bootstrapping

They are both CNS stimulants, but one is believed to be primarily a NDRI and the other a slow-release prodrug for a TAAR1 agonist. I have somewhat dissimilar responses to each, and the variation in utility is sufficiently well correlated to the varying needs of work vs life, that I can allocate one to workdays, and the other to the weekend and holidays, and find myself maximising the benefits.

What's more, holidays from either (inadvertent or otherwise) have not provoke the catastrophic withdrawal sometimes described, for me it's more of a reversion to type.

And at the risk of labouring the point, this all comes with a whopping YMMV notice. In particular, I am not reliant on self-assessment; I am privileged enough to have access to both psychiatric and familial help that is willing, able, and qualified, to provide external observation.

This is a furphy. None of the comments here containing the word "calm" have, on review, made that claim. They are all personal anecdotal observations. Indeed there are also dissimilar observations. This is consistent with my experience of discussion within ADHD-specific forums, at least in part because people aren't generally so stupid as to generalise their personal experience to a universal ambit claim.

Neither is such a statement made on the product labels.

I have seen such absolute statements along such lines made in the popular press and their online equivalent, but I'd rather leave toilet paper out of the discussion.

So by all means, do not believe the statement is true, but understand that there is, in fact, no broad acceptance or community belief of such an absolute statement being true, and furthermore, rather crucially, that what you may believe has no bearing whatsoever on the veracity of individual experiences.

Consequently, even the anecdotal reports have continuing clinical relevance, because:

* Medicine is the field of treating a patient, and if the result is a better adjusted, rested, and socially engaged individual, then any such observed effect for the individual patient calls for psychiatric consideration. What such effects are not, is diagnostic, or the basis for a product claim; and,

* Science is the field of explaining phenomena, and the reports are not adequately explained by the research, in large part because the wide gamut of behaviours, symptoms, mechanisms, measures, and outcomes collectively labelled "ADHD" are themselves a very poorly explained and haphazardly classified selection of neurological variations from the population majority. This being, of course, a very common circumstance in the young field of psychiatry.

All of which means there is no such paper, and besides, no-one is even writing one.

> Take regular breaks from the medication

As others have said, this is definitely something you must discuss with your personal brain care specialist first.

What others have not suggested, and again this is something I have been able to arrange in conjunction with my shrink, is medication switching. Since each has slightly different benefits, I use a different medication on a workday than at the weekend or holiday/social time.

In this regard I've been fortunate to have access to a healthcare system, and specialists, that respect the individual and aren't reflexively invoking a) cookie-cutter solutions, or b) contrived histrionics about substances with abuse potential. The only raised eyebrow came from my pharmacist: "You're on both of these?" "Yes, but on different days, not together." "No worries".

NB: I'm hesitant to specify which medications, because individual responses vary dramatically, and advice gleaned from one person's experience may be exactly wrong for another.

I'll echo this; I'm a serial founder who was diagnosed with ADHD in his mid-forties. The stimulant medications do not make me "high", do not provide any kind of buzz. Rather, they have a moderating effect. Explaining this requires correcting the misunderstandings in the public realm of how adult ADHD presents, but in nutshell:

* The (largely mental) hyperactivity is controllable, that is, I retain my creative ideas generation and interest in new things, but I am no longer governed by it, and

* The rarely discussed hyperfocus behaviour (which I frankly regard as a superpower) is more easily snapped out of.

To the uninformed, the most paradoxical outcome is that I can take a powerful stimulant medication, lie down in bed, and fall asleep easily, when normally I'd be staring at the ceiling pondering anything from CSS to soldering and unable to sleep for the rush of ideas.

This response to medication is not diagnostic, but it is indicative that the medication I have is correct. Moreover it allows me to both retain the two traits that have made me a successful systems maker, but permits a less chaotic engagement with the neurotypical-oriented processes of modern human society, so for example I renew my passport before it expires.

I self-medicated with a variety of over-the-counter substances for decades, including nicotine, sugar, and coffee. I am super grateful for the medication since I have now dropped the nicotine and sugar.

My psychiatrist believes the condition is a) misnamed, and would be better titled "Attention Difference Disorder", and b) points out that the twin traits of rapid ideas switching and hyperfocus are only a problem in some aspects of engagement with modern society and that in an pre-agrarian society they'd be excellent traits for a hunter.

If he or she does have some good ideas later, that real-world industry experience might come in handy.

That's one thing about bootstrapping, your P&L practically mirrors the cashflow statement so we had to be profitable from the get-go. We're well past that take-off stage where I was unsure if the business was going to fly or not, so now I'm following the Bezos strategy of re-investing all earnings back into the company (sure beats coughing up income taxes). So yes, with the caveat that I'm not paying myself a cent, since as majority shareholder I think of equity as my comp, it's profitable.

It helped a lot that on Day One we had $5000 of AWS credits, two founders with spare time and tons of business & tech experience, a market segment ripe for the picking, an enthusiastic (and well-connected) launch customer for the MVP, and disruptive home-grown IP that created more customer value (even in MVP form) than anything else on the market. I couldn't have asked for better initial conditions for a bootstrapped company.

(yes I was surprised the account ID wasn't taken already. maybe I won't throw it away)

> bootstrapping success stories often remain unknown

Bingo. I don't even want to be noticed (hence this throwaway account).

My startup has taken over an entire national B2B SaaS market segment but our major competitor hasn't realised yet. They deal in many segments and are a classic incumbent dinosaur, and were recently acquired so their attention is elsewhere. We've done no marketing, never been mentioned in any press, raised no capital. All growth purely by referrals. The more market share we can collect before the dinosaur notices I kicked its tail, the better. We're 100% bootstrapped, debt and dilution free and planning to stay that way, and to remain submarine as long as possible. As a result I'm entirely focused on serving our customers and improving the platform and our organisation to suit them, not running around wasting founder energy chasing investors and trying to dress up the company to look pretty for VCs.