I've read enough nuanced takes on ADHD medication that I'm very reluctant to even seek a diagnosis because I'm very sure I don't want to depend on them, for a variety of reasons.
It's made me feel like it's not even worth getting a diagnosis because the only clear path forward is medication or eternal struggle with various much-less effective coping strategies. Anyone who can weigh in with their perspective on this is welcome and thanks in advance.
Meds are like glasses for your brain. I'm nearsighted, I put on my glasses first thing in the morning. I don't feel bad for having to depend on my glasses in order to see clearly like a normal person.
I can either struggle for the next 30 years with whatever I wished I was doing, and be always angry at myself, others, significant other and family, or I can take meds, bear the consequences (side effects really), but be happy for the moments where they do help and I can actually do what I wished for.
Took me almost 10 years to come to that conclusion, so take your time, but once I started my therapy and medication I was so angry at myself for not doing it earlier that it took me almost 2 weeks to shake out of it.
Feel free to check my other comment in my profile that describes my troubles.
My doctor let me change my dosage whenever I feel. She trusts me for this. She is also an ADHDer herself.
I've found that depending on circumstances I can do well with 10~20mg of the cheapest generic methilfenidate, non LR/XR/whatever, so in my country is USD 10/20 per month.
I went as high as 50mg of the USD 100/mo famous ones.
Over time with my other therapist (psych) I trained myself to have some discipline processing my feelings, etc. Understanding the routines that were lacking.
Here it's common to have regular meetings the psychiatrist/psychologist combo. So different perspectives.
My biggest issues were knowing what to do, but not getting it consistently, like:
- getting x minutes of sunlight during the morning, and be consistent almost everyday
- drink water even on hyper focus moments
- pay more attention to breathing even when I'm in the zone doing a lot of apparently rewarding tasks
- trying to stop on unproductive hyper focus moments, realizing when they come
But the medication is necessary, since changing habits, specially the bad ones is harder.
I use the meds as an opportunity to understand myself and having easier time relearning my habits, and getting rid of the bad ones.
Let me tell you, i had the same fear like you once in my life. Getting diagnosed and on the right medication (which takes time to identify as it is a spectrum disorder) changed my life. The meds are formulated in a way which usually doesn't cause drug addiction and they are also among best studied in all medicine.
- Meds are just one of the tools available, just one part of a holistic approach that includes other accommodations, practices, and support from the people around you
- Not everyone experiences these things in the same way
- Your goals are for you to set; if incorporating meds into your plans doesn’t help you reach your goals, fine. But if meds help you unlock goals you might not be able to access otherwise, maybe they’re worth considering.
- The vast majority of professionals really do want to help you reach your goals; most psychiatrists (for the meds) and psychologists (for your cognitive health) are going to be more valuable in terms of perspective than an Internet thread :D
two of my friends at different times called me and spoke for an hour each, how they suddenly realized that they have ADHD, got diagnosed, got meds, and how their life is completely different now. Sounded almost like they joined a cult or something, but I've been happy for them. In half a year initial joy subsided. I guess they got their new normalcy or something, it doesn't sound like they're having any adverse side-effects.
I still don't want to go this route, I had my ups and that was glorious. Also I hope to get a pilot license one day.
I've heard that a lot, to the point where the advice was not to listen to the advice of people who have been on their ADHD medication for less than a year due to the initial boost.
It's usually more helpful to base decisions on actual studies instead of random anecdotes where you have zero verifiable background information about the patient cases.
It's made me feel like it's not even worth getting a diagnosis because the only clear path forward is medication or eternal struggle with various much-less effective coping strategies. Anyone who can weigh in with their perspective on this is welcome and thanks in advance.