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

Getting on top of my anxiety helps me. I am medicated for ADHD but don't take the Concerta at the weekends, just my usual small dose of Prozac. ADHD so much worse when I am anxious.

Can I ask why it's so long until you can get meds OP? I am currently overseas, but moving back to the UK in a few months. I am worried about the changeover to a UK Dr. Now I know what life is like medicated - I can't go back!

@woffle, consultant told me to buy a trampoline for D's and get him jumping for 1/2 hour every day, also told to get him swimming and running a couple times a week. Told he would use up excess energy and be able to settle down and concentrate after. Don't know how it works but it did help a lot. Child an adult now and still needs a lot of excercise or can't sleep. Got better after puberty.

Lists. Really focuses on what's needed.

Can I ask a question please? To the OP and others with ADHD. I think my mum might have undiagnosed ADHD.

However, when I was a kid she was a stickler for time. But I see ADHD and being on time don’t seem to correlate! Everything else seems to be in line with her having ADHD.

Anyone on here with ADHD who gets super angry when leaving house if others are slow, making them later than wished etc? Actually, thinking on it, maybe she herself was actually finding it hard to be on time hence shouting at me if I ran two minutes after her designated leave time (school run). She also used to go red-rage ballistic if stuck in traffic, at any time. Does this chime with anyone?

Also wondering if I have it, though I always just thought I had poor concentration (mixed with great will power!). I Get bored easily. Need to make lists. Anxious too, if that’s common. Basically, to the OP, for my “poor organisation” (ADHD?) I use a timer for lots of things, record things in a diary, write lists. Ticking things off, that I don’t really want to do, can be satisfying. Walk at least an hour a day.

Anyone on here with ADHD who gets super angry when leaving house if others are slow, making them later than wished etc?

Yes, waiting for people to leave the house gives me the rage. I also struggle to be on time myself so the two aren't mutually exclusive. I am aware it makes me quite hypocritical.

I am also convinced that my mum has undiagnosed adhd.

@Ticklyrain. the fed up website is based upon is the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit Elimination diet. www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/

It is a refined version of the Feingold diet from the 60’s. It works by eliminating salicylic acid, amines, glutamates, artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. Once you reach a baseline, you then conduct controlled trials introducing one chemical at a time, noting the reaction, going back to baseline and trying the next.

It’s best done with the help of a good dietitian. I have lived according to the principles for over 20 years and I will never go back. In many ways, it’s the very antithesis of the Mediterranean diet which we are told is so good for us.

I am not on the spectrum at all but still had a miserable life. Now, I am held as an example by my friends for my patience etc. I would never have thought. It’s not always perfect but there are many families managing conditions either with diet alone or in association with medication.

Please note, doctors don’t get educated about this. You will need a dietitian and then educate your doctor. The fed up website has a list of dietitians. Many of them do Skype etc.

Definitely exercise

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/88-how-to-break-the-procrastination-cycle-and-get/id668174671?i=1000334725528

I’m going to try and give this a listen today.

Carry a notebook with you at all times.
Write everything down.
Put all meetings/deadlines/birthdays in your calendar.
Use online calendar as it's much easier to search (Outlook for work/Google for home)
Index card to do list*
Declutter
Simplify and streamline
Routines
Exercise (walk daily if nothing else)
High strength Omega 3
Get enough sleep
Eat properly
Just generally take care of yourself

I've just gone back to using an A6 index card to do list. You write one action on an index card. These two videos explain the concept better than me:-

My version is pretty much the same as the second video but slightly simpler. I use blank white cards, a black sharpie and write in capitals. Each action is as short as possible; wash up, clean toilet, hoover, ring Emma, order new bedding, etc. I cycle through the cards until I see one I want to do then crack on. If my stack of cards for the day is a bit thick I pull out the more important ones and go back to the other pile if I have time. I recycle the cards that are recurring. It does seem to help with getting unstuck and fighting the procrastination.

Also worth noting that most of these tips will work once and never again 😂
It’s a continual cycle of trying something, having a boost in productivity and feeling like I’ve fixed my adhd, trying it again and it being no help whatsoever.
Just accept that novelty = dopamine. For me that usually means buying a new diary if I’ve slipped out of the habit of the using the current one.

For home stuff - we get Gousto most weeks. Picking off a menu is many decisions less than having to think up meals, and cooking from a recipe that’s on a card in front of me takes away the executive dysfunction issues of having to remember which bit goes in the oven before prepping something else.

I have been listening to an audio book called Faster Than Normal. Finding it helpful so far. He emphasises good sleep, nutrition, exercise etc. He also talks about the importance of eliminating choice wherever possible, which u found interesting.

I have been using an app called routinery which helps me to stay on track with boring repetitive stuff like getting ready in the mornings etc. It reminds me of what I'm supposed to be doing and prevents me from going off on tangents as easily.

I do find it helpful to have some accountability, which is difficult in my current role as I don't really have to account for what I'm doing very often. Would anyone on here like to try being accountability buddies? It would help me to link up with someone else, especially someone who understands what it's like to try and combine adhd with a demanding job!

@Bunbunbunny that made me laugh!

Sorry to hear you’ve had to struggle with an eating disorder on top of adhd. I was an insanely picky eater as a kid, I’m ok now but very routine with eating and get inexplicably annoyed if I have to change tack. You’ve made me realise I probably need to work on relaxing a wee bit there.

Hope you manage to find peace with it,

@Woffle

Does anyone have any tips for getting over ADHD paralysis? For starting a task rather than sitting there and avoiding it for three+ hours?

Try Googling the 'woop' technique. (There's also an app).

It's the only thing that's really helped me with this.

(I learned from this thread that it'a called struggling with transition).

You said that you're in a senior NHS role... Pay to go private and start medication titration straight away would be the obvious solution.

These are all so helpful and so relatable- and things, like the waiting rage, that make me go 'ah- so is that the adhd brain too?! I thought I was just a cow' and the be kind to oneself suggestions as it's hard to turn off the it's-a-character-flaw and I should just be better/ try harder voice

I'm surprised by the timer gig! I'll give it a try but it takes sooooo long to settle into work and I such have an abundance of incomplete tasks from starting and getting sidetracked I'm a little terrified 😬

The exercise stuff makes complete sense and I'll prioritise

For those who asked about getting a diagnosis etc - I'm 40+ and live in Kent. I made a GP appointment in a moment of desperation and basically laid out why I think I meet the criteria and what I wanted from diagnosis (validation and treatment) It took about 3 months from referral to assessment but there is a 6mnth wait for treatment. TBH some London services have much longer waits including for continuing established medication as GPs tend not to prescribe for ADHD without specialist advice

Thanks everyone for replying

Can I ask you about the diagnosis process, @MsRosewater? Did they talk to your family or ask for questionnaires to be completed?

I am currently awaiting an assessment and I'm not sure what to expect.

DD swears by a strong coffee when she needs to focus. Seems counter intuitive but has similar effect to ritalin apparently.
Four Sigmatic mushroom coffee specifically helps if you fancy a Google.
There's also a good podcast called Hacking your Adhd on Spotify.
Good luck

DD swears by a strong coffee when she needs to focus.

I do too. I need to drink a strong coffee every 2-3 hours to get me through my work day. Need to be drinking my last by 2pm to see me through otherwise it's hard to sleep.

I was supposed to do some work today and I haven't done any. We came home 3 hours ago and I have done nothing since. I hate this fucking paralysis.

I struggle to motivate myself to do anything. That includes exercise, cooking healthy meals, even just going to bed. I will procrastinate for hours. I absolutely believe all of the advice that says to exercise, get plenty of sleep etc, but how the fuck do you achieve that when you have zero executive function to start out with?

Lists are no good for me, I lose them or I don’t look at the notebook. I set alarms to do something and I snooze them and snooze them until the place I need to call is closed.

Exercise I find impossible. I’m in a lot of pain and have finally arranged physiotherapy but I forget to do my exercises. I had a 3 week gap between appointments and have had to delay as I didn’t do them once, even though I’m in so much pain! And this is without an official diagnosis yet. I’ve still got two years to go on the nhs. My therapist I’ve been seeing for anxiety agreed it’s very likely I have it, and it’s been the ADHD that’s given me the lifelong generalised anxiety be been trying to fix but not realising it’s likely caused by something else.

I’m awaiting diagnosis, but I’m pretty sure I am. I am very much an on by one person, which always made me think I couldn’t have adhd. But a friend in the field explained that actually my quite extreme anxiety about being late (and getting stressed by faffers!) is actually an over compensation. I tend to arrive early, often ridiculously early for everything. And then just have to wait. So I’m really no better at organising my time than someone who is always late.

@AlexaShutUp Completely agree with this! Every ounce of effort I can make goes to the children and my self care the house everything else is falling apart! When I worked I somehow got through it while spending most of day on the internet. But I’m really beginning to struggle now and just feel like I’m a total incompetent. I need the drugs I think!

@MoirasWigStand Yes! The same! I always worry about being late so I over prepare and am always massively early for everything while spending the whole journey panicking I’m going to be late.

@shantoto I have spent so much money on lists, planners, diaries, notebooks,apps etc- I get teased about my stationary habit. Turns out having 10 disparate systems on the go , none of which you use consistently, isn't v effective 🤦‍♀️

[quote MsRosewater]@shantoto I have spent so much money on lists, planners, diaries, notebooks,apps etc- I get teased about my stationary habit. Turns out having 10 disparate systems on the go , none of which you use consistently, isn't v effective 🤦‍♀️[/quote]

You sound very like me, @MsRosewater.