[tonyarkles]

Having recently started low dose Concerta about 3 weeks ago after an ADHD diagnosis at 37, I can’t really say anything directly about productivity yet. What I can say is that, for me, it has made the non-interesting parts of work and life way easier to do: paying bills, keeping the house tidier, sitting in status meetings, carefully reading through project plans and requirements documents, managing unread email, etc. Additionally, I have made exactly zero impulse purchases since starting, which would generally not be the case over a 3 week period.

Many people report feelings of “wearing glasses for the first time” after their first few doses of either amphetamine or methylphenidate. I haven’t had that kind of wow moment yet, but there has definitely been a subtle shift in my behaviour.

[nicoburns]

I don't think it's at all controversial that it has this effect in the short term.

The questions are:

(1) Is the effect unique to people with ADHD, or does everyone get this focus boost?

(2) Is the effect sustainable over the long term, or are you just building up to an eventual crash where you have to wean yourself off the drugs very painfully.

I don't really have any firm opinions on the answers, but I do think that your first few weeks of experience doesn't count for much.

[tonyarkles]

I absolutely agree that the first few weeks don’t count for much, and am very curious to see how this all pans out in the long term.

What I can contribute to #1 is that, apparently (per my psychiatrist), people who experiment with drugs sometimes discover that drugs like cocaine and amphetamine behave quite differently for them than with non-ADHD people; instead of getting ramped up, they find it calms them down. Of course, with a sufficiently high dose they’ll get ramped up too, but there’s a pronounced, confusing (to the user) dip in the dose response that the people around them don’t seem to experience. I’ve never tried either, so I can’t comment on that first hand.

[joemazerino]

Cautionary note with Concerta: thanks to the timed release it stays in your system for a long time.