My Honest Experience Taking Stimulant Medication for ADHD as an Adult

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This is my personal experience with ADHD and stimulant medication. This isn’t medical advice, just an honest look at what it was like for me.

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🧠 Diagnosed at 30

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 30.
(You can read more about that journey (in this article).

A few months ago, I began taking Lisdexamfetamine (Elvanse)—a stimulant medication commonly prescribed for ADHD. This is my honest look at how it’s impacted me so far: the benefits, the downsides, and the in-between.

If you’re considering ADHD medication, I hope this helps offer a realistic perspective, rather than advice.

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🤔 Why I Chose Medication

Before diving into the effects, here’s why I chose to try stimulant meds:

I wanted to reduce the impact of ADHD in specific areas that matter deeply to me:

• Focus & Attention – I often struggle to maintain focus on a single task, whether it’s work, watching films, reading books, having conversations, doing housework, or other daily activities. Minor external distractions easily pull my attention away, and my mind is constantly swirling with overactive thoughts.

• Restlessness – I’m naturally quite fidgety. If I can move, whether it’s tapping my feet or rocking in my chair, I’ll do it. When I’m forced to stay still, I feel frustration building within me. I find myself standing up to walk around or pace, especially in the comfort of my home, where I’ll kick balled-up socks back and forth. In more formal settings like the office, I take frequent trips to the kitchen or bathroom just to get away from my desk and decompress.

• Task Initiation & Motivation – Starting tasks is a major struggle for me. I tend to procrastinate until the last possible moment, and I rarely get anything done unless the pressure of looming consequences starts to stress me out. This pattern has followed me throughout my life, and it often leaves me feeling behind and overwhelmed.

• Emotional Regulation – I often struggle to regulate my reactions to different situations. While I can get extremely excited about certain things, which can be enjoyable, I also find myself becoming easily agitated, allowing minor issues to significantly impact my mood. I tend to over-analyse situations, sometimes getting stuck in a cycle of overthinking and rumination. There’s a clear overlap with anxiety, making it difficult to distinguish between an ADHD-driven response and an anxious one. Regardless, I’d like to see how medication influences these aspects of my experience.

Let’s explore each one.

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🔍 Focus & Attention

Improvement rating: 7/10

✅ Positives:

• I’ve been performing significantly better at work, particularly with tasks that used to drain me quickly. If I had to describe the experience, I’d say it feels like I’m running on a more powerful battery, but one that occasionally short circuits.
• My ability to focus has improved dramatically. I can now sustain attention for much longer periods, even on tasks I used to find unbearably dull. It often feels like I’ve entered a state of hyperfocus, but with things that never used to hold my interest.
• External distractions affect me far less than before. While I still get distracted, it feels more in line with what I imagine is typical. A major breakthrough has been reading, I can now read even with background noise and activity around me, something that was previously impossible.

❌ Downsides:

• My drive to complete tasks can often be intense enough that it makes me feel agitated when things get in the way. An example would be something like when I’m waiting for input from a colleague who doesn’t share my urgency, I can find it very frustrating.
• When the effects of the medication wear off, my focus seems worse than it was before I started medication. I’m not sure if this is objectively true or if I just can’t accurately remember how difficult things were unmedicated. Either way, the contrast is jarring.
• My focus and attention can sometimes be misdirected. I can find myself feeling very interested and locked in on things that I wouldn’t consider to be the most productive or best use of my time.

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💺 Restlessness

Improvement rating: 5/10

✅ Positives:

• I now feel the need to step away from my desk to decompress about half as often as before, which is a definite improvement. However, I was hoping for a more zen-like state where I could sit still for hours.
• The feeling of pent-up frustration—the urge to move or go for a walk—has lessened. While I still take breaks, it’s nice not to feel as charged up, as if I need to release built-up energy.

❌ Downsides:

• The medication hasn’t helped me break the habit of moving around. While it reduces the frustration behind my restlessness, the habitual nature of it remains a challenge. I assume this might improve over time.
• Some aspects of my restlessness have worsened. At my desk, I find myself tapping my feet or fidgeting more, likely due to the jittery sensation from the stimulant.

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⚡ Task Initiation & Motivation

Improvement rating: 8/10

✅ Positives:

• My procrastination, especially with tasks I don’t enjoy, has decreased dramatically. I now tackle things I feel I should tackle with energy and determination.
• I get a sense of satisfaction from completing dull tasks now, whereas previously I would not feel rewarded at all and everything would feel like an uphill climb – this is a huge win for me.

❌ Downside:

• Despite these improvements, I sometimes feel very unnatural, as if I’m not entirely myself while being so productive. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a lingering sense of guilt that I get from artificially altering my wakeful state.

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🌡️ Emotional Regulation

Improvement rating: 3/10

✅ Positives:

• In the first few hours, I experience a significant reduction in negative emotions. Things that would normally bother me negatively barely register on an emotional level. I get excited about my day, I like chatting to people and getting things done.

❌ Downsides:

• The euphoric sensation during the initial uptake feels unnatural and unnerving. I feel wired, extremely happy, and full of energy—similar to the effects of certain illegal stimulant drugs. What troubles me most is that I look forward to this feeling in the morning yet feel anxious about it wearing off later in the day, something that closely mirrors patterns of substance dependence.
• Anxiety has increased substantially; however I’ve been able to manage this by cutting caffeine out of my diet.

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🧭 Final Thoughts

Starting stimulant medication for ADHD has been a life-changing, but complex experience. It has brought noticeable improvements to my ability to focus, initiate tasks, and manage restlessness, all of which have had a meaningful impact on my productivity and quality of life. I now feel more capable of showing up in the ways I’ve always wanted to but previously struggled to.

However, these benefits come with trade-offs. The heightened productivity sometimes feels artificial, and the emotional highs early in the day contrast uncomfortably with the anxiety and dip that follows. The intensity of these shifts can feel destabilising at times. While my restlessness has improved on a practical level, I still wrestle with some of the same habits and physical urges, and emotional regulation remains the most unpredictable area.

Medication isn’t a cure—it’s a tool.
One that requires awareness, patience, and constant reflection.

If you’re considering ADHD medication, I encourage you to speak openly with your doctor and take your time reflecting on what’s working and what isn’t. Everyone’s experience is different. This was mine—messy, hopeful, occasionally uncomfortable, but ultimately worth it.