Hacker News Reader

Comment by chewxy | Hacker News Reader

Getting chemically treated for ADHD is one of the life-changing moments for me. I spent most of my teen years learning "good habits" thru counseling and all that jazz. It wasn't until I started Vyvanse that all those "good habits" that was taught to me actually made sense. All the meditation practice actually got put to good use when it comes to controlling anger.

I do wish I hadn't waited 15+ years between diagnosis and medication, because it is life changing. I can now read HN/reddit without getting sucked into a vortex of endlessness. Pomodoro actually works. And the inner chatter, they still exist. The TVs in the head are still on with all the channels going at once. But you now have a remote control with a mute key and you get to choose which channel you wanna focus on.

p/s if you're Aussie, Vyvanse is now on PBS so you no longer need to pay $100+ a month - rather it's now $6 to $40 depending on your cirumstances.

View on HN

Hey chewxy I am in the exact same boat as you and totally agree it's a lifechanger. Here in germany it's called "Elvanse" but seems to be the same. I got the diagnoses last year and only because my current employer told me "You seem to be very unfocused" -- which was the reason that I now have to get help.

It's really hard to make people understand what the effect is, because everyone says "yeah I am distracted often too when I work", but it's not that you get distracted, but the intensity of distraction.

I usually describe it like: You have thought A and thought B. And between there is a lot of noise like "AFEWFVWRGBWIHGiwgbsigbeiscgedhtbvhrbdrtbhvdbhktvrbre". And with my medication it's like "rgerbdjtfkvsg".

It's a game changer.

For me, medication and counseling compliment each other. Have you considered going back to counseling now that you are medicated to get even more "good habits" that you can apply to your life as it is in 2020?

Never stopped. The reason why I started medication was because I switched to a therapist who convinced me that I wasn't going to be a deranged drug addict.

Yes, and this is a very important point.

Many newly diagnosed ADHD patients make the mistake of thinking that they don't need therapy or self-help techniques now that they have stimulant medication. That's wrong. The stimulant medication should be used as an adjunct to therapy, self-habit, and developing good self-control techniques. The initial motivational boost of a new stimulant prescription won't last forever (concentration-enhancing effects do persist, though). However, good self-control habits will last a lifetime.

A (rather iffy) analogy is like a man trying to lift weights with very low testosterone. Going to the gym still helps, but it's an uphill battle to put on muscle until the underlying issues are corrected. However, fixing testosterone alone won't get you into great physical shape. You still need to put in the work to make the most of the corrected physiological condition.

A person with ADHD on medication isn't in any greater need of therapy or self help than a normal person. Normal people can also have problems staying on task etc, most of them still don't need therapy.

Self help includes things like the healthy habits described in this article.

Anyone with ADHD severe enough to warrant stimulant medication is absolutely in need of good self-control habits and other such improvements. Therapy is one way to get it done, but I never suggested it was the only way.

It's a common mistake for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to assume that medication will automatically build good habits for them. That's not true. Medication is best combined with a deliberate effort to improve self-control and create positive environments for focus, as many ADHD patients have explained elsewhere in this comment section.

Why do you assume a person with ADHD doesn't already have good habits?

They don't. They assume that someone who has ADHD and has sought out a diagnosis and medication as an adult also has poor habits.

But why would that be the case? ADHD means you have more need for good habits to get things done. And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything, since otherwise you would have looked for treatment a long time ago as this is typically diagnosed for children. For me I saw massive improvements immediately and they never really stopped.

> And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything,

I think the mistake in your line of thinking lies here. Why do you think is the case? Could you not imagine a person who tries medication first before anything else?

If you struggle because you never learned proper habits growing up due to inattentive type ADD, then you need to relearn these life skills and the stim meds give you the ability to focus on bettering yourself. Therapy provides a professionally guided framework for teaching you these life skills faster than on your own.

My experience is the opposite, my ADD forced me to learn way better habits than everyone else just to do everyday tasks.

Mine makes me unable to focus even on cleaning teeth...

> p/s if you're Aussie, Vyvanse is now on PBS so you no longer need to pay $100+ a month - rather it's now $6 to $40 depending on your cirumstances.

As a Aussie who is currently prescribed Dextroamphetamine, this makes me happy to hear.

I've been keen to switch to Vyvanse for a while now and my psych is open to the idea, but I haven't done it because of the cost and apparently there was a supply shortage for a while and I wouldn't have been able to get it at my pharmacy.

Now that I know it's on the PBS I'll have the conversation with my psych and hopefully be able to switch over too it.

Dex is too much like a rollercoaster for me, the idea of taking one extended release tablet in the morning I think would be a much smoother experience.

Just out of curiosity, your last name isn't Wong is it? If it is do email me

Yep same here. Medication finally made me understand the anger issues that I have due to ADHD.

I’m seeing “thru” more and more in various places and posts that otherwise use standard spelling and grammar. Is this becoming a de facto normal spelling?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com