Greetings, fellow ADHDers!
These last three years have been a shit show, that led to the simple conclusion: Medication sucks (for me).
I’ve been through at least 8 Non-Stims and 3 Stims. The only Medications that worked for me was Adderall (but the anxiety it induced was unbearable) and Straterra (but I’m of the lucky few who have Urinary side effects). My Psychiatrist tried to balance it out with Zoloft and other similar medications but the side effects whacked me out so hard, it resulted in a Misdiagnosis of Bipolar Type 2. (Two weeks after i stopped taking all meds, all side effects subsided and my emotional state stabilized.)
Now, Im terrified of Medication. A lower dose of Adderall would conceivably help, but I dont like the health risk its impact on my cardiovascular system could have, and I have a genetic history of heart disease.
In conclusion: Medication isn’t for me, and I need some tips of managing symptoms and depression related to ADHD symptoms. Life is HARD.
Thank you
These are the things that keep me from anxiety and depression.
Maintain high-quality relationships with people who enrich your life.
Get good sleep. 7.5 hours of solid sleep every night.
Watch your diet. Don’t eat too much processed food. Keep meat and dairy to 1/3 of what you eat.
Take care of something. Dogs and cats are great but so are reptiles, fish and even plants.
Find work that challenges you in ways that keep you engaged, but doesn’t punish you for being neurodivergent.
Coffee, one cup in the morning. Try to get your focus work done in the first half of the day, while the caffeine is still pumping. If you can handle it, have a 2nd cup before noon, buy only if it doesn’t keep you from going to sleep at a good time.
I have found that the caffeine crash from coffee just kicks my ass too much.
After my first coffee though, it’s really effective, like cocaine or something, I’m focused as all hell. Until about 1pm.
I switched to heavily steeped green tea, like 3 or 4 spoons of loose leaf, and that works better for me. It’s not peaky like coffee, it’s a wider bell curve without such a crash.
