Friend abusing ADHD meds who might have PTSD: Their life has gone to hell

OP, worried for them.

They have lost a lot of friends

What makes you think it's PTSD, OP, and not a mental illness?

ADHD is difficult to diagnose in adults, since it requires a lot of data from childhood on. Often, psychiatrists have a pretty practical approach aside from to the standard diagnostics; if there is a strong suspicion of an ADHD diagnosis, they give low doses of ADHD meds--such as methylphenidate, a stimulant--and see whether the patients' symptoms improve.

See, for people with ADHD, the meds won't do anything significant... these patients will just arrive at the normal functional level of a person without ADHD. For those without ADHD, on the other hand, it has a stimulating effect.

So, my guess is that your friend never had ADHD in the first place and is likely just a drug-addicted mess. 🤷‍♂️

[quote]Other people I know on the same medication for the same condition don't seem to have the same issues.

Some people are more susceptible to addiction.

Their pronouns are killing them.

It didn't occur to me, r2.

A family member indicated in a very crude way that was the issue, but it was hard to take the thought seriously until now.

R3 and r4, they have a medical condition which causes debilitating pain and fatigue. That might have driven a diagnosis that led to accessing these meds. And getting addicted. They use up all the meds a few days before they can get a refill, so they're going cold turkey each month. Could an addict do that?

R5, I'm keeping it vague in case they see this. I hope that's okay.

Perhaps your "friend" should stop abusing ADHD medications and get a proper diagnosis.

Your friend should get a sex or some other basic identifying information, OP. The vaguespeak leaves one cold. And which medications are these, at what doses? ADHD stimulants could be anything from ritalin to desoxyn. There are even a few nonstimulant options.

The signs you describe are those of someone who is chronically abusing meth, not somebody taking a few extra prescribed ADHD stimulants. Among the things scheduled medicine prescribers are supposed to do is to monitor the timeliness of refill requests, and/or early requests. I wonder if this is happening? A doc I know says that even regular on-time, to-the-day refill requests can arouse abuse suspicions.

Virtually all addicts go cold turkey at times when they can't get their fix. Many of them are smart enough to know not to rock the prescription boat to try to get more, or early refills, the dog ate my meds, etc., because the discomfort of a few days without is not as bad as being completely cut off.

Somebody's diagnostic skills are peculiar. Chronic pain and fatigue leads to an ADHD diagnosis and prescribed stimulants? No known cause for the pain and fatigue? Are they on pain meds too?

It's possible that somebody could be unusually sensitive to the effects of prescribed stimulants. But a more likely scenario is that your "friend" is trading or selling prescription meds for something they like better. This friend needs a thorough neuropsych eval and drug testing.

I know someone who's been acting similarly but to my knowledge isn't taking any medications.

Hell I only WISH I could abuse ADHD meds. My doctor gave me Adderall, but I can't ever feel anything on it. I've even taken 35mg at a time and nothing. Does that mean I do or do not have ADHD? I thought you could party on Adderall.

Sounds like he’s taking way more than his prescription. I take the same 35 mg I always have.

OP Your friend is AUTISTIC as are YOU and EVERY POSTER on this thread.

ADHD and PTSD and Autism and many other "illnesses" are frequently misdiagnosed or self diagnosed and mean nothing. It's people looking for prescriptions and attention and excuses for their own terrible behaviour.

It sounds like Crystal Meth.

It’s the side effects from Covid vaccines.

[quote]See, for people with ADHD, the meds won't do anything significant... these patients will just arrive at the normal functional level of a person without ADHD. For those without ADHD, on the other hand, it has a stimulating effect.

That’s the usual explanation, but it’s not really that simple. There’s a subset of people with ADHD who don’t show any impulsivity or hyperactivity whatsoever. Researchers even suggested a name for this subgroup: “ADHD Restricted Inattentive” (ADHD-RI), though it never made it into the DSM-5.

Most people with the inattentive or combined types have internal hyperactivity, which is that constant mental restlessness. This group, though, has the opposite: an inner hypoactivity, or a kind of mental sluggishness. It’s closely related to what used to be called Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT), with daydreaming, slow processing, and low motivation.

Because their struggles aren’t about hyperactivity or impulsivity, stimulants can actually feel more “stimulating” than calming for them. That’s why using someone’s reaction to meds as proof of ADHD just doesn’t work. It's way, WAY more complicated than that....

To clarify: these people (with ADHD-RI) are currently being diagnosed with ADHD-Predominantly Inattentive, but the thing is, most of that group still experiences some symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity (hence, 'Predominantly') . So what they have is actually a subthreshold form of the combined type.

OP, is your friend Kelley Wolf?

The porous short term memory, repetitive speech, finishing sentences for you incorrectly, all of these describe my two wealthy siblings who each take stimulants like Vyvanse or Provigil.

Psychopharmacology isn’t an exact science, and I see a lot of my friends struggling with the fallout from badly prescribed medications, and particularly these stimulants.

I hope people in this situation can recover their original biochemistry and personality, but I think that’s hard to do after a few years of “jacked up” behavior, righteousness and “anticipatory” listening (not processing others’ messages, but simply waiting to talk).

It’s really sad. The older, irritating “Prozac personality” is now often Vivance/Provigil “rat-tat-tat” thinking aloud (and often bursting into a song when a phrase recalls the lyrics of one). Many of these people end up alone, dependent on counselors, and just too much for others to deal with. And this week I learned that long term dependence on these stimulants is linked to higher stroke risk, a really daunting potential.

Please don’t take medication that turns you into a pain in the ass.

r6 " I hope that's okay. "

WTF?

I take it for low energy depression. It hurt to move. Really the only thing that worked.

Sounds like standard drug addicted behavior.

OP is standard hESTrionic main-character behavior.