Adults who we're diagnosed with ADHD as a child and prescribed medication: how did it impact your childhood and did it affect you as an adult?

Started taking Ritaln near end of 5th grade, didn't see much different. School was always a bitch. Hard to concentrate, stay focused, hard to get my thoughts from my brain to my mouth or to paper. Hard to keep conversations going. Got switched to a longer acting Dexedrine Spansule higher dose around sophomore year, more improvement still not great. Finally summer before Senior year, I spoke w/ my Father who is a Psychiatrist/Developmental-Behavioral pediatrician, he tells me how shit should work, tell him that I feel none of the effects, things like loss of appetite, better focus, clearer mind etc.. Got my dose upped. It was like when I got glasses for the first time. Everything became so much sharper. I was like holy shit, is this how "normal" people think. Wish I had a better dose early on. My grades were much better, concentration better, athletics better, interpersonal skill better. For the first time it felt like my brain wasn't lagging. College wasn't as good, but I was taking Rx sporadically, & generally just not interested in school. After starting work full time I went off completely. Thought it'd be healthier & that I had coping skills to deal with it. Shit was ok, but the procrastination, foggy brain, inability to start/keep/hold long conversations, memory recall problems all came back. Slogged thru 5 years of that. Been back on for around ~7 months. Quality of life is just sooo much better. It's all so much more clear. I'm a lot more talkative & interact with peers/patients so much better. I've lost 20 pounds. Don't procrastinate so much. Before, or when haven't been taking my Vyvanse, it felt like I was paddling upstream against a slow current as hard as possible & barely getting anywhere (the frustration this gave me in middle school led to many behavior issues), now I feel like I'm shooting expert rapids down white water. Can I function without medication. Sure I can. I can also function without my glasses, but it's sure as shit easier to function when you can see clear.

/r/AskReddit Thread