20 years pain-hell, now I'm suddenly pain-free! The hidden link between undiagnosed ADHD, Dopamine and Central Sensitization
Hey guys,
I’m putting this out here because I spent two decades in pain hell without any answer or effectiv medical help, and I think some of you might be trapped in the exact same loop.
I kept being pushed into the psychosomatic corner just because physical treatments failed, and I want to share the actual science of why I am suddenly pain-free.
To give you some context: My pain started back in 2002 (at the age of 12) as jumping joint pain. By 2007, it settled as a constant, daily ache in my lower back, and by 2017, my upper back joined in. At times it was everywhere — shoulder, neck, arms.
Last year, the upper back pain got so horrific that I couldn't even stand anymore.
I dragged myself to work two days a week but had to literally lie down on the floor every 20 minutes just to survive.
I was so desperate, I felt like ripping out my own spine.
But my MRIs never showed anything dramatic. Just some mild disc degeneration without any nerve compression. Every specialist told me the same thing: "Your physical wear and tear does not explain this level of pain."
They tested me for the rarest autoimmune diseases and rheumatism. All negative.
I tried everything: physical therapy, steroid injections and heavy drugs like Tilidine (an opioid), Pregabalin (an gabapentinoid), and antidepressants.
Absolutely nothing worked—the pain didn't change in any way.
Doctors told me to just "learn to live with the pain."
But I always knew there must be a “real” reason for my pain—it wasn't just my mind!
So I never gave up searching and finally dived so deep into the neurobiology of pain until I found the missing link: Dopamine.
Then, this April, at age 36, I finally got diagnosed with ADHD.
I started taking Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse / Elvanse). And within 45 minutes of taking one 20mg pill, my 20-year chronic pain just... VANISHED!!!
It’s completely gone.
Even when the meds wear off later in the day and I'm resting, the pain stays away for a long time.
I never expected to ever get rid of the pain again. It has completely changed my life and finally made it worth living again!
Here is the short version of the neurobiology behind it, because I know it sounds insane:
ADHD isn't just about being hyper or losing focus. It’s a deficiency of dopamine and norepinephrine. What most doctors don’t tell you (or don't even know) is that dopamine is a core part of the body's pain-filtering system (the descending pain-inhibitory pathway).
A healthy brain filters out everyday sensory "noise" from your joints and spine before it reaches your conscious mind.
Because I had a massive, lifelong dopamine deficit, my brain's filter was completely broken. My central nervous system was misinterpreting completely normal, harmless physical stimuli from my back as a massive, constant "alarm pain."
This is called central sensitization.
The stimulant didn't "mask" the pain like an opioid does. It fixed the dopamine deficit, which repaired my brain's broken filter.
The brain could finally filter out the background noise again, and the false pain alarm was switched off.
(This might also explain why some women experience total pain relief during pregnancy, as the massive estrogen surge boosts dopamine. Post-partum, dopamine levels crash, and the pain often returns even worse than before.)
Just to be completely clear: this isn't a universal cure for every back pain. If you have a massive structural injury, like a severe herniated disc crushing a nerve, fixing your dopamine filter won't change the mechanical damage.
But if your scans look mostly fine, treatments do absolutely nothing, and your nervous system is in a permanent state of high alert, an undiagnosed dopamine deficiency (ADHD) might be the missing piece.
Quick heads up: I’m sharing this purely as a resource because so many pain specialists are completely behind on this research.
Because of my limited energy and to protect my mental health, I won't be answering questions here.
If you'd like to know more about my experiences, you can read through my replies below this post (you might need to use Reddit's or your browser's auto-translate feature, as it is in German):
https://www.reddit.com/r/de\_IAmA/s/BNqZdxupu9
If you still have any questions, feel free to comment there so that all the answers can be found in one place.
I just really hope this helps someone who is desperately looking for answers 🍀
Wish you all the best ❤️
Edit: I want to make this very clear once again: Lisdexamfetamine is not a one-size-fits-all solution for pain. Not every medication works the same way for everyone (I think that should be obvious). And it’s also not a cure in the sense of “take it for x amount of time, and then your condition will be gone forever.” The reason lisdexamfetamine led to pain relief FOR ME is that decades of chronic dopamine deficiency—caused by undiagnosed and untreated ADHD—led to my pain. There was no inflammation, no damage to tissue or bone, no rheumatism, or any other illness that could be treated by other means. My brain's internal filter simply stopped working, turning normal, harmless sensory input into phantom pain signals. I’m not saying, “Take this and your pain will go away.” I’m just sharing what I’ve experienced, because my root cause might also be the cause for someone else who’s been searching for an answer for years. Only a doctor can confirm or rule this out. However, if you recognize other ADHD-specific symptoms in yourself, an ADHD evaluation might be worth considering—especially regarding treatment-resistant, chronic pain for which every standard cause has already been ruled out. I’m also not saying that lisdexamfetamine cures my pain forever. It’s more of a temporary “quick fix” for my nervous system, allowing my sensory filtering to work again so that harmless stimuli are no longer perceived as destructive pain. It’s as if I’d sealed my system with tape—but it comes loose again over time. On physically and mentally demanding days, it comes loose faster than on days when I don’t have to perform. That’s because stress and cognitive load simply use up more dopamine than relaxation does. The fact that my body produces too little dopamine is due to ADHD, and I can’t cure my genetics. There are many things that can support me (exercise, relaxation, etc.), but I would never be able to incorporate any of that into my life on a sustained basis if my pain kept me confined to my bed or the floor. It’s only thanks to lisdexamfetamine that I’m even in a position to adopt a health-promoting lifestyle in the first place.