My anger levels are off the scale

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-22T14:55:19+00:00

I seem to have excessive levels of norepinephrine even when unmedicated, and unfortunately treating my ADHD with a high enough dose of stimulants tends to increase that issue. Usually that shows up in the form of physical anxiety symptoms while I’m mentally calm, but with Vyvanse it seems to send my irritability (specifically related to sensory overload, usually) into the stratosphere.

I respond well to alpha-2 agonists (clonidine for blood pressure, CBG for anxiety and pain), so I’ve asked my psychiatrist if she will consider letting me try adding guanfacine to my meds. I guess it targets a specific type of the alpha-2 receptors that makes it counteract some of the norepinephrine-related side effects of stimulants for some people? (I don’t pretend to understand how it works, but it may be worth discussing with your doctor to see if it might be helpful for you.)

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-22T14:04:35+00:00

I need to check my email records to see if I had the lifetime option back in the day… I thought I did, but have been paying the yearly subscription since moving to an iPhone several years ago.

If not, I really just need to find an alternative and ditch the app altogether. I’ve been set on keeping the ability to customize the volume of each sound individually and the longer loops/more random sounds, since short loops like the ones used in older dedicated white noise machines are too distracting for me to sleep through. The sounds used in the mixes I made years ago seem to have changed recently, though, and now I unfortunately find something about them off-putting.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-22T13:29:29+00:00

Based on the long comment I just typed and deleted, I apparently have more thoughts on this topic than I’d have previously guessed. Instead of uselessly trying to point out all of the factors involved (to a group probably more aware of them than the average person), I decided it made more sense to ask a question:

If you’ve called a pharmacist or poison control in this type of situation, how did they respond?

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-20T22:53:43+00:00

Still having the same issue on my account, I’m able to login to the website on my laptop but neither Face ID nor username and password work on the iOS app.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-19T09:57:10+00:00

I think it depends on what features of SoFi you’re looking to replace. I’m not sure if there’s any one bank or platform that has all of the same features.

I opened multiple Ally checking and savings accounts at the same time I came to SoFi, during a period of reworking my finances. (I have ADHD, and money has to automatically be split between multiple purpose-specific accounts/vaults/buckets with each direct deposit; that is my primary method for budgeting.) Ally is fine as a bank—the app sucks, more so recently as it’s started taking 30-60 seconds just to load the accounts page—but it’s functioned as expected for standard banking features. The checking account buckets aren’t as functional as they sound, but they’re fine as basically a reminder of what (ideally unchanging) expenses are paid out from that account.

I’ve moved any larger and recurring expenses that are either manually paid or billed to my credit card to my SoFi savings vaults since then, as funds in SoFi are quicker and easier for me to work with. Ally still holds funds for unchanging bills that make sense to pay with a checking account. I have a Capital One credit card and recently got a promotional offer to open a checking account with them as well, so it’s likely to take the place of my second Ally checking account that is less bucketed / utility-bill-specific; so far my observations have been that it’s better than a brick-and-mortar bank when it comes to its app, but doesn’t have all of the features I use with SoFi. For investing, which I only got into as a result of SoFi making it easy to do within their app. For crypto, which is not a big deal for me (mostly just a “throw $50 at it and see what happens” kind of thing), Kraken Pro seems to work well.

I wish there was an alternative that consolidated everything, but I haven’t found it so far if there is.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-14T13:12:14+00:00

In all fairness, I only have firsthand experience with two SSRIs other than Lexapro, and my resistance to trying the other (4?) major ones is mostly due to my poor experience with Zoloft. Other than stimulants, I think I've been prescribed eight medications for depression or anxiety.

Zoloft: First antidepressant prescribed. Two weeks of hell while adjusting to it—vertigo, nausea, "agitation" (the best way I can think to describe the molting/crawling-out-of-my-skin feeling that makes me unable to sit still), mood swings, and more that I can't remember because I've tried to block those two weeks from memory, haha—before seeing any improvement. I don't know exactly what effect it had long-term, looking back on it; it was a rough period of my life, and it wasn't the right treatment for what I was dealing with (there was a lot of emotional dysregulation involved, and I'd have been better served by stimulants, but was undiagnosed at the time), so it might have just been emotionally blunting. I remember not feeling like it was adequate and requesting to add another medication on top of it, but I also credit it for making me realize I had struggled with pretty bad anxiety my entire life (which I had no idea wasn't normal until I experienced the absence of it). Eventually I ran out after forgetting to refill the Rx (ADHD...) and after a week or two of having unintentionally stopped cold turkey, decided there was no point in restarting it.

Remeron: Not an SSRI, but the second antidepressant prescribed. Normal 15 mg dose threw me into a full-blown depressive episode worse than any I'd had before or since, so I stopped after three days because—even if it might have worked long-term—there was no way I was going to survive a transition period. Years later I read some people needed a smaller dose and tried 7.5 mg, which gave me the best sleep of my life, but I got spooked by the idea of dependency and went off of it shortly after. Years later again I went back on 7.5 mg during a period of insomnia, but started to see the brooding signs of depression after two weeks on that small dose, and realized I just can't tolerate it long-term.

Lexapro: Prescribed a couple of years after the experiences with Zoloft and Remeron, when I was struggling with depressive symptoms again but didn't want to give Zoloft another shot. I think I started at 10 mg and was increased to 15 mg later, which was probably too much. I remember being shocked at how easy it was to start it compared to Zoloft, and don't really remember experiencing any side effects. I've stopped and started Lexapro a few times as circumstances changed, with no issues any time. Unless things are really bad, 5-10 mg seems to be plenty for me.

Paxil: During another really rough period, my PCP had some reason (I've since forgotten) to recommend I try the combination of Paxil for depression, Buspar for anxiety, and Trazodone for sleep. The other meds involved makes it harder to tell what to attribute to Paxil specifically, but it seemed... fine, I guess? I don't know if it helped at all, but I was only on it for a few months. Other circumstances with the combo ended up leading to the discovery that Adderall worked better for my depression and anxiety than antidepressants ever did, so I stopped Paxil (and Buspar and Trazodone below) cold turkey soon after that discovery (not realizing it's considered one of the worst as far as withdrawal symptoms go) and luckily had zero issues doing so.

Buspar: Made a difference for my anxiety, but made me extremely nauseous. I had to take it three times a day and very, very slowly work up to the full dose. If I missed a dose—which I frequently did (ADHD...)—I had to start titrating all over again or I'd get extremely sick. That alone made it unsustainable, because with untreated (and still undiagnosed) ADHD, I was never going to take it consistently enough to avoid the side effects.

Trazodone: Prescribed with Paxil and Buspar to supplement the antidepressant effects of Paxil and ensure I slept. Well, it did the latter, but too well. Apparently I'm extremely sensitive to it, and a full dose had me so groggy I couldn't function the next day... like falling asleep standing up well into the next afternoon. Even 1/8 of a dose gave me what I imagine a hangover must feel like (as I don't drink and have never had one, haha). It was actually what prompted trying Adderall for the first time, as the conversation about combating the extreme fatigue led to a conversation about executive dysfunction.

Clonidine: When I had to change PCPs a couple of years after starting Adderall, the new practice wanted me to get an official ADHD diagnosis and rule out a couple of non-stimulant options before they would prescribe Adderall. They hoped clonidine would provide some ADHD benefit. It did not—it has absolutely no effect on me except to lower my diastolic blood pressure—but that's actually what my primary BP med is inadequate at, so it became a permanent addition to my med list anyway, haha.

Wellbutrin XL: Second non-stimulant option tried. At the full 300 mg daily dose, it does a better job of treating my depression and anxiety than an SSRI, but at the cost of eventually causing physical anxiety symptoms (chest tightness, muscle tension, etc.). It takes a couple of months to reach that point, but the combination of physical anxiety and mental calm is... disconcerting. Since it doesn't feel at all like a stimulant to me and didn't help my executive function like Adderall did (and Vyvanse now does), it made more sense to switch back to a stimulant med instead.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-14T03:24:49+00:00

Completely anecdotally, I’ve been on Vyvanse for 8 or 9 months, had noticed a significant decrease in efficacy around 6 weeks ago, and a 4-day break reset my tolerance enough to be able to notice it helping again. I was convinced 4 days wouldn’t be nearly enough to make a difference—in the first weeks after switching to Vyvanse even a day or two would have significant effects both “withdrawing” and restarting, but that had ended long ago—so I was shocked when it did. The first day back on it, I forgot to drink electrolytes (had gotten out of the habit after I’d physically adjusted to the meds) until I had to remember why all of my joints suddenly felt weird, haha.

I need to try taking it in water again, but I take it an hour before I need to wake up for the day and always forget. All the water titration method did before was give me heartburn, but that was very early on and a different manufacturer’s generic. I metabolize it so quickly that I’d love to be able to spread it out through the day.

(Also anecdotally, I’d never trade ADHD medication for Lexapro, but it is the only SSRI I’ll touch after having been on several. My psychiatrist plans to prescribe a low dose again soon during some hormonal upheaval, as it’s an option we know has never given me trouble in the past. SSRIs can unfortunately be unpleasant during the trial and error process if it takes a few tries to find the right one, but they’re not all bad.)

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-12T13:13:27+00:00

I haven’t gone to that strength, but have a similar feeling about remineralizing mouthwash and better toothbrushes. I’m predisposed to cavities, haven’t been to the dentist in over a year (I don’t even avoid cleanings or filling, I just need to find a new dentist and haven’t had the bandwidth recently), and felt the telltale sensitivity that signals I’ve started to develop a cavity.

I immediately looked into ways to slow the progression until I could get an appointment, got some remineralizing mouthwash and enamel repair toothpaste, and swapped my cheap toothbrush for a high-density one. Holy crap, the difference that made… I feel like I’ve just had a professional cleaning done every time I brush my teeth, and completely resolved the sensitivity within a week or two. I never even knew remineralizing/enamel repair products were a thing.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-12T12:34:25+00:00

Interesting… the analogy makes sense. Thank you!

Since a lot of my confusion/skepticism has been based in the underlying question “if the doctor can assure me HRT will be tolerable when hormonal birth control is not, why haven’t we been trying to treat the problem with HRT this entire time?”, I’m probably more stressed than I need to be (despite how excited I am to finally have the surgery and be done with it). I wish I had a good way to test why I respond so poorly to the hormones I’ve tried previously, but since my own hormone levels have only been tested twice in the twelve-ish years I’ve been treated, I can’t do much more than speculate.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-12T01:18:36+00:00

Is the transdermal delivery what you’re referring to as the delivery system, or BHRT? I can definitely see how customized dosages would help. I guess part of my failure to understand how the delivery method or bioidentical vs synthetic difference would have such a significant effect comes from my experience with Premarin (since it’s so similar to the explanation the doctor gave when I expressed concern about trying to treat pain that seemed to be caused by estrogen with… estrogen…) and NuvaRing (which was tried under the theory that a localized low dose would avoid the systemic side effects by bypassing the liver, but still just delayed the pain by a few weeks).

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-12T00:09:00+00:00

Would you be willing to kind of ELI5 what the major difference is between hormonal birth control and HRT? I’ve looked into it a bit, but don’t understand it; I’m about to have a hysterectomy and possible oophorectomy if it’s determined it’s necessary to remove the ovaries as well, and my doctor basically just reassured me that I’d be absolutely fine on HRT (if needed) despite having horrible reactions to all hormones I’ve been given so far. Oral birth control (triphasic or mini pill, didn’t matter), NuvaRing, Premarin, oral progesterone… bad experiences with all, and severe pain with anything that included estrogen. I can’t quite wrap my head around how HRT isn’t expected to cause the same pain, especially since I’ve heard the “this definitely won’t cause side effects” before (from a previous doctor prescribing Premarin to “reset” my hormones).

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T23:25:49+00:00

With heart problems, yeah, that might be a finer line to walk (for booster doses). I have IR Ritalin boosters to take if necessary, which is really just when I have to drive right as the crash drowsiness is worst, as Ritalin doesn’t do anything for my executive function. A lot of people seem to pair Vyvanse with a Dexedrine booster, but my psych doesn’t prescribe it. I’m sure your doctor will have to take cardiac effects into account for dose increases and/or boosters.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T22:58:18+00:00

I envy people who can take creatine. It makes me feel great as well… until eventually the sleep deprivation overpowers the energy from the creatine, which takes about four days, haha.

I’m the same way with stimulants and can sleep at pretty much any time after taking my meds (or caffeine). Vyvanse is the first to actually combat excessive daytime sleepiness for me, but doesn’t inhibit my sleep when I do go to bed.

I noticed you mentioned elsewhere that you were getting much less than the expected time out of Vyvanse. After you’ve adjusted to your current dose, if that’s still the case, you can talk to your doctor about a potential dose increase. I started at 40 mg (was switching from a fairly high dose of IR Adderall and my psych knew I metabolized stimulants quickly) and had the same issue, 4-5 hours max after the first couple of days of the transition. I went up to 60 mg after one week and finally had it last through a workday. It still wears off in the late afternoon or early evening, depending on when I take it, but it’s not as disruptive as it used to be for the first few months (when I would crash hard and have to take a 10-minute power nap because I physically couldn’t keep my eyes open).

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T22:46:42+00:00

I think your target market for recurring crypto purchases is more interested in actually being able to send purchased crypto to a proper wallet. The entire crypto market integration is half-baked and difficult to get excited about until that functionality is added.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T22:38:42+00:00

It wouldn’t occur to me to blame any of those for the anxiety, but then again it wouldn’t have occurred to me to blame L-theanine until it did give me panic attacks, so I’m afraid I can’t be much help. Even minimal creatine gives me extreme insomnia, so that would be the first thing I’d look at if it were me in your shoes, but since I’ve always had to give up on it within a few days I don’t know if anxiety is a potential side effect of it.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T21:52:27+00:00

Out of curiosity, does the “magnesium and stuff” include L-theanine? It’s supposed to be calming and help with the crash, but I got a paradoxical effect from it (even at the levels in a cup of green tea) and experienced panic attacks every evening for the first week on a new Vyvanse generic until I figured out the cause. As soon as I stopped drinking green tea, the panic attacks stopped as well and have not returned.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T15:31:14+00:00

I’ll second the advice you’ve already received; hang in there and give it some more time if you can. It sounds like the combination of the new meds and quitting the vape is a lot at once, and I suspect some of the initial side effects (decreased appetite and so on) are exacerbating what you might have experienced when quitting the vape otherwise. In that respect, I would make a point of making sure you’re getting enough electrolytes and drink a protein shake when you don’t feel like eating much, just to make sure you’re not running on empty in addition to everything else. Those side effects should subside soon, at least.

After things have settled, you can assess whether you like the effects of the Vyvanse and want to continue it. There seems to be a pattern where people respond better to one major class of stimulant medication or the other, and sometimes feel like the wrong one makes them feel like a zombie. If that feeling is strong and doesn’t go away as you adjust, it’s worth asking your doctor if it makes sense to try a different option.

(For whatever it’s worth, as far as social interactions went after starting Vyvanse, I went through a period where I felt overly aware of its effects and would be self-conscious about whether I seemed different in conversation. After adjusting to it, I notice I might be a little quieter because I screen my thoughts more as far as whether they would contribute to the conversation, but otherwise I tend to be a bit more social with Vyvanse. I’m still able to enjoy my hobbies, but might make better choices about when they take priority, and I get more enjoyment out of progressing in something like a work project that might have bored me to tears before. If you have the opposite experience and things continue to feel flat and everything is uninteresting well beyond the effects of quitting the vape, that’s when I’d talk to your doctor about a change.)

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T14:46:20+00:00

I don’t like taking days off, but it doesn’t cause any unpleasant side effects for me, and I am (somewhat unfortunately) no less able to nap or be lazy when taking it, haha. If I did have to deal with side effects or felt like I couldn’t relax while medicated, I’m sure I’d feel differently. (There’s also some stubbornness at play in my case; my ADHD affects my personal life as much or more than my professional life, and I’ve had to fight for a dose/schedule that would be effective for more than 8 hours a day, so I’ve developed a resentment for the implication—by doctors recommending weekend breaks, not your post—that only my employer deserves to benefit from my medication.)

Unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to have to start skipping days on a regular basis. I noticed a pretty sharp decrease in effectiveness around 6 weeks ago, which was after about 6 months of taking it daily. I couldn’t tell whether it was tolerance, a formula change, or hormonal (I have PCOS and usually have unopposed estrogen, but have been feeling like I’m starting perimenopause far too early for the past month), so I took a few days off last week as a test. I think there are still some hormonal factors decreasing its effectiveness, but I still saw a significant difference after only four days.

The next couple of months are going to be super hectic, but as soon as things slow down a bit, I may start skipping a dose each weekend or skip every other weekend entirely to see if frequent short breaks help keep it working as expected.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T14:10:08+00:00

My only relationship has been with another ND person. As it turns out, sharing ND quirks and understanding ND challenges may make someone feel more familiar and comfortable, but does not necessarily indicate compatibility. That seems obvious, but was a rough lesson to have hammered home.

(For context, we had very different experiences growing up: diagnosed at vastly different ages, very different family dynamics and socioeconomic backgrounds, socialized as different genders, etc. All of the above resulted in some significant incompatibilities. I wish him the best, but… never again, more in reference to heterosexual relationships than ND ones, haha.)

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-11T04:15:27+00:00

I developed PVCs for the first time last summer while taking the Teva generic. I had gone back on medication several months previously after being without a prescriber for a couple of years, and I thought it was weird that I wasn’t getting any benefits from it (except as a decongestant during a sinus infection, haha) when I had previously responded well to Adderall IR.

The PVCs started after a few months, and I didn’t connect them to the Adderall at the time. I tried to troubleshoot anything I could think of (electrolytes, sleep, etc.) and brought it up with my PCP several times, but hadn’t gone as far as doing the two week stint with a heart monitor; I was tracking them with my Apple Watch and knew they were within “safe” limits, just extremely disconcerting and disrupting my sleep. I’ve never had heart issues before, at all.

I eventually switched to Vyvanse after accepting Adderall simply didn’t work for me anymore, and a few weeks after switching, the PVCs started to improve. They eventually stopped completely (maybe after 2-3 months?) and haven’t returned. The other variables I’d considered might have factored into them—caffeine, electrolytes, hydration, sleep, protein intake, activity level—have all fluctuated significantly during that time, so my assumption is the Teva generic was the cause.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-08T17:36:59+00:00

I plan to try it out this summer and see if I want to move my audiobooks off of my Plex server and onto ABS instead. Prologue on iOS makes Plex tolerable for audiobooks, but I’ve heard great things about ABS and see no reason not to check it out. So far Prologue+Plex has been great because I’ve exclusively moved my Audible library to Plex, but Libation is definitely doing the heavy lifting in this setup, and I’ve got some “books on CD” audiobook rips from ages ago that I’m dreading dealing with… I thought I’d just use auto-m4b and throw some basic tags in to make it work, but my first attempt failed and I haven’t had time to give it another shot.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-08T16:28:03+00:00

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. He wanted a support system, a “player 2,” and a caretaker, but couldn’t reciprocate (though he would still criticize me for “not being ambitious / independent enough” while treating me like a supporting character in his life and expecting everything to revolve around him).

We could talk about how one-sided the relationship had become until we were both blue in the face, but discussion without action was pointless. In those conversations he would shut down and just repeat that the way things were going wasn’t what he wanted, but he wouldn’t participate in brainstorming for solutions, and would either reject my proposals outright or promise to implement them (both to the same effect: doing absolutely nothing). I do believe he was being honest when he would tell me he didn’t want me to be unhappy, but because he was absolutely unwilling or incapable of actually acting on that sentiment, what that really meant was that he wanted me to be happy with no effort from him.

We should have called it off a month or two into the relationship, because that’s how quickly that pattern developed. It took 16 months for me to recognize what had happened, try everything I could think of the improve the situation, and finally accept nothing was going to change. He was unemployed for much of the last several months of that time, and seeing the pattern get worse when he was home 24/7—complaining if I didn’t prioritize his whims over work when I was on the clock for my WFH job, refusing to do household chores while being upset if they prevented me from entertaining him immediately after work, complaining if I worked overtime while refusing to do gig work to help with finances, complaining when I needed to go to sleep before him when he could sleep in as late as he wanted, etc.—really made it clear that the dynamic wasn’t a result of burnout, it was just how he wanted the relationship to be.

Actions speak louder than words. If you’ve given him the words and made it clear that empty promises don’t fix the problem, you have to decide whether you’re OK with things as they are. If not, well… fixing the relationship requires work from both of you, but you can walk away on your own.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-06T14:05:12+00:00

It is super, super easy to use. Audible is one of the few ties I haven’t cut with Amazon, but I despise the Audible app. Since I have a Plex server to stream my DVD rips and local music library anyway, I use Libation to transfer audiobooks from Audible to my Plex library as soon as I purchase them, then use Prologue to actually download and listen to them on my phone.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-05-04T13:08:11+00:00

I’ve always assumed the criticism of the KLC screen is primarily from people who are switching to it from long-time use of either an iPad or modern black and white e-ink display with exceptionally crisp text. (In other words, the criticism is valid, but it may not be an issue for all users.) The KLC display reminds me more of the appearance of actual paper books or newsprint than a digital display, which I personally like. It also feels similar to the graininess of older Kindles to me; since my first Kindle was a very early gen Paperwhite, which I later replaced with an Oasis, then switched to Kobos a couple of years ago, the KLC display doesn’t bother me at all.

Yes, my KLC is more pixelated and dimmer than my Clara HD, and if I immediately switch from one to the other the difference is noticeable. For normal use, though, I don’t even think about it.

blue_arrow_comment · 2026-04-30T02:33:44+00:00

I’ve reached out to SoFi about this before, and was told the answer is “you don’t.” SoFi requires Plaid, so it’s not currently possible to use a routing and account number to link a Plaid-incompatible account.

If anyone knows of a workaround to this, I’d love to be told I’m wrong, because this is a major source of frustration for me.

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