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_chu1 parent
Does Adderall even work?
LocutusOfBorges
Yes, often spectacularly.

I can honestly say that I wouldn't have been able to hold down a serious professional career without it - ADHD is a very real thing that some people have to deal with, and its effects can be crippling to life outcomes.

I don't like the way stimulant medications feel to actually take, and the long-term health effects do worry me a bit, but it makes it possible for me to live something significantly closer to a normal life than I would ever be able to manage without them. Really can't overstate how transformational it's been for me.

SteveNuts
(Anecdotally) For me, yes, unequivocally, the answer is a resounding yes.

My only regret is waiting until my thirties to get diagnosed, I feel like so much of my potential was wasted academically and career-wise.

12_throw_away
I'd share my own anectodal evidence, but it is word-for-word identical to this
coolsunglasses
Ditto, 100% same story. I kinda knew I had ADHD and was able to investigate some childhood stuff that suddenly made more sense, but I waited until I had a crisis that was compromising my ability to function at work before finally talking to a shrink. Wish I'd done so a lot sooner.

I can start/stop, take drug holidays, etc. with amphetamine (adderall in my case) at will with no ill effects. Caffeine on the other hard, is brutally unpleasant to miss a day of. Been on the same dose of adderall for a few years now. I was able to reduce my caffeine intake significantly after starting adderall.

gopher_space
> I feel like so much of my potential was wasted academically and career-wise.

Something you were completely unaware of and unable to access was never an opportunity for you, missed or otherwise.

tstrimple
We're not unaware though. We know we are capable of doing these things because we can do them exceptionally well in short bursts of hyper-focus. We see the potential and we desire the outcomes. We lack the executive function to put those things into action consistently.
SteveNuts
I was not completely unaware of failing most classes in high school and having to get a GED despite wanting to do my homework and study for tests. I was very motivated and interested in the subjects, I could just not focus enough to complete my work. This caused me to have an adverse reaction to even starting a project/task which I still struggle with today (even though it's much easier now).

So while I can of course not predict what would have happened, I can pretty safely say my life path would have been completely different had I had a chance to get treated earlier. I would have gone to college, at least.

I'm not sure what your point is.

tstrimple
> I was not completely unaware of failing most classes in high school and having to get a GED despite wanting to do my homework and study for tests.

This was pretty much me as well. I remember at the start of every new school year promising this time it would be different. I would do my homework and pay attention in classes and get good grades! Each year it spiraled into the same mess. Diagnosed with ADHD in my 30's.

gopher_space
My point is that you're ginning up a scenario in your head that wasn't ever going to happen, and you're doing it so that you can feel bad about things for a little bit because feeling bad is nostalgic. You don't really need loose ideas like that rolling around your head when you're taking these meds. That was your old life.
SteveNuts
>My point is that you're ginning up a scenario in your head that wasn't ever going to happen

Do you mean that if I had been able to treat my disorder earlier, nothing would have been different? I don't dwell on it, but to say my academic success would have been wildly different medicated is just wrong.

romeros
does it help with working memory issues? Or it just makes you focused and work for longer periods of time?
falcolas
Yes, it does help with working memory. I'm not sure if it adds a slot, or makes it harder for other items to sneak into the limited slots, but it helps.

It gives me some control over my focus, leverage against the executive dysfunction, and the choice to not chase dopamine.

SteveNuts
For me it definitely does, it seems like my brain is able to fit more into its "main memory" while focused on a task, whereas without it it seems like I'm "swapping to disk" to put it into computer terms.

I don't take it on the weekends, and I feel a huge difference in my ability to remember what I'm working on around the house.

_chu1 OP
What do I do if I'm 16, diagnosed and unmedicated?
SteveNuts
Sounds like you must already have a psychiatrist or MD you've been diagnosed by? What's the reason for not medicating it?

Do you have a guidance counselor your can talk to?

_chu1 OP
Parents never saw there was an issue. I was mostly "normal" until I started seeing symptoms pop up in the 5th grade. Don't have a guidance counselor but I should probably just ask my dad.
SteveNuts
My parents were against it too, even though my 5th and 6th grade teachers both suggested it. Then in High school my guidance counselors highly recommended I get tested.

There was definitely a stigma for mental illness with the boomer generation, I suspect my mom did not want to be associated with a child that has a mental condition.

shrimp_emoji
Is this Destiny?
nyrikki
"Between 75 percent and 80 percent of children with ADHD will see improved symptoms with the use of stimulants such as Adderall."

So yes.

nosefurhairdo
ADHD has the highest treatment success rate of all psychiatric conditions. For myself and many others it is a godsend.
RavingGoat
Yes, I probably would have cured cancer if I had it in my 20s and 30s.

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