TLDR: I don’t wanna scare-monger about meds, just want to make sure people are well-informed about the downsides and that there are other non-pharmaceutical alternatives.
I was on medication for years and stimulants do help, they’re really quite incredible… BUT (and this is a big one), once your body can get used to it (over a long period of time), and it stops working as effectively. It’s slow at first, but eventually you may need to try other forms of stimulation.
I went through two stimulants over the course of like 14 years, the first one stopped working long before I stopped taking it because the placebo effect is strong (and I’m sure it did something, just not enough anymore).
The other thing is the side effects, don’t underestimate them, read the label! I dealt with a lot of them without realizing it and they’re often quite common across stimulants. My least favorite side effect was based on the delivery method: I had to remember to take my meds daily, which I often forgot when I was rushed or just didn’t remember, a very common occurrence. And taking them late in the day punished my sleep because I was too stimulated to sleep.
Ultimately I settled on being “unmedicated” by the pharmacy and using other stimulants like sativa and caffeine to manage. It can be a lot cheaper if you are without insurance or can’t afford copays.
I also manage my ADHD through music, sex, really any stimulation that I have reasonable access to because there’s not really a one-size-fits-all solution.