So today it’s been three weeks as a formally-medicated ADD sufferer. I wish I could say that there’s been massive change thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, but other than the first day, I didn’t really notice much of an effect. I started on the minimum adult dosage, so that may have had something to do with it.
So What Effects Were There?
The first day, about an hour after consuming the drug, I had a feeling of being somewhat disconnected from my body — not unlike a mild drunk. There was no dizziness, disorientation, loss of verbal filter, or anything like that. This feeling has only cropped up a couple of other times during these three weeks.
Also, the first day, I had the ability to remember long strings of numbers that I normally had to transcribe as part of a weekly report. I was able to move the data from memory rather than cribbed notes. That was an “oh neat” moment.
Other that, the impact on my focus was subtle. I found that I was paying better attention to things like conversations — evidenced by actually remembering them clearly hours later.
I’m also not getting blindsided by dumb crap as much as I was. My attention span is up just enough where I can remember things that I need to do without consulting a written list.
So Where’s It Falling Short?
My attention is still scattered. I still bounce around between tasks and non-tasks like a cracked-out howler monkey in a room full of shiny objects. And that’s super-frustrating. Part of that is my environment — an office space gradually accumulates a certain amount of cruft, whether that’s desk toys, file folders, or virtual stuff like browser tabs and dropboxes, etc.
Dosages
My medication isn’t one of those “it needs to build up things” — it’s a daily dose that stops working after about 10-ish hours. I’m supposed to have the occasional “rest day” — which I’ve done exactly twice so far. I haven’t had a day where I’ve forgotten to take it, but I have taken it later than planned a couple of times.
The dosage size is my next point of discussion with the psychiatrist, on the 15th. We’ll see how that goes.
The Feels
7/10. I’m building the toolkit I need to get past all this shit, and I’ve taken action on getting medicated. While I’d like to see more pronounced effects out of the medication, I can’t complain too much.