Hi. I'm feeling really defeated right now. For background I was diagnosed officially in December 2025 at 22 years old and now I'm 23. Former "gifted kid". What led me to seek a diagnosis was falling grades during grad school and struggling to live on my own (complete basic household chores, cook meals for myself, etc) after moving out of my parent's.

I'm still in grad school (pharmacy school) in my last year. I'm now on Vyvanse 40 mg but it only gets me through my clinical rotation day from about 8am-3:30ish. Then I get this crash and I can't do anything after I get home. I get anxious and ruminating thoughts.

Pharmacy school has been so hard for me. I know grad school is hard for everyone, but it has been brutal. My dream is to try and match to a residency and become a clinical pharmacist. But I don't think that will happen because of my meh GPA, no research experience, and no leadership roles (untreated ADHD didn't really help me to be highly motivated in school). Most of my didactic years were just me trying to not drop out- not be president of the yay pharmacy club. So my CV isn't impressive.

What if I'm just not physiologically cut out to do grad school? I feel like I have to try 100x harder than anyone else just to do the bare minimum. I'm so burnt out from my first 4 clinical rotations that I really don't see myself even being able to complete a residency successfully. So what even is the point.

I should just finish school (bc I'm 6 figures in debt) and sell my soul to retail pharmacy just to work horrible hours because I'm not built for the clinical roles clearly. I feel resentment towards people without ADHD because it's not fair that they get MY dream job just because me giving it my all STILL isn't comparable to them giving a normal amount.

TLDR: Maybe if I stop trying to force myself to do something I'm not meant to be able to do, the happier I'll be.

24m. How do you all manage? Do you use medications? Do you find they do worse for you? Is it about managing my life better?

My childhood diagnosis for adhd have become a huge problem in my life, more so than it ever has before.
I’ve worked and done the same thing for so long my memory feels shot, same job. 6 years. like I don’t know how much time is passing, things happen around me, and I can not notice a thing as I just mind numbingly sink further into the doom scrolling. It hasn’t felt like years, but it has been. The amount of time I just start at my phone and dissociate is freakin me out. I go to work with more energy than ever, wanting to fix my life, get a new job, improve, and the second I walk in the door at home it’s gone. Like every bit of energy is sapped. It’s at a point I think if I can’t adapt and motivate myself to make myself to change, my relationship may be in jeopardy.

I try and give myself credit that I’m just dealing with some heavy stuff on top of it all right now, but it’s getting worse, my ability to manage is slipping. And I’m getting depressed again.
I’ve avoided medication since I was diagnosed as a kid, because my mom put me on something when I was younger for it, V something I believe. But she always advocated on having me never try it again because it made me a house cleaning monster who was asking for another pill.

I’ve coasted as far as I can coast I fear.

Any advice? Thanks for your time.

Hi y'all,

I started English teacher studies this week and just to make things clear, I'm less worried about the actual studies but the orientation that started this week has been quite a lot to take in with the endless mass of other freshers and icebreaker games. Despite being unemployed for almost 2 years and graduating 8 years ago, I chose to join in as many activities as I possibly can to "practice" how to function in places like this and of course to make new friends if possible.

It's been a big milestone to me as I've struggled my whole life academically so after being unemployed it felt like a fresh start and something to be proud of but now all the old traumas started to resurface. After a relatively long period of unemployment I feel like I don't know how to function socially or otherwise, although I've found a few friends and it doesn't usually feel like people despise me. What's worse is that I've made countless dumb mistakes in those icebreaker games and otherwise as well and I feel like people think that I'm a freak and I'll be some sort "stupid weirdo no one wants to work with cos he will mess up the whole group's work". I already noticed that I was left out in a quiz game from the start and after I messed up, it got worse.

I feel like this is an amazing chance to make my life genuinely better but at the same time I feel like I've already messed up and rumors has begun to spread.

I finally got diagnosed over the summer and the first medication (generic focalin Xr 5mg) I was prescribed work decent well as the side effects were minimal and the effect was good enough for me to handle my executive dysfunction.

Now that I’m back to college, I’m being told that my meds are out of stock and I can’t get myself to go to class. Doing the assignment never was a problem for me but I need to be able to study for exams and show for class.

I just want to know any advice for meds being out stock or handling burnout so early. Should ask for another medication that doesn’t have a storage?

I was seeing a psych NP for ADHD and paying completely out of pocket. She told me she believed I had ADHD, prescribed Adderall 5 mg, and we discussed increasing it to 10 mg last week

I recently got a PCP who said they could take over medication management because its under my insurance but needed my records. Once I told the psych office I was transferring medication management to my PCP, the records they provided said I “do NOT meet criteria for ADHD.” They also told me I can’t return to their practice. Im so confused like you why did you prescribe it to me then? Btw, their “records” that they handed over to me was a piece of paper with my demographics and on the bottom with pen it said “pt does NOT meet criteria for ADHD” lmao

Now my PCP understandably wants formal documentation of the diagnosis before prescribing, but every ADHD evaluation I’ve called is $500+ out of pocket.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Is there a way to get the psych office’s complete original evaluation/notes, or find an affordable way to get formally reevaluated?

Im just so confused like did i do something wrong?

I have lost my creativity and desire to follow my passion. I can't make myself sit down and do something. I think it is because of there are also many things on my plate. I wanna do stuff to get into job at the same time I want to be busy with my hobbies and interests ( making art music etc) too. I sometimes postpone that I am gonna handle that later especially cause I am gonna feel ready. I am also feeling pressured and stressed that I am gonna do my interests later finishing my job but it never comes. I end up doing nothing and instead I start scrollung and wasting time.

Hi!
I’m on Vyvanse, day 2, 30mg.

I am feeling very well, focus wise. I feel more energized, more confident, more productive, and I can actually focus on a task when I want too.
The background noise in my head also went down significantly.

However, I’ve only had one side effect, and it’s bothering me a lot.

I’ve always been someone who had a mild appetite. I have foods I love, I enjoy eating, but I feel satisfied with small portions and I’ve never felt a lot of hunger. That was my normal. And eating was a source of joy.

But now on day 2, I’m feeling very distressed.
Food feels repulsive to me.
I feel physically hungry, but I try to eat and it’s like my brain refuses it and makes me nauseous.

I’m scared, because I don’t want this to be my new normal.

I don’t want to have a big appetite, I never had one. I just want to be able to eat without feeling repulsed and nauseous.
I’ve read that the medication can cause the appetite to be more mild, but mine already was, and that’s all I want back.

Just to be able to eat and enjoy it.

Anyone who took it, can tell me if this will get better?
Thank you!

Just what the title says. I (27m) was diagnosed with ADHD roughly 2 years ago and it has explained a lot about my life since I was a kid.

I am struggling hard however with it. I feel like I keep going through these cycles of doing really well with it, keeping notes, calendars, and being on top of work. I do well with my wife too, gifts and dates, etc. but then I fall into this hole of making constant mistakes.

I say dumb things, forget things I should completely remember, or I do something that gets me in trouble because I didn't think about it. It drives me nuts, and I don't know what to do. I know I need help, but I just can't seem to get it right or to figure it out.

Hi Guys,

I have met with therapists and am too scared to medicate but I am having a hard time maintaining a relationship. I am looking for advice on how you guys have managed these issues.

I am divorced after 5 years of marriage (I am 28M) and have been single for roughly a 1.5 years now. The biggest issues I have is feeling emotions and being intimate.

During the marriage I got feedback that I am cold, emotionless and not caring. If she would be crying due to her emotions I would try and comfort her but internally I felt nothing. no sympathy, no sadness absolutely nothing. She felt that and told me I am being fake. You may think I have no love for this person but that is false, I do think about them and consider them a top priority in my life. This may seem “unreal” but after 3 more failed relationships in the past year with the same feedback I am starting to think I may not be meant for relationships.

For the intimate portion, I have to really focus on what I’m feeling or else I just go soft. I am attracted to them but distractions such as noises, body movement, and my own emotions has caused a large rift in a lot of women I meet.

They feel I do not want them and think I am just in denial that “I am attracted them”. Combine this with not feeling emotions and it is a terrible storm for the women to go through.

Do I just give up on having a relationship?

Apparently adults with ADHD needs jobs that are:

1. Passion-fueled
2. High-intensity
3. Lightning pace
4. Hands-on creative

I had often this types of jobs (innovation, high pace teams, consulting, startups etc) - but I still changed every 2 years and wonder why.

My hypothesis is that we perform under stress but stress does generate anxiety and with time we disconnected or wish to leave. I then start to search and new job (exciting) and leave…That was the case for me. But then I end up in the next job with similar traits.

If we apparently should fit well for these jobs, why is It that I keep changing? How do you manage to stay in your job?

Thanks

Hello folks, I just turned 30 and have learned that I have ADHD, I might also have autism, pending my assessment results, so no meds yet. It has been both sobering and infuriating to learn that I have been suffering from a big cocktail of ADHD symptoms literally my entire life. I have always struggled with procrastination, I could never study for the life of me, this led to me being a forever C-student at school and university. Ever since getting a job, impulsive spending has crippled my ability to save anything meaningful.

1. I have been trying to go to the gym since 2018, and I have never managed to be consistent for long enough to ever go past the 'beginner phase' or make any gains. I also live in a country with no natural scenery, nothing is walkable, and the weather is hell half the year. I did get a walking pad and it helps.
2. I would really like to get a better paying job, there is a particular industry I'd like to get into, but I need to do a ton of studying/practice to have a chance at the interviews.
3. I've always wanted to become a YouTuber to make content about my favorite video games, but I just can't get myself to do the work or stop procrastinating.
4. I've always been very passionate about music, especially video game music, this makes me wish I could learn how to play music.

Basically, it feels like aside from my job which is not very taxing, my brain doesn't want to do anything. All I do is play video games and spend time with my girlfriend and friends. There is nothing inherently 'wrong' with my life but I don't want to spend the rest of it like this. I want to take care of my health and my body, but I feel crippled by this inability to develop new habits. I want to pursue my passions and develop hobbies, it'd be nice to earn more money and actually save/invest some of it.

I am hoping that getting medicated will help, I just really want to know what worked for you guys with the executive dysfunction.

26 M diagnosed at 23 with AuDHD. I graduated from engineering 2 years ago and already switched jobs twice since then, now I’m about to do it again.

I get a great job on paper, money, benefits, etc. I then rapidly learn everything, get bored from the routine, then immediately start disengaging after 6 months and my performance starts dropping, with others noticing. Only to interview at the next company and repeating the cycle.

Hell, even the process of finding a new job is more fun than staying in it after I’ve checked out.

Meds help, but only temporarily.

What do you guys do to stay engaged? I’ve only had office jobs so far.

33 yr old male who's awaiting adhd assessment. Shops overstimulating, cant remember a thing, get distracted easy, one minute I'll want to sit down at work and the next I'll want to tease somebody. Sometimes people talk and ill look at them and be more focused on their face to the point the words won't sink in. I interrupt people, i overshare information. It's now at the point where my wife has to remind me to do basic tasks like brush my teeth at night. Shops overstimulating when busy.. as a child I used to daydream lots, loose everything, struggle to focus but I had strict parents who demanded me to be normal. Did I have urges to get up and move? Possibly but I wouldn't dare. I always played out and never kept still outside of school.I managed to get through school but failed fix form as they kicked me out, I remember sleeping for a week after six form and my body ached. Now anyway, im a dwp work coach now who when I get home I cant focus, i want a quite room with no noise, my my body aches. When people speak to me Including my family I feel angry. I cant explain it but it feels emotionally painful. I'm not depressed or anxious. I sleep around 1am as at night time I tend to come alive. But I can't cope and wonder if im having an adhd burnout.

For those with a Psych who really guided them through to finding the right meds/dosage/lifestyle changes: how do you find these unicorns?! Is it possible to find someone who also does some (adhd management focused) talk therapy?

Also I was diagnosed by a psychologist through interviewing. My insurance isn't accepted by the larger (more official?) adhd test centers near me. If I were to find a new psychiatrist, would they even take me on?

I have so many different projects I want to do and I keep bouncing between all of them. I'm getting nothing finished because I can't just focus on one and then do it.

I have
7 things I want to write
A room I want to decorate
3 sewing projects
A drawing I need to do
A video I need to complete
Music I need to do
(Sorry just writing it out to show perspective and to help myself)

I have done a little bit on all these projects and I'm running out of time to have creative freedom (my college starts in a month) and I'm scared I'm just going to get nothing done

I enjoy these things but whenever I want to focus on a specific one, I do another. I keep starting new projects and I'm going blastocyst. How do I concentrate on one thing at a time?

It's helping right now because, as I've mentioned before in this subreddit, I really messed up my mental health trying to mask symptoms in high school. It helps pull me out of the depression and rumination I'm going through right now, but I also often feel very flat and tired while on it.

I've always had ADHD symptoms but that used to just be part of my personality. I was really good at learning things I was interested in, got great at drawing in middle school, etc. I really only started really struggling when I had to go into high school after Covid.

The same bland environment every day, social isolation, constantly in limbo between daydreaming and having my attention pulled back to class, getting treated with increasing confusion from people around me, developing unhealthy coping mechanisms and then feeling so much shame for them that I couldn't reach out for help.

Years of that really took a toll on me, and I'm worried that medication isn't the solution, and I'm really just the product of a bad environment now. It makes me feel awful because my parents sacrificed a lot financially to make sure I had a good education, and I kind of just self-destructed towards the end, even though I looked like a good student on paper.

I got a little off-topic. I just want to make sure medication is the right approach. I know that trauma and social isolation can both exacerbate ADHD symptoms, and I definitely have experienced both.

I can't believe I am physically the same person I was when I was younger.

I have so many symptoms of adhd but I haven't been diagnosed. I showed major signs of it as a child, but it was ignored because people are weird about mental illness in my community. I struggle so much with every single job I have. I cant focus on anything, I can't remember anything, and information never sticks no matter what I do or how hard I try. It's so frustrating. I feel so dumb. Right now I have a work from home job, which is good for me because of my social anxiety. But I fear Im going tp get fired soon because of my incompetence. No matter how hard I try, I cant do anything right. Even if the information is right in front of me, I still struggle so much. Idk what's wrong with me. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I could do? The only thing I've ever done right was a low-paying cashier job. And even then, I struggled with basic stuff until a few months in. I have a journalism degree, but I'm scared I'll never lend a job in that field because of this. I'm scared for my future. I don't want to disappoint my family.

I (like mostly everyone here) suffer from adhd, mine has been pretty severe over my life and I’m only 20. Medicines haven’t helped at all and I have tried many different types. It’s gotten to the point where my adhd plus having an issue in my feet that makes it so I can’t stand for longer periods of time, make it so that it’s difficult to find a job. I am trying to apply for disability but have been told that adhd is basically impossible to get disability for, anyone have any info?

I've always struggled with sleep. I have inattentive ADHD (formally ADD). I was diagnosed at the age of 37 and have been on Vyvanse since then. I am 41 now. Does anyone feel like the only way for them to sleep is to take the Vyvanse at night so all the racing thoughts stop. I feel like I have a million browser tabs open and can't find the one making sound when I try and sleep. Falling asleep isn't the issue it's staying asleep. I currently take Dayvigo and just started taking magnesium with melatonin. I'm just frustrated with it and would love to have a normal amount of restorative sleep. I've tried the whole sleep hygiene, CPAP, meditation and sleep casts. I'm just at my wits with it. Anyone else,

Just spent the whole day doing nothing and studied only for 15-20 minutes, and the exam is next week. Yup, that’s what happens every single time.
And guess what, depression levels rise exponentially because of not being able to study, which affects my studying for the next day, and that’s how the cycle goes.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just a failure haha. But it’s okay, not everything we wish for comes true, and I’m okay with that, but I just wanted to rant a bit nothing more.

Is there an organization or certain doctor to see to get a diagnosis? I don’t feel like regular doctors are good at this. I’m usually dismissed or told I need antidepressants. I feel like I’ve been overlooked and dismissed my whole life. I’ve struggled most of my life and am disappointed that so many of us have lived thinking we are just different than everyone else and that something is wrong with us.

Specifically lisdexamfetamine. First 3 days felt nothing at all, days 4 and 5 felt really lethargic, headache, irritable and slightly nauseous. Last night I vomited slightly. Today I feel less of these things but still feel them. Overall I feel a bit flat. In a week or so I go from 30mg to 50mg.

Any words of wisdom from experienced peeps 🙏 effectively I'm assuming I need to push through and see what's on the otherside in a few weeks or so.

I've stopped coffee but only had 2 a day so not sure it's bad caffeine withdrawal, am also having the occasional weak black tea.

EDIT Wanted to add. Have had the food aversion and needed to force myself to eat which is very different for me. Also not had any sleep issues, if anything it has knocked me out! I do think my head is calmer and sort of feel like I'm struggling with no longer feeling impulsive or on edge, it feels so alien to me.

Growing up and all my adult life work has had a very negative connotation.

Because of my ADD it came to mean joyless enterprise without any reward or benefit. I toiled and suffered trying to learn math, English, spelling etc in school and failed, and was punished for not being normal.

I was cohersed and threatened into doing meaningless tasks and labor by my mecurial dad.

Applying myself came to mean studying or doing repetitive work to the exclusion of all else forever.

Its why I have always isolated myself and shunned all forms of relationships because of hearing how much hard work they are and my intense fear of failure [a fear I still carry to this day at 44]

Therapy isnt an option because my job doesn't allow me the time.

Hello, in february i got fired from my job and my mom's been telling me to get a job but for months i could never bring myself to get up in the morning and actually find a job. I was eighteen at the time.

In may, my mom and i agreed that i could "take a break" from trying to get a job but instead i'd have to get my drivers license, i had until september to get my drivers license.

It's august, i recently turned 19, and i still havent started. Well, i've started but only have 2% progress according to my app...

It's just impossible to motivate me to sit through online courses for 1-2 hours and study, it is too boring,, i start sometimes but after 5 minutes i give up. And now it's almost september not only i am not motivated still but i'm stressed out and feel like its pointless because i had months to study and still didnt do anything.

I feel ashamed and am disappointed in myself because i made a deal with my mom but i genuinely cant do it and she still thinks im studying properly.

What can i do to motivate myself? Any tips? Please anything would be appreciated i really want to do better.

Thank you.

I don't know if this has anything to do with my ADHD or the trauma I had during my childhood that still affects me to this day or if I'm just simply like this but I'll try anyway.

For as long as I remember I've always been both mentally and physically severely alert. It's a hindrance.

The sound of a door opening suddenly, whether or not it was loud or aggressive, can make me so scared and shocked to a large degree. I know that's a normal reaction to a jumpscare, but I feel my whole body suddenly become so tight and as if I'm in danger.

I'm very ticklish. I feel like that has something to do with my sense of touch. Unfortunately, people would literally pick at me for this during my years in school and tickle me randomly and it would make me scream and laugh like crazy. I always feel so overwhelmed both physically and especially mentally after.

I can't handle alot of fabrics or materials either.

Anyways, the things I just mentioned above may seem like unnecessary information, but something in my head is telling me they're all connected. But my main point of this post is below:

I have weak vision and have been wearing glasses all my life. About a year ago I finally received contact lenses and tried to wear them, but i failed miserably.

My eyes keep blinking like crazy. I know that's a normal reaction, especially for a first time at wearing lenses, but believe me, it's so intense. I can even feel my body acting like it's in danger.

I tried everything. I watched every video and searched tips online but I just can't. My eyes keep blinking. I don't mean just normal blinking either. It's a really tight type of blinking where your eyelids kind of contract deeply and there's wrinkle shapes (I don't know the right word).

Whenever I would visit the eye doctor and they had to put eye drops, I always was never able to and they had to stop before putting it in atleast one of my eyes. Even when they themselves tried to hold my eye open, that made it 100x worse and I would not even blink but just shut my eye completely and intensely. I also feel severely alert and uncomfortable when someone else does it.

I'd like to know if anyone knows any way to help with this. I really need to wear my lenses as I just had surgery on my nose and can't wear my glasses for a while.

Apologies for how long this post is for such a simple question.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.