Outsider without adhd here… Is this really a thing? If the medication makes you feel better how would you forget to take it?
Poor memory is one of the symptoms of ADHD. We get easily distracted and often have time blindness, meaning it’s hard for us to tell how much time has passed and estimate what time it is. I have to take my meds 3 times daily roughly 4 hours apart. If I don’t set alarms, I’m screwed.
It’s my first time hearing of the term “time blindness” and it fits so well.
One of my favorite sayings is people with ADHD have two time settings, “Now” and “Later.” When you come to us with a request, we think it must be done NOW unless you explain otherwise. Then, it gets puts into the “Later” pile, which ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 years.
Holy shit. I need to explain this to my partner tomorrow when she’s up. I’ve been struggling so hard to find the words to explain how my timing mechanism for things she asks me to do works. Thank you!
We’re using a shared calendar with reminders which is really great. Until I dismiss the reminder, putting it in the later pile…
I see, thanks! This community helps me understand
You’re very welcome, thank you for being curious and asking!
Sounds like you’re on Ritalin? You might try name brand Concerta (NO GENERICS!!). It’s just extended release Ritalin in a fancy patented delivery mechanism that all the generics can’t copy. It lasts all day and I just have to remember to take it before noon once per day.
I’m on generic right now and it’s been alright for me. Maybe name brand would work better but it’s just unaffordable, for me it would have been almost 500$/mo
A bunch of generic Concerta drugs were removed from the market awhile back and several more sprung up. They’re nowhere near the same and the quality is garbage. I was on one in college while on state insurance. They use some older release mechanism from like the 80s using a pinhole on one side and half of my true generic pills didn’t even have a visible hole. I ended up in the ER because one released all at once at like 7pm, and I thought I was dying due to excessive adrenaline.
Same as Vyvanse (lisdexamphetamine, IIRC?)? There will likely be some generics in the US in a few months since their patent/exclusive rights are about to expire. Not sure if it might be similar in other parts of the world, but it may be worth looking into if you’re paying much out of pocket. With some pretty decent insurance I’m paying $50 each time I get a refill, without insurance here it’s something like $400
If you make less than a certain amount per year, Vyvanse is free.
I have no clue what out of pocket is these days, but my insurance only charges me $12 for name brand Concerta. I know at one time there was an authorized generic sold by Janssen I believe was their name, but it’s still the same patented pill. That might be what my prescription is filled as.
PSA for anyone who cares: Authorized Generics are the name brand sold cheaper. True Generics are a completely different pill sold as “bio-identical”.
Don’t quote me on this last bit, but I believe bio identical only has to be like 80% similar, which is why so many generics cause so many problems for so many people
I wish we could get Concerrta in Taiwan. It’s only Ritalin.
Part of ADHD. You forget things, beneficial or not. I usually realize when I’m on the way to work, then do the math of turning around for it, and how late I’ll be if I do.
I’ll just add that routine is in itself a major challenge - for me, I don’t have routines as much as I have laying things out in a way that reminds me to do things regularly. For my meds, I just take it once in the morning, but the one routine I try my best to maintain is flipping the pill bottle upside down. If it’s upside down, there’s a high chance I either took it, or forgot to flip it before bed, but it’s a visual reminder so that I don’t need to actively remember to take them on routine, but if I see the pill bottle in a state, I know what action to take.
That’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve seen family members try to understand. I’m not trying to imply anything about you, this is just a related example, but I’ve had family members see my ADHD family members as just being lazy or intentionally ignoring things, or thinking they’re just selfish or whatever. The problem is, even if it’s beneficial, a part of ADHD is not having control over where your memory and focus is being put. You may want something, but that doesn’t mean you’ll sustain attention or effort to achieve it, and conversely you may place it in places you really don’t care about to a very consuming degree…
By the way, they make medicine bottle caps that have a timer showing when it was last opened. Super handy for this.
One of the downsides of adhd is, if left untreated, it can lead to substance abuse. One of the upsides is it’s easier to “forget” that you’re addicted to something. I once forget to drink caffeine for a few weeks. Just slipped my mind. I still had the withdrawal symptoms. Headaches, low energy etc., but my brain would not connect the withdrawal to the substance, because from my perspective caffeine did not exist. It was a weird experience.
I’ve done that a few times. I also quit smoking that way when I ran out of cigs, didn’t buy more right away, then forgot to ever buy more. I started back up months later, switched to vaping, then forgot about that too when I moved the vape from it’s designated spot to an area of the house I don’t frequent.
I often forget mine.
That, or I cannot, for the life of me, remember whether or not I actually took my medication. Or locked the door of my apartment, or my car.
Both patterns are a fairly classical presentation of ADHD.
I have a phone app (MediSafe IIRC) that has both reminders and tracking.
Though it’s not 100% perfect. It’s still easy sometimes to get distracted for too long.
Ah, but what happens when I take the medication, and then forget where my phone is, or to use the app, or get distracted by something on lem-
Oh no
It is absolutely a thing. Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness, short attention span, etc. are common symptoms of ADHD. The meds generally wear off at the end of the day, so by the time the next day rolls around, you’re back at baseline, which includes the forgetfulness.
ADHD can be incredibly debilitating and I think it’s something that most people don’t really grasp despite how well-known the disorder is.
Just to add on, since it’s a stimulant, it has to be taken before a certain time every day. Unlike something like antidepressants, which if you miss a dose you take it as soon as you can, if you miss a stimulant, you can’t take it again until the next day
Autistic person jumping in - we too may have issues remembering to do beneficial things like take meds, eat and drink, and even use the bathroom (thankfully usually the body gives a stern reminder before it’s too late with that one lol).
Routine is important to many autistics, but personally to me, it isn’t really time dependant, so I have the same breakfast every day but it might not be at the same time every day (don’t sleep well, sleep patter varies widely), so taking pills at the same time each day is asking me to use a system I don’t usually (go by body signals as best I can tell and order of actions, not by time). I hope that makes some sort of sense?You can’t take it past a certain time or you won’t sleep. It’s not like antidepressants where you can take it at any time. If it’s 11am and I remember why I’m so spacey, I gotta wait until tomorrow.
It’s actually super easy to forget to take your meds. I have autism not adhd but my daughter has adhd. She is chaotic and can’t keep to a routine. She tries, but you know how it goes. I forget to take mine when my routine gets changed which has happened a lot lately.
I’m with you on this one, but everyone experiences this differently. I have never forgotten a single dose since I started about 5 years ago. The difference with and without medication is night and day, I’m barely at 20% functionality without them, and 90-100% with.
It’s so much easier to be distracted and completely lose track of time with ADHD. Your mind doesn’t necessarily think about things that are “boring” like taking medicine. Or even eating. So you forget to do it. I literally have reminders on my phone to make sure I eat because I have gone days without eating until someone noticed me looking all fucked up.
That’s a mood. If I didn’t have a proper eating routine, I would routinely forget to eat (as I sometimes do anyway!)
Or sometimes I’ll remember I need to take my meds or whatever. But I get distracted by something and immediately forget. Over and over.
I always want to wait till I eat to take my meds and then I forget to eat and then I forget my meds
Or me this morning… "Did, I take my meds this morning? My water was on the counter right next to where my meds are, no I definitely didn’t take my meds… right? No, i totally didn’t, but what if I did? [Proceeds to count out pills in bottle.] For the record… I did take it.
Pill caddies are great for keeping track. There’s a good reason why old people use them.
What day is it?
Oh dear lord, that is my least favorite thing about pill caddies, lol. Especially when the labels have worn off, and I’m sitting there poking the braille like: “You’d think I would recognize the patterns by now, given that the labels disappeared like, a year ago…”
… actually, no, that’s my second least favorite thing about pill caddies. My actual least favorite is that mine are not waterproof. Ask me how I know, lol.
Pill containers for one day is also good. Stick whatever you need to take in there in the morning, go about your day. If you have pockets you’ll feel it there and remember to check.
I still manage to forget to take the green pill come noon sometimes though.
I unapologetically have pill caddies for my morning, noon, and night pills–no way I’d remember or keep track without them.
I take alternating doses of thyroid meds and I would be so messed up without my caddy.
My SO keeps telling me to get one… lol I think it’s time.
Did you ever get one?
Yeah, just posted another comment, but I have my bottle flipping trick. If it’s upright before the afternoon, I didn’t take it. I take it, and flip the bottle upside down. Then if I see the bottle upside down after noon, I flip it upright.
I still have days where I need to try to mentally piece together, “Did I drink water? How thirsty was I? Was I really thirsty, and just drank to hydrate and NOT take my pill or did I drink to take the pill and forgot to flip it? Did I take it and just forget to eat? How much have I been singing on repeat this morning?”
That is a hot tip!
Ugh, the times I had to count my stupid pills to determine if I took the dose or not.
I’ve only been on meds since like march and I have to say it’s been over 7-10 times already… lol
Lmao this is me. Maybe I do have ADHD…
I sure am addicted to being able to function normally every day.
We will give you just the right amount and you need to remember to call your doctor, make sure to get a confirmation of the prescription renewal, check with your pharmacy that they received it. Go and get your medication. All that within 3 days of you running out. Also the pharmacy is out of your medication and we’ll get it on about 4 to 7 days. Now you need to remember to call them to check if they received it every day. And that’s how I spent two weeks without meds. I didn’t feel any withdraw, but my wife had to constantly remind me to do things that I could do without reminder while I took them. This is the dumbest system ever.
Absolutely. The only way I ever remember to take my ADHD meds is by them working as intended.
Turns out that being able to more or less function in a society designed for neurotypicals IS kinda addictive!
Yeah, every time I have to get any other medicine I’m always blown away. The doctor is just like “what pharmacy do you go to?” Like, uh, excuse me? They just phone it in??? I have to physically take a physical piece of paper and physically go to the pharmacy but you’re telling me the norm is to just call it in???
God dammit. I haven’t been diagnosed but literally every single post to the letter sounds like me.
I REALLY need to get medicated.
This meme literally doesn’t apply to you then!
Jokes aside: It was the memes that piqued my curiosity, then got me reading more formal sources, took an ADHD self test which I scored fairly high on but there were a few things I didn’t really see in myself. Waited a year to see if it was just me obsessed wiith another idea that would go away like all the others after a week or two.
Well I couldn’t shake the feeling and now that i knew some of the symptoms to look for, I was noticing the symptoms I hadn’t thought applied to me before.
Anyway, I went to a doctor and a therapist and am now, for the first time in my life, developing positive routines and habits and enjoying things that aren’t exceptionally interesting.
tldr: saw myself in a meme, doc agreed, now i take pills that make life easier.
A big part for me was also going through the DSM-5 and using that to diagnose myself using the official criteria. Ended up finally getting medication that works for me (after fighting the US healthcare system for like a year) and I take it when I need to focus up for the day, assuming I actually remember to take it.
DSM-5 via Anna’s Archive (I’m on mobile right now so I haven’t checked how good this pdf is but there are a bunch of other versions if this doesn’t work)
So uh, what was that self test you took?
I kinda want to be a bit more sure myself before going to doctors and such, because a lot I’ve heard about ADHD seems eerily familiar. (Heck, more familiar than Asperger’s which I actually HAVE been diagnosed with, but I heard the two tend to go hand in hand anyway. Would like more sources on that, though.)
I don’t think I specifically took this one, but the questions look the same. add.org’s ADHD questionnaire Best of luck!
You should probably get diagnosed before medicated. ADHD has overlap with a ton of other mental illnesses. Maybe you’re autistic. Maybe you have BPD. Or are bipolar. Or just depressed.
Always see a doctor before taking medication.
Thank you, I forgot to take my meds today LMAO
Dont get me started on this
Adhdictive
*I'll see myself out*I definitely forget to take my meds sometimes but I usually always remember if I took them or not at least
I’ve seen so many people without ADHD describe taking Adderall, making it sound like the god damn drug from Limitless (and is probably what inspired that movie TBH), and then people who take it for ADHD also sound like they gained the super power of “not fucking up constantly.”
So I’ve wanted to try the shit even before I found out I had ADHD myself, and want to try it especially now that I know I have ADHD.
That’s just an ADHD thing. They can do a line of coke and all it does it allow them to feel like they don’t have ADHD for a little while.
Take upvote
Already downvoted. This is like Reddit
Maybe because “take upvote” doesn’t contribute at all to the discussion. I mean, that’s literally the point of the upvote, you don’t need to comment as well if you’re not adding anything that other people want to see
How bout those of us who forget to pick your meds up for a month and then need a new script written because controlled substance scripts only last for 30 days?
