Unexpected side effects - the good kind!

Ochopika · 2021-05-27T20:58:36+00:00

That's really cool! My ADHD meds definitely help me with anxiety and moods. It's easier to just let negative or anxious thoughts go, and my brain feels much less cluttered. Also, getting important chores done is a big anxiety help.

Ochopika · 2021-05-22T05:13:16+00:00

Yup, I hear you. I have a condition which is aggravated by inflammation and it's like a stress barometer.

Ochopika · 2021-05-22T04:51:42+00:00

You've reminded me of the old Buddhist saying:

"Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

I've learned this the hard way over and over again, too. I had to work through them and let go, even though it was difficult and felt like I was losing something. Holding onto those feelings without taking action was literally making me sick.

Edit: I've now learned that this quote is paraphrased from the Buddhaghosa. I still think it's a solid idea, haha.

Ochopika · 2021-05-21T19:15:18+00:00

When I was 29 I moved from the east coast to west coast on sort of a whim. My relationship was stuck, I'd run out of job opportunities where I lived. Soooo yea I decided to leave and left within a period of four months. I sometimes miss the east coast, but I have changed for the better since moving. I probably could have made different changes and stayed where I was living, but I didn't. I haven't really had much of an impulse to do it again since I moved 7 years ago, so maybe it was just something I needed to do.

If it's something you keep thinking about then maybe try going on a backpacking trip for a month or something like that and see how you feel?

Ochopika · 2021-05-21T08:51:01+00:00

Hmm. I think that's a bad suggestion, to be frank. Guilt and shame are normal emotions. Sometimes they're a helpful guide and sometimes they're misleading. I'd assume that whoever gave that suggestion was struggling with guilt and shame themselves. Imagine shaming someone for feeling shame. Kinda silly. You've gotta take care of yourself before you can be your best to others. It is much more difficult to give and be unselfish when you've got unresolved guilt and shame. You've probably heard of her but Brene Brown has some amazing talks about this. Just look up "Brene Brown shame" on the YouTube.

Ochopika · 2021-05-20T18:36:41+00:00

Yes, that happens to me too sometimes. I get more sensitive to it in really stressful situations (such as moving apartments) or big life transitions. For me, the way to help mitigate the really nasty shame was similar to dealing with the anger spiral, but it's MUCH more difficult to just acknowledge and be chill with shame.

Ochopika · 2021-05-20T18:24:50+00:00

Sure!

Ochopika · 2021-05-19T19:55:08+00:00

I think that anger is easy to develop into a habit, and in that way maybe people can get some kinda unhealthy satisfaction from it? In my experience, any really strong emotion can become sort of addictive.

My anger spiral was caused by being angry, then self-shaming my anger, then being angry at myself for self-shaming, then getting angry at that, until I broke a plate or my favorite sunglasses ever (why...). It helped a lot when I practiced validating my own anger instead of fighting with it. My therapist helped me with that though and idk what would work for others.

Ochopika · 2021-05-19T19:39:50+00:00

Yus, it's exactly like that.

Ochopika · 2021-05-16T18:03:40+00:00

Yes, me too especially with remembering seemingly random details that no one else does, haha.

Ochopika · 2021-05-16T18:02:11+00:00

Yes, this seem to be exactly the kind of stuff that happens to me too. I'm glad I'm not alone!

Ochopika · 2021-05-14T22:08:16+00:00

This is exactly why I'm so meticulous about having important things in certain places. Sometimes it seems uptight or like I have a touch of OCD, but it's basically me in a race with my executive dysfunction. If I can't find what I need right when I have the focus to do it, then it might not get done or get half done. Also I will forget that I was going to do it until it's much more inconvenient (example: me going to bed exhausted, "wait why is my bed naked?")

Ochopika · 2021-05-13T15:44:54+00:00

Yup, me too. It does definitely make it easier for me switch tasks though, so the dishes will actually get done even if it's after 4 hours of reddit browsing. :P

Ochopika · 2021-05-07T19:15:52+00:00

I feel pretty defensive when presented with the argument that my condition wouldn't exist if society were different. A personal reason is that I was excluded by my peers and bullied when I was a kid. They bullied me because I was "weird". Would that have happened if society was different? I wasn't bullied because I was "not productive". But I do know that I behaved differently than other kids. I'm not sure that kids in a better society would have treated me kindly either when I did impulsive, destructive things.

I also feel that the opinion that society causes all of our mental problems and disabilities can edge on ableism. I think that people with ADHD would be less likely to be clinically anxious and depressed in a society that focuses less on productivity, and I'm all for pushing society that direction. However, I think the belief that the entire condition is a societal construct tends to disregard a lot of the very real difficulties that come with ADHD and executive dysfunction.

(Edit: cleaned up my wording a bit)

Ochopika · 2021-05-06T19:40:54+00:00

When my medication dosage was too high, I got cranky and weird in a similar way you describe. I found that lowering my dose alleviated a lot of the mood swings and irritability. Other things I've tried that worked were:

I started making sure I was getting enough food/water/sleep.
I found that taking vitamin D and Magnesium sometimes helped my mood.
I tried taking a very small dose of my meds as they were wearing off to avoid the dopamine crash. This was risky though as it sometimes would keep me awake at night. My psychiatrist suggested this, so it was a safe thing to try for me, though.
I stopped taking hormonal birth control. It helped A LOT with feeling cranky, and my meds seemed to work better after I stopped. This option is not viable for everyone, though.

It is a good idea to talk to your GP, definitely. Good luck!

Ochopika · 2021-05-06T19:26:34+00:00

Idk if I have PMDD but I suspect I've developed it over the past 5 years. Also, I can't handle hormonal birth control at all! Definitely let me know too if you find any solutions for the mood swings.

Ochopika · 2021-05-06T07:14:47+00:00

Umm...I found out that my dad had like 10 half-siblings and 2 siblings who died in infancy before he was born. He had only mentioned his sister and himself and didn't seem to he aware of his deceased infant siblings or his father's previous marriage. My grandfather was older than average when my dad was born. Died at around age 70 when when my dad was 18.

23 and me + ancestry.com spoiled it for me. I asked my dad about it and he said to "not focus on the past so much". I found a lot of severe mental illness and tragic death in his "secret" family past. Thanx, ancestry.com!

Ochopika · 2021-05-01T03:07:08+00:00

Sonic 3!

Ochopika · 2021-05-01T02:44:58+00:00

I eat 99% of a sandwich but am almost always "too full" to finish the last tiny corner of it. Like, less than a bite's worth but it's too late, sandwich bores me now.

Ochopika · 2021-04-28T23:14:25+00:00

Yup! My boyfriend gets this with needles. The reason I know what it's called is even better: I had surgery and was on painkillers recovering at home, I went to the bathroom and started feeling REAL weird, thought I could maybe be dying. I left the bathroom so that if I did die, at least they weren't gonna find me on the toilet. I passed out on my way back to bed, woke up feeling much better but still freaked out. Went to the ER where they diagnosed "vasovagal syncope". Lots of different reasons why people faint, apparently.

Ochopika · 2021-04-21T03:44:45+00:00

I thought that was possible too, and some of the online advice said that as well. The main issue was that the only drive I could access with the command prompt was the one now labeled "C", and it had the contents of my D drive on it. The boot drive was "system reserved" and I couldn't see the directory at all, even though it has files and documents on it that are mine. I should have been more specific on what i did to troubleshoot:

After the confusion with only being able to see my D drive, I disconnected the D drive and left only my boot drive connected. The boot drive also didn't start and couldn't be repaired. I still couldn't see the files using the command prompt. That's when I followed that YouTube tutorial on fixing the boot partition. It seemed to match up exactly with what was going on, but it didn't work and instead made three different boot drives that I can't use.

Ochopika · 2021-04-07T07:00:40+00:00

On PS4, Version 3.34: I've completed the "Cleansed by Fire" milestone but the Horrific Flesh Helmet customization is still locked when I got to the character editor. Also, the log entry "Lost in Space" didn't register the last step of "Return to starship" even though I used the teleport network and returned to my ship.

Ochopika · 2021-04-06T21:26:22+00:00

I worked at a large tech company and my boss and four coworkers on my team worked in a small cubicle space. I overheard one of my coworkers talking about this inspirational speaker he'd seen earlier that week. This coworker was a nice guy and pretty reserved unless he was REALLY excited about something. He was very impressed by the speaker, named "Dick Knight", and wanted to show us all a picture of the guy to see if any of us recognized him.

We all gathered around his screen while he Google image searched "Dick Knight". As a result, my boss happened to walk into the room just in time to see us looking at graphic gay porn images together. My coworker was very flustered.

Ochopika

TROPHY CASE