ADHD, Cannabis, Life

[Pigeonman]

@TopicalWave

Canadian school system

@TopicalWave

the kids who were more on the hyperactive side of the spectrum, disturbing class and being impulsive got identified.

Yup. this was me.

I was tossed into a “gifted program” so while some classes really helped other classes were horrible. They classified folks as “gifted” “Gifted LD” (gifted with some learning disabilities), or “LD Gifted” (basically Rain Man).

Being Gifted LD in a Gifted class I got a lot of bullying when a class was on the bell curve and it was a subject in my “LD” spectrum… Last year in French (language learning issues) when I walked into the class the bulk of my peers seeing me all went “oh no!” knowing I’m going to unintentionally fuck their grade.

@TopicalWave

about ADHD is that it also often involves hyperfocus on things that interest us.

Yep. *it’s one of your superpowers. But it’s also a great weakness when you forget yourself.

@TopicalWave

I still failed a grade because I would always lack the motivation to do any schoolwork. I would fail not because I was doing bad on tests but because I didn’t hand in homework.

LOL. I never graduated highschool but in every post secondary program, aka: something I actually wanted to do, I was on the dean’s list every semester even in a cut-throat program where 1200 applied for 75 spots with only 30 folks making it to graduation after 3 years.

@TopicalWave

I was very hard on myself for many years because everyone around me would wonder why I cant get it together and I would wonder why I couldnt find the motivation to do simple things

this can be depression which I find if very much part of the loot-bag that comes with being neurodivergent. If you’re lucky, you may have (just like me) enough OCD to keep your ADHD in check most of the time.

@TopicalWave

I would get fired or demoted when my ADHD inattentive tendencies would cause me to fuck something up

Fuck. That sucks. For me it was a different pain, my ADHD presented in hyperfocus also due to my trauma response so anytime I get seriously ADHD it benefited my employers (while harming me) so I ended up getting promotions I didn’t want!

Anytime I worked a gig thinking “wow, this is nice as I don’t have a lot of responsibility!” i’d just do my thing and by comparison to my co-workers ended up proving competency to my detriment! /

@TopicalWave

I think cannabis has helped me quite a bit in terms of self medicating even when I didn’t have diagnosis. It slows my mind down a bit… sort of like it downgrades it from a Lambo speeding at 200km/h where its hard to see whats passing you by because its going so fast to a K car just cruising smoothly at normal highway speeds

This is why i am chronic. I am a hummingbird that needs to slow down my frame-rate and so far cannabis has been the best tool for the job! In school I’d write all my papers stoned as fuck to be able to focus while sitting at a desk but then the next day I’d read through sober to double check myself.

@TopicalWave

Recently got on stimulant medication and my life has completely changed… I actually FINISHED a post secondary course and am in the midst of changing careers away from surveying (finished with 91%),

YYYEEEAHHH!!! RIGHT ON!!!

I’m so very happy for you! My bestie of 33+ years is as bad as me but has been medicated since a teen. He’s a body builder so if he didn’t get his meds in time we had 1 hour before the meds in his system would wear off and he could get so neurotic that with his bulk no one could stop him if he wanted to do something stupid…

He’s now an elementary school teacher, has 2 kids (equally adhd and I tease him that he did this to himself all the time lol), and is an amatur pro wrestler in his spare time.

@TopicalWave

all those years wasted spinning my tires and getting treated for a depression that stemmed from my ADHD.

I disagree. Those aren’t wasted. Those were grinding for XP years!

YOU GOT THIS @TopicalWave !!!

[joheimgrohen]

I have this shirt!

[Pigeonman]

@Foreigner

Mrs Foreigner has ADHD

OH AND HOW

@JustANobody

ADHD can be like a super power.

100%.

I tell people this all the time about my neurodivergent nature: “With great responsibility comes great power.”

@Foreigner

Mrs Foreigner does this and it drives me nuts sometimes.

This is where I’m grateful for my OCD… also looking after my Gran with altheimerz & dimentia really got my shit together with making sure everything is “perfectly reset” or it may never be found again. (we stopped getting ice cream because we’d find the carton in the dry-goods / )

@TopicalWave

I feel bad. But I can’t stop!

Another thing I tell fellow scatterbrains!: “Never forget to remember to REMEMBER!”

I write on my hand or make long checklists that end up looking like cloth with writing on it by the time I’m done… lol.

Another friend has coloured bands on one arm, and for each “to do” she moves a band to the other arm. When she sees a band on the “usually naked” arm she pauses and then like a Rolodex the task pop’s into her head and she goes.

@JustANobody

The adhd had to move onto the next task, that’s not the cleaning up part.

The cleanup is the final part of the task! 1: Prep materials, 2: Build, 3: clean-up!

@Foreigner

what’s a dysfunction

In 1997 Pitchshifter released this ADHD Anthem which addresses this:

Pitchshifter - Genius (HQ)

[JustANobody]

@Pigeonman

The cleanup is the final part of the task! 1: Prep materials, 2: Build, 3: clean-up!

No no no, thats post work, seperate from the task lol

[yardgrazer]

I was diagnosed with ADD as an adult.Took Ritalin for a little while… but didn’t really like the way it made me feel. I did enjoy actually completing the tasks I started, but I stopped taking it anyway. Ended up pissing off the neuropharmacologist (I forgot about an appointment for like, six months), and then he died, and I dropped it. That was 25 years ago give or take.

Truth be told it probably wouldn’t be the worst idea to get back on something… I could be more productive than I am.

[ColeLennon]

@Foreigner ![20231018_083710|236x500]

[Foreigner]

this is my nightmare

[TopicalWave]

Yes the relationship between cannabis is very interesting to me. I was reading that almost 40% of people with ADHD have been classified as having ‘cannabis use disorder’ by doctors. That is an astounding number to me. And I imagine there are many who downplay or hide their cannabis use from their doctors due to fear of discrimination or being barred from ADHD meds on grounds that you are an addict. Actually hearing that stat was what sort of prompted me to make this topic as I knew there would be a lot ADHD around here…

Its interesting you say that cannabis has a minimal effect on the dopamine pathway as the ‘research’ I have done (research is in parenthesis as as feel so under qualified reading papers on the brain…) has kind of given me the opposite impression. Again this paper is definitely beyond me but it seems to show the endocannabinoid system can directly effect the Dopaminergic System. Which is the system that largely controls the reward system, executive function ect.

Endocannabinoid and dopaminergic system: the pas de deux underlying human...

[TopicalWave]

Thanks buddy… its nice to know there are a bunch of kindred, disorganized, scatterbrained spirits here!

[GEMI-CONNECT616]

Yes sir

We all crazy round here
‍:dizzy:

[TopicalWave]

@yardgrazer Up to you of course but it probably cant hurt to think about it at least. I can only measure my experience with ADHD meds in months so take everything I say with grain of salt, but they have helped me immensely. I haven’t taken Ritalin so I cant speak to that, and there are negative side effects with Vyvanse (I was bad at forgetting to eat and drink during the day and its much worse on Vyvanse I don’t get hungry in the same way, It exacerbates some of my hyperactive tendencies like pacing or tapping my foot) but I can work with them and the positives for me have far outweighed the negatives so far. I really feel for the first time in my life since I was a naive kid that I might find my place in this world and have a positive outlook of my future. Im excited to participate in the world again.

[LonelyOC]

Yes, you are correct. What I’m referring to is that the endocannabinoid system will use your own dopamine system. When we are still within the boundaries of our own system, producing a neurochemical will never exceed the levels that we can make our self’s. This is good because then we can’t destabilise the dopamine baseline with cannabis, which is something awesome for a person with ADHD. Because we have such low baseline that chemicals like nicotine really gets a grip of our system.

Pz

[TopicalWave]

@LonelyOC Hmm I am not sure I quite get what your saying. My understanding is that most ‘drugs’ stimulate or inhibit a neurotransmitter of some sort which will eventually lead to release of dopamine by your brain in response.

An opioid will bind to an opioid receptor, and your brain will flood with dopamine. Much like cannabis will bind to a cannabinoid receptor and one of the end results is dopamine being released in your brain.

Im probably simplifying something…

[Foreigner]

@TopicalWave

the positives for me have far outweighed the negatives so far

This is the real goal of drugs. There are ones I can’t take because even though they help in some ways the side effects are just too unpleasant. If the benefits outweigh the side effects it’s on the right track at least.

[ColeLennon]

[Hippyhop]

What strains do you feel helps you the most? I personally love a heavy hitting sativa.

[TopicalWave]

For me its sativa strains as well… strong is fine but if I am honest if I indulge too much of indica or sativa Im not sure its best for certain aspects of my inattentive side (forgetfullness, spacing out when people are talking to me ect). But just the right dose I find I could often almost harness the hyperfocus a bit.

But yeah Haze Hybrids, and thiungs with Congo in them have been great.

[TopicalWave]

So I am up to 40 mg of Vyvanse for the last few days… I think this may be the right dose for me.

I’ll give it a few more weeks but yeah my mind is so clear and my negative self talk has gotten so much better. It’s so nice not having my mind constantly berate itself!

[TopicalWave]

Like I say I struggled with depression for many many years… I bounced from med to med. Some were fuckin awful. I ended up landing on an anti depressant that acts on dopamine and can actually be used for minor ADHD problems… doh

I plan to eventually get off em… Not looking forward to it. The withdrawals are really bad

[ColeLennon]

I would encourage you to taper off any caffeine dependency in order to dial in your dose.

@TopicalWave

negative self talk has gotten so much better

I call this rehearsing. Until I dialed-in my dose it was a constant in my life… Glad your seeing improvement.