r/Nootropics • u/entrepreneurjohn666 • 4h ago
Seeking Advice inattentive ADHD + PTSD, off Need help
Hi, I'm 25, male, 6'3", 65 kg. I work out a lot, run, eat clean, no junk food. I'm academically smart and keep a lean physique, but something is off and I need advice.
I have inattentive ADHD and I also come from a trauma background with PTSD. I took Ritalin for 6 months and it really ramped up my anxiety and gave me brain fog. I was drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day with it, which gave me jitters, but without coffee I felt zero stimulation and started falling asleep. I took the last 2 months off Ritalin to let my body recover. I still have the meds but I'm not taking them. My blood work is normal and so is my testosterone.
Even after 2 months off, I still can't focus on anything. Sometimes I don't feel anything at all and sometimes I feel really depressed. I feel isolated in my head and most people don't get me. I don't have social anxiety, but I struggle to talk to people now. I lost interest in sex, and I used to love flirting, but my dating life has collapsed compared to 2-3 years ago. I think I'm showing major signs of anhedonia.
Every night I get nightmares and night sweats from the PTSD, so even after 8-9 hours of sleep I wake up stiff and in pain like I never slept. I've been taking saffron at night for 3 months and it helps a bit with the body fatigue. I use music all day to stay awake and give my brain some dopamine, and I take breaks for dopamine recovery. I smoked weed and hash in the past but now it just gives me anxiety.
I want clean focus and a stable mood without crashes, even if it's just short term for 2-3 months. I'm ready to quit coffee too. I'm booking a doctor's appointment but my doctor is pretty dismissive, so I want to go in with some ideas.
Has anyone dealt with this mix of ADHD, PTSD and anhedonia? What helped you? Anything that worked for energy, mood, focus or nightmares? .
Any advice is really appreciated.
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u/moanonyme 3h ago edited 2h ago
I find Vyvanse to be smoother than Ritalin, I also take theanine with it and again 4 hours later to smooth things out a little bit more.
Of course Ritalin and Vyvanse are stimulants so taking coffe with it is not ideal especially in terms of sleep and jitters.
I personnaly find saffranc.stimating a little bit too, I would not take it at night, and while way less potent it works on similar mechanism to Vyvanse so taking both is I believe also not recommended
Feeling calmer or not stimulated under stimulant is indeed a thing with ADHD since you are in fact correcting an imbalance. It's counterintuitive but still a desired outcome since I am for exemple way calmer under Vyvanse. That being said nothing say that you can't go a bit other board if you find that you do need stimulation for executive functions. Thats the point of managing dosage with your psychatrist. I for exemple started on 30 mg and bumped it to 40 then décline to go higher. Some people get up to 70 I believe.
I can't really help with the nightmare thing, but then again both Ritalin and Vyvanse are stimulants and will fuck with your sleep. I was prescribed prolonged release melatonin for sleep and it's good. I take it with magnesium and some stuff I rotate lime lemon balms and it helps with managing sleep while on ADHD meds.
Hope that help.
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u/_paintbox_ 2h ago
Are you getting enough protein with your diet? Because of your weight, I'd up my calorie intake if I were you. If staying lean is important to you then I'd just up the protein(maybe it's already high, idk). Because you're working out, maybe all protein are being used for muscles and you don't have enough to create neurotransmittorers, etc. The meds might have depleted your B-vitamins or Magnesium also. Are the meds affecting your sleep quality at all?
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u/entrepreneurjohn666 2h ago
Im not taking any meds right now so i sleep on time , i eat a protien rich diet just not in calorie surplus to avoid stomach issues i have ibs .
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u/Altruistic-Club3572 48m ago
Man, I read some of your replies too and honestly I wouldn't even know where to start with the PTSD side of things, but I can relate to quite a bit of the focus and mental exhaustion stuff.
I'm 26, built multiple businesses and spent 2-3 years absolutely grinding. Could lock myself in a room and work for hours without distractions. No meds or nootropics, just coffee and nicotine. Took a break after becoming successful and somehow ended up in a 2-year downward spiral where I still have all the ambition and ideas but struggle to actually execute shit lol.
One thing I'm curious about, are you naturally hyperactive even without stimulants? I'm pretty hyperactive myself and I've recently started questioning whether I even need that extra stimulation. Or is it completely different for you, where you're genuinely exhausted and struggling to stay awake?
I saw you mentioned falling asleep easily without coffee. That's something I'd definitely bring up at your appointment. Also, is your sleep schedule consistent? Not just getting 8-9 hours, but actually going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time?
I used to sleep plenty of hours but at completely random times. Recently started tracking everything with an Apple Watch. Sleep timing, interruptions, REM, deep sleep, breathing etc. Obviously the sleep stages are estimates and a watch can't diagnose sleep disorders, but it's interesting to see patterns. Especially in your case with the nightmares and waking up exhausted, I'd want an actual sleep evaluation too.
Another thing nobody seems to talk about enough is information overload. How much short-form content do you consume? Reels, TikTok, Shorts etc?
I realized I consume a shit ton of business, AI and motivational content. Always thought it was productive because I'm learning stuff, but sometimes I think it's just feeding my brain more ideas and things to chase when I already have a mountain of unfinished work lol.
Also, when you say your bloodwork is normal, did they actually check vitamin D? Mine was 17.45 ng/mL, pretty deficient. I'm supplementing now and feel like it's helping somewhat, although I can't say for sure how much. Might be worth checking if it wasn't included.
I actually posted about my own struggles and got some really interesting responses from people dealing with similar things:
A lot of people brought up burnout, nicotine, sleep, information overload and ADHD symptoms that only became obvious when their circumstances changed. Made me rethink quite a bit about my own situation.
Since you're already off Ritalin, maybe tracking your sleep, energy, mood and focus before introducing any new supplements could help you and your doctor see what's actually going on. Not saying to avoid treatment though, especially with your PTSD and the emotional numbness you're describing.
Btw, did the loss of libido and emotional numbness start before Ritalin or during those 6 months? And were there periods in your life when you felt completely fine without medication?
Hope you find a doctor who actually takes all of this seriously man. Still figuring my own shit out too, but thought I'd share what I've learned.
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u/entrepreneurjohn666 15m ago
The dreams started when i was 15 , i used to be hyperactive 5 years ago now i just lack energy and emotional numbness also isolated from like past 3 years now , dealing with people requires energy which i dont have , ritalin helped me to come out of this anhedonia temporarily but its very short term a short burst of energy and then it just fades away ps this medicine has so many side effects , my blood tests are completely fine , for now i am looking for some nootropic or even antidepressant something which just helps me to bring that spark back but the doctors really dont help with anything also there are so many medicines out there and less time so i have to make decisions more wisely now i already wasted so much time with ritalin , one think i am going to do now is to quit coffee and see if my energy levels recover or no , the major issue is anhedonia and i just dont know how to fix this , but i am willing to try anything at this point just to buy some more time . The sleep tracking data isnt reliable . I also want something which would really help clear my mind no negative thoughts no anxiety .
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u/Silver-Meet7581 4h ago
Man 6'3 and 65 kg is quite lean, you sure you eating enough? Running plus working out on that frame might be burning through whatever energy you got left. Not saying its the root cause but fixing my calorie intake helped my brain fog more than I expected.
For the nightmares part, prazosin is a blood pressure med that gets prescribed off-label for PTSD night terrors, worth asking your doctor about it. Some people say it stops the dreams completely. The anhedonia is trickier, took me long time to feel anything after I quit stimulants too. Your brain just needs time to recalibrate, 2 months is still early.
Maybe try dropping the coffee slow instead of cold turkey, the crash from quitting caffeine all at once can make the emotional numbness worse. Tea helped me taper down without the jitters.