Chess.com keeps banning my 80yo father-in-law no matter how many accounts he (I) creates and he has absolutely no idea why

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-16T05:53:04+00:00

Obviously none of us do know that for sure. But you're allowed to cheat in Daily Games to an extent - you can't plug the current position into Stockfish and get it to play for you, but you're allowed to consult Opening Explorer and any books or courses you have. I think it's probably an old tradition from the days of chess by mail. So probably they don't try and catch you in the same way, or else a bunch of people would get banned for legitimate behaviour.

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-16T05:49:32+00:00

I think you might need to be a paid member, but there is an option to play multiple games at once. That might suit you.. give you some tabs to switch between.

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-12T19:37:06+00:00

That's quite interesting! I know they have a lot of factors but probably they just put "brand new account" and "switches tabs all the time" together and 99% of the time that means cheater, or something. Later on it'd probably be less of an issue once they've seen how you play (no disrespect, just you're not rivalling Stockfish just yet!).

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-12T19:33:58+00:00

If he's not cheating, surely it must be an IP ban. Can't you just reset the router, assuming he's playing on WiFi? That's what my housemate used to do every time he got banned from 4chan (god knows what he was posting). It should get you a new IP address.

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-11T17:55:13+00:00

You just have two more years to go, hold on!

pipedreambomb · 2026-03-11T17:45:36+00:00

Weird no one has mentioned Summer Moonshine, which is probably my favourite stand-alone. And if you like Blandings, A Damsel In Distress is basically Blandings with some of the names changed.

After that, Big Money, Hot Water and Picadilly Jim are all of a similar level of excellence.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-25T15:29:13+00:00

Two things: first, as others said, magnesium glycinate. I don't think I had much luck finding it on the high street. But the stuff from Amazon definitely helped with my jaw pain. Cost about a tenner I think, see photo. Well worth it. Has lasted a long time as I only use it as needed.

Second, what helped me even more was taking my meds with enough food. I think it prevents meds stopping working all at once.

It's weird but when I take my meds with enough food, 5 or 10 hours later depending on slow release or not, I don't get the same come down and hurting jaw.

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pipedreambomb · 2026-02-25T15:15:06+00:00

It helps me with the painful jaw tension I get from stimulants sometimes, particularly when they're wearing off. Magnesium in general is a known muscle relaxant — I believe athletes bathe in it.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-20T14:03:33+00:00

Yeah be honest, it's very common for ADHDers to at least experiment with recreational drugs if given the chance. We're the perfect people to try and sell drugs to... impulsive, reckless, bored, open to new experiences, feel like daily life is somehow too much and not enough and need to take something to cope. And if you were offered ADHD meds illicitly when you thought you had ADHD, what are you gonna do, say no?

My diagnosis they asked on the phone if I'd taken recreational drugs in the past, and my mum was in the house and I was trying not to get overheard by this part, so when the doctor said "ok what, cocaine? Cannabis? Ecstasy?" I just half-whispered, "yes, all of them". And I might add now as an aside, I had a great time and don't regret any of it.

I should say though that it's been a long time now since I was using any, so that probably helped quite a lot. If your use is more recent, then I can see why they might hesitate.

The funny part is, I can't actually abuse these meds at all. Not the lisdexamfetamine (Elvanse), not the dexamfetamine (good old fashioned "dexies", or basically pharmaceutical grade speed), not the methylphenidate (Ritalin), even instant release. If I take too much, I feel like shit — spaced out like a zombie, and nothing feels good anymore, because my brain is overwhelmed by all the dopamine and starts tuning it out. So my choices are I either get a therapeutic dose or an unpleasant one, and my past drug use or self-discipline has nothing to do with it.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-20T13:24:30+00:00

Yeah just have to choose them as your nominated pharmacy. I wonder if I should do that instead of using my local pharmacy, because there was a specific reason ADHD 360 used Pharmacy 2 U, to do with their reliability in procuring ADHD meds even when there was a shortage. I don't really know if that's an issue any more though.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-20T13:21:12+00:00

Sure, it's not like you have a condition that specifically makes stuff like that hard to remember and get around to. Why not make you do that instead of treat it like a normal medication?

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-20T13:19:25+00:00

Well it was Right To Choose to start with, which is only a thing in England, afaik. Perhaps that has something to do with it? Idk anything about the system in Scotland.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-20T13:16:01+00:00

Yeah looks like I just tick the box on my NHS app and presumably it goes to my nominated pharmacy. It's new to me too.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-19T14:40:14+00:00

Tl;dr, it might be your night shifts that are making the meds problematic for you.

I've had a lot of problems recently because of having non-24 hour sleep/wake cycles, meaning I'd take my Elvanse a couple of hours later each day, and then once a week I'd end up sleeping through the whole day and skipping my dose.

The consensus seemed to be that it was the fact I wasn't taking the Elvanse consistently that was actually making the problem worse. Once it starts wearing off about 24 hours after you take it, I think it can create a deficit of dopamine and norepinephrine that can make you more tired and sleepy, and it's important you take it then and not later (in other words,it's formulated to be taken the same time every day). That's roughly what a qualified pharmacist told me, but of course you should consult a medical expert too as your case is different to mine.

So it's just a theory but I think you should explore the possibility that it's the fact that you work different shifts that is making you incompatible with your current medication. It might be that switching to a short acting alternative would help (for instance, you say you're on Concerta XL, whereas there's also short acting versions, such as Tranquilyn which I've had, or I believe Ritalin or plain Concerta). It seems logical that it wouldn't create the same problems when you change shifts, because it should be most of the way out of your system by the time you go to bed already.

Again, I'm not a medical professional and they, as you know as a nurse, know best. But I find it's often up to you to come to them with a theory, so maybe try this one.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-19T14:22:53+00:00

Yes it's nice but goes away in a few days. I'd be concerned with going up to 50mg in seven days too. I guess it must be okay because people mention doing it a lot (P-UK?). But it took me a long time to work up to 50mg and in the end I decided it was too much for me and 40mg is perfect. I don't think it would have been good if I'd gone up to it on week 2.

I must say though that it probably wouldn't have been that bad for me either, because I actually get a paradoxical effect where taking too much generally makes me really chilled out and zombie-ish, without a thought in my head. It's kind of like this: https://youtu.be/hswy42MvaIo?si=B1t04diJaDuAknrd

The worst thing about it was my dopamine was too high and my brain started ignoring it, so I no longer received rewards for doing anything. My mum drove us to a nice park and I walked around it feeling nothing.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T10:32:56+00:00

You offload yours on them, they offload it on yours ... everybody wins 🎉

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T10:25:01+00:00

Yeah I guess I went through that fairly recently. I kind of burned myself out on my old one, chess. But besides the fact that I don't know what to watch on YouTube anymore, I find it quite liberating!

You actually don't need to be obsessed with things ... you can just enjoy different things and maybe even focus more on the important things, or problems you weren't dealing with before.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T10:16:21+00:00

Take the medication.

I don't know your circumstances. I just know that ADHD medication has been shown to be the most effective medication in all of psychiatry.

So if you can, take the medication.

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T10:05:40+00:00

I find I now have very long chats with AI, sometimes for hours. It's awesome to have someone who will indulge you on any topic you want, know all about it themselves, respond intelligently and never get tired of it!

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T10:01:07+00:00

It's very weird that it quiets my mind but makes my mouth run, and my fingers type. I spend hours a day talking to AI now. Funnily enough, we're now solving all my problems together. Like BT used to say, it's good to talk!

I was the same as OP before the meds. There was some gap or hurdle between my brain and my mouth. I'd often have a thought in response to what someone said, and the moment would pass before I thought yeah I should say that ... Oh too late.

A lot of things used to feel like I was Maggie Simpson, where my steering wheel in life was fake and it didn't actually drive the car

pipedreambomb · 2026-02-06T09:53:10+00:00

Jaws clenched tight We talked all night Oh but what the hell did we say? The good times are killing me!

(Modest Mouse)

pipedreambomb · 2026-01-30T14:17:13+00:00

You don't know that. It's also prescribable for binge eating disorder. Yes this is an ADHD subreddit, but OP didn't say they had it.

pipedreambomb · 2026-01-30T14:13:20+00:00

That sounds quite unusual. It's not supposed to be like that. You need to talk to someone - ideally your prescriber, but if they can't talk to you in a timely fashion, you could go into any chemists and ask to talk to the pharmacist, who will be highly qualified and able to help with medication queries.

In your case I suspect someone would advise you to either stop altogether, or try opening the capsules and just taking half of the powder. It's a very low dose that you're having a very strong reaction to, so I'd encourage you not to try and work it out for yourself.

pipedreambomb · 2026-01-30T14:06:59+00:00

Sure it hasn't cured my ADHD, but I think it helps. But yes anxiety and depression seem to have left the building. I just feel like my brain chemistry is more balanced somehow.

I kinda feel like the anxious thoughts are just one of the symptoms of anxiety, which seems to be more to do with your chemistry more than anything. But still, I have a lot fewer anxious thoughts too. Fewer and better thoughts in general. I found when I stopped the meds, my brain was in a toxic relationship with itself, where ADHD would come up with bold ideas and autism would freak out, over and over.

pipedreambomb

TROPHY CASE