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

MistySkiesAfterRain i mainly use recipies that require you to fry.onion , then bung rest in and leave it .works v well n not a burnt pan in sight!

I used to work as a chef, I thrived from the stress, hated it when it was ever quiet as I struggle with being still.

Although I was a chef I rarely followed recipes, I still don’t. This week I ordered Gusto and have found it almost impossible to follow the instructions on the recipe cards so have kind of just guessed what to do with the ingredients given, I tried to get dd to help read the instructions to me but she has ASD too 🤣.

I’m undiagnosed but so much of this rings true, I really think I have been flying under the radar all my life. I can’t get anything done in the morning until I have had a coffee and sat down to make my to do list. I have a hardback notebook and write EVERYTHING down: get up, wash hair, take vitamins, etc. Then if somehow I drift or get stuck I look for the next doable task on the list. I also need a good hour’s walk each day or I become really antsy and unfocused and irritable. I have to move around while I make calls or participate in meetings, or have something else to do with my hands, I can’t ever settle down for long and relaxation is an utterly foreign concept.

Crisis take no planning. You can't procrastinate on a crisis 

I'm in IT @JollyHostess Working on reducing my alcohol. Trying to understand why I drink, or what alcohol "gives" me so that I can unpack and reverse it

I’m great in a crisis. Suits my instant thinking brain. My current job requires planning, organisation, following through, doing what I’ve said I’ll do when I was in a getting things done mode.
I can’t do it. I get through each day and enjoy it, but I know my stress levels are sky high.
I need to contact the Access to Work people again - I really don’t want my employer to know, I don’t think. It would definitely change things.

@ChaToilLeam
Find a way to get an assessment if you can. That is exactly how I was before meds. Now only half the time!

The crisis thing is interesting. I definitely cope better when work is manic and chaotic. Boredom makes me feel physically sick and prone to doing stupid, impulsive things like changing jobs on a whim

I remember reading on MN years ago that it's a natural human response to freeze in a crisis. That's why people just stare after witnessing an accident, rather than go and help.

I've never had that: I just react immediately, which has sometimes been perceived as attention-seeking or glory-hunting by others, I think.

It isn't, though: I think it's my ADHD. It's an impulse that I find almost impossible to resist.

Reading about that on here was the first inkling I got that I may be neurodiverse.

Not sure about the immediate crisis, but I definitely prefer the buzz of everything kicking off and being able to fix things. I get much more stressed over having to do mundane or repetitive things, because I have to make my brain concentrate.

Ds is exactly the same, but he drives me round the bend and I can't bear how distracted he is. He isn't hyperactive at all. He moves as though moving through treacle and I move at 100mph. It does not make for happy times.

And when dh explains things more than once. Yes, yes. I got it the first time. I got it when you were halfway through saying it.

The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' comes to mind frequently.

@Lovemusic33

I used to work as a chef, I thrived from the stress, hated it when it was ever quiet as I struggle with being still.

Although I was a chef I rarely followed recipes, I still don’t. This week I ordered Gusto and have found it almost impossible to follow the instructions on the recipe cards so have kind of just guessed what to do with the ingredients given, I tried to get dd to help read the instructions to me but she has ASD too 🤣.

I can really relate to this.

One of the things that came out of my ADHD work coaching is that I respond really well to urgent requests rather than long deadlines.

That's the only way I can take advantage of my good-in-a-crisis talents in an office job.

I do think I'd be much happier in a job where I just sorted out on the spot problems all day long. Where can I find a job like that?!

This thread has been a godsend . Just don’t know how to organise an nhs assessment !

@JollyHostess

One of the things that came out of my ADHD work coaching is that I respond really well to urgent requests rather than long deadlines.

That's the only way I can take advantage of my good-in-a-crisis talents in an office job.

I do think I'd be much happier in a job where I just sorted out on the spot problems all day long. Where can I find a job like that?!

Trading, trading support, financial services!

When you are on ON, when not easy street. Survived for 20 years, probably the adhd helped a lot, I can see it in others.

Also self medicating with alcohol to get relaxed calmness.

Oh this isn’t a helpful thing but just for comfort- is anyone else a technology breaker? Like can break anything without trying. Even though quite techie myself.

We have all apple stuff and I can break even that. Not actually break, but stop it working as it should.

Thanks for the reply @Newcastleteapot! Finances are not really my thing but I appreciate the idea!

jollyHostess Teaching! Firefighting from the minute you open your emails.

Downsides: data analysis, marking and meetings, keeping track of bits of paper. Teaching the same thing (if it's boring). Giving the kids enough thinking time cos they've had 5 seconds already.

@Bitbloweyoutthere

jollyHostess Teaching! Firefighting from the minute you open your emails.

Downsides: data analysis, marking and meetings, keeping track of bits of paper. Teaching the same thing (if it's boring). Giving the kids enough thinking time cos they've had 5 seconds already.

Good call!! I did qualify as a teacher and taught for a few years before my kids. Before that I was a preschool teacher. Now I'm old and I don't think I have the energy for that any more 😂 I like your thinking though.

@Thinkyoung

This thread has been a godsend . Just don’t know how to organise an nhs assessment !

Can you start with your GP?

How did you get a diagnosis as an adult? A lot of this sounds like me.

@SJFarter
Start with your gp ask for a referral to Psychiatry UK

My gp has just refused an asseasment.
He says its hard to diagnose at my age. ( 50 s ) I absolutely have the traits and my whole life has clicked into place

Gp.says what would i gain from diagnosis.
And when I explained he said i was clearly capable of managing iy myself and had years of practice etc.
Id like to be assessed tho .
Good luck to.anyone who seeks same.and hope gp supports . ( actually WHY wd a gp refuse?)

JollyHostess i was a social.worker .. that.was pretty.much what you describe .!

Agree that social work, or many types of social work, are pretty perfect

@Shineyitem

My gp has just refused an asseasment. He says its hard to diagnose at my age. ( 50 s ) I absolutely have the traits and my whole life has clicked into place

Gp.says what would i gain from diagnosis.
And when I explained he said i was clearly capable of managing iy myself and had years of practice etc.
Id like to be assessed tho .
Good luck to.anyone who seeks same.and hope gp supports . ( actually WHY wd a gp refuse?)

My GP did agree to refer me and said the waiting list would be years. She also said “but oh well you’ve coped this long!” I think she was trying to be positive and I just sort of smiled and nodded in response but as I was heading home I though I might be surviving because I have to but my constant anxiety and failures have ruined me! I really feel I’m at crisis point and I need proper help, never mind I’d I’ve kept myself barely afloat. I need more now!