Posted by:
ptbarnum
(
)
Date: December 10, 2019 08:30PM
Also an adult ADHD person here, who also has narcolepsy (sudden and irresistible urge to sleep). I take Adderall daily because it covers both disorders very well.
I would describe it this way: Adderall is to paying diligent attention to tasks as putting on glasses is to reading fine print.
There are different subtypes of ADHD, not everyone is physically hyperactive. I have certain thought functions that move very quickly, such as interpreting language, reacting to subtle environmental cues, and fast decision making time, but I am not integrated well between brain and body, and have trouble with prioritizing (or sticking with a predetermined priority while another one is itching on my mind). I have very poor staying power when trying to complete tasks I find especially boring.
I have a different sense of the passage of time than non-ADHDers seem to have. Because I think so quickly, fifteen minutes can honestly feel like forever and I find my thoughts reaching out to subjects other than the one which rightly should be at hand, so it is easy to make 1000 little mistakes from time pacing issues and distractions.
I also feel less of a "reward rush" than it seems like my very not-ADHD spouse does. He positively glows when he's finished the yard work, but I just don't feel that "good" when I've done something, I'm just glad the torture is over for at least a short time when I finish a load of dishes.
My biggest issue is procrastination and avolition (inability to force oneself to start things).
Adderall smooths out both the mental overspeed and physical sluggishness, enabling me to feel more comfortable while being more successfully productive and goal oriented, and basically be all the things good adults are expected to be.
Oh, and it conveniently keeps me from falling asleep while doing important things, like cooking and sitting upright at my desk.
While some emotional immaturity can be found in people with ADHD, the kind of blaming and criticizing the OP is described is NOT part of the disorder. ADHD can make people blurt out whatever crosses their mind like a shooting star, but the aggression behind the comments under discussion here are more indicative of abusive, narcissistic or borderline behavior, so the newly diagnosed ADHDer we're talking about here probably shouldn't stop with Adderall alone, nor is ADHD likely the only diagnosis he has. ADHD can be coexistent with many other mental and personality disorders, and it takes a good doctor some time usually to fine tune the ADHD medication experience.
A bit about the whole crystal meth thing...yes, it's only a slightly different molecule but those atomic differences make ALL the difference. I know people who have used/abused both meth and Adderall and they say when taken properly, Adderall is a teddy bear, whike meth taken at any dose is a rabid Grizzly. Adderall also hasn't been made by a backroom amateur chemist or filtered through lovely substances like benzene or acetone, so the speed you buy from Big Pharma is much *better* speed and isn't likely to make you stay up for 9 days, get paranoid or dig imaginary bugs out of your skin.
Last, Adderall works differently on ADHDers than it does on "normies". We have differently wired brains. It generally tends to make us calmer and helps us keep balanced, whereas on normies it tends to wind up and agitate them so...when people talk about their experiences on stimulants, one must consider which type of brain they have.