Weirdly Successful
Dedicated to helping you understand, navigate and enjoy your weird & wonderful neurodivergent life.
Titration is when together with your medical professional you trial different types of medications and the doctor then adjusts the dose based on your experience.
The goal is to have as many of the benefits as possible without the side effects or to find a balance where the benefits still outweigh the drawbacks of the less uncomfortable side effects.
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Does coffee calm you down instead of waking you up? ADHD brains can respond to stimulants by settling down.
Caffeine acts on the same dopamine pathways as ADHD medication. So it would make sense that coffee can work as a viable stimulant, but research found it helps less than you think, and it can get worse over time.
Yes, and no. Whether supplements can help with your ADHD depends on where the support need is for you when it comes to your dopamine system.
SSRIs are a type of antidepressant, the name stands for Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. They are often successfully used to treat OCD, PMDD, anxiety, PTSD and depression.
Diagnostic criteria are prerequisites for a diagnosis: in the case of neurodivergence, they are the presentations and traits an assessor is looking for when diagnosing a person with a neurodivergent condition.
Co-occurrence means that certain neurodivergent traits and conditions naturally tend to appear together. When you're neurodivergent in one way, you're more likely to experience other forms of neurodivergence too - research shows this happens in up to 70% of cases. These patterns extend beyond just neurodevelopmental differences to include physical health and mental health experiences. Understanding co-occurrence is vital because it helps explain how different aspects of neurodivergence connect, leading to better self-understanding and more effective support. While traditional healthcare often treats conditions separately, recognizing these natural connections can transform how you advocate for your needs and access appropriate care.
Self-medication means using substances — consciously or not — to regulate brain states. Many unidentified or late-identified neurodivergent adults reach for caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine because these act on the same neurochemistry that works differently in their brains.
Related Questions
“Why does coffee make me sleepy when I have ADHD?”
“Does caffeine help with ADHD?”
“Can supplements help with ADHD?”
Related Glossary Terms
SSRIs
diagnostic criteria
co-occurring conditions
self-medication
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