I'm over 40 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

I've spent many years trying to achieve job stability, but I've been fired from multiple jobs. These experiences have taken a serious toll on my mental health, confidence, and self-esteem.

It's not because of a lack of effort or willingness to work. I genuinely want to work, contribute, and do my job well. I always try my hardest, but I struggle with attention, working memory, impulsivity, and handling pressure.

One of my biggest difficulties is how I react when something goes wrong. When I make a mistake, I become extremely anxious and feel an overwhelming urge to fix it immediately. Instead of slowing down and thinking clearly, I sometimes become overwhelmed, freeze up, or make even more mistakes.

Over time, this has created a vicious cycle. Every time I start a new job, I'm afraid of making mistakes, disappointing others, and eventually losing my job again. That fear makes me even more anxious, which affects my performance.

I'm receiving professional treatment and actively working on improving my coping strategies, but I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted.

The hardest part is that I genuinely want a stable working life. I want to feel capable, independent, and useful. But after so many unsuccessful attempts, I'm starting to question whether I'll ever be able to maintain long-term employment.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from adults who were diagnosed later in life and have experienced similar employment difficulties.

For those of you who have struggled with repeated job losses due to ADHD, what has helped you find and maintain stable employment?

Have certain types of jobs, workplace accommodations, treatments, or coping strategies made a meaningful difference?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially from people over 40 who have managed to find some stability.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I’ve been on adderall for about 7 years now. I work an Office/corporate desk job. I noticed that my medicine makes me insanely productive during work. I’ll push to get as much done as possible, and I’ll be very efficient, productive and good with time management. Weird thing to complain about right? However, I noticed recently that I might be a little…too focused? To the point where I am taking very few breaks during the day. I get so locked in that I forget to drink water. I am sitting for most of the day and rarely stand up to stretch. Now I’m having body aches and pains from the prolonged sitting. I get so locked in and focused that I neglect my own wellbeing. I was wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for this. How do I “snap out of it” once my medication kicks in and I enter the zone? How do I make sure I can be focused and productive at work while also making sure I’m taking lots of breaks, eating, etc. I recently started a lower dose but am wondering if I should go even lower? If you can relate to this- Please let me know what works for you!

i rarely see people talk about the guilt you experience just existing with this disorder. it's so debilitating, I cannot accomplish anything. im 18 and my mother who has always provided for me and given her all is suffering because im struggling to do basic tasks, forgetting short-term important details, and cannot get off my phone. i sit here, having not showered yesterday, took 5 hours to enter the shower while sitting on the toilet, I haven't eaten, I can't arrange my bed, I can't clean my room, I can't do anything. and when I finally end up forcing myself out of this state, it feels so forced, so robotic and unnatural. im so disheartened by the state in which my life is in.

Curious if anyone has had the experience of having amphetamines (any formulation, doesn't matter) fail to relieve ADHD symptoms but had something else (e.g., methylphenidate, wellbutrin, strattera, whatever) actually help?

And just to be clear I'm not talking about when the amphetamine adjustment/honeymoon phase passes and you no longer feel that initial subjective boost/mild euphoria. I'm talking they literally do not help your cognitive symptoms at all, or you just feel worse on them than on other meds. Figure this doesn't happen too often but curious to hear if anyone has had that experience.

Edit: I'm aware that different people react differently to different meds, finding the right med requires trial and error, etc. No need to reply if that's all you're going to say.

I’ve had severe depression three times in 6 years after realising I cannot find a job that I can do and that sustains me.

I was a teacher before I burnt out - my serious executive dysfunction meant I could never keep up with the admin, marking, paperwork…

Again I am here feeling like I’m gonna lose my home

My mind is so scattered, adhd means most jobs are beyond me. People think I’m overreacting but it’s the Truth. I’ve lived it.

When I was younger I failed in every single job I had. I make mistakes constantly, cannot read or follow instructions and even simple photocopying I mess up every single time. My mind flits and flits.

The depression is so deep. I don’t know a way out.

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Anyone else have absolutely zero patience for video game dialogue that comes one line at a time?

It drives me insane. Unless the story is genuinely compelling or my choices actually affect what happens, I just can’t sit through it.

A lot of mobile games are especially bad about this. They’ll have pages and pages of dialogue, but instead of letting me read it all at once, I have to keep tapping through each individual line. For example, games like genshin impact, where winds meet, etc, and their style of games are just so annoying to read through. Even the “choices” they offer just lead to the same outcome.

At that point, I’d rather they just put the whole conversation on the screen like a book so I can read it at my own pace instead of constantly waiting and clicking.

Games I can absolutely sit through are like Baldur’s gate 3 and the mass effect and Dragon Age series. Games where the choices are real.

I love showering. It’s like self care for me and one of the best moments of my day. The feeling of warm water, quite hot actually, makes something special to my nervous system that calms me down.
So I look forward to take a shower everyday.

But I see many people struggling to even take one.

Is it just me? Maybe I don’t have ADHD?

I’m self diagnosed ADHD and autistic (AuDHD), according to a few self tests with clear scores. But I might just fool myself? Or it’s the autistic side that takes other for the showers?
I’m confused 😅

26F- Has anyone developed heart palpitations and shortness of breath after years of taking stimulants without issues?

My symptoms seem to worsen with stimulants but still occur on medication-free days. I’m currently undergoing cardiac testing and wondering whether stimulants could be contributing.

I’m curious whether adding another medication, like guanfacine, could help. Has anyone used it as an adjunct to stimulants and noticed an improvement in palpitations or other cardiovascular side effects?

Have any other medications helped counteract the cardiovascular effects of stimulants? Or has switching to a non-stimulant ADHD medication worked better for you?

I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who developed these symptoms after years of stimulant use and found a medication approach that worked for them.

Idk if anyone else can relate but i fucking hate having adhd. I wish I was normal. I hate that i have to explain myself on why im not graspin things in school as fast as others. Why it takes me multiple tries to fully understand something it takes a normal person less time. My mind is never at rest. I sometimes wish you could SEE adhd that way people wouldn’t think im so fucking dumb and restless. Btw im fine. Im not gonna hurt myself. I js need to vent.

Does anyone have any advice on getting through engineering with ADHD without meds? In fact, has anyone ever done this before and would like to share their tips or stories?

Basically I’m not formally diagnosed because my parents don’t believe in stuff like this, and I’m on their insurance (also it’s embarrassing to ask them about it). But teachers throughout my life have been recommending me to get checked. Im also the typical “gifted kid” like probably a lot of people on this sub but that has allowed me to get through high school with a high gpa because I’m great at cramming of course.

Even if I were to get diagnosed and probably wouldn’t want to get on stimulants because a family history of heart issues. But genuinely…HOW DO I SURVIVE…😭 College classes are really nothing like high school and procrastinating has a huge negative effect compared to a minuscule one before😭. I’ve tried all the stupid hacks to stop, I’ve tried mindfulness, lists, pomodoro but nothing works. Heck I can’t even pay attention in class at all😔

Edit: I’m going to run an experiment on IF I can do it and get good grades unmedicated (have no money so I don’t have much a choice anyway). Let’s see how well I can larp normalcy for a whole semester😁. Jokes aside, I feel it’s possible even if it does take more mental effort. If really screw up then my punishment is to ask my parents. If I don’t then yay everything is fine!!!!

I have been hearing lots of people talk about it recently.

Vyvanse originally made me feel like Superman for like 3 months, but now, it gives me energy still, but it comes with anxiety and a racing heart rate

Someone told me modafinil doesn’t have the euphoric buzz stims have, it is also very smooth and doesn’t cause debilitating anxiety and jitters.

Anyone have experience with it?

Hi all my lovely ADHDers,

I came across a few opinions online, saying that ADHD is just a medical excuse for laziness or low agency. Having stimulants could even be worse, because these are all drugs. I have also seen some words labelling people with ADHD taking stimulants as "druggies".

I am currently taking Vyvanse and it transforms my life. But sometimes I do feel guilty or uncomfortable, thinking that I cannot even think or act properly without meds, unlike other normal people.

What do you think?

I am so emotionally unstable right now I have recently started taking methyphinidate that is helping a lot when I am on it I am confident, i am productive, I am motivated and energetic but as the effects wear off I am back to baseline of bieng unconfident piece of shit that gets nothing done, I will become sad, also i a m such a miserable person who can't even talk when I am not on meds, I become a person who wants to doomscroll all day and rot in his bed while untill I sleep forever but when I take meds in morning and as soon as effects kick in i am happy, positive,wanna do great things, productive, energetic, and i become a person who loves to yapp my whole personality will change i don't what to do about it, am i always going to be this unstable

I need help my girlfriend has severe adhd the doctors she was seen have said she has one of the worst cases of adhd they’ve seen. We are both in college and I want to be able to help her with classes staying on top of school work and making sure she goes to classes. Some weeks it’s real easy for her to and other is not same with the school work. I want to be able to help I just not sure how. My second ask for advice is sometime she lashes out when she gets stressed. She always apologizes the second have she snaps at me an I know it’s how her brain is wired but some days it hurts a lot getting yelled at. I need help trying to fully understand what it like to live with adhd because I know I never will be able to and any tips people would have to help

I’m 33 and recently just got diagnosed properly with having ADHD and not bipolar. Let me tell you the giant sigh of relief I’ve had since. Who knew your head could be so quiet.

Trying to figure the rest of my life out since last year, and was thinking this morning “should I be taking 54 mg of Ritalin and drinking 300mg of caffeine at 4 am?”

Long story short, I’m curious if it’s dangerous to be consuming 200-300 mg of caffeine with my 54mg of Ritalin in the mornings. I get up at 4, eat a small breakfast, and go to work right after I take it.

Edit; it’s conceeta ER

Not looking for medical advice, just asking this out of curiosity.

I'm a late bloomer, got diagnosed at 36, Primarily Inattentive, and properly medicated since a year back. Currently at 54mg Concerta.

I read a lot of threads both here and elsewhere about how people experience a energy boost after taking their meds. How all of a sudden you went from having a very brainfoggy day to cleaning the entire house, paying all your bills, meal prepping for two weeks, watering your plants and calculating next years holiday budget just because you remembered to take your medication.

I find this very interesting, as I cant relate to this energy surge. I take my meds every morning and feel basically the same as I always do. I forget things, I don't achieve all the chores on the to-do list and I still feel overwhelmed from time to time. I'm currently at the point where the only difference I notice from not taking my meds is that I might lock in a bit easier with meds, hopefully at the right task, my temperament is a bit calmer, and without the meds I usually get the classic brain fog and task paralysis.

Can't remember getting this sensation of energy even when I started my medication investigation.

So basically, am I a edge case from not feeling energised from methylphenidates, or is there other people like me who takes their meds and just feel normal afterwards?

Looking for science-backed, practical self-improvement books that offer actionable advice on sleep, health, motivation, discipline, neuroplasticity, stress management, focus, memory, longevity, and overall well-being. I want to understand what to do, how to do it, and why it works, with an emphasis on reliable scientific evidence, realistic claims, and advice that genuinely motivates me to take action. Open to books covering either multiple topics or individual areas.

I even enlisted my mom who was visiting to help me find them. I couldn't leave to take my youngest back to her mom until I found them. I've trained myself not to panic in these situations because well, they're all too common. Here's the best part. My mom is ADHD too. She decides to help me look for my keys. She even offers to go check my truck since we can't find them anywhere in the house. Finally I think I should take my baby and go help her look. Walking towards the back door I glance down and that's when I see it: Beautiful keys, dangling down from the door knob.

We had thoroughly gone through EVERY spot I normally leave my things depending on the daily ritual I am working in. And they were in the door. God bless us.

I have a monthly task where I need to check on someone else’s work, and it needs to be submitted by the end of the month. My workload is given to my by my manager and I have a little flexibility in how I tackle it, but mostly it’s pretty rigid. If I tell them I need less I might get one fewer task a day or a day to catch up but it’s a constant grind.

This check is handed out usually in the start of the second week of the month - let’s say 8th, and is due a few days before the end of the month, let’s say 28th. Handing it in before that deadline is still treated as “late” though, because they want it earlier (which does beg the question of why even have that deadline then but I digress).

This task is dependent on other people having done their work. First week, I don’t know what I’ll be assigned to check, so I can’t do anything. Second week, most of the time there’s nothing been done to check on 8th.

I have, so far, put weekly time in my calendar to check what work has been submitted and to then do this task but this isn’t taken into account by my manager handing out work so I just ignore it at this point, because I’m too busy doing my daily work to check on stuff.

I think the 3rd week is the sweet spot, but does anyone have advice on the following:
1. Setting reminders that will actually trigger that urgency in my mind to do the check.
2. Advocating to my manager that they actually need to give me protected time to get this task done.
3. Any advice on how to word it if I have too much to do on the day I have that protected time and won’t be able to get everything done if I do my checks of other work?

Has anyone had this experience ? The meds seem
To work great for 4 hours then just slowly wear off and i am exhausted. I take 20mg of generic so I’m wondering if it has anything to do with that? I will be trying 30 mg next week. I have heard of people splitting doses to twice a day ?

Hi everyone!

I've restarted therapy recently, and combined with surviving through the titration period (Elvanse/Vyvanse 50mg currently), I've been in my head a lot.

I spent like 6 hours today reading up on RSD (which I thought I didn't have because, unlike my ex, I don't lash out at people when I feel rejected) and perfectionism (which I thought I had fixed many years ago already).

In my mind, anything less than perfection is not worth doing. And if I do something less than perfectly, I spiral into shame.

Go to the gym for an imperfect workout = pointless; I should be able to do more/better = workouts become shame-ridden = I stop going to the gym because I feel shame whether I do the hard thing or not.

Advice like "Just do 5 minutes of it! Just take a walk! Do one pushup!" doesn't work for my brain because 5 minutes is too pathetic to even contemplate. I'll only feel shame for not being able to do the full, proper, hour-long, hard workout.

I feel like I should be able to do so many things, but I can't. And that drives me deeper into my shame spiral and further away from my goals.

I should be able to do a proper, hard workout every time I go to the gym (menstrual cycle stuff is just an excuse, you lazy bastard!!)

I should be able to floss my teeth every night.

I should be able to stick to my routine.

It feels like the bare minimum, and yet I can't do it. And so I hate myself. And so I avoid things further.

Self-directed RSD is so paralysing, so painful, and so god damn pointless??

I think I'm just now learning how huge an impact ADHD has had on my life. I was diagnosed when I was 28, and I still believe that I'm faking it just to have an excuse not to try harder.

I chose the "seeking empathy" flair, but honestly, I'd love advice too.

I'm not usually so defeatist; I've just been feeling particularly down because I'm realising just how much more shit I need to heal within myself, and it feels like... a lot, lol.

20F, i got prescribed inspiral 5mg and am supposed to start the dosage day after tomorrow. (3 weeks 5mg 5 days a week, then revisit)

but i’m scared because this is my first time getting on adhd meds and i m having all kinds of thoughts like

- imposter syndrome because i am not hyperactive which is very big in adhd but i’m fairly okay on that one, i dont struggle w anxiety , instead i never get anxious, scared or even have 0 eustress which causes me to not /e scared of reckless behavior or not even study/ work even out of worry or anxiety. instead i hyperfocus, get distracted easily, procrastinate, and have impulsive behaviours (not with intent of sh) so i m constantly feeling like do i really need it bad enough?

- i m worried about dependency on the med and i really don’t wanna be addicted to another thing 🙏🙏🙏

- how does it react when u drink alcohol or smoke during its course?

ik i may sound stupid but i m vv new to this adhd meds thing and itll be great if someone could answer my questions. i never went to get diagnosed with intention on getting on meds but it just happened and i decided to finally do it because i have my exams since mid nov and i want to see the difference from when i normally have exam szn approaching and going on normally as compared to on meds.

Hello! Recently diagnosed (25M), started on Dexamphetamine 5mg morning + 5mg lunch. Been taking them for 1 week. Things are going great so far but I’m finding that in the afternoon my jaw gets a bit tight and I start clenching my teeth together. (It starts roughly 2 hrs after the lunch dose)

I have a GP appointment in a week and psychiatrist in 3 weeks but in the mean time I was wondering if anyone had the same experience and any advice? Is it the type of medication? Dose related? Will it pass as my body adjusts?

Thanks!!

Hey everyone, i got diagnosed with adhd last year and since then i have tried ritalin and strattera. I started off with Ritalin but was not given much direction with it and i felt that it made my brain fog 10X worse and overall just didnt seem to help much so i asked to try something else but the psychiatrist i was seeing wanted me to pay $1000 just for a medication review. Because i couldnt afford it, my doctor put me on strattera which seemes to help for a little while but i could only take it at night because of side effects which then interrupted my sleep pretty bad so i eventually stopped taking it. For those of you who are on meds, what meds did you find to work for you? What do they do for you? And is it worth paying the $1000 to get a review? TIA

(Prescribed and diagnosed)
I work at 9 am and my morning dose of 15mg (ER) lasts me 3 hours and my booster dose of 10mg (also ER) carries me until a bit before I clock out.

To anyone with a similar experience from stimulants: Is it worth getting another dose for after work so i can postpone the awful crash and actually get stuff done at home? ‘My work desk is immaculate but my bedroom is a mess’ type stuff lol.

Maybe I’ll sacrifice restful sleep but I don’t think I’ve experienced restful sleep ever anyway. Ive tried the ~protein & hydration to counteract crash~ thing but I really dont think it’s hunger or nutrition related. More like the overlapping thoughts come rushing in and my body gets exhausted by my brain.

Obviously I’ll discuss with my psych, but I just feel like I’d rather hear some other peoples personal accounts before begging for a second script and looking like a junkie if that seems like an outrageous request lol. Thanks !