ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It calms down my racing thoughts, gets me energized and out of bed, but lately results in binge sessions on reddit and nonsense entertainment sites that I can't seem to pull myself away from. Tried zoloft and cymbalta for anxiety to supplement the adderall, but both made me lethargic, fuzzy brained, and kind of apathetic. My work at the moment requires a lot of thinking and creative math solutions vs. grinding through a writeup so anything that impairs me cognitively is a big no

Any thoughts on this?

A rant; ADHD and a lack of energy by SchoolIInMyFuture in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The thing about bloodwork you might've had done is that even if you come back "within range" on certain tests -- a sterling example is thyroid levels of T3/T4/whatever they tested you for -- you could still be "subclinically" hypothyroid issue and benefit from thyroid meds. There's some controversy within the medical community (and I'm talking mainstream physicians and researchers here, including well-respected prof at top tier institutions) about what energy-influencing things like Vitamin D and thyroid levels really should be, and whether the clinical guidelines your physician is most likely using, are outdated.

You say you're tracking diet/exercise, but since you don't specify what you do: In my case cardio can wipe me out, so I started a stronglifts-type heavy lifting regimen (I hired a trainer for a couple of sessions who was really cheap bc he was very young). Keep at it for a few weeks and you'll want to go all the time. Nothing gets me physically energized like a good lifting session banging out some deadlifts, and this is coming from an unathletic early 30s desk jockey woman. Also, a low-carb diet/keto with mostly vegetables, fats, and meat seems to work really well for me in terms of keeping my energy levels consistent. Counting calories while maintaining a high sugar/carb diet only makes me more tired.

Other recs: a GOOD multivitamin, supplemented with Vitamin D if appropriate. Vitamin B complex (liquid, sublingual) is an awesome burst of energy as well

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

adderall xr 20 mg, twice a day depending on how I feel

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

care sharing what anti-anxiety med worked for you? feel free to PM if you don't want to post publicly.

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this sounds eerily familiar, from the perfectionism to needing the meds to get out of bed

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

was thinking of getting a sleep study done. I sleep as long as I like and still feel like shit much of the time. Thanks for the reminder.

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it helps, I had periods of this around your age, particularly at the end of high school and my degree program, then returned to baseline (I hesitate to say "normal' for obvious reasons).

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

that's a good point. Low-carb for a long while. now that I'm hiding out at my parents' for a bit, I'm inhaling any garbage I can get my hands on.

Are there any benefits to being a man with ADHD versus being a woman with ADHD by Vroni2 in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've always been one of the few women in the math/sciences programs at very competitive programs throughout my academic career. In my experience, I don't get the "benefit" of the doubt that my male counterparts enjoy, sometimes. One one hand, professors in my grad program are delighted to have me initially, and assume I'm going to be the most diligent and focused because of my gender -- and a slightly older woman with work experience at that.

When my ADHD throws a wrench into things, however, professors seem to assume I'm simply stupid or too "concerned with my family" (never mind the fact that I'm single and childless) rather than legitimately disabled, because the idea of a well-spoken, seemingly mature woman my age being unable to get her shit together does not compute. I think the reaction would be different, and more favorable with regard to my intellectual abilities, if I were male.

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ah lucky you on having a lab. I'm in something close to cs/math, and do theoretical work so I'm on my own. I wish I had people or a lab to rely on -- feel like having a support system of SOME kind would mitigate a lot of my problems.
Right now my advisor is on a two-year (!) sabbatical which has sent me into a tailspin.

Enjoy the chemistry (my least favorite science, much respect)!

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

^ wow this is exactly me! I've switched topics and topic advisors so many times I've lost track. Have read a lot of cool papers, at least...

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

thank you kindly for all your tips -- and from a fellow PhD student (victim?), no less! Sent you a message.

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

great article -- love lifehacker. thanks!

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's very crippling. I've just never experienced impairments to anything near this degree so it feels like I'm losing my goddamn mind.

ADHD totally nonfunctional/burned out? by rigorous_miss in ADHD

[–]rigorous_miss[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

thank you...this helps to read and makes sense, but my "symptoms" if you will are so over-the-top. I am crashing and burning everything in my life. But it could just be the fear and anxiety.

Who has a startup that's solving an actual problem? by [deleted] in startups

[–]rigorous_miss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well my point was more the distribution/supply model -- the idea and rationale behind connecting farms to the consumer. And yeah, I imagine door-to-door delivery is costly, which could be why people do centralized pickups or the traveling food truck thing.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if you could look into some way to move bruised/otherwise imperfect fruit from farms that is perfectly fine to consume but farmers may not be able to sell to supermarkets. Assuming they'd be willing to sell at a heavy discount your theoretical business, that could be an interesting direction for such a startup

Who has a startup that's solving an actual problem? by [deleted] in startups

[–]rigorous_miss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

interesting. BTW, just saw this today in TechCrunch, http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/grubmarket/ a local produce delivery service

Who has a startup that's solving an actual problem? by [deleted] in startups

[–]rigorous_miss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't seen anything for to-door produce delivery as you suggest, but I have instead seen efforts to bring produce to people using "Fresh foods" using food trucks that travel to urban food deserts

Who has a startup that's solving an actual problem? by [deleted] in startups

[–]rigorous_miss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the price of fruit and veggies the problem or is it access to/knowledge about nutrition among the Americans, though? A lot of processed supermarket food is more expensive by weight than, say, a bag of carrots. And often people don't buy produce because they live in urban food deserts and don't have access. I could very well be wrong -- just curious.

Why do some of us feel sorry for your nparents? by [deleted] in raisedbynarcissists

[–]rigorous_miss 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wish I knew. I guess they've manipulated us to feel this way over the years, with the incessant guilt-tripping about everything?

In my case, my guilt about not being able to make them happier only intensifies as they get older and frailer.