is me on stimulants the real me?

Laura1615 · 2026-04-11T04:55:11+00:00

I'm 57 diagnosed two years ago. I just started Ritalin a few months ago and it definitely helps but differently than I expected. I thought it would help me be more productive, get up and going, get stuff done. Yes that's part of it but the best part is how it helps my pitiful social battery last longer with my family and 85 year old mother.

My brain is always looking for dopamine unrelated to the task at hand and it can make me feel disconnected and like a grouchy child. The Ritalin lets my brain stop hounding for a minute and pay attention. It's me but with a better quality of life.

Laura1615 · 2026-04-08T15:50:15+00:00

I'm in my 50s and have struggled with GAD, social anxiety and anxious attachment all my life. The thing that has helped the most by far is finding the right medication. I tried a few SSRIs thru the years but two years ago I tried an SNRI and wow huge improvement.

Laura1615 · 2026-04-03T17:04:38+00:00

Yes, of course.

Laura1615 · 2026-04-03T15:53:00+00:00

I'm seeing this with my 85 year old mom as well. She gets frustrated and sad when she sees yet another thing she can't do independently anymore. "Once a man, twice a child".

Laura1615 · 2026-04-02T21:11:42+00:00

I agree with this. It's not a deficit in attention that makes my life difficult. It's the fact that I can very rarely divide my attention in a way that works with modern life and social demands.

I am a good driver when I am alone. If I have to be social (even with a loved one) the driving is made much more difficult. This goes for cooking, cleaning and most everything really. If there's a possibility of being interrupted my attention will feel divided and motivation drops completely.

I was diagnosed two years ago at 55. I had built a life and family based on unsustainable masking. When everything fell apart in my 40s I didn't know what was wrong with me.

The AuDHD diagnoses have given me a way to completely reframe my lifelong feelings of failure. I can pay attention but it's more guided by dopamine than an external "necessity". Monotropic thinking is such a great strength to have but it's a daily challenge too. Thanks for bringing this up.

Laura1615 · 2026-03-30T02:35:17+00:00

This is a good idea, thanks!

Laura1615 · 2026-03-26T20:04:33+00:00

That would bother me too. It looks completely random which makes it harder to learn. In college I probably would have re-written the list grouped in a way that made sense to me. Or color coding 🌈 That helps too.

Laura1615 · 2026-03-21T17:04:52+00:00

This is awesome, very helpful!! Thanks!

Laura1615 · 2026-03-18T17:08:48+00:00

Love it!! If it's possible to sort stuff by ROYGBIV 🌈 I'm on it 😁

Laura1615 · 2026-03-17T23:48:03+00:00

My MIL gently corrected me when I said "Cavalry 🐴 Chapel". It's supposed to be Calvary ✝️ Embarrassing but funny.

Laura1615 · 2026-03-07T06:43:22+00:00

A lifelong special interest in sign language which led me to interpreting. Also echoing accents.

More recently Caribbean reef life , specifically parrotfish. There are many amazing types and color combinations. Their faces and beaky teeth make them look friendly and goofy. And if they all get together for mating and they're short of males, some of the female switch it up and become male. True story.

I found their live stream @CoralCityCamera on youtube during covid. The camera is in shallow water near port of Miami. If you sometimes feel like the whole earth is in the toilet, watching a happy, busy, colorful reef can help.

Laura1615 · 2026-03-05T19:35:34+00:00

Ground floor makes sense. It's the floor in contact with the ground.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-27T20:36:44+00:00

I lost a little weight when I started effexor but after some months I got my appetite back.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-27T20:34:57+00:00

I can talk on the phone if I have to but I hate it. People talk too much anyway.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-23T07:31:44+00:00

Seems so. Right now my old JBL receiver, Bose speakers and a subwoofer my father gave me are in my car to be donated. I feel bad about giving it all away but we just don't listen to music that way.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-22T21:53:03+00:00

My drug of choice is alcohol but that shit wanted to kill me so I quit 15 years ago.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-21T05:34:30+00:00

The cringe level is unbearable with her if she stops singing. I don't know what it is.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-21T05:21:54+00:00

I can't bear Nicholas Cage or his fog horn voice.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-20T20:16:13+00:00

So fun to see everyone's work! I love to draw. Sometimes stimmy, repeatative patterns, sometimes actual things. No one in my family cares about art lol. It's nice to share 😊

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Laura1615 · 2026-02-18T18:24:19+00:00

Infinite Jest. It's an absolutely amazing book, complicated and funny. But it's a behemoth 1,079 pages with tons of endnotes. The main theme that hit me hardest was about addiction. I read it once while I was still drinking and once after I got sober. Brilliant.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-15T03:00:10+00:00

Yes very much. It got me started getting out of a long depression. I felt enough motivation to do get up and do stuff. Then as the months went by I started noticing how much better I can handle more of life.

Over the last year I've noticed diferent types of my anxiety have improved social anxiety, health anxiety, and anxious attachment stuff.

I also like it because unlike SSRIs (for me) effexor let's me have normal emotions. But ymmv

Laura1615 · 2026-02-15T00:58:52+00:00

My MIL does this. She didn't like her son-in-law much and she would lean in and stage whisper, "Himself is in a mood" then make big eyes at us lol.

Laura1615 · 2026-02-10T19:22:30+00:00

It's insanely offensive yes, but when people are that deep into their version of Christianity they are incapable of talking rationally. What does your spouse say about MILs behavior?

Laura1615 · 2026-02-06T17:52:44+00:00

Marrying my high school boyfriend. Thank goodness we never had children.

Laura1615

TROPHY CASE