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.

Fuck it.

Sarcasm, r20.

It's dexies/dexamphetamine/dextroamphetamine.

The other day, she asked (again) for some of mine and claimed it was because she had run out. I offered more than once that we could go to the pharmacy to get the new script filled and was turned down each time. There's no way I'm going to give her some of mine because she already seems paranoid and close to a psychotic break. I also don't trust her to pay me back, and unlike her I do make sure to never run out.

I tried explaining that with any medication, if possible always fill scripts early so as not to run out. This did not make any sense at all to her and was not something she could understand and acknowledge. She just didn't accept it and remonstrated that there was no need to get a script filled when she still had some of the tablrts from the previous script. That doing that made no sense. Okay.

It was like talking to a stubborn toddler. Conversations went around in circles.

She's probably been restricted to staged supply and can only get enough for a week at a time. It happens a lot in Australia to people on dexies.

There seems to be a tolerance(?) and she told me that:

She hates taking them and wants to stop

The dexies make her feel flat

She needs to take more than prescribed to think clearly

That they don't trigger impulsive behaviour, which she also claims is a problem she has.

That she needed some of mine so she could take care of something important later that day

But that the same dose she wanted to "borrow" from me was for the next morning

When we spoke yesterday, she kept telling me everything she'd told me the day before and recently, as if we hadn't spoken in months.

She's been like this for a while. On general issues, it's as if the last ten to fifteen years haven't happened. I could tell that there were times she was consciously lying, and other times when she was making no sense that what she was saying made complete sense to her.

She suffers from insomnia, so I casually mentioned that another friend using dexies for ADHD takes seroquel at night to help with sleep issues and she told me that she won't even take paracetamol for a headache. Um, no paracetamol but taking more dexies than prescribed most days is okay?

I suggested to her a long time ago that she approach her doctor for a higher dose due to tolerance and was shut down pretty quick.

It's a sad situation. This is a person who used to be smart and together. Who still can be sometimes. Who is not at all a mug-cradler or a frau.

Reading the responses here and typing this out, I now doubt everything she's told me.

Flame away.

[quote]behaviour

[quote]paracetamol

OK, Euro freak!

This stuff doesn't happen in the U.S. and we need to keep this filth out of American gay message boards!

Just die, commie scum!

Love you, r25.

r24 Jesus are you familiar with the term "brevity?" Get a blog.

These stimulants, psychoactive medications, disrupt your body’s ability to regulate satiety, sleep, and also your ability to relate to others. Leave them alone if you can.

I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'M SO... SCARED!!!

I think it's important to not go RFK Jr. on psychoactive medicine. These are powerful drugs and need to be prescribed and monitored skillfully, but they've literally saved lives and prevented people from finding worse ways to cope.

ChatGPT says the behavior aligns with amphetamine abuse

1. Stimulant misuse or stimulant use disorder

• Abusing ADHD medication (especially amphetamines) can cause paranoia, anxiety, pressured speech, constant talking, poor memory, and social inappropriateness.

• Finishing other people’s sentences, talking rapidly, and not noticing social cues are consistent with stimulant intoxication or chronic misuse.

• Memory impairment and life decline (losing job, partner, license) also line up with substance use disorder.

Is there anyone in the US without PTSD? OK I know some combat vets that claim not to have it but it does seem everyone else has it.

Being born is stressful. I do understand

Where does it end. I just wake up in the morning and drink cold water but I think the fluoride is making me fat and lazy. By noon I have to start in on the pizza and bon bons. It makes me depressed to be so weak so I start drinking smoking and downing downers before my depression meds kick in. Then and only then am I ready to look at the news. After that crystal meth is what I live for.

I know someone who's been acting similarly but to my knowledge she died.

We take drugs to get hard we take drugs so we can bareback lots of strangers we take drugs to prevent or treat various different diseases we take poppers to enjoy the sex and let’s face it sex can be fun with hard drugs.

It ends by getting old or dying at a younger age.

Those seem to be the only two choices.

R36 do you think that is new? Dying young or getting older

Thanks r31.

True, r24.

We have become a country full of ptsd victims, although most have never been in a war, fought a major fire, or kicked in a door and were shot at trying to make an arrest. Or anything similar. me Too. Me Too I have ptsd.

Life has proved difficult.

Many who in the past were alley cats are now pampered indoor house cats who have had their claws removed. Easily triggered, overly sensitive, and full of drugs to fight their raging ptsd soft and like Trump full of hot air and bluster..

More often than not that is America or at least the posters on the DL.

I’m sorry to say it, but you gotta put on your MichFest and State Your Boundaries. At least get clear with yourself.

This friend and you have some treasured history I’m sure, but she is only going to take from you or try to, and she is only going to drain you with every interaction at this point. Unless or until things change.

You're right, r40.

But I'm not into stating boundaries. She's easier to deal with when she's taken some. When she hasn't, there's too much drama. I'll make my excuses when the drama is happening.

Next stop, it’s heroin between the toes!

This is better than the fucking soaps. More drama,

R14 for the win! He's not abusing ADHD meds - he's taking something else. Again, sounds like meth to me.

He's lying.

She definitely lies a lot.

Wouldn't meth cause weight loss?

Do gay men on the DL ever have female friends that are normal? That does happen a lot in real life to people but it is rarely mentioned here for some reason.

Your “friend” needs to lay off the speed, OP.

I'm nowhere near normal myself, r46.

I've just managed to get some of my own many issues under control and it's obvious now that she is an enabler and that most of our time spent together previously was supporting each other in fucking our lives up in ways not related to substances.