Poor memory is one of the symptoms of ADHD. We get easily distracted and often have time blindness, meaning it’s hard for us to tell how much time has passed and estimate what time it is. I have to take my meds 3 times daily roughly 4 hours apart. If I don’t set alarms, I’m screwed.
One of my favorite sayings is people with ADHD have two time settings, “Now” and “Later.” When you come to us with a request, we think it must be done NOW unless you explain otherwise. Then, it gets puts into the “Later” pile, which ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 years.
Holy shit. I need to explain this to my partner tomorrow when she’s up. I’ve been struggling so hard to find the words to explain how my timing mechanism for things she asks me to do works. Thank you!
We’re using a shared calendar with reminders which is really great. Until I dismiss the reminder, putting it in the later pile…
Time blindness and hyper focus are so prevalent! And that’s how you forget to eat lunch and you suddenly need to eat right now at 5:47. No time for a sandwich, just put the bread in the mouth and the jam after, it’ll mix up into a sandwich in your stomach.
Sounds like you’re on Ritalin? You might try name brand Concerta (NO GENERICS!!). It’s just extended release Ritalin in a fancy patented delivery mechanism that all the generics can’t copy. It lasts all day and I just have to remember to take it before noon once per day.
I’m on generic right now and it’s been alright for me. Maybe name brand would work better but it’s just unaffordable, for me it would have been almost 500$/mo
A bunch of generic Concerta drugs were removed from the market awhile back and several more sprung up. They’re nowhere near the same and the quality is garbage. I was on one in college while on state insurance. They use some older release mechanism from like the 80s using a pinhole on one side and half of my true generic pills didn’t even have a visible hole. I ended up in the ER because one released all at once at like 7pm, and I thought I was dying due to excessive adrenaline.
Same as Vyvanse (lisdexamphetamine, IIRC?)? There will likely be some generics in the US in a few months since their patent/exclusive rights are about to expire. Not sure if it might be similar in other parts of the world, but it may be worth looking into if you’re paying much out of pocket. With some pretty decent insurance I’m paying $50 each time I get a refill, without insurance here it’s something like $400
I have no clue what out of pocket is these days, but my insurance only charges me $12 for name brand Concerta. I know at one time there was an authorized generic sold by Janssen I believe was their name, but it’s still the same patented pill. That might be what my prescription is filled as.
PSA for anyone who cares: Authorized Generics are the name brand sold cheaper. True Generics are a completely different pill sold as “bio-identical”.
Don’t quote me on this last bit, but I believe bio identical only has to be like 80% similar, which is why so many generics cause so many problems for so many people
What insurance company do you go with, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m heading down the road towards trying medicine possibly if I get an official diagnosis and want as much info as I can get between now and then. Thanks in advance btw and for all the sharing of info in this thread in general. It’s really helpful.
Thanks for replying. I have BlueCross Blue Shield through ACA because I’m poor (lol) so maybe I can get ADHD medicine for cheap too if it comes down to it.
If insurance doesn’t get you a reasonable price, try Walmart. They always seem to have any goodrx or similar discounts applied automatically if you pay out of pocket. I was paying around $30/mo for generic Adderall XR, I think the non XR stuff was around $20/mo
Have you asked your doc for slow delivery pill? I switched to 2 pills per day to a single one in the morning and it’s so much better. Plus I don’t feel the spike like the regular one but more a steady feeling of clear brain throughout the day.
I wonder what other mental issues/ deficit disorders have the “time blindness” as a symptom? I have that and it is a very specific thing to have, and I’m currently trying to figure out if I have ADHD or what I have because there are definitely things about my behavior my whole life that have kept me behind everyone else, noticeably to myself anyway. Stuff I’ve had to just cope with, but still puts me at a disadvantage. Mathematics for instance. I can barely do algebra and I’m talking high-school level, no matter how hard I try, and my memory is shit, and it takes effort to stay on topic, or to stick with the same thing I’m doing. I hate routine and crave novelty but lack of routine ushers the chaos back in.
I think mood disorders can affect sense of time, for one, though it sounds like you have good reasons to wonder about having ADHD.
But don’t forget, it’s not necessarily “ADHD or what,” it could be “ADHD and what.” Some ADHD treatments are relevant to other conditions, and vice versa, but there are some overlaps that require a different approach from straight ADHD, so it’s best to keep an open mind.
I’m not sure what else has time blindness as such a prevalent issue. What you are describing could be ADHD (especially the “I hate routine and crave novelty but lack of routine ushers the chaos back in”), a learning disability, a something else. Only a professional can tell.
Part of ADHD. You forget things, beneficial or not. I usually realize when I’m on the way to work, then do the math of turning around for it, and how late I’ll be if I do.
One of the downsides of adhd is, if left untreated, it can lead to substance abuse. One of the upsides is it’s easier to “forget” that you’re addicted to something. I once forget to drink caffeine for a few weeks. Just slipped my mind. I still had the withdrawal symptoms. Headaches, low energy etc., but my brain would not connect the withdrawal to the substance, because from my perspective caffeine did not exist. It was a weird experience.
I’ve done that a few times. I also quit smoking that way when I ran out of cigs, didn’t buy more right away, then forgot to ever buy more. I started back up months later, switched to vaping, then forgot about that too when I moved the vape from it’s designated spot to an area of the house I don’t frequent.
I’ll just add that routine is in itself a major challenge - for me, I don’t have routines as much as I have laying things out in a way that reminds me to do things regularly. For my meds, I just take it once in the morning, but the one routine I try my best to maintain is flipping the pill bottle upside down. If it’s upside down, there’s a high chance I either took it, or forgot to flip it before bed, but it’s a visual reminder so that I don’t need to actively remember to take them on routine, but if I see the pill bottle in a state, I know what action to take.
That’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve seen family members try to understand. I’m not trying to imply anything about you, this is just a related example, but I’ve had family members see my ADHD family members as just being lazy or intentionally ignoring things, or thinking they’re just selfish or whatever. The problem is, even if it’s beneficial, a part of ADHD is not having control over where your memory and focus is being put. You may want something, but that doesn’t mean you’ll sustain attention or effort to achieve it, and conversely you may place it in places you really don’t care about to a very consuming degree…
Imagine a pull that if you don’t take it you forget things. So if you forget it once, you may forget the next and so on. Also, the medication is not a miracle cure. Things are easier to think about and remember, but it’s still a process and sometimes you just forget.
The way ADHD works is that things that others would just instinctively do or remember to do, you have to actively think about. Its like if I ask you how do you breathe, or walk, you think of it and it happens, then ADHD analogue would have to think, use this muscle, contract, hold release, okay, next one, and so on. It’s draining, and when you forget to do it and others realize it, they’re dumbfounded why you didn’t walk or breathed, you must be so lazy to not even want to walk or breathe…. The medication allows you to think okay walk now, instead of each action separately, but it’s not just think and it happens still.
I bought these things on amazon and they’ve been super helpful, just push the button in for the day as you take it. doesn’t help me remember to take my meds but at least I can easily tell if I have taken my meds
It’s so much easier to be distracted and completely lose track of time with ADHD. Your mind doesn’t necessarily think about things that are “boring” like taking medicine. Or even eating. So you forget to do it. I literally have reminders on my phone to make sure I eat because I have gone days without eating until someone noticed me looking all fucked up.
It is absolutely a thing. Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness, short attention span, etc. are common symptoms of ADHD. The meds generally wear off at the end of the day, so by the time the next day rolls around, you’re back at baseline, which includes the forgetfulness.
ADHD can be incredibly debilitating and I think it’s something that most people don’t really grasp despite how well-known the disorder is.
Adhd makes you more likely to struggle with daily routine. I have failsafes to make sure I take my meds nowadays, but I used to struggle a lot with it.
Autistic person jumping in - we too may have issues remembering to do beneficial things like take meds, eat and drink, and even use the bathroom (thankfully usually the body gives a stern reminder before it’s too late with that one lol).
Routine is important to many autistics, but personally to me, it isn’t really time dependant, so I have the same breakfast every day but it might not be at the same time every day (don’t sleep well, sleep patter varies widely), so taking pills at the same time each day is asking me to use a system I don’t usually (go by body signals as best I can tell and order of actions, not by time). I hope that makes some sort of sense?
Just to add on, since it’s a stimulant, it has to be taken before a certain time every day. Unlike something like antidepressants, which if you miss a dose you take it as soon as you can, if you miss a stimulant, you can’t take it again until the next day
It’s actually super easy to forget to take your meds. I have autism not adhd but my daughter has adhd. She is chaotic and can’t keep to a routine. She tries, but you know how it goes. I forget to take mine when my routine gets changed which has happened a lot lately.
You can’t take it past a certain time or you won’t sleep. It’s not like antidepressants where you can take it at any time. If it’s 11am and I remember why I’m so spacey, I gotta wait until tomorrow.
Rit gave me panic attacks. Vyvanse was the best, but I was switched to Adderall which was definitely stronger, but also more stimulating than vyvanse or ritalin.
I’m with you on this one, but everyone experiences this differently. I have never forgotten a single dose since I started about 5 years ago. The difference with and without medication is night and day, I’m barely at 20% functionality without them, and 90-100% with.
Outsider without adhd here… Is this really a thing? If the medication makes you feel better how would you forget to take it?
Poor memory is one of the symptoms of ADHD. We get easily distracted and often have time blindness, meaning it’s hard for us to tell how much time has passed and estimate what time it is. I have to take my meds 3 times daily roughly 4 hours apart. If I don’t set alarms, I’m screwed.
It’s my first time hearing of the term “time blindness” and it fits so well.
One of my favorite sayings is people with ADHD have two time settings, “Now” and “Later.” When you come to us with a request, we think it must be done NOW unless you explain otherwise. Then, it gets puts into the “Later” pile, which ranges anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 years.
LOL. This resonates with me so strongly and I don’t know whether to laugh out loud or break down crying…
Holy shit. I need to explain this to my partner tomorrow when she’s up. I’ve been struggling so hard to find the words to explain how my timing mechanism for things she asks me to do works. Thank you!
We’re using a shared calendar with reminders which is really great. Until I dismiss the reminder, putting it in the later pile…
Time blindness and hyper focus are so prevalent! And that’s how you forget to eat lunch and you suddenly need to eat right now at 5:47. No time for a sandwich, just put the bread in the mouth and the jam after, it’ll mix up into a sandwich in your stomach.
I see, thanks! This community helps me understand
You’re very welcome, thank you for being curious and asking!
Sounds like you’re on Ritalin? You might try name brand Concerta (NO GENERICS!!). It’s just extended release Ritalin in a fancy patented delivery mechanism that all the generics can’t copy. It lasts all day and I just have to remember to take it before noon once per day.
I’m on generic right now and it’s been alright for me. Maybe name brand would work better but it’s just unaffordable, for me it would have been almost 500$/mo
A bunch of generic Concerta drugs were removed from the market awhile back and several more sprung up. They’re nowhere near the same and the quality is garbage. I was on one in college while on state insurance. They use some older release mechanism from like the 80s using a pinhole on one side and half of my true generic pills didn’t even have a visible hole. I ended up in the ER because one released all at once at like 7pm, and I thought I was dying due to excessive adrenaline.
Same as Vyvanse (lisdexamphetamine, IIRC?)? There will likely be some generics in the US in a few months since their patent/exclusive rights are about to expire. Not sure if it might be similar in other parts of the world, but it may be worth looking into if you’re paying much out of pocket. With some pretty decent insurance I’m paying $50 each time I get a refill, without insurance here it’s something like $400
I have no clue what out of pocket is these days, but my insurance only charges me $12 for name brand Concerta. I know at one time there was an authorized generic sold by Janssen I believe was their name, but it’s still the same patented pill. That might be what my prescription is filled as.
PSA for anyone who cares: Authorized Generics are the name brand sold cheaper. True Generics are a completely different pill sold as “bio-identical”.
Don’t quote me on this last bit, but I believe bio identical only has to be like 80% similar, which is why so many generics cause so many problems for so many people
What insurance company do you go with, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m heading down the road towards trying medicine possibly if I get an official diagnosis and want as much info as I can get between now and then. Thanks in advance btw and for all the sharing of info in this thread in general. It’s really helpful.
Cigna
Thanks for replying. I have BlueCross Blue Shield through ACA because I’m poor (lol) so maybe I can get ADHD medicine for cheap too if it comes down to it.
If insurance doesn’t get you a reasonable price, try Walmart. They always seem to have any goodrx or similar discounts applied automatically if you pay out of pocket. I was paying around $30/mo for generic Adderall XR, I think the non XR stuff was around $20/mo
If you make less than a certain amount per year, Vyvanse is free.
I wish we could get Concerrta in Taiwan. It’s only Ritalin.
Have you asked your doc for slow delivery pill? I switched to 2 pills per day to a single one in the morning and it’s so much better. Plus I don’t feel the spike like the regular one but more a steady feeling of clear brain throughout the day.
I’m thinking about switching to extended release, might be easier.
Night and day. Worth it!
I wonder what other mental issues/ deficit disorders have the “time blindness” as a symptom? I have that and it is a very specific thing to have, and I’m currently trying to figure out if I have ADHD or what I have because there are definitely things about my behavior my whole life that have kept me behind everyone else, noticeably to myself anyway. Stuff I’ve had to just cope with, but still puts me at a disadvantage. Mathematics for instance. I can barely do algebra and I’m talking high-school level, no matter how hard I try, and my memory is shit, and it takes effort to stay on topic, or to stick with the same thing I’m doing. I hate routine and crave novelty but lack of routine ushers the chaos back in.
I think mood disorders can affect sense of time, for one, though it sounds like you have good reasons to wonder about having ADHD.
But don’t forget, it’s not necessarily “ADHD or what,” it could be “ADHD and what.” Some ADHD treatments are relevant to other conditions, and vice versa, but there are some overlaps that require a different approach from straight ADHD, so it’s best to keep an open mind.
I’m not sure what else has time blindness as such a prevalent issue. What you are describing could be ADHD (especially the “I hate routine and crave novelty but lack of routine ushers the chaos back in”), a learning disability, a something else. Only a professional can tell.
Part of ADHD. You forget things, beneficial or not. I usually realize when I’m on the way to work, then do the math of turning around for it, and how late I’ll be if I do.
Don’t forget to factor in the anxiety of being late versus the anxiety of work without the meds.
Just reading this gave me anxiety.
One of the downsides of adhd is, if left untreated, it can lead to substance abuse. One of the upsides is it’s easier to “forget” that you’re addicted to something. I once forget to drink caffeine for a few weeks. Just slipped my mind. I still had the withdrawal symptoms. Headaches, low energy etc., but my brain would not connect the withdrawal to the substance, because from my perspective caffeine did not exist. It was a weird experience.
I’ve done that a few times. I also quit smoking that way when I ran out of cigs, didn’t buy more right away, then forgot to ever buy more. I started back up months later, switched to vaping, then forgot about that too when I moved the vape from it’s designated spot to an area of the house I don’t frequent.
I’ll just add that routine is in itself a major challenge - for me, I don’t have routines as much as I have laying things out in a way that reminds me to do things regularly. For my meds, I just take it once in the morning, but the one routine I try my best to maintain is flipping the pill bottle upside down. If it’s upside down, there’s a high chance I either took it, or forgot to flip it before bed, but it’s a visual reminder so that I don’t need to actively remember to take them on routine, but if I see the pill bottle in a state, I know what action to take.
That’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve seen family members try to understand. I’m not trying to imply anything about you, this is just a related example, but I’ve had family members see my ADHD family members as just being lazy or intentionally ignoring things, or thinking they’re just selfish or whatever. The problem is, even if it’s beneficial, a part of ADHD is not having control over where your memory and focus is being put. You may want something, but that doesn’t mean you’ll sustain attention or effort to achieve it, and conversely you may place it in places you really don’t care about to a very consuming degree…
By the way, they make medicine bottle caps that have a timer showing when it was last opened. Super handy for this.
Imagine a pull that if you don’t take it you forget things. So if you forget it once, you may forget the next and so on. Also, the medication is not a miracle cure. Things are easier to think about and remember, but it’s still a process and sometimes you just forget.
The way ADHD works is that things that others would just instinctively do or remember to do, you have to actively think about. Its like if I ask you how do you breathe, or walk, you think of it and it happens, then ADHD analogue would have to think, use this muscle, contract, hold release, okay, next one, and so on. It’s draining, and when you forget to do it and others realize it, they’re dumbfounded why you didn’t walk or breathed, you must be so lazy to not even want to walk or breathe…. The medication allows you to think okay walk now, instead of each action separately, but it’s not just think and it happens still.
Interesting comparison, thanks
I often forget mine.
That, or I cannot, for the life of me, remember whether or not I actually took my medication. Or locked the door of my apartment, or my car.
Both patterns are a fairly classical presentation of ADHD.
I bought these things on amazon and they’ve been super helpful, just push the button in for the day as you take it. doesn’t help me remember to take my meds but at least I can easily tell if I have taken my meds
I have a phone app (MediSafe IIRC) that has both reminders and tracking.
Though it’s not 100% perfect. It’s still easy sometimes to get distracted for too long.
Ah, but what happens when I take the medication, and then forget where my phone is, or to use the app, or get distracted by something on lem-
Oh no
Get a dosette, then just look at it. Is today’s compartment open? You took your meds. Pills are still in there? Time to take them.
It’s so much easier to be distracted and completely lose track of time with ADHD. Your mind doesn’t necessarily think about things that are “boring” like taking medicine. Or even eating. So you forget to do it. I literally have reminders on my phone to make sure I eat because I have gone days without eating until someone noticed me looking all fucked up.
That’s a mood. If I didn’t have a proper eating routine, I would routinely forget to eat (as I sometimes do anyway!)
Or sometimes I’ll remember I need to take my meds or whatever. But I get distracted by something and immediately forget. Over and over.
It is absolutely a thing. Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness, short attention span, etc. are common symptoms of ADHD. The meds generally wear off at the end of the day, so by the time the next day rolls around, you’re back at baseline, which includes the forgetfulness.
ADHD can be incredibly debilitating and I think it’s something that most people don’t really grasp despite how well-known the disorder is.
I always want to wait till I eat to take my meds and then I forget to eat and then I forget my meds
Adhd makes you more likely to struggle with daily routine. I have failsafes to make sure I take my meds nowadays, but I used to struggle a lot with it.
Autistic person jumping in - we too may have issues remembering to do beneficial things like take meds, eat and drink, and even use the bathroom (thankfully usually the body gives a stern reminder before it’s too late with that one lol).
Routine is important to many autistics, but personally to me, it isn’t really time dependant, so I have the same breakfast every day but it might not be at the same time every day (don’t sleep well, sleep patter varies widely), so taking pills at the same time each day is asking me to use a system I don’t usually (go by body signals as best I can tell and order of actions, not by time). I hope that makes some sort of sense?
Just to add on, since it’s a stimulant, it has to be taken before a certain time every day. Unlike something like antidepressants, which if you miss a dose you take it as soon as you can, if you miss a stimulant, you can’t take it again until the next day
It’s actually super easy to forget to take your meds. I have autism not adhd but my daughter has adhd. She is chaotic and can’t keep to a routine. She tries, but you know how it goes. I forget to take mine when my routine gets changed which has happened a lot lately.
You can’t take it past a certain time or you won’t sleep. It’s not like antidepressants where you can take it at any time. If it’s 11am and I remember why I’m so spacey, I gotta wait until tomorrow.
My brain relaxes so much on ritalin I’d almost say it’s easier to sleep. My extended release only lasts around 5 hours anyway.
Rit gave me panic attacks. Vyvanse was the best, but I was switched to Adderall which was definitely stronger, but also more stimulating than vyvanse or ritalin.
Not all antidepressants are like that. Wellbutrin taken in the evening will definitely fuck with your sleep.
I’m with you on this one, but everyone experiences this differently. I have never forgotten a single dose since I started about 5 years ago. The difference with and without medication is night and day, I’m barely at 20% functionality without them, and 90-100% with.