Autistics that experience life without medication (because there isn’t any):
“Well, first of all, with alcohol and masking, all things are possible, so jot that down.”
My kids say I am ADHD self medicating with coffee. But I have held a job for decades, and figure the line for medication is when you have distress. I am not really distressed, or wasn’t until I read that untreated ADHD was a risk factor for dementia, which was as sort of distressing.
It’s hard to get diagnosed old though, and I can’t do Adderall, like my kids do, because I had restrictive eating disorder young and really like speed. Yes, probably because it “fixed” me but I am afraid I’d abuse it, and very certain that wrecking my appetite would be a mistake. Too easy to feel virtuous about not eating and unfortunately midlife eating disorder is pretty common, I have mixed feelings about the more womanly and bigger body I got at menopause. Everyone else tells me I am in great shape, but I miss tall skinny angular build.
Anyway, in short- I do have personal reasons to avoid the meds. So usually coffee at 10 and 2 (14). Strong coffee. But not strong enough I forget to eat.
You guys are drinking coffee?
I only started drinking coffee within the last 5 years or so, but it semi-helps! Puts you on the toilet a lot more so you’re exposed to more shit and less bullshit! (Unless you doom scroll Lemmy like me…)
In my 20s, I decided that ADHD wasn’t real and I didn’t need my med. I also went through eight cups of coffee and a pack of cigarettes a day. Went back on my meds in my thirties, it’s easier and cheaper.
you must not live in the united states. I needed 700mg of Vyvanse to level me out and kill the fog. Unfortunately without Insurance that shit is like $400 a week.
No, I’m in the States, I just have insurance. Four weeks of Adderall cost me $10, cigarettes cost me about $15 a day.
coffee and cigarettes is a popular combo with schizophrenia too
I mean, coffee and cigarettes is just a popular combo in general.
Caffeine helps how exactly? I skip that part and raw dog it all day.
it is a mild stimulant, so it kinda helps a tiny bit. Sometimes just enough to get trough life if consumed in massive enough quantities
ADHD wants stimulation. Caffeine is a stimulant.
For the real advice, watch this hour long video…
screeching noises
don’t forget an almost fanatical devotion to marijuana
Just say it once and then grab their cart and move it yourself. They won’t say anything, ever. If they did, you might be able to say something like, “Ohim sorry I thought you were deaf, I didn’t realize you’re just an asshole.” Unfortunately you’ll never get to say it.
As a pharmacy worker who also has ADHD, I simultaneously feel bad for every fellow neurodivergent who relies on prescriptions - especially the controlled ones - and am so resentful that our system (US) makes getting meds so difficult that, crippled as I am, I find it better to go without prescription treatments than to rely on something that I know is going to be full of disruptions.
I also made the executive decision years ago to avoid prescription dependence after hearing about all the reports of Occupy protesters having their medications confiscated by police. Our healthcare system is weaponized.
The worst thing for me is the meds require being consistent. Something that is fucking hard to do with ADHD. It’s cruel.
Exactly. I once made the mistake of quitting adderall abruptly once I ran out. Huge mistake. It kicked off a deep, constant depression that lasted I think at least a year. Ended up dropping out of high school soon after.
I didn’t know about ADHD growing up and neither did my parents, grandparents or my teachers apparently so my first 2 years in school meant that if i was unruly in class then me and anyone else would be pulled up by our sideburns in front of the whole class by a 70 year old fat whore which i still hate to this day and then there was also a possibility i would face the wrath of the belt when i got home.
This was in the Balkans and being a kid around some of the rednecks there in the 90s was a fucking nightmare.
Some of you may think i am being harsh on them but nah fuck off, the only thing i got from that was self loathing and suicidal thoughts and even though they tell me now that they are proud of me and how i managed to get a good life together i still have the same thoughts as i did back then that i am a worthless piece of shit that they should have strangled when i was born and when life gets tough i think about slitting my throat or some other suicidal shit to CALM MYSELF DOWN because that means i would be free of this shitty existence and the worst part is i have gotten used to that.
Live with your demons until they kill you.
Also i don’t smoke, drink or take meds.
Next year i’ll be 40, wonder how long i can keep bulldozing my way through life like this.
From a similar experience I can say you have plenty left in you. This shit also made us strong and unwilling to easily surrender. And ya’ll better hope hauntings aren’t real cause I’m gonna come back and get my ghostly revenge if given the chance.
I have ADHD and do not do any medications and do not injest caffeine either. You really just need to exercise properly. If you start the day with exercise, and take a break mid day to exercise again, like going on a walk or jog, it’ll keep you feeling more focused and motivated. Diet matters a lot too.
You are 100% right but as you outlined below the phrasing is a bit off. My personal anecdote is that all of the above helped and is still helping me keep my head on straight. I’m not on meds yet but was diagnosed last year and although the above absolutely does help, it can only help so much.
I’ve hit my personal limit and its time for pharmaceutical help.
You say, “You really just need to…”, then proceed to list a bunch of things I can’t make myself do without medication. I went 40 years trying things to avoid medication because of the stigma my family put on it, and getting medicated was the best decision I ever made.
You are right. I phrased that improperly. I should have said that those things can help. I was wrong to frame it as if it was a complete solution for everyone. I didn’t mean to speak for others experiences with their own mental health, and if they feel medication is what works best for them then I support them in taking it.
spite is my sole motivation. caffeine is my sleeping aid
I say neurotypical people should be on drugs so they are more tolerable to interact with. Then i can do less drugs.
What, does this not work going the other way? Interesting…
Not until people with ADHD are the majority - maybe with a bit more social media we can make that happen!
I like this idea.
I did this for 45 years. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Caffeine? For ADHDers? Idk about the rest of you, but that doesn’t help me accomplish anything. Anger in the other hand …
The trick is to drink seven cups of coffee over the course of an hour. You skip straight from feeling nothing to jittery limbs and an acute awareness that you have a heart and it is straining far more than it should.
It doesn’t help anything, but you DO feel it.
9 shots of espresso suuuuuucks if you have nothing to actually do for the hour or so it lasts.
Ask me how i know 🙃
We had a salesperson who came in every day with a Starbucks cup. I asked her once what was in it. “Eight shots of Espresso.”
Every day.
From experience, everyone else starts talking intolerably slowly, and giving you worried looks. You have time to plan your entire project between their sentences, and come up with at least three major revelations before they’ve finished their point, but when you escape, you’re so focused on the task in front of you that you forget them all. Caffeine giveth and caffeine taketh away.
