this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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ADHD

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Do y’all ever feel anxious about taking medication and just stop for prolonged periods of time?

I’ve stopped my meds for 6 months for reasons I’m struggling to discern… And I also have a tendency to skip doses and save my pills in a stash I never touch. I’m not even sure if most of them are useable because they’re so old… For some context, I’ve been using Adderall XR 20mg for 10 years now so I have a pretty good idea of how it affects me.

I finally took one of the newer pills today and I feel unbearably anxious about it, even before doing so. And it’s not like I’m anti-medication or anything, I’ve encouraged others to get tested and medicated because it substantially increases quality of life but there’s something about it that personally is causing distress.

Just looking for some insight with others that have felt the same.

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[–] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

Yes and no. I had a heart issue a couple of years ago and stopped taking my meds during that process because they can interfere with heart function in theory. That said, I think I am living up on part of your anxiety. Are you afraid that if you get used to them, get used to functioning with them on board, and then they get taken away you will be unable to function but be expected to based on recent performance?

I have had some of that anxiety and it is reasonable. People do tend to see your "new normal" and "normal" after a fairly short time. Their expectations change and their tolerance for you struggling goes down in some ways because they start relying in your performance at that higher level.

It is really unfair but that is something that happens. I have however found some ways around this anxiety. I have built better systems while using my meds that work better for off my meds too. I have automated some things, make others easier to do, and honestly stopped doing a bunch of things I used to do at all. By doing this I have reduced the demand on me on the other days.

If you can use your meds to make life easier for when you are off the meds I think you will feel the anxiety lessen.

Also, depending on where you are and local laws, stockpiling a very small amount, maybe one month ahead or something, can be very helpful. I try to buy my next dose as soon as I can and have ended up with about one month of buffer. Now if my meds are unavailable at the pharmacy I can just not stress and use my backup. Because I rotate through they never get stale and I am never holding more than two months of meds, so I am not in a weird situation of having years of meds to explain away. Be careful of your local laws and so on, it is legal here but may not be there, so don't get yourself in trouble.

Also, consider non medication supports. For me that is heavy work like weight lifting as well as eating far less sugar. Consider having a reasonable source of caffeine available and keeping your usage down so you don't built a tolerance to it. If you are out of meds caffeine can help for some people such as myself, nowhere near as good as meds but much better than nothing.