u/MalikTheScot

Hi, (32M) I've been diagnosed with ADHD and been prescribed extended release Ritalin 40mg, two months ago. I don't take the meds on a daily basis, it's really for when I need it, I think on average I take them 2-3 days a week. It's been going great, it really helps me with my work, chores, and even personal activities. But one thing I've noticed is that it makes me want to speak about somewhat deep stuff. I won't go too into details on this, but I need to explain my situation a bit. For several reasons, since a few years now, I've been thinking about whether or not I'm a cis man. I heavily identify with non-binary and agender identities. But so far, I'm not decided at all, and I've talked absolutely to no one about it, I just read a lot on the subject and write about it on my diary occasionally.

But when I take Ritalin, the subject comes up on the forefront of my mind quite often, and out of nowhere. Like I'm working on something and I start having deep thoughts about it, and sometimes even get a bit emotional. Two days ago, while the effect was ongoing, I even considered telling my best friend, who is queer, about it. A few hours afterwards, it's like another person was in my brain while the meds were in effect, and the mere notion of telling someone other than anonymous redditors now seemed utterly ridiculous. I'm not sure, I would have gone ahead and told her if the effect lasted longer, and in this case, it wouldn't have had bad consequences.

But it makes me wonder : why the hell does this happen ? It's not bad enough to make me stop taking them and I'll be sure to tell my psychiatrist about it next time, but I want to know if other people on here, be they queer or not, had similar shifts in their mind on Ritalin, and if they managed to make it better.

Also, although I haven't taken steps to officially diagnose it, I have many good reasons to believe that I'm on the spectrum, I assume that might also play a part in the whole thing.

Cheers !