If you have ADHD and can't/don't take medication, what helps?

[MsRosewater]

I have a new diagnosis of ADHD. It explains a lot for me!

It's going to be about 7 months until I can start treatment but I'm really struggling to function at the moment. It's a particular issue at work where I'm perpetually missing deadlines, unable to initiate things through inertia/ procrastination and not being able to concentrate in ( interminable) team's meeting so missing things .

I'm in a new , senior NHS role and the sole breadwinner so not a lot of room to manoeuvre there but keen to know how others manage....,

Thanks

@Woffle it’s Revenge Bedtime Procrastination. An actual thing. Late at night is generally the only time we can just be that we want to use up all that time.

[quote Myadhdusername]**@Woffle* it’s Revenge Bedtime Procrastination. An actual thing. Late at night is generally the only time we can just be* that we want to use up all that time.[/quote]
Yes to that. Going to bed is very hard indeed. There are all those steps to go through in order to achieve it!

Plus I have this thing lately where as I'm falling asleep I have voices shouting in my head and I have to tell turn to be quiet 😂
It's just echoes or something but it's very intrusive.

Sorry I know no one replied to my last question but does anyone know what happens when you score highly on the autism quotient too… Just forwarded over my pre-assessment forms and one was quite obviously about autism ‘symptoms’ and I know I always score highly and it’s been pointed out by health professionals before that I have a lot of traits. Will they understand co-morbidities or will they refuse to diagnose ADHD until I’ve had an autism assessment too?

The adhd assessment was £700 and I’ve had to sell a lot of my belongings as I’m struggling to function now... autism is £2k so much further out of my reach. I don’t have much left to sell plus they couldn’t prescribe anything for autism

There is a great fb page called 'order out of chaos'

@ADHDMaybe - they won’t make you have an ASD assessment. If you meet the criteria you can jet that diagnosis and could always pursue that later if you did want to. To be honest, if you think you have ADHD then you probably have, people don’t waste that money for no reason

I was on meds but they didn't work for me. Please don't view meds as a magic bullet that will solve everything. They're intense and the side effects are no joke.

Hi fellow bedtime procrastinators fist bump

@HereticFanjo

Hi fellow bedtime procrastinators fist bump

Yep I'm still here 😂 Ok that's it, I'm going up.

😁

@Yumperwumpee
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I’m glad to hear they won’t insist I pay for further testing to get a conclusive result. I have no experience of private human health care so I wasn’t sure how it worked.

I completely appreciate meds might not work. It was more the fact there might be an option for treatment whereas with ASD I don’t know what they could offer.

I’d like to try meds, I think. I’d also like help at vet school as I’m just about to start my final year and I’ve burnt myself out continuously to get here and I really want to be able to ask for more support. I want to know whether I could ever genuinely cope in the job and whether meds would help.

I get glowing reviews on placement and I get good grades but everything else slips and I struggle massively year round. It’s not sustainable but with meds it might be 🤞🏻 And if not, at least I can say I gave it my all. I want to look back and say I tried my hardest after spending years feeling like I’m drowning.

@MollyBloomYes

OP I'm in basically the same situation as you (different job role but stakes just as high and no partner to support) so I'm watching with interest. I've contacted occupational health who have suggested some sort of workplace assessment thing (think it's specific to my workplace whatever it's called) and then Access to Work which is governmental. But OH were very contradictory as to whether access to work would be eligible for people who are officially diagnosed or not so I'm still waiting to confirm that (I'm still waiting for everything to be 'official'). However Access to Work can provide up to nine months of support including mentoring so worth looking up.

Access to Work will definitely support ADHD. But you need a formal diagnosis

@ADHDMaybe I think your idea makes total sense as you want to know what you can cope with/feel happy with longer term.

I had one of those rare and wonderful superpower days when my brain mostly worked for me. Ofc it was so fast that the word said most often to me was, 'Focus! Focus on one thing.' Ha. As if I can do that unless it's here / gaming / stuff I'm hyperinterested in.

The best thing food thing for me is ..
I have 3 slow còokers.
On sundays make 3 different dishes in each with doubled up . This means that i have most of the meals ( 6 ).for the week cooked .
At the same time i make 2 v v easy bakes and / or a nut roast. This is then divided up for wraps with cheese / vegan cheese, mango chutney and spinach / salad. For the week .its boring but - and this is the thing- slow cooker means i cant burn pans!!!!!!!
I must admit i sometimes forget but the reward is immense and i feel adhead of myself.
I also make chick pea patties and bean burgers for freeser.
Id recomend. We got each slow cooker off fb for free as some people just dont use them but i think they are a secret adhd weapon !!!!

Break everything and anything down into 5 minute sections. Have a buzzer on your phone to remind you to get back on task. Every time you complete a task give yourself a big mental, verbal reward. (e.g. an actual quick shoulder pat while you think: brilliant! You did it. Well done!' ) This gives you a dopamine hit that you need to keep going.

Stay hydrated and take supplements such as B complex vitamins, L-Tyrosine etc (as long as it doesn't give you headaches), Vit D spray and iron capsules to keep your brain sharp.

I’m in a complete mess this week. Haven’t eaten since Sunday. Work is just endless tasks with no time to plan a better system and no reward as nothing is ever properly finished. No chance to relax or have leisure as my brain won’t let me do that in small chunks of time.
Sleep is good though at the moment!

Me! Unmedicated for a year. Had medication before.

1. Eat more fruit and veg and protein, lots of protein. Less sugar and chocolate etc. Defo helps oil the brain.

1. Regular stimulation in terms of seeing people and appointments. I need appointments.

1. Occasionally in desperation decongestants help as they stimulate the brain.

1. Green tea preferably or tea. Always in the morning.

1. Most of all and the one I am worst at is exercise.

1. Don't delay starting big things

1. Self belief

In terms of your specific issues, you could look at getting coaching via Access to Work. I work in a very deadline driven environment and the thing I have found most helpful is getting a white board where I write up the key deadlines (these are big projects). It helps to see them everyday. If its smaller deadlines I think look at chunking your time. That is what my ADHD coach recommended. One thing I did for myself was set up auto file on my inbox. It has gotten problematic as sometimes people have got like why have you not replied and it is because I did not check their file lol. But generally it has made me less stressed.

In terms of not initiating things, I lean into my hyper focus and tend to try to keep going at a steady pace. If I am not initating things for a few days then its problematic and probably a sign I am getting depressed.

Ultimately I have learned that is is me that pays the price as the work has to get done. I feel like there is a lot of wastage in the NHS ( I work for a related service), don't absorb this culture and lower your standards.

For team meetings try fiddle toys! We had someone bring squish balls, bendy sticks. I have a tangle teese on my desk.

I also go to a friends once a week to work and spend several days a week in cafes.

I knew that Janaury was going to be hard and when they shut the office for Covid I thought shit.

Oh also if it has not been mentioned - Focus Mate!! I use this when I know I just cannot be arsed and am at risk of reviewing clothing websites online haha. It's corny but once you get started working it helps, it gets the dopamine going.

That is funny about tight clothes. For ages I lived in lyca then I recently got back into properly dressing. This makes a big differnece- to wash , do makeup and get dressed into clothes you would wear on a sort of dress down day at the office. Smart sweatshirts type thing. I have comfy but substantial jeans specifically for working from home and am really enjoying wearing neutral smart colours, it makes me feel I am at work.

Forest App is also good although it is encouraging phone use. You plant a tree to grow and if you click away it dies .

Ooohhh I am introgued by the triple slow cookers! I have one erm five years old and never used it. I did batch cook and freeze shephers pies and fish pies and that was a success but there were a lot of steps involved haha.

Well, I've been trying since Saturday to catchup with this thread. Here is my adhd brain dump.

48. Diagnosed a year ago. Take meds. Generally the better for them. But meds don't fix everything. Lists are great. But I generally don't forget stuff. I just can't do them. Same for apps/tools. I drink too much on the evening because it's the only way to calm down (working on this) Sometimes I'm a demon and get work done in a whirlwind I'm bloody amazing in a crisis!! Boredom makes me really low. I have two modes; bored or stressed!! I was awarded a HUGE amount of money via access to work. Tried a support worker. Failed. Meeting with her just felt like an extra stress. Struggle to make/maintain friends. Kind of starting to realise that maybe this is ok. Just starting to realise how disabled I am sometimes despite being v successful from the outside looking in

@BrassicaBabe

Well, I've been trying since Saturday to catchup with this thread. Here is my adhd brain dump.

48. Diagnosed a year ago. Take meds. Generally the better for them. But meds don't fix everything. Lists are great. But I generally don't forget stuff. I just can't do them. Same for apps/tools. I drink too much on the evening because it's the only way to calm down (working on this) Sometimes I'm a demon and get work done in a whirlwind I'm bloody amazing in a crisis!! Boredom makes me really low. I have two modes; bored or stressed!! I was awarded a HUGE amount of money via access to work. Tried a support worker. Failed. Meeting with her just felt like an extra stress. Struggle to make/maintain friends. Kind of starting to realise that maybe this is ok. Just starting to realise how disabled I am sometimes despite being v successful from the outside looking in

What do you do for work Brassica?

I also used to use alcohol as a destressing tool but I went too far and I had to stop completely.

I'm bloody amazing in a crisis!!

So interesting you say this; ADHD people often go into high-pressure/stressful jobs like ambulance service, army, A&E medicine, etc, because they're so so good in crises.

Boredom makes me really low.
I have two modes; bored or stressed!!

This is so me. I've been miserable for a while because my (lovely) life is so stable. I create drama just for excitement!

@AlbertBridge

I'm bloody amazing in a crisis!!

So interesting you say this; ADHD people often go into high-pressure/stressful jobs like ambulance service, army, A&E medicine, etc, because they're so so good in crises.

I am too. This must be one of the positives. My brain processes things at double speed quite well and I use this in situations that require high pressure multitasking. It's a very easy task for me. Before I stopped work my role was to coordinate many critical elements of patient care.

But ask me to sort out my clothes into drawers and I just can't do it.