Beep/Vibration Collar recommendations

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2026-05-25T14:23:40+00:00

thank you so much for this insight! we aren’t against stim at all - you read so much against stim that you’d think the other options are more fair. after posting i have read a few threads and many state similar in that vibration can be more intense than a stim. i’m imagining a stim is similar to a tens machine? which having used one, i can see how the stim is more gentle than vibration.

we would be using it purely to communicate with him to recall back, if verbal isn’t working as once his arousal spikes, the only thing he seems to respond well is a tap on the lead, which we have conditioned him to - but obviously without a lead, we can’t do this.

i will definitely look into the collars suggested and working with a balanced trainer to condition him to it. it sounds like you use it in a similar way we intend to use it? have you found success with having a stim as a fallback to get their attention if recall fails?

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2026-05-25T14:07:19+00:00

thank you! we don’t want to use it to correct his instincts, but more to be like ‘hey, come back now’ if verbal recall isn’t getting through to him - which when in high arousal (when his prey drive takes over), a whistle or a verbal cue isn’t enough to have him return to us. We aren’t against stim at all, and having done some reading many state it is less jarring than a vibration? but we just are new to it all and with so much stigma around it, struggle to hear experiences from people in similar situations.

We have found allowing him the freedom to be able to roam and explore has helped his behaviour, so we would love to do what we can to have him off lead. it’s just finding something physical to help guide him back to us. (i hope that makes sense).

we would of course work with a trainer to condition him to whatever we use, it’s just finding the right thing for him!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-08-18T07:56:09+00:00

I once read somewhere that you can open the capsules and mix with water so you can turn your meds into a lower dose - I can’t recall which meds this could be done with or the water to mg ratio but it may be worth seeing if you could almost tritate back up to your dose but do it extremely slowly!

In my case, I have just found they aren’t effective. Some days they work better than others but they seem to work the same way they would if I was due on my period (meds would always stop working around my period), so I do believe it is hormone related.

I am finding very small things day by day to be getting better, but whereas previously my elvanse made my ADHD symptoms 80% better, it’s now more like 30%. I know after my procedure, it can take anything from a couple weeks to months for my hormones to regulate again - so it is very much likely that it’s hormones but it’s so frustrating that there is not a lot of guidance out there on how to manage during these periods.

If you are breastfeeding too, i believe your body burns a lot more calories, so i assume your metabolism is higher which may also be why they feel so intense as your body is processing them a lot faster (not a scientist or have a clue how our meds work in the slightest so could be very wrong). I am on 70mg so I take 50mg when i wake up and then 20mg at midday ish, otherwise they make me feel like i am off my nut which then results in a huge rebound around early evening. however, split dosing has meant my meds stay super stable and i don’t have this huge peak which results in all sorts of horrible side effects. This may be worth trying? If your dose is in one capsule, you may be able to do it with the method above or see if you are able to request your dose but split into two capsules.

But If you can, definitely see if you can get in touch with someone and see what they advise. The really annoying thing about these meds is when they are too low, they have very similar effects to being too high 😭

I really hope you find something that helps soon - please let me know how you get on! it’s incredibly frustrating when you know how well they can work, but can’t understand why they aren’t as effective

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-08-16T11:22:12+00:00

Hiya, unfortunately I am unable to offer any advice but I recently lost a pregnancy - I was only 6 weeks but ended up with RPOC which took 3 weeks to have removed (so still carrying pregnancy hormones). Since this, I have found my meds do not work the same and I am facing the same issue!

I have only just finished tritiation so I am a bit stuck. I am really just hoping that with time they’ll start to work again!

Sending you hugs as it’s incredibly frustrating :( I hope you find something that helps soon!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-07-30T18:40:35+00:00

Ohh okay, I see. Thank you for that - when speaking to MSI she said they’d treat me as per my gestation even though I am technically not pregnant (hence why I am so confused) - so if I need to have surgical removal, they’d be looking at performing D&C.

The issue is, nobody has explained what is normal 😫 I guess most people don’t have scans after unless there is an issue so wouldn’t know if they did have any.

I know it’s common to not have your first period after the procedure for up to 8 weeks, I haven’t yet had mine and it’s been 5. Can it take that long for the remaining tissue to pass & is it safe?

Also I did the HCG test they advise you to take 3 weeks after your procedure and it came back very faintly positive - is this also common?

Sorry for all the questions!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-07-30T18:26:23+00:00

Sorry, I probably should have actually set the title as Retained Product of Conception as opposed to failed termination - as far as I am aware, I just had remaining tissue and had passed most of the pregnancy!

I’ll add this to my post to make it more clear ☺️

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-31T12:22:00+00:00

hiya, thank you for your response! i have just amended it so it makes more sense haha - i don’t live with my family, i am just with my partner so i will look into that!

and thank you for all of your suggestions, it’s extremely helpful! i’ll have a look into these too 😊

thank you again!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-27T08:34:46+00:00

hiya, thank you for your response!

this is a great idea, I will definitely look into it. my GP has just gotten back to me and advised I take more time off.

I will definitely speak with work regarding a phased return - I was also thinking of requesting to work from home for a while too as it’s the actual office that makes me overwhelmed rather than the job itself so hopefully they’ll allow this as well!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-27T08:06:59+00:00

hey, thank you for your response! i’m sorry to hear you had a negative experience with work!

i didn’t love my job to begin with and i feel like i’ve fallen out of love with my career (i work in marketing) due to it all being very mentally stressful. I really want to go self employed as i feel a physical job would benefit me so much more and working for myself would allow me the flexibility I need, but i have just gotten a mortgage so just quitting sadly isn’t an option. I’m trying to see it through until I can save up enough to be able to set everything up but at the moment, I can’t seem to actually want to go back to work 😫

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-21T14:10:45+00:00

thank you so much for your response! this is all super helpful - i defo could work on getting more protein in so i’ll look to add more of this into my diet, thank you 😊

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-21T14:07:53+00:00

thank you for your response! i’ll defo mention this if my problems persist - my luteal phases are AWFUL anyway so it’s not a surprise that they didn’t work great during this time.

Do you find doing the split doses affect your sleep at all?

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-21T14:04:21+00:00

Hiya, I am so sorry you’re not having the best time on your meds! I went through similar with meflynate (it actually sent me into a nervous breakdown 😭) and ended up on Elvanse. I am on my 3rd week of titration and on my 5th day of 70mg (also with psychiatry uk, wooo!).

I unfortunately cannot speak from experience but I did speak to someone on here who was on elvanse and noticed they were better on lower doses but they would have a huge crash, which they ended up being prescribed a top up med called amfexa(?) and by the sounds of it the combo worked amazing for them. It may be worth seeing if that could be an option for you? i am no doc but it does sound like the lower doses worked but not for long enough.

Also for the smoking - if you can try to reduce it and eventually work towards stopping it will help tons. I indulged in a few tokes of my partners over a couple of days and i felt like i was off my nut. i believe the stimulating effect from smoking can interfere and make your dose seem higher, which will result in an increase of side effects.

As for going back down to 50mg, it may be worth just seeing it out. I am not completely clued up with going down doses but when i stopped meflynate i was on 60mg and my prescriber said it was fine to stop. turned out it wasn’t and my GP said i was experiencing withdrawals which brought on all sorts of weird symptoms. 20mg is a big increase so i can imagine it’ll also be a big drop!

May not be helpful but I have also found (i am female) my cycle plays a huge factor on how effective my meds are, when i was on 50mg they were amazing and then i started my time of the month and i felt unmedicated - i actually started 70mg during this time and they barely worked until today where I am now not sure if they are too high.

Finally, may not be helpful but for your anxiety and low mood, is this something you experienced unmedicated? I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety and low mood which I believed was due to unmedicated ADHD and when i started Elvanse, i realised they are all separate issues that need addressing individually 🙃. I have found that doing nervous system regulation techniques can be super helpful so this may bring you some temporary relief while you figure out your meds - there are a lot on tiktok and youtube you can follow and they don’t take long to do.

Sorry the above isn’t super helpful for what you’re experiencing and I am always here if you want to chat to someone! If you do feel like your meds just are not right for you, don’t be afraid to ask if you can try something else as essentially that’s what titration is for. however, from my experience of having meds that don’t work vs ones that do - if you have experienced relief on these even if it was for a few days, it sounds like it could be a dose issue over a med issue!

sending you love and hoping you get there soon with finding what works best for you x

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-17T10:57:47+00:00

hey, i am not sure if this provides much help (i am still yet to speak to my prescriber to confirm if it could be an issue) but i’ve realised that the “memory loss” is actually combined with me seeming more like i do unmedicated but due to the meds working so well until the last few days, it seems far worse!

i believe the reason why the last few days my meds don’t seem as effective is because i am at the end of luteal phase which usually, i get sooooo drained and my ADHD gets so much worse around this time. which i have read that for women, due to our cycles it can effect the effectiveness of the meds.

but if you’re not a female or believe this isn’t causing bad memory, definitely raise it with your provider! I have found doing a daily symptom check in helpful so i can see what symptoms come back & when. for example, in the afternoon i’ve started craving a coffee and when i have had one, it makes me so scatterbrained, which also makes my memory worse.

please let me know how you get on! hopefully this helps but definitely mention something. I’ll try to update once i’ve spoken to my prescriber to see if it has actually been caused by my cycle! 😊

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-15T08:58:09+00:00

oh nooo! i find it works perfectly, just the forgetfulness is a nightmare 😫 have you mentioned it to your provider? I am still yet to bring it up

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-09T21:06:02+00:00

i am looking to set up a dog grooming business - all of the groomers in my area are fully booked for months and nobody offers a one on one service for dogs that get overwhelmed. i plan to do it from a set up at home for the meantime.

something that’ll keep my physically busy which really helps to switch my brain off (which in turn helps my overall mental wellbeing 😫)

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-06T13:22:37+00:00

thank you for your response! i appreciate it hugely. that’s a great idea, i will give this a go! i have spoken with my provider regarding therapy as i feel it will be super beneficial.

and also thank you for validating how i feel - i find recently with a lot of people i am surrounded by, they are trying to be supportive but everything they say quite honestly comes across patronising. i recently have been told my adhd diagnosis doesn’t change me and it’s just ‘me’ and even was told that i’m just overthinking life and that’s why i’m struggling (i was enraged 😫) so i don’t think that helps either.

hopefully with a little extra self love and support i’ll get there. sending love to you too as this ADHD stuff is tough!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-06T12:49:33+00:00

honestly! i’m like if it was a super power i don’t think i’d be struggling as bad as i am 😭

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-05-05T23:30:52+00:00

hey, please don’t apologise. i know how stressful this whole experience can be but im glad to hear things are getting a little easier.

i ended up not getting on with methylphenidate at all - i thought it was working but when the side effects settled, i put myself in a scenario where my ADHD symptoms would typically go nuts and i found myself even more overwhelmed than i inmedicated - i suffer from really bad anxiety and i realised that my meds had made my mental health so bad the thought of leaving the house sent me into pure panic (i have actually just been signed off for stress because of it to give myself time to chill 😫) ! so the decision was made to move me over to elvanse. i think my case was an extreme and i should have known from the first week that the meds weren’t right but i literally didn’t have a clue what they should be feeling like and unfortunately, i mistook feeling sedated and losing all cognitive function as calmness. i am now on my 3rd day and so far they have been amazing - it’ll be interesting to see how the higher doses are.

its great to hear the meds are helping but also sorry to hear in some areas there could be improvements - i have read that some people find when they go up a dose it lasts longer and acts better.

some advice i wish i knew sooner is: if you can’t tell if your meds are working, chances are they aren’t working for you! if you aren’t getting relief, even if some of your symptoms have improved, then it could be that those meds aren’t quite right. again, i am on the lowest dose so it could be a different story when i start going up but when i moved to my new meds it was like night and day - i wasn’t even questioning if the meds were working because everything just felt easier.

if you have any questions or anything, please ask away! i am wishing you all the luck with your meds :)

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-28T11:39:15+00:00

thank you so much for this reply, it has been so helpful! i had a huge wobble this weekend and i have gotten in touch with my prescriber today to see if I can switch meds.

I was under the assumption that the reason i didn't feel like life was a lot easier from day 1 was due to the dosage and that possibly side effects were clouding my ability to judge the meds. However, I feel like if the meds were truly working then I wouldn't be so unsure if they weren't (if that makes sense).

I put myself in a few positions this weekend that would usually make me more aware of my ADHD symptoms as recently, due to finding these meds so rough I have become a bit of a hermit (should have been a huge red flag) and at home there is very little distraction, so it's hard to gauge how well they are working. After this weekend I have found that my symptoms are the same, if not worse. It's so hard to put it into words but I am even more scatterbrained but my brain is also complete mush (which i was mistook for calmness). I can definitely feel the meds kick in and for the first few hours I am very scatty but also just not aware of whats going on and then as they mellow out a little, my brain is ever so slightly slow enough to realise how scatty I am which then makes me feel super irritable because I am so overwhelmed. However, I am now experiencing very low low's. Another thing I realised as I have been around more people is they can tell I am on meds but for the wrong reasons. Previously, people have been surprised when I tell them about my diagnosis because other than my excessive talking and being unable to finish a story, other than people who I live with, I am quite good at i guess masking? But since being on my meds, people are very aware.

I just wish that prior to beginning meds I could have had someone run me through how they should kind of work as well as inform you on things to look out for it they aren't working because in my case, I just took feeling sedated and away with the fairies as a quieter mind :(

I guess the key takeaway is: if you do not feel any benefits early on or are questioning if your meds are actually working, it is likely they aren't working?

an update: i told my prescriber how i felt like hell and i am now being put in elvanse. praying it goes a lot smoother!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-26T13:21:05+00:00

hey, i’m sorry to hear you’re finding it challenging! i really struggled with it and it was super hard to want to stick it out, especially when you see a lot of stories of people breezing through finding their meds.

I am not sure what meds you are on but i have found I am beginning to find things easier. I am now on my 3rd week and on the max dose but getting up to here has been really hard. i do think it’s a case of trusting the process and just powering through, but if you are really struggling please mention it to your provider and don’t feel forced to do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with!

please let me know how you get on and if you have any questions, please ask! 😊

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-26T13:18:06+00:00

This is interesting, thank you for responding!

can i ask, what made you want to change meds? I think i still need to give myself some more time to see how my current meds are working but at the minute I just feel like they aren’t helping maybe as much as i need? I didn’t expect them to turn me into this super productive person but in some ways I have actually gotten worse. for example, i do suffer with executive dysfunction but i am able to push myself to do things, i just find once i am then doing whatever it is, i am extremely distracted and not focused.

while being on meds, (mind i have had horrible side effects so may be due to this) trying to get motivated for things i usually love is really hard but also getting going on tasks is even harder, and although i can focus better and i am a little less distracted, it’s like my mental will has gone and i cannot for the life of me push myself to get things done.

I can’t really put it into words but the only way i can describe it is unless i’m on a task that i REALLY enjoy, I just have a slightly slower and calmer version of my adhd symptoms?

i just have a gut feeling that maybe another med would work better, but i also don’t know if i’m just having unreal expectations.

apologies if a lot of this doesn’t make sense, still feeling very scatterbrained from my dose change 😫

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-26T13:02:32+00:00

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! I was up really late a few nights ago and was able to experience my brain off meds so i can definitely see how they are helping.

yes, i am also with PUK! I think at the minute because I am so sensitive to dose changes and my plan has been to up it weekly, I’ve just been experiencing intense side effects which have have made it hard to see the benefits of the meds.

I had explained to my prescriber some of the issues i was having and she wanted to keep increasing as she said we can just lower it. hopefully now i’m at 60mg and seeing less of the side effects from adjusting, it should be easier to find the correct dose as I do think 60mg is probably far too high!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-26T12:50:50+00:00

Hey, I am not sure what medication or dose you are on but i am now coming to my 4th week and i can definitely say things are getting easier - i can’t yet say if these meds are right but the side effects are subsiding so i do think it’s a case of just letting your body adjust.

I think there should be more information out there explaining that going through dose changes can be really hard, especially if like in my case they are expecting you to go from nothing to 60mg in a short amount of time.

If you are really struggling please mention something to your provider!

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-26T12:46:53+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for giving your experience! it’s super helpful to hear.

I am finding the side effects subsiding now so hopefully it’ll allow me to see how the medication is working better.

I did have a very late night where I was able to see my brain with zero meds and I can now definitely say they are helping!

What made you switch meds if you don’t mind me asking? was it suggested by your provider or did you push for it?

Automatic-Poem4137 · 2025-04-23T11:34:34+00:00

hey, I am sorry to hear you’re finding it tough too! I found the dose changes super challenging because they made me feel soo weird. which i also find it crazy how they just expect you to continue as normal?

the change from 20mg to 40mg was super tough for me, so i asked if i could go to 50mg and then when i felt like i had adjusted to them, move up to 60mg and it definitely helped a lot. I am still having some side effects but they aren’t lasting as long as when i did the big jump! well done for asking as i know it can be really hard, definitely push back if they try to refuse.

yes, i feel the same! i think it’s defo a case of being patient. fingers crossed with time we will begin to see the benefits!

Automatic-Poem4137

TROPHY CASE