Medication DOES help emotional dysregulation for me. I am generally calmer and more aware of my mental state and I find myself looking at a task before I start it, and thinking you know what - this is going to take longer than I think, the kids are antsy and need tea and their bedtime wind down, I'm tired, my frustration tolerance is going to be shit and basically if it works perfectly the first time it will be fine, but if any tiny thing goes wrong, I'm going to turn into a banshee and that's not a good idea, so I won't do it now.
Whereas previously I would have been like yeah I can do that now - and then I'd end up becoming the banshee and anyone who came near me would be on the receiving end of it and then I'd probably end up breaking the thing through attempting some kind of rash approach, and not having a solution that worked at all.
My time awareness in that sense is better too.
For me, it doesn't quiet down my brain but I don't mind that at all - I quite like my chatterbox brain!
I went through a few different ones. First tried an off-label nonstimulant meant to be a bit like Strattera - it seemed to slow down time for me which helped a bit and I could think ahead and prepare for the next day, but I didn't like the side effects. Was planning to change to a stimulant but then got pregnant with DC3 so came off everything.
Then last year I started stimulants. First methylphenidate which I didn't get on with - it seemed to increase anxiety and make me focus so hard on things I'd get ragey with everyone for interrupting me. Now I'm on Elvanse, which works better for me. I only take 30mg but on days where I need it to stay active into the evening or where it feels like it's wearing off too early, sometimes I take
Would agree that stragegies and lifestyle/environmental changes are also important. I think in part the fact I effectivelt spent 7 years diagnosed but unmedicated helped here because I had done some of this before I went on meds and you need both.
I would actually suggest if anyone isn't getting on with meds at all - take a break, work on strategies and environmental changes (this is things like e.g. decluttering at home/changing work hours or job/paying down debts or increasing income, therapy (DBT can be good), health changes e.g. diet/exercise/smoking, assessing whether relationships are supportive vs draining - all not hugely easy things) and then once you feel some overall progress has been made, it may be worth trying medication again to see if it is more effective. Just based on the fact that I think if I'd have tried medication 7 years ago it probably wouldn't have really helped because there were so many things in my life that were totally chaotic, and were feeding into each other and making everything harder.