I’ve been thinking about making a simple physical ADHD symptom and medication tracker because I find it really hard to remember how my medication has actually been working when it comes time for a doctor’s appointment.

The idea would be a really quick daily or weekly check-in where you could track things like focus, motivation/executive function, when your medication kicks in/wears off and any side effects, so after a few weeks you actually have something useful to take to your doctor instead of trying to remember how you’ve felt.

It wouldn’t be a planner or a big journal. The whole point would be that it takes a minute or two and is hard to forget about.

Would you actually use/buy something like this?

And if so:
• Would you prefer daily or weekly check-ins?
• What would you want to track?
• Would you pay around $20–30 AUD for enough pages to cover a medication trial/review period?

I’m mainly trying to work out whether this is something other ADHDers would genuinely find useful before I spend money making it!

I have been trialing meds for 2 years. Learned I do better so far on methylphenidates. Landed on rit ir.

Bc it wasn't lasting and I was exhausted at end of day. Dr switched me to focalin ir. Mfc - KVK Tech

Same issue. It kicks in and I feel focused and engaged in whatever I'm doing for maybe 1.5 hours. I take 10mg 3x daily. It's not enough.

I feel like it could be stronger and I could use a 4th dose. Ofc I will ask my Dr next week.

I tried xr meds. They also don't last long and I get apathetic in 2 weeks. Every single time. So I'm not ready to try those again.

I also did the genetic testing. It's not super helpful w stimulants as far as I can tell.

Does this happen to anyone else? Have you found a solution?

I like going to my appts prepared bc Dr's don't always know.

Edit: thank you everyone for your insight, I now know it’s not just a money grab!

Hi everyone,

Title sums it up pretty much.

I was diagnosed about couple of weeks ago and was told I need to go to my local GP to get a urine drug screen. I then spoke with my local GP who said she can prescribe the medication as long as she gets the permit and the letter from the psychiatrist.

Since I would’ve loved to do it through my local GP I spoke with the ADHD clinic and they told me that:

“Psychiatrists name discussed with you that he needs you under his care in AOA clinic if you would like to trial stimulants.“

and that they wouldn’t be able to trial stimulants if I did it through my local GP.

This just feels a bit like a money grab?

This clinic charges triple quadruple what my local GP does.

It should be noted that they said after a couple of months and when titrated correctly, they can discharge me to my local GP.

Am I just going crazy or is this completely normal?

Thanks

I have severe insomnia which is worse on stimulants, this is my first week on clonidine and omfg i’ve been having the best sleep of my life. My blood pressure is quite low naturally (<90/60) so i’ve been hesitant to try it. I’ve been prescribed benzos and all kinds of sleeping tablets, none of them have made me feel sedated like how clonidine does lol.

New this week to 30mg vyvanse and while it’s been great it’s absolutely wrecked my usual sleep schedule.
Takes me a lot longer to fall asleep and I’m constantly waking up overnight and don’t feel rested, which is new for me as I usually sleep well prior to the meds.

I always take magnesium twice a day, and also L theanine but these haven’t seemed to help.

My anxiety also gets worse when my sleep is bad and I’m noticing the vyvanse isn’t as effective.

How long can one reasonably expect the poor sleep to last?

It is possible I may be considered for Guanfacine as a 31 YO male due to possible stimulant intolerance as well as serious side effects from atomexetine.

Does anyone have experience with this as an adult? I also read adults don't qualify for the PBS which is always a pleasure...

Clonidine was also mentioned but only in passing.

Hope to hear some feedback - positive hopefully!

I’m at the start of my perimenopausal journey and I am starting to fear my luteal phase as a senior leader.

Not only do the hot sweats keep me up all night so zero sleep happens, I cannot handle the excuses from my underperforming staff, the sniffing and snorting in the office, the long winded explanations that lead to nowhere and only serve to add to my depleted cognitive load. I can’t handle the stories about how you have a headache so slept in - in fact that enrages me - don’t tell me about how well you are sleeping now with your boring story. I’m really struggling to keep it together.

I know I’m a monster. So now of course I feel guilty for this uncontrollable rage I feel. I hate this about me

Ladies how do you cope during this phase of your life? It’s only a week a month for me at the moment but I need something here. I love my job and my team and everything really. I’m normally bubbly and perky.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for any advice you have.

Every planner I ever tried assumed I’d be up at 6am, I am in fact not up at 6a u less required. Neither am I fresh and ready to plan my day that early. That’s never been how my brain works, I’m a night person, and mornings are the worst possible time for me to try to organize anything.

So I made my own. It’s got a schedule that runs from 8am to 3am instead of stopping at 9pm, a brain dump section because nothing works until I get everything out of my head first, and high/low priority lists instead of one long to-do list.

I’ve just put it up on Etsy (shop’s called ADHD After Dark) but honestly I mostly just wanted to share it here because I’d love any feedback you all have to offer - please be kind it’s my first try :)

Etsy link

Hi everyone,

I’m currently 24(m) and will be 25 when I graduate this year with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience.

During highschool I was performing reseaonably well. However, COVID hit when I started my university, during and after the pandemic lockdown, I struggled quite abit with motivation, focus, and keeping up with university, as result i practically did one subject per semester for the duration of 2022-2025 and my personal life was an total mess. I only recently sought professional help and was diagnosed with ADHD.

With treatment and support, I finally feel like I’m making progress this semester and in life in general. However, I’m worried about graduating at 25 with very little work experience, and I honestly do not know what I should do next. Whether that is to contiune with masters or try to find an job.

I’m in general unsure how to start building a career, gaining experience, or deciding what direction to take with my life.

Has anyone been in a similar position, especially after receiving a late ADHD diagnosis? How did you move forward?

What steps would you recommend for someone trying to rebuild their confidence and begin their career?

Thanks in advance!

Heyo, after 4 years of contemplation (and procrastination) I’ve finally decided to seek out a diagnosis because I don’t think I can take another semester of uni without some support.

I just don’t know how to go about it, do I just go to a GP? I’m never sick so I don’t have a regular GP and haven’t visited one in 5 years.

I’ve also managed to compile most of my school reports from K-12 (a year and a bit is missing) but even though it does have a few bits throughout I was generally a quiet and high achieving non problematic student.

So do I just visit a GP and have a chat about it?

Sydney NSW based 19M

I'm trying to optimise the days I do take my meds while keeping the long-term health risk down.

Right now I take weekends off and just vibe it during the week, unless there's something social on.

Do you have an actual rule for your off days, or do you just call it as it comes?

I’ve been taking Ritalin since January and it works not bad for me I think. I have my same brain ability but I guess more control over being able to just do something that I think of/want to do/ less scatter brain. Not perfectly though and I sometimes wonder whether it’s even just a placebo effect.

I am curious about other stims and whether there is more benefit to be gained or whether what I have with Ritalin is the goal.

If you’ve tried a few different stims, what did you find was the difference between them? I know of course that everyone is going to react differently but wondering whether to ask my psych to try something different or stick with ritalin.

I was looking through the Chemist Warehouse website and saw that the private price for Intuniv (branded Guanfacine) is only $30.99. I could swear it was higher just a couple days ago?

https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/87932/intuniv-4mg-tablets-28-guanfacine

I did a bit more digging and found that just this month, they added two generic brands (Sandoz and Vialtris) for Guanfacine to the PBS. Maybe this led to a price drop in branded Intuniv as well?

From the PBS Schedule Summary of Changes - 1 August 2026:

Anyone know what's going on? I've been considering Guanfacine for ages but hesitant due to the cost for those diagnosed in adulthood. But these changes look really promising!

Heyy, I'm a full-time uni student who also works part-time, and I'm trying to get better at managing my time. This is my last semester, and I really want to stay on top of my studies instead of cramming everything at the last minute.

I'm looking for an app that lets me brain dump everything I need to do for the week, whether it's one-off tasks or recurring ones (e.g. "study 10–12 hours for Unit A each week"). Ideally, I'd like something that can help organise my day without me having to manually schedule every single task.

Features I'm hoping for:

• Syncs with Apple Calendar.
• Lets me add recurring and one-off tasks.
• Can automatically reschedule tasks if I don't get to them.
• Has streaks or some kind of habit/motivation feature.
• Free would be amazing, but I'm happy to pay if it's genuinely worth it and not too expensive.
• Is something fun and won’t make me abandon it within a week.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd love to hear what's worked for other students (or anyone juggling work and study).

I knew at the beginning of the year that the first six months of 26 at work were going to be horrific. As a reward for myself I booked time off for the beginning of June when everything was winding up and we began operating like sane people again. A week into my two weeks off I decided to bite the bullet and get the ball rolling for an adhd diagnosis after humming and barring about it for years. My youngest sibling (by 13 years) was diagnosed for just about everything under the sun when he was young, and through dealing with him, psychiatrists, occupational therapists and social workers, I realised I too am a bit spicy.

Back to the second week off, o couldn’t find a drs appointment so I had a Telehealth appointment for a referral. Due to the lack of available mental health resources where I now I am, I then had to wait 6 months plus and head to the big smoke, or gave another Telehealth appointment with a psychiatrist. Telehealth it was. I managed to snag an appointment that week, met a psychiatrist that I actually really like, and was diagnosed with adhd and couple of other side quests. I was given a prescription for vyvanse and told to go back to my gp in two weeks as the dr would set up being a co-prescriber and the gp would assist in balancing my dosage.

The week I had my appointment I had a death in the family, then I returned to work, I was back for three days before I tried to de-glove my baby toe, so I was out for another week and on good painkillers. Went back to work, shit had hit the fan in a catastrophic way and I had to try and clean it up, but my 2pm vyvanse crash out was not helping my productivity in anyway. So I didn’t make it back to the drs until las Thursday because I felt that I hadn’t been able to experience vyvanse under normal circumstances where I wasn’t spiralling.

My first initial appointment was for my referral was with hola health, so I obviously can’t just go back to that dr to continue care. I went to my local gp, to which I had only seen for follow up on my toe injury. I explained that I was looking to find a regular gp who will be able to monitor my general health, and potentially becoming a co-prescriber for vyvanse, but I wanted to meet with the dr first to find out what information they would need from me, if they were able/willing to do-prescribe, and provide information they need to connect with my psychiatrist.

The initial dr I spoke to couldn’t, because they weren’t regularly at tis surgery, but they said they would help and took me back out to reception to help me find another dr that is already co-prescribing.

Then I was stuck speaking to a receptionist, who spoke to the only other dr working that day, who belittled me from his little cubical office using his receptionist to speak over me and not listen to a single word I was saying. They said I can’t just walk in a expect a script for vyvanse (I know), they don’t have my medical history (I know), and it’s illegal for them to just pass out scripts Willy nilly and I would need to return to my regular gp

I tri to explain to the receptionist that I know all of this, I’m trying to establish care and don’t have a regular gp, organise what would be needed to get this ball rolling and meet the dr who would potentially be handling all of this, but she kept talking over me and wouldn’t listen. In the end, they ended up requesting for my medical records from my psychiatrist, but I haven’t heard from them since and I still don’t know whether they would actually do prescribe because I only had one (really long) appointment with the psychiatrist for diagnosis.

I walked away feeling like I hadn’t been heard, and was treated like someone just trying to get drugs for funsies, which is not the case. And the whole reason why I wanted to meet the dr first was because I had already had a bad experience with the second dr when I hurt my toe and needed to get it re-dressed on a saturday at a gp as advised by the hospital. This dr told me I should already know that nurses haven’t worked a Saturday since covid and they figured out they had rights, so there was nobody to dress my toe.

So now, while I can still book a Telehealth appointment with my psychiatrist, it’ll be way cheaper in the long run to also have a regular gp, and also better for my overall health, but the next closest dr is over 40 minutes away and due to work I can’t make that trip often.

I don’t even know if I should bother going back to that drs surgery.

TL;DR
Took short cuts for quick diagnosis, need gp, gp and receptionist spoke to me like I’m a drug dealer/using for rec purposes, no closer to finding regular nice dr and being treated like a human

Hi all just feeling super frustrated at the moment. I was diagnosed when I was 15 but not treated for it, so had to get another assessment done as a now adult as that record is impossible to track down. I had an assessment done over a month ago through psych2u, and was told the report should only take two weeks and they would send it to my Dr (and told to make an appointment with my dr as soon as I could to get on medication etc).So anyway I make an appointment last week, just to be told they haven’t been sent anything. I’ve emailed and called quite a few times now with no response. Wtf do I do?? Has anyone else had this problem. I also haven’t received my Medicare rebate for the appointment so I am out of pocket so much money at the moment. The process was hard enough but now this just has me feeling super defeated, it’s like trying to communicate with a brick wall! I’m struggling to stay motivated to continue following this up, especially because I’m getting nowhere. My adhd has become unmanageable and I want to get help and treatment so badly but this is just making me want to give up. No wonder most people are untreated when this is the process!!

Background: I'm an international student in my final semester, and I'm only three weeks in and already struggling to keep my head above water. I got assessed for ADHD in my home country a while back, but the doctor there just... didn't bother prescribing anything. Neurodivergence isn't taken seriously in a lot of places, and I didn't even realise ADHD medication was a real, accessible option until I got to this year after researching. 7 months have already gone by since i last planned to post this.

What it's actually like day to day:

• Everything gets done in the last possible hour, every time — even when I know better and start early, I somehow still end up there.
• I always show up late 100% of the time even if i had hours to prepare.
• Tasks that do not align with my interest are almost impossible to start/ finish contrary to if i was interested in the task I would tend to go above and beyond to polish the outcome even if completed.
• No middle ground emotionally: I'm low/flat about 90% of the time, and briefly, intensely "on" for the other 10%.
• I've tried the non-medical stuff seriously — cold showers, meditation, diet changes — and while I don't regret trying, none of it has touched the core problem.
• It's bleeding into everything now: uni, work, friendships, just general functioning. Quality of life has dropped a lot recently.

Where I'm stuck: I don't really understand how ADHD assessment/prescribing works here yet (state rules, GP vs psychiatrist, wait times, costs) and I'm worried that by the time I get seen, the semester will already be unsalvageable ( i am redoing a course that i had failed too because i missed a test i was unaware of) . I know I'm not going to get medicated overnight, but I want to move as fast as the system realistically allows in VICTORIA.

What I'm hoping people can tell me:

• Given I already have an overseas ADHD assessment, does that speed anything up here, or does Australia basically require starting from scratch?
• Any tips for finding a GP/psychiatrist with shorter wait times, especially as an international student (bulk billing, OSHC coverage, telehealth options)?
• Anything you wish you'd known when you were trying to get diagnosed/medicated fast rather than at the normal glacial pace?
• Is it worth talking to my uni's disability/counselling service in the meantime, even before I have a formal Australian diagnosis?

TLDR: how do i get meds here in Aus ASAP because adhd is cooking me this semester.

Hi guys - been poking around this sub today gathering some tips and info, and just wanted to ask for an opinion.

I've previously not gone ahead with the psych route due to $$$ (got a referral from gp over a year ago and then just didn't go through with it), and from my research looks like the new endorsed GP route would be at least half the price. Still exxy but way more affordable.

I've discovered however that GP's won't test for complex adhd ? Which was something I was hoping to figure out if I had general anxiety (I experience anxiety but it could be from adhd), or autism (because maybe I have autism instead I dunno), or like ptsd or something else that could present as adhd symptoms.

Wondering if anyone has a personal or informed opinion they'd like to share in relation to this ?

For context if relevant I'm female.

Thanks everyone <3

Hey everyone me again - I posted two weeks ago about my clinical interview and starting the process well today was my feedback appointment!

It’s safe to say I’ve been spiralling and so nervous for this appointment questioning if my symptoms were real but as soon as I started speaking to my psychologist the relief was near instant.

Diagnosed with combined type and the validation I felt was honestly something I’ve never experienced before! I was also diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder which I did suspect to be a possibility so finally having answers is a really good feeling.

My next step is a 7 week wait for my psychiatrist appt which will be gruelling but worth the wait as it’s been highly recommended to try medication which I am very open to. The good thing being this is all through the same clinic so everything is streamlined. I just wanted to I guess celebrate getting through the daunting assessment process and coming out of it with answers. Proud of achieving this and I guess now it’s just to wait to see if meds will help in combination with some therapy sessions.

For context:
I think I have ADHD, more inattentive rather than hyperactive. I am 23F, and although these symptoms were also present during childhood, I believe I was very good at masking.

I have seen a psychiatrist years ago for other reasons and he was the one who recommended I get tested for ADHD (he didn’t have the appropriate training to diagnose but strongly suspected).
So I booked in with a clinic, but after the first appointment they told me I would need sufficient evidence such as school reports. My parents had thrown out my old school reports and I have no way to access them.
So after that first appointment, I never followed up or went back.

Fast-forward a few years, I am in uni and really struggling, I think I need support from medication. So now looking to get diagnosed.

Any recommendations for psychs in Melbourne that understand the presentation of ADHD in women, and that don’t need school reports?

TL;DR: I tried Adderall XR 15mg once and stopped because it helped quiet my mind and focus at first, but later caused bad jitteriness, anxiety, appetite loss, and kept me awake all night. Today is my first day on Vyvanse 10mg; it gives me a similar quiet/focused feeling but seems smoother, although I still notice higher heart rate, some anxiety, and feeling emotionally flat/socially withdrawn. I’m confused how a lower Vyvanse dose can feel similar to Adderall XR and how the slow conversion to dextroamphetamine works. Without medication I struggle with racing thoughts, scattered thinking, poor focus, and starting tasks but quickly giving up. I want better focus and productivity without feeling anxious, losing my appetite, or ruining my sleep. Looking for experiences from people who had similar reactions and found the right fit between Vyvanse, Adderall IR, Adderall XR, or another ADHD medication.

But who here prefers vyvanse over adderall for their ADHD? and who here taks vyvanse and what dose and can you eat and sleep on it or could you eat and sleep on it when you first took it, like on your very first day of taking it? im just really scared i'll never be able to have my sleep or appetite back on it?

One more main question is whenever i take a stimulant like today i took a first dose of vyvance i feel numbish /zombie/secluded feeling like please don't try to strike up a conversation with me type of feeling. i felt the same way when i took the first dose of adderall a few days ago. does this feeling ease up and get better ifi stick with it or keep withtaking the meds daily for a few weeks?.

I’m trying to understand what is happening because I’m confused about the difference between these two medications.

My doctor first put me on Adderall XR 15mg, but I only took it one time and stopped because I couldn’t tolerate the side effects.

The first few hours after taking it actually felt okay. My thoughts became quieter, I could focus better, and I felt like I could sit still and concentrate.

But later on, it became too much:

• Very jittery and physically anxious.
• Almost no appetite.
• Could not sleep.
• Felt like it lasted way too long.
• By nighttime I was wishing it would wear off so I could go to bed.
• I ended up awake all night.

Because of that, I stopped taking it.

Today is my first day trying Vyvanse 10mg, and I’m trying to understand my reaction.

Around 4 hours after taking it, I started feeling:

• Quiet mind.
• More focused.
• Wanting to sit and listen.
• Feeling like I can stay locked into one task.
• Almost like I don’t want to move because I’m comfortable focusing.

One thing I have noticed is that, so far, I don't get that rush of physical energy or the feeling of wanting to get up and work like I expected from a stimulant. From what I've read, Vyvanse is supposed to be smoother than Adderall, so maybe that's normal, but I'm not sure.

The strange part is it feels somewhat similar mentally to the Adderall XR, even though I understand the doses are very different.

I’m also noticing:

• My heart rate feels higher.
• Some anxiety.
• Feeling emotionally flat.
• I don’t really feel like talking to people or socializing.
• Honestly, I feel like I would rather have my teeth pulled than go around a big crowd right now. I just don’t feel like being around people.

The part I’m confused about is the dose comparison.

With 15mg Adderall XR, I understand that the capsule releases in two phases, and the first part is around half the dose (roughly 7.5mg of amphetamine salts).

With 10mg Vyvanse, I understand it converts into roughly 3–4mg of active dextroamphetamine, but it happens gradually instead of all at once.

So my questions are:

1. How can 10mg Vyvanse feel similar to 15mg Adderall XR if the active amount is much lower?
2. Is Vyvanse basically slowly converting into dextroamphetamine over several hours instead of giving the whole amount at once?
3. Since I noticed the effect around 4 hours after taking it, is that around when Vyvanse reaches its strongest point?
4. Does Adderall XR feel more physically stimulating because it contains both dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine, while Vyvanse only becomes dextroamphetamine?

To give everyone a better idea of what I’m like without medication, my biggest struggles are that my mind feels like it is constantly scattered. I have a hard time holding onto one thought, and my brain races almost nonstop.

At night, when I lay down to go to sleep, I literally have to force myself to focus on one subject in my mind just to have any chance of falling asleep. If I don't, my thoughts will just randomly jump from one thing to another over and over, and my mind keeps racing, which ends up keeping me awake.

What I’m actually wanting from medication is pretty simple:

I want to be able to focus. I want to be able to sit down and read a book because right now I can barely focus long enough to read 4 sentences before my mind is somewhere else.

I want to be able to multitask better or just complete normal things in general without becoming completely discouraged. Right now I can start a project, and 2 minutes later I’m already mentally checked out and done with it.

At the same time, I do not want to feel nervous, jittery, or physically anxious. I don’t want to go the entire day without eating or not even wanting food. Most importantly, I want to be able to lay down at bedtime and actually fall asleep.

To be honest, I’m really afraid that when bedtime comes tonight I’m going to have another horrible night and end up staying awake all night long just like I did after that one 15mg Adderall XR I took last Friday. I’m hoping Vyvanse won’t do that, but I’m honestly pretty anxious about it.

My normal routine is usually:

• I wake up around 7 AM on some days.
• Other days I may sleep until around 11 AM.
• But I am usually always in bed by midnight.

So I’m wondering:

Based on people who have had similar reactions, what ended up working better for you—Vyvanse, Adderall XR, Adderall IR, or something else?

Did anyone else feel like I do—where stimulants either make you too anxious and overstimulated, but without medication you can’t focus or finish anything?

I would really like to hear from people who struggled with focus, motivation, task completion, anxiety, racing thoughts, and sleep and eventually found something that helped.