Anecdotally, I've watched a lot of friends and colleagues go through this exact cycle: Going on meds and then just focusing more intensely on their distractions. I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill.
It's a trap that took me too long to figure out, and one I still fall into quite often (the period between taking a pill and it kicking in is long enough that I may habitually start procrastinating), but wrt. differences in my life on vs. off meds, in times when I feel similar to what GP described, I'm reassured by my wife who can smell me taking a med break even if I don't tell her, because from her POV, I change for the worse in the scope of a day or two. She sees the change even before I feel it.
> I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill.
As much as I believe the meds are a net benefit overall (they definitely are for me), I 100% agree with this sentiment.
I stopped when I caught myself in a deep dive about the different types of flour in Germany.
It also affected my mood in really unpleasant ways, both for me and people around me. And it gave me a productivity boost at work at the expense of my life past 4PM.
Nowadays I just have a coffee before work.
... shit, that was today for me. Oops. (But in all fairness, I'm still recovering from a flu.)
It's like accidentally giving yourself a small burn when pulling things out of an oven, vs. having a 2nd degree burns on half of your body. Technically the same thing, but scale matters.
You'll do everything you can to avoid it first though, until the stress of the deadline overweighs the dread to start.