Mono, Obviously you have no experience with good acupuncture or good natural practitioners.yurimon
- once again, you obviously make ridiculous assumptions about me and what I have experience in.monospaced
- you never been to a great outstanding excellent healer. yay or nay?yurimon
- yes, they're called doctors... my mom is one, my dad is one, 3 grandparents, 2 great-grandparents, and on...monospaced
- wheat.ohhhhhsnap
- I love how open minded this 'Mono' is.calculator
- jagara0
@cirquemedia When i said "experiment with stimulants" i meant get a prescription via a doctor. And then try and see how they work for you. Sorry if that seemed unclear!
And get a proper diagnosis at your doctor's! 99.9% sure is not enough!
And @monospaced: of course he should'nt diagnose himself. I was diagnosed by a doctor, and so should he be.
- They took his shoebox idea for christ sake. what is he supposed to do?yurimon
- exactly, this whole thread is insane, he's self-diagnosing and you guys are all egging him on.monospaced
- jagara0
I never gotten ANY of the meds i mention without a prescription. But i got diagnosed in 2006, and i've tried a lot of different medications (all were prescribed). You might have to try a lot of stuff (LEGALLY!) before you find something that works for you. That's what i meant with "experiment with stimulants".
- teh0
ganja!
Do more 1 point concentration exercises.
Martial arts, yoga, meditation and for fuck sake get off the interwebz for while.
- doesnotexist0
^ would seriously consider this too
and diet
consider talking to your doctor
adderall has a propensity to be abused, so talk with some friends maybe who have been on it.
adderall doesn't make one a zombie unless you abuse it.
- formed0
I take adderall for narcolepsy. I've jumped through jumped through all of them (ritalin, provigil/nuvigil, cylert). More or less, they are all very similar. Over time, I've found they give awful headaches, though that diagnosis is purely my own and not 100% sure.
The side effects are obvious - poor sleep, the inevitable peak and crash (some are better). Most Dr's will just give you a sleeping pill, so it is up/down/up/down. To me, that's the worst. You get 'high', then need a downer to sleep, feel like you are in a coma the next day, take more to feel 'normal', then more to feel 'good'...vicious cycle.
I take as little as possible, maybe once a week, because of the long term problems. I can only imagine the damage these will all do if you are on them daily (and yet Dr's continue to not worry about that).
Also, your sensitivity will vary dramatically. I take about 1/4 of the normal dose, will be a zombie if I don't, and it generally feels great. I always think "wow, is this what most people normally feel like?"
BUT they don't last 1/4 of what they say, none of them. All say "take upon waking..." and say they'll last all day. I find 2-4 hours effective and a little wind down after that (provigil/nuvigil last a little longer, the controlled release ritalin could be different, but the peak/crash was too much for me).Personally, I manage things with coffee, sleep, etc.
I would strongly recommend doing what others suggest - control things with natural techniques. Somehow the world survived w/o all these drugs. You can't take a drug, any drug, w/o doing something to your body and mind, its just not possible. More you take, more problems you could cause.
I see so many friends that claim to have ADHD and they bounce from one drug to another. I am sure it works wonderfully for some, but from what I see, it is a crutch (my condition is a little different, it is simply a safety issue, not 'feeling', another reason I don't take them often...too easy to rely on them).
- Yes. Proper sleep. Proper diet. Excercise. Meds are only part of the solution.jagara
- cannonball19780
My brother takes adderall. Let's cut through all the medicinal bullshit for a second. Adderall is an engineered form of meth. If you can't pay attention and you are thinking of taking speed to help you, there will be downsides AND your work will suffer. The legality what your proposing has no bearing on this.
I'd like to hear what makes you 99.9% convinced you have ADHD in the first place. Most adderoll users take it after a little self-convincing supported by a "coached" doctor's diagnosis.
also:
^ Lol at Jagara dismissing coke but then describing using ritalin "as needed"
- jagara0
@cannonball:
"If you can't pay attention and you are thinking of taking speed to help you, there will be downsides AND your work will suffer".I agree.
Also:
Coke=from the street, no guarantee what you're getting.
Adderall=legal and manufactured in a controlled environment.If you could get legal and FDA-approved cocaine, then maybe. Until then, very much not the same.
- I just thought the use was funny. But true, coke there is no tellingcannonball1978
- get it pure from the silk roadscarabin