NokiMo
Douglas Miller
Douglas Miller

patreon


Progress! MiP new chapters will resume later this week

In brief: My Adderall issues have finally been resolved, definitively, as of yesterday. I am writing the next chapter, on track to finish it within the next few days at most.

For anyone who would like more details:

As I posted about two weeks ago, the Adderall I had in March was only about 1/3 effective for me, and that made writing as much as I wanted to difficult. I got a new batch two and a half weeks ago, and I made certain it was from a different manufacturer.

Turns out, the new manufacturer was even worse. It felt like I was taking caffeine pills. The Adderall from that manufacturer would wake me up a bit, but did nothing for my ability to focus.

Last week, I finally did something that I realized I should have done last month: I called my old pharmacy, from before I moved, and asked them what manufacturer I had usually gotten from them. Then I started calling nearby pharmacies to ask if they could fill a prescription for Adderall specifically from that manufacturer. It took 6 or 7 of them before I finally found one that answered yes.

I made an appointment with my psychiatrist, told her the details, and convinced her that the situation justified an exception to the normal 30 days interval before a new prescription. That appointment was yesterday, and I went straight from her office to the pharmacy. I took my first new dose from that manufacturer with my lunch yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, I wrote more than in the entire last two and a half weeks! It was even easy!

Sadly, half a day isn't enough to write a whole chapter, even with this vastly more effective Adderall, so the chapter isn't done yet. I'm making good progress on it, however, so I'm sure I will finish it within the next few days. Possibly even tomorrow, though I'm not sure about that. I will post it as soon as I finish it.

Comments

Irrelevant. What I was suggesting isnt monitoring of the public, its monitoring of state employees. Literally a kind of check on their activities. State employees get the authority to breach peoples natural rights so them being treated as potential threats when they might abuse that authority is entirely justified in my opinion.

Maakolo

Any attempt to justify "monitoring the publics thoughts for seditious or criminal thoughts" is not going to be well recieved by anyone who is not a government enforcement officer. The monitoring alone is a severe violation of privacy and constitutes a massive breach of trust. Even if you are actually able to find a truly nonpartisan entity to do the monitoring; even if you only use it for catching active criminals engaged in crime or who have done previously; even if there is no abuse whatsoever of the system, in any way, shape, or form, just the monitoring alone is incredibly unethical.

Carl Mason

Doesnt really matter. This kind of observation isnt inherently unethical. The reason its considered "bad" is because its very risky for governments to engage in this behaviour, since they have a tendency to become tyrannical and abuse the power that is the surveillance. The surveillance itself isn't unethical.

Maakolo

Policing someone's thoughts and opinions sounds even worse. The "this violates human rights" kind of worse.

TeFiLeDo

Not to sound insensitive, though I am such and do sound so, because your mental and general health are more important than chapters, but when do you project "later this week" arriving?

Carl Mason

Not exactly, it could be like an if statement curse placed on the bonded target. If their spirits manifest those concepts in intent, then the bond would send a signal to purple.

Maakolo

That sounds awfully similar to 24/7 surveillance.

TeFiLeDo

I have a suggestion for one of Purple's soul structures, if you're still open to them. A soul structure that allows Purple to detect betrayal, dishonesty, and malice from those who are bonded. This can allow their house to stay stable for generations. Since it will be purple governing this it would be up to him to decide whether he should report it or not as well.

Maakolo

Man, people tried to get me on adderal but I always had a gut feelings it messes with you long term, so I stopped after the first tablet.

Maakolo

Yay! Also, when will we see the sudo/su, Just, please don't tell me that sudo rm -rf / is a thing

viperfan7

Wow what an adventure in itself! I’m glad things are getting better and you figure out what was going on with your meditation!

Scott Snyder

Glad things are going better now

Some BS Deity

This is really well laod out advise, thank you greatly!

Beeees!

Check the bottle label of your current highly-effective batch. The manufacturer is probably printed on that label somewhere. If it's not there, call your pharmacy and ask them what manufacturer they filled that specific batch with. The pharmacy's records should *definitely* have that info. Once you've identified that manufacturer, *memorize it*! Then right before the next time you see your doctor, call as many pharmacies as it takes to find one that can get you that manufacturer, and if it's not your usual pharmacy then print or write that pharmacy's name, address, and phone number to bring as notes for your doctor. Tell your doctor about the differences you've noticed, ask for all future prescriptions to specify that they must be filled with that manufacturer, and have them send your new prescription(s) to the pharmacy that has the manufacturer you need. If your ADHD is anywhere near as bad as mine, and has a variation in Adderall effectiveness anywhere near as large as mine, this could be one of the most important things in your life right now.

Douglas Miller

Damn, this saga has made me realize how innefective some of my adderall has been. Thought it was just me feeling worse, but my current batch is so much more effective than my last couple

Beeees!

That's the goal.

Douglas Miller

Also note that, on rare occasions, unmedicated ADHD can instead cause the *complete opposite* of what I described - an intense, *obsessive* focus on a single thing for several hours, or even multiple days, interrupted only by sleep and other similarly essential things. This is called hyperfocus. It can be a wonderful and amazing thing when it happens, but it generally cannot be triggered intentionally. I have personally experienced hyperfocus several times in my life. Each time it happened, I achieved an *incredible* amount of progress in a very short time on whatever thing my hyperfocus fastened itself onto. If I hyperfocused on writing, I could write 2 or even 3 entire chapters *per day*. Unfortunately, I cannot *choose* to hyperfocus. It just *happens* sometimes, and I have no control over when.

Douglas Miller

2 weeks+ no chapter really need to see some Saturday chapters again for a few weeks

Lacrimosa

Remember that scene in BttF part 2, with all those TV channels playing at once, picture that, but 10 times the channels, and they change at random. And the audio for them all is at the same volume. Some of them are just static, and randomly, one channel will go full screen and it turns into the brainwashing scene from clockwork orange for the next 10 hours, until things go back to normal. And sometimes, that one is just static

viperfan7

It feels natural, but it's not boredom or lack of interest. It's an excessive ease of switching the focus of your attention, to such an extreme degree that changing focus can happen almost without even realizing it, and certainly without making an intentional conscious decision. Without medication, my attempts to write tend to go something like this: - I start thinking about what to write and how to word it. - A somewhat similar section in another story I've read springs to mind. I reminisce to myself about that story for a couple minutes. - I put that other story out of mind and refocus on writing. I write maybe a sentence or two. - A notification about a new chapter of another story pops up. I read that chapter. - I pull up my writing document again. - The idea of how fun playing a game for a bit would be springs to mind, unbidden. Without really thinking about it, I open a game and play for 20 minutes. - I idly wonder what's on the news, and I check a news website. I read a few articles out of curiosity. - I scold myself for wasting time and go back to my writing document. - I mentally review my plans for the current scene I'm writing. - It occurs to me that I haven't checked my email in a while. I check my email. - I go back to my writing document. - A related scene that's planned for later in the story comes to mind, and I think about that other scene for a few minutes. - I feel a little hungry and go grab a snack. - I come back to my writing document. - I refresh my memory on the scene I was writing. - I reread part of an earlier chapter, remembering how much I enjoyed writing that chapter. - I think about how I'm looking forward to seeing people's reactions to the new chapter I'm writing. - Thinking about having fun brings a game to mind again, and I play for 10 minutes. - I check my email again, just because. - etc. - I realize that it's been 2 whole hours, and I've barely written anything. Note that, throughout the entirety of those 2 hours, I actively want to write, and when I actually do write, I enjoy doing it. Most of the various diversions from writing kind of just *happen*, almost by reflex, not by conscious decision.

Douglas Miller

Thanks for answering

Irakli Jishkariani

I'm taking immediate release, not XR. In any case, I just searched on Yelp for pharmacies near my location, and kept picking another one on the list and calling it until one of them finally answered my question of "Are you able to get Adderall manufactured by X?" with "Yes, we have that in stock right now." P.S. When I picked up the prescription, I asked if they could be a reliable source for it every time. They said that they can't *guarantee* it, but the manufacturer I need is their usual one, and it's the one they have about 90% of the time.

Douglas Miller

Personally, it's usually just a complete inability to stay on-task without lots of effort - you're kinda wrangling a toddler who just wants to go watch a fun documentary into doing something else, except that toddler has 100% awareness of everything you could possibly try to convince it otherwise. Also that toddler will steal your short term memory the moment you stop watching it. You will completely forget you were even doing something. I just realised I have two full cups of cold tea, because I made one, forgot, made another, then saw this comment and replied, completely forgotting about the other tea as well. Personally meds kinda quiet the toddler down and make it a lot easier to retain things when switching tasks, so it's easier to stick on one task and I don't forget everything the moment I go to do something new.

evillittleweirdguy

I'm interested about what adhd feels like. I mean, what it felt like before you started taking medicine. Did it have natural feeling like being bored or uninterested or something like that, or did it feel like issue from the start that needs treatment?

Irakli Jishkariani

I’ve had a terrible time just trying to get Adderall XR at all. Do you have any tips on how you navigated the search for a pharmacy that has what you need?

Michael Wilson

Hmm. I'll direct message you, then.

Douglas Miller

I know. I just wanted to compare my own list against yours to see if we share the same phenotype. I have channels to Takeda and some of the other big pharma places and wanted to follow up. Maybe get a prospective biomarker study going.

Jade Felicity Bilkey

If the variations in effectiveness depended only on the manufacturer, I would. In that scenario, I would also be reporting them to the FDA. However, the information I've found about this issue seems clear that it depends on the combination of both the manufacturer and the patient. A manufacturer that works terribly for me can simultaneously be the best one for someone else. It's not a matter of good and bad manufacturers, but rather of compatible and incompatible manufacturers. Each ADHD patient who is affected by this issue unfortunately has to experiment to find their own personal best-for-them manufacturer.

Douglas Miller

Yeah, I think it's ridiculous that I can't just pick whatever pharmacy is convenient for me, hand them the prescription that specifies "Must be X manufacturer", and have them get it for me. That should be treated the same as the stipulation that it must be Adderall (or the generic version of it). A requirement that the prescribing doctor must have assessed that the manufacturer truly does make a difference for this particular patient would be reasonable, but when that determination has been made, the system should be designed to ensure that whichever pharmacy the patient uses can get the specific medicine the patient needs. Also, it's annoying that my insurance wouldn't cover the sooner-than-normal new prescription. I only had to pay an extra $45, though, so I'm not sure if it's worth trying to argue with my insurance company about it.

Douglas Miller

Glad to hear you got it sorted out, dealing with medicine can be such a pain in the neck

DittoMikko

Any chance you'd like to share which manufacturers you went through?

Jade Felicity Bilkey

I am glad your health has returned to you, and a big hug

Sebastiano Carcangiu

It's really sad that we have to do that sort of thing to manage our own healthcare when we're overpaying for the privilege. Even worse that we put the burden on those that already have executive dysfunction.

Mike

Glad to hear that you have the Adderall you want and need now, really looking forward to the future chapters 😄

Kana Pama

I'm so happy you got it solved!

Green0Photon

Glad you are back on track with your medical support! That is great news

Ashley Wallis

Yay!

Maurice Brown


Related Creators