Yep. Certified non-tech nerd here. And not quite 30, either.

I was awfully close to not figuring out Lemmy enough to make an account and participate.

I still don’t understand exactly what’s going on, but I can confirm that my first time visiting was extremely confusing. So many terms I was completely unfamiliar with, and no clear way for me to jump in easily (like you were describing with having to make important decisions before signing up/understanding). Truly the only reason I ended up successfully making it here was that I saw a post on the instance I ended up joining, welcoming reddit refugees so I figured - well, I guess I could try this one. And that was after I had searched around online to figure out what the heck the fediverse, instances, etc, were.

The barrier to entry is really high for those of us with little to no tech knowledge. And I was really motivated, I reeeeally wanted to commit to leaving reddit. I imagine those who are considering joining but aren’t quite as motivated just won’t make it. :(

Imagine if other similar formats sued each other like this - one forum site suing another because they both use text-based forum communication. I’m so tired of facebook/meta/twitter/etc.

But, I think part of the issue is that communities that folks are interested in being a part of, about certain topics/etc, just aren’t active enough here yet. I’m glad to see some are growing, and my personal experience is improving over time, but I keep finding communities that look like something I’d love but have zero activity ir content in them. So I do understand folks wanting to fill parts of this with content in general, even if it’s content similar to what they would’ve gotten on Reddit, because content and activity is what will help build those cool communities over time.

I only wish I had interesting or important things to contribute to the communities I’m interested in, I never know what to say or do to help build a community that’s nonexistent or essentially so. 😥 so far I’ve just been commenting wherever I can, for the most part, hoping that helps.

My experience is that psychiatrists have never just asked me “do you experience X”, going through those specific DSM symptoms, but instead they’ll administer some kind of questionnaire that asks a significantly larger number of more specific questions that give you some sort of score at the end. The score is then used to determine whether or not you rank highly in certain symptom areas, which can then help the psych better understand your symptoms and whether or not you qualify for a certain diagnosis.

From what I’ve read in various online sources, it seems to vary a LOT between different providers, patients, locations, etc. Even those who live in the same general location seem to have had dramatically different experiences. But, here is what I remember my process being like:

• Made an appointment with a psychiatrist (THIS WAS THE HARDEST PART BY FAR AND I HATED IT - It took me almost an entire year from start to finish to find psychiatrists that were in-network with my insurance, had open availability that wasn’t months and months out, I could get ahold of, specialized in my general areas of need (ADHD + other conditions), etc. Part of the problem was I kept giving up when I’d hit these barriers, to be fair)
• Had a consultation appointment with the psychiatrist where she asked me a lot of introductory questions, going over my general upbringing, career, daily life, concerns, symptoms, things that have helped or hurt, etc.
• Completed a few different questionnaires, some for ADHD and some for other things, like anxiety, and also had to share a questionnaire with my partner for him to fill out from his perspective on me
• Had a follow-up appointment with the psychiatrist plus another more senior psych, where we went through all of my results together and discussed my diagnoses, potential treatment options, etc.
• Had to visit a lab to get general bloodwork done, and also an electrocardiogram, to make sure there weren’t any health concerns to be aware of (or that could explain my symptoms) before trying stimulant medications for the first time
• Got cleared with all of that, had an appointment where we settled on a first medication to try, and then continued to meet with the psych every 2 weeks while we titrated my dosage and medication type.
• Nowadays, I only have an appointment every ~3 months with a psych to check-in and continue my prescriptions and/or update things, etc.

I hope that is helpful! I know it is scary starting the process, but I can’t stress enough how helpful it has been in the end for me. I’m really glad I pushed through and finally got help.

If it helps as well to hear what appointments were like, I found that the psychiatrists I have had (changed psychs occasionally due to moves) tended to be less interested in detailed discussions about feelings, emotions, or symptoms than my therapists have been. Not to say they aren’t interested, they are and they specifically ask things about them. But, they have seemed more interested in a “do you experience this”, “is it the same as before or improved/worsened”, etc, and less interested when I would go on detailed explanations of exactly what I was thinking during a particular event or experience, if that makes any sense. For example, it seemed like they preferred “Most days, I feel like my symptoms are significantly improved during midday, but I tend to consistently get spacey and sluggish around 5 pm every day. Increasing water and protein intake hasn’t seemed to fix it.” rather than, “Well, it’s different everyday, but I usually take my first dose around 9 or 10 AM or so. About an hour after that, I feel less “stuck” and am able to actually get up out of bed and do ‘normal’ things, like brush my teeth or get dressed. Sometimes I don’t get anything done after that, but I still feel more ‘normal’, you know? I tried changing my lunch to include more protein, and…” I realize reading this back that this seems like generic advice to not be long-winded and overly explain things, not just for psychiatrist appointments, but I hope what I’m trying to explain sort of got across lol.

I now realize I’ve written a significantly longer (and long-winded, hah) comment than I intended to, but I hope it is helpful in some way to you or someone else!

Strange! Do you get the heart racing feeling when the meds are actually active, or only in that time before the meds kick in? The closest I’ve gotten to this is that I’ll often wake up to take my first dose of medicine about an hour before I really need to get up. If I’m anxious about something happening that day (work, appointment, etc) then I’ll stress myself out trying to get myself to fall asleep before my meds kick in, knowing I won’t get a chance to fall back asleep again, and that anxiety sort of causes a faster heart rate. But not really related to the medicine, as it’s the same anxious reaction I would get back in college when I’d stay up too late studying for a test and then desperately try to fall asleep only to stay awake the whole night before the test 😅 lol

Any chance it’s something like that, anxiety/stress related?