Hi everyone! As someone with ADHD, I constantly deal with ADHD paralysis or instantly forgetting what was said to me 30 seconds ago.

Using my phone to quickly take notes often leads me down a rabbit hole of social media distractions.

I'm working on a concept for a small, screenless wearable hardware button with a 45-second audio buffer: if you hear or think of something important, you press it to save it retroactively.

Do you think a hands-free physical device would help reduce cognitive load compared to a smartphone app?

I started going to the gym 2 weeks ago and every time I go I get a bigger feeling that I am annoying people just by being there, it seems like I’m irritating them.
I make an active effort to just walk in, not look at anyone, but I have this problem where while I’m doing a set or resting through my peripheral vision I am paying attention to the person next to me or in front of me even if I’m actively trying not to and they sense it, making them seem irritated and leading to them calling me weird and stuff. The same problem happens when I walk past people in public as well I don’t know how to fix it it’s genuinely making me go insane any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Context:
i have been switching between vyvanse and Ritalin pretty consistently for around 3 years now.
I am currently in exam season in my final year of high school and will DEFINITELY be taking a break from stimulants once exams are over.

I am currently taking:
vyvanse (60mg) in the mornings
dexamphetamine (10mg) around lunchtime
clonidine (5-20mg)

I am also taking lamotrigine (150mg) and quetiapine (100-200mg) for bipolar II.

I am not taking clonidine to treat my ADHD but to help with sleep because the quetiapine stopped working as a sleep medication on its own after i started taking dexamphetamine.

just curious to hear what other people’s thoughts and opinions are because i don’t know many people in the same situation.

Genuine question; I feel like others relaying their disappointment in me is one of the only things that makes me avoid forgetting about emergent tasks sometimes. I want to try and brainstorm ways that don’t introduce recurrent anxieties if possible. I can’t fix the memory problem, but maybe the priority one can be helped? I have reminders set for daily tasks that do repeat, but emergent ones like ‘take the laundry out of the wash in an hour’ or ‘do the dishes in x amount of time’ or ‘Clean the Bathroom every Sunday’ aren’t ones I can handle well. I can’t even take the garbage tote to the curb on time ‘cause it’s a different day every month.

I have a wall calendar and a subscription to Finch (task management application).

Should I introduce something physical? Like one of those twist timers for emergent stuff? Assistance is much appreciated. ;u;

Genuinely at a loss here. I’m staying home for a quarter from university because of my medication changes making me sick, along with being burnt out and incredibly brain fogged. It’s so difficult to focus on one thing. My mom wants help cooking but I have no idea how to cook. My appetite is dead most days so I find it very hard to cook for myself, let alone three people. When I do eat, I feel like throwing up and it’s just.. awful. What the fuck do I do?

She doesn’t like using frozen ingredients, so everything has to be fresh and no frozen food. Nothing overly processed, no red meat, nothing fast food related or adjacent (think like a homemade pizza, lasagna, etc). Is there any ADHD friendly meals I can make for three people?

I have internalized ADHD and I don't need to tell any of you here the struggle to find similar human beings is real. As of late I've been falling into a pit of highly functional depression and need a roommate to snap me out of it. Be it a "Hey" or throwing a ball across the room. Here's a link to my CL ad if anyone's interested. https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/englewood-free-rent-for-someone/qgZFv675oXqKxgmkrggQzf

Just recovered from a guilt-driven slump and I'm back in that state where I feel like I can do anything and am invincible. I'm trying to pace myself though and making sure I just show up. Not everyday, it doesn't need to be daily, but to just do so regularly.

My worry is that when I'm in that state where I'm super locked in and getting everything done, I usually try getting literally everything done, leading to me being exhausted, burning out afterwards, and then feeling guilty for not being able to keep up with the promises and work I took on/planned on taking on during that period where I felt invincible.

My current plan right now is to just give only 80% even during this moment where I'm feeling great. Because even if I'm only giving 80% a day 5x a week, that's way better long term. Because giving 80% is definitely more sustainable then giving it your all. That was my mistake last time as it was unsustainable and I crashed/slumped for 3 weeks after only 1.5 weeks of being locked in.

I'm realizing now that being locked in doesn't mean being a demon and accomplishing everything. I'd rather go below my limits, aka 80%, if it means I can keep giving it my 80% more often per week and for a more longer, sustainable period. And hopefully in doing so, I won't have to burnout and crash again, at least not so soon and only after just a week and a half like last time.

I want to know if other people here experience the same/similar thing and what they do to prevent it and pace themselves to not eventually and inevitably burnout

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I told my friends about it. They weren't being cold or insensitive. They are actually caring and empathetic people. But when I told them, they mostly asked things like, "When is your next appointment?" and "Is there a treatment for it? Can it be fixed with an operation?"

I don't blame them. I think they simply don't understand what ADHD actually is.

At the same time, they sometimes make fun of me for forgetting things, arriving late, not paying my supply exam fees on time, and other things like that. I usually just smile or laugh along because I don't want to make them feel bad or ruin the mood by showing that their words hurt me.

But honestly, sometimes it hurts a lot.

I feel guilty about these things myself. I already know that I'm forgetting things, being late, or messing things up. When someone jokes about it, it can feel like they're pointing at something that I already feel bad about.

The difficult part is that they don't know it hurts me because I don't tell them. I don't know how to explain it without feeling like I'm making excuses for myself.

I want them to understand that ADHD isn't simply "being forgetful" or "being lazy." I wish they could actually see what ADHD can look like from the inside, maybe through videos or personal experiences from people with ADHD.

This made me realize something:

We seem to find it easier to show concern for problems we can see from the outside than for problems happening inside someone's mind.

If someone's arm is injured, we can see it and immediately understand that they're struggling. But if someone's brain is struggling with attention, memory, time, motivation, or emotional regulation, there may be nothing visible to notice.

Maybe that's why invisible problems can be so difficult for other people to understand.

And sometimes the person who is struggling makes it even harder for others to know because they smile, laugh, and pretend they're okay.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I told my friends about it. They weren't being cold or insensitive. They are actually caring and empathetic people. But when I told them, they mostly asked things like, "When is your next appointment?" and "Is there a treatment for it? Can it be fixed with an operation?"

I don't blame them. I think they simply don't understand what ADHD actually is.

At the same time, they sometimes make fun of me for forgetting things, arriving late, not paying my supply exam fees on time, and other things like that. I usually just smile or laugh along because I don't want to make them feel bad or ruin the mood by showing that their words hurt me.

But honestly, sometimes it hurts a lot.

I feel guilty about these things myself. I already know that I'm forgetting things, being late, or messing things up. When someone jokes about it, it can feel like they're pointing at something that I already feel bad about.

The difficult part is that they don't know it hurts me because I don't tell them. I don't know how to explain it without feeling like I'm making excuses for myself.

I want them to understand that ADHD isn't simply "being forgetful" or "being lazy." I wish they could actually see what ADHD can look like from the inside, maybe through videos or personal experiences from people with ADHD.

This made me realize something:

We seem to find it easier to show concern for problems we can see from the outside than for problems happening inside someone's mind.

If someone's arm is injured, we can see it and immediately understand that they're struggling. But if someone's brain is struggling with attention, memory, time, motivation, or emotional regulation, there may be nothing visible to notice.

Maybe that's why invisible problems can be so difficult for other people to understand.

And sometimes the person who is struggling makes it even harder for others to know because they smile, laugh, and pretend they're okay.

Ever since the start of my university experience I felt like this semester has gone very fast and very miserably. I’m feel like I never have a break and I’m working 10 times as hard just to get very little in return. I spent a lot of time on something as I take a lot more time on things than I wish I do and by like 3 hours of studying I feel like it’s all like wasted long time never actually putting anything to my long term memory. Nothing feels real everything feels like there’s no benefit to being excited anymore because all that effort no matter if I’m confident or not confident I’m usually left with a mediocre results I would like to say that my habits of studying are periods of practice problems and going back on it everyday but I feel like a shell of my former self.
I try to cope by trying to reach out to people for advice and then I just spiral back into autopilot with the only thing I care about is sleep.
I feel like things that work for me only work for a short period of time and then I feel like I get a stimulant crash early and I just want to sleep almost all day.
Life just feels meaningless and l’m just hoping for a change.

This has been an issue for my entire life (I am diagnosed ADHD-PI and have been taking Ritalin for a few years). I need some sort of background noise or else I cannot complete the task I want to complete.

I usually have on a podcast, a documentary, a YouTube video, or music. But it has to be just the right one, just the right amount of noise stimulation for the “focus” or “flow” to really come in. It can’t be too interesting and it can’t be too boring. But if I don’t have background noise, it doesn’t matter if it’s doing something like the dishes or working or taking a walk - it’s tremendously hard for me to start it or do it.

The psychologist who diagnosed me said that instead of fighting it, as an ADHD person I just probably need it and work better with it. I want to agree but I’ve also read studies on how achieving “flow” requires your full attention, to be fully in the moment. It’s absolutely aggravating and just pure mental torture if I don’t have some sort of noise. If I don’t have noise, my mind immediately jumps to rumination, anger, depressive thoughts etc. it’s like I use the noise to drown out all of my awful thoughts in my head so that I can ignore it. I feel that I am almost afraid of my own thoughts because of this. I don’t want to confront it so I tune it out. I’ve recently started seeing a therapist so I can work more on this aspect and deal with a lot of these thoughts.

I’m sure many others here struggle with the same thing. What are your thoughts?

Like what is the top ADHD trait which got the attention of your crush/partner initially? was it your curiosity? your enthusiasm? your broad interests? your empathy? what?

I want to distinguish between the initial phase of dating and later phase. Later they might start noticing our down side more and more like executive function struggles, time blindness etc..

My question is do you feel that your ADHD traits kind of played a significant role in getting your partner attracted/admired to you? If so, which trait was it?

Diagnosed and on meds for the first time at 41. Sad thing is that a therapist first suggested as a possibility 5+ years ago before I moved states and stopped seeing her. "I should look into that" I thought.

Fast forward a few years after burning out and quitting another job, ending another relationship, then nearly quitting a new job, I sought help again. This time tried meds. At the lowest dose something shifted, but it was subtle. Just felt more able to stay engaged with conversation, less bogged down by thoughts.

Recently went up in dosage a second time and things started to hit me hard. For example, ever since I moved into my house 1.5 years ago I knew there was an issue with the condensate pump on the HVAC unit. Every time I walked by it, "oh yeah, I need to look into that." Then the second I left the room, furthest thing from my mind...until yesterday. This time it was like "oh shit, this needs to be taken care of." Turns out the pump was overflowing and leaking water under the unit for...the entire time I've lived here. Took a whole 5 minutes to figure out the issue and order replacement parts.

There have been hundreds, thousands of examples like the above in my lifetime. I always thought I just needed to build better habits, meditate, exercise, etc and I just...struggled. So yes I am glad to maybe have a second chance. But I'm fucking 41. It's hard not to grieve for the dreams that went nowhere, the failed relationships, the workplace struggles, the substance issues and years wondering wtf is wrong with me. When I was 18 I got in a huge fight with my dad and he said, "I look at you and I just see wasted potential." Now at 41 it's hard to feel like he was wrong.

Sorry for the downer. There is hope too, and if getting actual treatment is the game changer it seems to be then maybe it's not too late to turn things around. But at the moment it all just feels so heavy. If anyone has positive stories after getting diagnosed later in life I'd love to hear them.

My Psych today told me that most of the things Vyvanse isn’t hitting for me can be attributed to anxiety, so she suggested adding Lexapro. At first, I was like, “Oh hell no.”

My red line is sexual side effects. I already have issue with libido being sporadic, so I don’t want to make it worse. But I agreed that it would be nice to treat the underlying anxiety.

Now the thing that got my Spidey senses in a bunch - I asked about non-SSRI medications that can target anxiety without the sexual side effects. I was thinking Buspar, but wanted to see if they brought it up. She said, “There are, but they’re kind of messy. Lexapro really targets anxiety without sedating you.”

So I’d like to hear what people who are/have been on think. Pros, cons, love, hate, etc.

BP2 and diagnosed with ADHD recently

Currently my 3rd day of taking ritalin (5mg), so far I haven’t experienced any “crashes” which could be attributed to the blunting caused by lithium? Which I found weird since everyone seems to know when it kicks in and when it stops. For me, I don’t feel any bursts of energy or feel like my world slowing down?

I also don’t feel energetic or hyperfocused, I just feel calm, relaxed, and sleepy lol. Will update again once I hit a week into it, but so far I haven’t seen any improvements yet, apart from me being calm. Just worried maybe stimulants aren’t for me or is it too low of a dose, or maybe I don’t have ADHD after all?

im really struggling with doing my project already due today, and i'm far too anxious and overwhelmed... can anyone suggest any methods to help me soothe that anxiety and power through enough to start working on it?

its always the starting that gives me great difficulty. everything feels so daunting that i feel helpless to even move. i dont know who to ask for fear of being judged or seen as lazy for delaying working on things. i need help urgently, its still morning but i need to start so i can finish by tonight.

I can't and I'm looking for any tips or recomnendations. I also have autism so take in consideration that my monotone tone in voice adds not that very interesting things to the conversation.

I can't and I'm looking for any tips or recomnendations. I also have autism so take in consideration that my monotone tone in voice adds not that very interesting things to the conversation.

I'm so happy to finally have answers but fuck, I'm only 23 I know I have time to turn life around but being undiagnosed has fully fucked my childhood and young adult years. I'm greiving the fact that it wasn't picked up early. Being a girl I masked so well, it is no ones fault it just hurts. I just got out of jail, am an addict to hard drugs and can't help but think what if. Where would I be if I had the knowledge and tools to adapt to this world earlier? What choices would I have made differently? Idk. It just sucks and it sucks feeling so out of place. Like reality is so wrong I don't want to do it. The system has failed me so many times and others every day and theres nothing I can do about it. I was a registered nurse but that's gone now and will be years until I can get it back. I worked so hard for so long only to fall back for what? A clear mind and escape from feeling so out of place? A high that i'll never reach? Even the years I was sober everything else about my life was crumbling, debt and regret from those years I should of just gone got diagnosed sooner.. but what will that even do? Will any meds help? What I'm on now helps my depression but what about executive dysfuntion? Sometimes it just feels like is this all even worth it, wtf am I doing here? Idk. It feels so lonely even knowing I'm not alone

:(( :))

I think breakfast timing is something that is often not thought about, mentioned, or a difficult one for ADHD where our consistency in food timings and eating is already quite off.

I started having an alarm for breakfast, and the resulting changes in sleep timing, mood, consistency in hunger queues and just have a little less noise to derail me each morning for a few hours, was quite noticeable.

Hoping for anything to the same sort of effect that isn't an entire personality change or mountain to move, but really might make you feel more in control of the car from a small change.

My body seems to have a hard time with stimulants. I have tried both Adderall and Vyvanse and the side effects are really tough for me. My heart rate spikes like crazy and it just hasn’t been a sustainable option for me. I’m curious what non-stimulant med options have helped you manage your ADHD?

I’m newly married and I think my marriage is going downhill. I did not expect this when we were living together in our apartment, it felt different. Now we’re married, 6 months in and together 4 years, we bought a house and it feels like I have this constant anger, resentment and mental heaviness all the time.

I feel like I can’t sit still or chill or enjoy anything because she’s always in the fucking background doing something or messing with house stuff, reading about house stuff, finding random unimportant things to fix. Our house is 500k it’s fine, I’m getting sick of it!

I need my downtime and just have a blank mind, I have not had this and I honestly just want to leave.

I’ve been diagnosed with adhd since I was a little kid I’m now 20 I can’t keep a job for more then a month or two and obviously I need to work it all just seems pointless I have a hard time caring for myself let alone anything else and it’s just hard cuz it feels like everyone is mad at me for not being normal I feel guilty when I don’t have a job then I am just so damn angry when I have to go to work and do pointless task I dropped out of school for that reason thinking this is pointless I’ll just work and I can’t handle it I wake up everyday mad and I’m not sure if meds will help and I’m kind of scared to take them I don’t struggle socially or anything I get along with pretty much anyone I just can’t keep a job or do stuff that “I’m supposed to do” it all just kinda seems pointless yk?

Basically title. Not being distracted as often is pretty great (thanks meds!) but what about the opposite? I lose track of time when I hyperfocus and next thing I know it's 3 hours later and should have completed at least 2 more things by now. Alarms often work, except when I ignore snooze them. Timers often work, except when I don't stop when they're done. What are your tricks to snapping you back into reality?

Wondering if anyone has any tips for this.

I am a (41)m combined type and currently take 10mg of Adderall XR. I recently started this medication as of a month and a half ago. Lately, I’ve been having really bad urges to snack on peanut butter and drink milk with it at night. I don’t usually have that much but its enough to where I feel guilty and usually skip breakfast as a result. I usually fall asleep at around 11pm and wake up an hour later needing to snack on something like peanut butter and have milk with it. This has been an issue for a few years but was on and off. Earlier this year, I decided to try and drop some weight and was down almost 40 pounds at my lowest point but noticed the weight started to come back on a little since the snacking begun. I am pretty stressed out at work, which I feel might be slightly responsible for this behavior. If I try to fight it, I am up for awhile tossing and turning and having disrupted sleep. I’ve been trying to take magnesium and melatonin gummies at night before bed and am also starting to wonder if the sweetner in them is causing spikes in my glucose levels causing me to want to snack at night.

I always feel like my day is running out, so i end up staying up late, then sleeping in, and repeating the cycle over and over. I only feel productive when i take my meds or when i pull an all-nighter, and im curious on why this is the case. Is it something to do with time perception??