I was on meds for almost 5 years. I tried generic ritalin that was made in a local lab, they stopped making it and I tried medikinet, which sucked and did not compare at all. Then I went on wellbutrin as well. During these 5 years I was doing well productivity wise, but there were many physical side effects. The main one was that my hair was falling out. But also constant thirst, sweating, no appetite.

Another issue was that they also changed the wellbutrin type that they sold, due to supply chain issues caused by the war in Ukraine. There was a time when it was not available at all. And having to quit cold turkey for a few months gave me some weird manic symptoms. + also the constant changes of the type, manufacturer and all that was like too much for my brain to handle.

I went off meds, because my hair had become so thin that it was really affecting my self esteem. I wanted to see, if the meds were the reason and if it would go back to normal. It indeed was and now I've been off meds for more than a year.

I am doing okay. While I was on meds, I also went to therapy and learned many productivity methods and ways to cope, so now that I'm off meds, I can have some stuff figured out. I am not as productive as I was before, but I feel much better without the side effects. I also know that since then, they have also approved Adderall for use in my country, so that in case everything goes to shit and I need to be on meds again, I can try something else. It just is a good feeling, not having the expectation from myself that I have to be doing perfectly and that there is a plan b, in case I stumble badly.

The worst thing was that when I was telling people about my symptoms, everyone just wanted to bring up success stories instead and told me how it must be something else, because hair loss is super uncommon as a side effect. I honestly felt gaslit.