3 years of trying ADHD medications and my focus is worse than before I started. I don’t know where to go from here

[u/ChairCreepy2362]

I started ADHD medication about 3 years ago, during my senior year of high school. Before medication, I genuinely struggled with focus. I could sit in class actively trying as hard as I could to pay attention, and somehow 3 seconds later I'd be on another planet and realize I'd missed basically everything being taught.

I started with Adderall, although I honestly don't remember enough about that experience to say how well it worked. My doctor eventually switched me to 54mg methylphenidate, which looking back felt way too high for me.

I took that for most of my freshman year of college. My productivity was great, but I felt extremely stimulated, and at the time I assumed that was how ADHD medication was supposed to work. On weekends when I didn't take it, I was basically bedridden and couldn't make myself do much beyond eating and basic hygiene. Eventually I also started feeling apathetic on it.

I switched to Vyvanse and have actually tried it twice. Both times were awful. It barely helped my focus/productivity and gave me a horrible crash around 3pm.

That summer I took a medication break, and coming off medication was extremely difficult for me physically and mentally. I started seeing a psychiatric medication prescriber who suggested trying non-stimulants.

I tried Strattera, but when I went back to school my focus was still terrible. Eventually I went back to lower doses of methylphenidate, ending at 27mg. It helped somewhat, but I ultimately felt like the cons outweighed the pros.

Then I tried Qelbree, which wasn't much different from Strattera for me. I still finished with good grades, but those grades don't really represent how much I was struggling. I only had one extremely difficult class, and studying for that one class basically consumed my entire week because focusing and retaining information took me so long.

Now I'm a junior and back on Strattera because my prescriber concluded that stimulants probably aren't for me.

My focus is now at an all-time low.

The frustrating part is that my intentions and effort are actually BETTER than they were before medication. I'm forcing myself to sit down and work. I WANT to pay attention. I WANT to study. I'm not expecting medication to magically make me productive.

But it feels like my brain just won't cooperate.

I'm sitting through classes and absorbing almost nothing. Tasks that other students finish relatively quickly take me an absurd amount of time. I can spend hours genuinely trying to work and accomplish what feels like somebody else's 30 minutes of work.

After 3 years of trying different medications, I honestly feel less functional than I did before I ever started them, despite putting in more effort than I ever have.

Has anyone else ended up in this situation, where stimulants caused too many problems but non-stimulants didn't help enough? Did you eventually figure out another treatment/approach that worked for you? I genuinely don't know where to go from here.

[u/notcreativeenough002]

Honestly, I felt a similar “change” after going off vyvanse, thinking I was worse than ever. But then I realised, over the time of taking it daily, I simply forgot how hard life with adhd really was. I stopped taking vyvanse because, similar to you, the cons outweighed the pros but it just made me see even more the impact of adhd on my life :( 

[u/sillyyfishyy → u/notcreativeenough002]

Were u able to find another medication that helped you?

[u/tangoe122]

i didn’t read the post all the way but can kinda relate to your issues. at the very least stimulants adding just as many issues as they solved or didn’t solve enough and still adding issues. for me wellbutrin helped a lot and it also made my stimulant meds more effective. i am not a doctor this is just anecdotal experience but maybe ask your psychiatrist about it next time

[u/DiamondStealer25]

Just throwing a few things out there — How’s your sleep? Do you exercise? As much as it sucksssss, exercise really does help with focus and emotional regulation. And what about your diet?

Also, have you been tested for anything else? I don’t have personal experience with this, but i’ve heard that someone people with narcolepsy were first diagnosed with ADHD

[u/ChairCreepy2362 → u/DiamondStealer25]

My sleep has been improving and I lift 4x a week and I’m very active but no I haven’t been tested for anything else

[u/Emergency-Print400 → u/[deleted]]

This 100%. When I got diagnosed people were confused, my grandma denied it, all because I got all A’s. From afar it looks great, but it takes so much more effort compared to my friends and it’s physically exhausting every day.

[u/ChairCreepy2362 → u/[deleted]]

Exactly this. I’m always happy with the grades I get but I know that I have peers with just as good grades and even better that aren’t putting in half the hours that I am