The thing is that I’m not feeling a single thing different in any way and I don’t even what should I be expecting.

Well, expectation setting should have been a conversation with your doctor. But what I would recommend is to go over the diagnostic criteria and make a list of the ADHD symptoms that you struggle with the most. And then keep an eye out in the days to weeks ahead and figure out if and how those behaviors are different with the medication. Depending on the effects, you might work with your provider to tweak dosage, or to see whether other compounds work better in your specific case.

When it’s a good fit, you won’t really feel any different in the moment, you’ll just notice after the fact that certain things were a lot easier, or you didn’t struggle in the ways you usually do.

And please remember that medication is one piece of the puzzle, not a silver bullet. You still have to make good choices and build good habits, but medication should help you get out of your own way when trying to do those things.

How were your first moments/days/weeks with medication?

In my experience, since it’s a prodrug, lisdexamfetamine is the least physically noticeable of the stimulants. I could not tell when it was kicking in or wearing off, compared to dextroamphetamine where it was only obvious when it was kicking in, and methylphenidate (MPH) where it was obvious on both sides. For me, task switching is a big challenge, and the “invisible wall” in front of “just doing” necessary things that aren’t fun, is a lot easier to get past when I’m medicated. While lisdex and dextro gave me the executive function to do things without chaos, they also made it harder to break away from interesting things, which was counterproductive. I also found myself forgetting to eat to an unhealthy degree. I ended up settling on MPH because it gives me mental clarity without those downsides, and when it’s obvious that the medication has worn off, it’s much easier for me to avoid staying up late.

Another huge benefit for me personally is that I was self-medicating with extremely heavy caffeine use (300-400mg per day to be able to function, every day for years) and had physical anxiety symptoms (that I didn’t recognize were because of the caffeine) that came along with that. After I was medicated I quit caffeine cold turkey. Now, instead of taking like four hours to fully wake up after my morning energy shot, I feel awake and alert at a normal level within like 45 minutes of taking my meds, I stay alert all day, and I physically feel so much better. For example, driving is way less stressful now, both because I feel more attentive to my surroundings and because I do not have that baseline anxiety that driving would ratchet up even more. (It was really fun to go out to breakfast with my family and realize I had a good reason to drink decaf!)

In general it is much more difficult to notice the absence of obstacles compared to noticing the presence of new ones. An eye-opening experience for me was about a month into being medicated, when I forgot to take it in the morning for the first time, and I got to experience the symptoms that had been missing coming back in full force that day. Brain fog and feeling like I couldn’t think straight all day. Getting up and trying to do like four things at once and barely getting one of them done because I was going back and forth too much. Deciding I need to go run an errand and not being able to actually get up and do it until like 4 hours later. I’ve been unmedicated once or twice for a therapy session by now and my therapist has said it’s VERY OBVIOUS due to how scatterbrained I am, lol.

First time felt like euphoria, I was really dopamine starved and barely aware about anything in comparison to my present life. It took some time to find the right dosage where I felt a difference but still myself. Now im switching since there is a shortage in what I usually take and so im on a new medication, and I can really feel a difference in how its reacting with my body.

Any brand new type of input should be examined over time. Everyone reacts differently.

Trust your practitioner, and ask him to try different meds if you feel like its not working for you. It makes sense that it takes time to adapt to type and dosage.

You are supplementing a what would be normal function in your body with an exterior one, so take the time to understand what you need.

And I get the stress about uni. But I feel like taking the time to appreciate the right medication precedes it, as you need one thing working to pass: yourself!

I don’t always feel anything, but if I try to do work after taking the meds I can …just work.

The only exception is when I’m already hyper focused on something other than work.

Not on the same meds. But Vivance and to a a degree Ritalin give me the energy to do things.

Instead of walking past the thing and taking on yeah I’ll do that later. I can just do it.

And I’m able to complete one task before starting another one. I find myself turning to a task and think nope, finish this one first.

Or Ive noticed I can even have for Sight to think do I really have time/need to do whatever my brain wants to do right now. No. Ive got to leave in 5mins.

I started Adderall XR several months ago. My experience during the first week was that I was superhuman and could actually get things done. The first day I think I experienced the euphoria that I presume recreational users go for, but never since. After about a month it wasn’t doing much for me, psychiatrist adjusted the dosage, and it’s been decent ever since. Some days I can really feel it working, other days not so much. I mostly work from home (software dev) so I have a pretty strong control over my environment, but despite that I haven’t been able to figure out what might cause (or even influence) good days and bad days with stimulants. I would encourage you to keep meeting with your psychiatrist, there are like a dozen different medications and maybe this one just isn’t yours. Besides, you’ve arguably the hardest part by getting that first appointment. Best of luck!

My wife reacts really well to medication - however, it took some time until she found the proper dosage. If she takes 20mg, it’s too little, and she just feels droopy. If she takes 30mg, it’s too much and she feels anxious. So one 25mg pill in the morning and another pill after lunch works really well for her (Ritalin). There are other variables, like when she is really tired or she’s on her period, too. What I want to say is that maybe 30mg is not right for you, try it out for a few days and discuss with your doctor, so if it didn’t work, adjust the dosage or change to something else.

New Lemmy Post: Just startes with meds, I have some doubts. (https://lemmyverse.link/lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/31788177)
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