Comment by volemo

4 months ago

The country I live in prohibits stimulants and moving is not an option for the time being. What are my options besides atomoxetine?

32 comments

volemo

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CuriousRose  4 months ago

Fringe product, not geared for ADHD specifically. But look at Gorilla Mind Rush/Smooth depending on your stimulant tolerance. In your position you don't have many efficacious options, but this works for me as diagnosed ADHD probably 60% as good as the low dose stimulant medication I take.

scns  4 months ago

Bupropion would be one. Helps with quitting smoking, which around 50% of ADDers do, too.

  • tonyarkles  4 months ago

    I posted elsewhere in the thread about my late diagnosis. When I was much younger than when I was diagnosed, I was on Bupropion for smoking cessation and it had a pretty significant positive effect for me with respect to my ADHD symptoms (which I didn’t recognize as ADHD at the time). Definitely worth exploring; it doesn’t work for everyone but it can be quite effective if it does work for you.

    • code_biologist  4 months ago

      I would second your suggestion to investigate bupropion. More than a decade ago I was suffering from severe depression. Psychiatrists with meds were an easy-to-access front line treatment, but I was very concerned about SSRI side effects, particularly erectile side effects. It didn't take much persuading to have the psychiatrist prescribe bupropion instead of an SSRI. I too felt it helped with my then undiagnosed ADHD a lot.

      As a note, bupropion did make me feel a little funny. It wasn't bad, weird, or intolerable, but yes I did have a faint perceptual awareness that I was in a medicated state.

      7 replies →

  • steve_adams_86  4 months ago

    I have to say, buproprion had severe, life-threatening side effects for me. I'm not in a typically high-risk group for psychotic symptoms, but it caused me to become quite agitated and delusional.

    It feels strange to type that now, and I know these side effects are quite rare, but I can't help but warn people when I see it mentioned. It was genuinely the most terrifying experience of my life.

    It happened about 6 weeks into treatment, quite acutely. I wasn't even aware it was happening.

talys_cat  4 months ago

a) try to find a way to fill declaration of prescribed medications for customs and for police. (let the google/llm and local adhd communities help you) Find verified cases of how that have worked for others in your particular country. Sometimes workarounds exists, but it would take some paperwork

b) plan a trip to the Turkey, find a specialist there, get the prescription, do all the paperwork/preparations before going back

c) fill all the papers and get the approval at customs even if they didn't know about that before - prepare all the necessary links to official documents, as maybe you would have to explain them how to do their job

p.s. I know that feeling. Atomoxetine is full of side effects without direct effects.

RossBencina  4 months ago

Bupropion, Guanfacine, Clonidine, Modafinil. Check out John Kruse on YouTube for explanation of these and others.

  • volemo  4 months ago

    Thanks, but Bupropion and Modafinil are also banned over here. I’ll look into the other two.

Otek  4 months ago

Caffeine perhaps? Yerba mate? Also CBT therapy on its own is pretty good.

  • volemo  4 months ago

    Yes, caffeine works but I’m very cautious not to build up tolerance, i.e. I’m afraid that if I start drinking tea/coffee regularly, it’ll loose the jolt it gives me now and I’ll just become addicted.

whycome  4 months ago

Nicotine. But not the smokeable kind. And low dosage. But not if you’re likely to get addicted. The absurdity is that your country definitely makes it legal for historical reasons rather than useful less addicting stimulants.

  • cardanome  4 months ago

    Nicotine is amazing... for a week. Then you will be chasing the dragon forever. Tolerance builds up crazy fast and doesn't meaningfully lower even when you cease smoking for years.

    Plus pretty bad for your health and crazy addictive. Absolutely not a good recommendation.

    • whycome  4 months ago

      > Tolerance builds up crazy fast and doesn't meaningfully lower even when you cease smoking for years.

      I specified not smoking it though?

      > Plus pretty bad for your health and crazy addictive. Absolutely not a good recommendation

      You’re saying that it’s “bad for health” as something separate from its addiction potential?

      How is it bad for your health exactly?

      Also, ‘Crazy addictive’ is related to delivery method.

      Also, there may be critical differences to people who have never smoked before.

  • uberduper  4 months ago

    It wasn't till I quit nicotine that I began to struggle with undiagnosed adhd. I wish there was a way to make nicotine safe and non-addictive. I think it was far more effective to spike my nicotine level and tackle a task than adderall twice a day has been. Vaping was huge for controlled nicotine consumption.

  • lII1lIlI11ll  4 months ago

    You are being down-voted by people making big claims ("pretty bad for your health and crazy addictive", "nicotine is ridiculously addictive") without any proofs. In fact, I challenge anyone making such claims to reference a scientific study proving either of major addictive potential or significant health concerns of _nicotine patches_ since OP specifically mentioned "not the smokeable kind" of nicotine.

    • zozbot234  4 months ago

      I mean, tobacco smoke is terrible for anyone's health but even nicotine on its own is not exactly good for you. It's definitely a stimulant and can give you the kinds of side effects you might expect from any stimulant, including a raised BP and heart rate.

      3 replies →