Autism

It took a long time and some trial and error, but I have finally found medication that helps (Ritalin - long acting).

I don't feel like a different person, and I don't feel like I don't have ADHD. I just feel a little more in control.

It really isn't a miracle drug, but my life is so much better now. Most of the time I don't even notice the effects, but I really notice the lack of effect when I forget to take them for a week.

That THC is helping with a whole fuck ton of problems and got me off the daily liquor.

I tried Concerta and it helped. I would have continued but getting it was a hassle. It was super controlled and I couldn't live with the restrictions.

It was impossible to refill a bottle before the exact same day it was supposed to be empty. Not one before. And I couldn't get it at any pharmacy from my pharmacy's network. I was only supposed to get it at my local pharmacy.

So going anywhere required counting how many pills I had, and plans to get back home before I run out. Going on vacation needed my doctor's approval to get more pills than usual.

I really didn't like how they treated me so I stopped taking it and went back to self medication.

Self-medication is a normal response to mental hassles.

My problem with medication is that I was given meds for ADHD way back when it was called ADD. One medication did nothing at all. Another medication did nothing to help the symptoms, but when I took it I became a 13 year old psychopath. I was mean and hurtful and angry toward everyone, and nobody around me deserved it.

Now I'm 45. My brain doesn't work "right" but I've sort of figured out how to make it do what I want. Id have to spend a crazy amount of money to maybe get medication that might work if I can get it, and there's just too much "If" involved for me to really pursue it.

My friend gave me Vyvance one night to stay up and it changed my world. Things clicked and just made sense for the first time and it was wild. This was years ago, I still haven't asked my doctor about it.

Me right now

Lucky for me caffeine is the only sustained addiction but I will challenge the self-directed anger. I think universally it can be better described as internalized disappointment.

I shared with my psychologist recently something I heard years ago and can't find the study but a child with ADHD hears the word "no" a lot more than a neurotypical child. As such we internalize and our default mode is "I did something wrong". To which I told my psychologist and my best friend it's like going through your life trying to be good but at the same time a part of you keeps saying "you're a piece of shit and you don't deserve good things"

Of all the challenges in life that has been the hardest one for me to tackle. The level of self-sabotage I have committed for the sake of thinking I am wrong even when I may not have been as well as the humility to realize that I intentionally fucked up a good thing multiple times in the past when I didn't have to.

So yeah, it's not self-directed anger. It's self-directed disappointment of this ideal you could never live up to because you and those around you didn't know you were struggling from ADHD.

Klicks "report for:"

"I am in this picture and i dont like it"

Well, I feel personally attacked...

Yes, but not THC. THC and my ADHD are mortal enemies. Uppers though...

No, I don't think so. SSRI/SNRI meds have caused me to have psychotic episodes, very unpleasant and those don't get taken seriously at all, they just offer me the next on the list. Horrifying. Like they don't listen at all.

Methylphenidates are kinda okay.. The first year I was on wrong dose, 54 mg. It was too high, but my nurse told me that "once you have kids or go back to school you're gonna need this much." After the year, I had to get a new prescription for 36 mg, and it was okay. Then I got burn-out and it worsened my anxiety so I quit it and once I tried to start using it again, it flared up my GERD. Like bad, bad flare up, like ending down to the floor from the pains and all. That didn't get taken seriously either, so I'm not on anything right now. Also I could only get a prescription for one month at time so it's a lot of work to be constantly contacting the health center and lots of waiting, and money.

Propral was great, but my current nurse tells me it's nothing and not a real medicine when I told her that it has been a great help for me. That made me pissed off enough to quit it too.

CBD is nice, but sadly it's legal and illegal in my country so ehh, not worth it for me. L-Theanine is pretty good, helps me sleep and also calms me down during the day. I don't take it every day tho, only when I feel too anxious.

It does help me

A well made, high quality, HHC and CBD tincture, 2 drops a day is an actual miracle drug for me.

It doesn’t change who i am or how i function.

It just makes me capable to bridge my functioning to be compatible with how the rest of the worlds functions.

But because you can’t actually custom cannabinoid medicine in any legal circuit anywhere (I believe) its availability was always going to be temporary… how i miss those days of simply being better.

No, because I'm an Autist and our pain is in context of other people and not us ourselves.

Maybe. I am a huge supporter or transhumanism so for most things i will try some form of pill or medical solution as well as a part of trying to fix it before accepting it.

For ADHD, i have tried one med, but it had no effect on ADHD. It only raised heart rate in max+ dosages and it was rather expensive.
I tried concerta, long release one. For others i would have had to get special premission every time and obviously the cost as well.
ADHD and paperwork doesn't really go together well, so i determined that the cost of having ADHD isn't worth the effort and cost of meds.

Maybe in the future I'll try again when government adds some more ADHD meds into the list of supported meds and therapy gets cheaper or more accessible.

AuDHD here. Before my 40s I was never a coffee drinker and I couldn't get medicated when I tried.

Now, on days when I am good about taking both my doses of Adderall and making myself both cups of coffee (morning & lunch time for both) I feel amazingly normal and can just choose to be productive at work and crazy shit like that.

THC is amazing in its own way. It CAN help me happily do certain things I normally don't want to do, but over time it seems like a net loss for executive function, energy levels, and generally taking care of the shit I care about. So right now I'm on a break, but have not necessarily sworn it off.

Maybe. Too bad I have no way to pay for it even if I had insurance to see a doctor and get a prescription.

I am medicated for Anxiety/Depression but they wasn't prescribed for ASD because Medication can't fix what isn't broken.

Except THC makes me have quiet paralytic anxiety for hours

ughughughugh meme about me

you know what else I picked up on here and maybe it's the pattern recognition but everyone here seems to talk about autism as a collective. as if it's a generalization or as if it's something that's a second entity people live with.