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

100% in agreement with pps who mentioned cards and presents. I’ve always been totally useless with that. Never thought about it the context of ADHD before, so this explains a lot!

And the crisis thing too. When younger I used to work in a busy bar/nightclub, and the best nights for me were when it was totally rammed, 6-deep at the bar and you had to be so instantly reactive in serving people and getting through the orders as fast as possible. I loved iy and was really good at it. Could do it for hours! I think it was the reactive element and the high urgency environment.

My job now is very slow in comparison and requires me to be more proactive. A lot of working autonomously. Which is good in some ways but really encourages procrastination. My best days are when someone else is off sick and I have to step in at the last moment and pick up stuff I don’t know anything about and have to quickly evaluate the situation and prioritize and think on my feet. I am so much more productive in those times.

The challenge is how to create that sense of urgency in my usual tasks without leaving everything to the last minute!

@Boeufsurletoit totally! I think a new app, list, hack falls into hyper focus for a few weeks which k why it work. Then we get used to it (bored or it!) so it stops working.

For me, I mostly don't forget stuff. I'm just frozen and can't do stuff.

January isn't a great time for me generally. It's a quiet time of year work wise which makes everything a struggle. This week I find myself feeling quite dis-abled. How do NT types feel I wonder. And I wonder what it feels like to be NT.

Appreciating this thread. Thank you x

Yep same here the inertia and the procrastination usually paralysed by an onslaught of tasks to do is crippling me currently. I never made it for a walk today as I agonised for literally hours about it, even stuff like whether I should make a brew or not can take forever to decide. Which is why I come across as slightly weirdly obsessive to other people, x 2 coffees first thing, one at 11, one at 3pm. I hate if anything disrupts this.

I could never be self employed, I need external structures and deadlines around me to keep me going otherwise I think the inertia would finish me off. It seems to be getting worse as I get older too. Not better. ☹️

Severe combined-type here. Currently mostly Unmedicated but I have some left over (from trying dex) that I sometimes use if I’m foggy (not how it’s supposed to be used but hey, they have my name on). I don’t medicate because of the side effects - otherwise I would.

I’m not the oracle because - as my name suggests - I’m hardly winning the battle - but here are some of my thoughts…

Love coffee. It makes me calm, as others have mentioned.

Exercise - specifically cardio - is the best thing. I find this hard with wfh because I had a nice little after work routine at the gym next door to the office. I notice a HUGE difference.

Momentum is key. Just get going before you can think about it and don’t stop - stop as in switch tasks but stopping is where it goes wrong. Also - if you really don’t want to do something but manage to get started you might just find your hyperfocus and keep going.

Rewards are good but I have no sense of waiting for/earning things before I get them so my life is just a bit YOLO. Try not to be like me.

And some wild cards.

My sleep turned to shit when I stopped smoking. It got better when I relapsed. It’s quite well documented now that nicotine ‘helps’. I don’t know what would happen for proper non-smokers but a lozenge helps me (or a patch).

I’m only ever truly calm in a sauna. It turns out that there’s science to this (dopamine again). It might help someone else with ADHD.

And I preach all this having done fuck all today other than upload photos to the cloud (tbf it’s been on my to-do list for an eternity).

Oh also - I have an A4 weekly planner pad thing that I use for non-work stuff. It massively helps me. Same thing as one of those wall/fridge planner but there’s not a fucking chance I would ever remember to look at one of those - whereas the pad is both portable and largely sits on my desk next to me.

LOl I have a whiteboard wall that helps keep me sane. No chance of avoiding that. Can't post a photo as too outing.

Work: used to work on a trading floor in the olden days, could do that all day, I loved it. But if not being actually shouted at by traders or clients, could not focus at all.

Maybe this is the time to direct our children into high stress, highly paid work. Like Drs / financial services / oil and gas? any more any more?

I have given up card and presents. Makes life much easier.

Also don't you love how this thread is very kinda, non replying to each other? We are all having slightly separate conversations, mainly with ourselves.

Also don't you love how this thread is very kinda, non replying to each other? We are all having slightly separate conversations, mainly with ourselves.

I know I'm ruining this by replying to you, but yes

Also don't you love how this thread is very kinda, non replying to each other? We are all having slightly separate conversations, mainly with ourselves.

Haha! Always.

Also don't you love how this thread is very kinda, non replying to each other? We are all having slightly separate conversations, mainly with ourselves.

But we're all also sharing and contributing in our own way. Def getting a benefit from this thread even if that's simply not feeling alone in my NT'ness

I've just about admitted to myself today that I use caffeine all day (Diet Coke) as an upper and wine as a downer on the evening to dull the anxiety of the caffeine I'm trying to manage my alcohol. But now realising I need to tackle a 30 year caffeine dependency too. Feck! It's all too much!!

You lovely folks still out there?

I'm really anxious today. Can't shift it. Can't really pinpoint why either. Best I can come up with is that work is just a bit too quiet today (wfh) so it makes me feel a bit like I'm going to get caught out for not doing enough.

I'm here @BrassicaBabe 🙂 How are you doing?