Relax! Go ahead...can you? | ADHD Information
Being relativly new to accepting the fact that I have ADHD i figure i'll ask the nice folks here if they have any ideas as to how to relax. In the past i have been "self medicating" myself with ye ol budweiser. Not alot of support from others when i do that but it helped me. What are some socially acceptable ways of slowing down the race going on in my mind. I have been taking 100mg of straterra for about two years, and though it did work at first I kind of feel like its not pulling the wagon any more.
I would give my eye teeth to be able to read a book or sit by a lake and fish with out dipping my pole in the water and then wave it around and then real it up and through it back out ...blah blah blah. by the time i'm done "relaxing" i think i could have been more productive with a shovel in my hand. FRUSTRATING!
Any thoughts or ideas?
thank you all for being so kind on this board it nice to know there is somewhere safe to bring up issues
I know what you mean about calming down your mind. Even when I am mentally and physically exhausted my mind can still go a mile a minute. I find it very difficult to just sit.
You could look into having your medication adjusted.
You could also try to work in more real physical activity in your life to stimulate your those "happy" chemicals in the brain. Even though I am an inconsistent exerciser (on the improving end right now) I find that if I work my routine in every other day at least, I feel much better physically and mentally.
I have read that really vigorous exercise where you get the heart pumping is best but I mostly do stretches and toning exercises similar to yoga. Gardening and housework are my aerobic workouts.
Relaxation exercises might help you. Deep breathing etc.
You should talk to your Dr about meds and any exercise program before you start.
Relaxing is hard for me, my mind is always on the go when my medication wears off. Certain times of the day, I am also wound for sound!!!
I find that sometimes it helps to write thoughts down in a notepad that I keep in my back pocket, that way I know where the thoughts are and that they are safe and I don't have to keep trying to remember everything I would forget anyway!!!
I am very adhd and drive myself crazy sometimes!!! I am learning to stop fighting it and try not to worry about it too much!!! I try to recognize what I am thinking but not dwell on it. It is hard to explain, but I can relate!!! 
ADD(H) has to do the with the mind, and as silly as it may sound the person who is best to control your mind is yourself. Drugs (alcohol, prescribed drugs) will definitely alter your mind, but you are only doing a remedy to the symptoms, NOT fixing the root of the problem. No matter how great a drug works, it is just patchwork. When you stop taking the drug will it fix the problem? Nope!
Here's what I suggest:
There's a lot of crazy mind games out there. Not to insult ANYONE's religion (or those without it), because religion can be great for the mind, many activies spark your mind. Here are some ways I've found that help me relax:
Well first before you do anything below, don't do them because I said so. Do them as if you really want to relax, and do them in your own way that you feel would best affect how you THINK.. The below is just how I personally think and how I can "trick" my mind into relaxation.
Take a walk. When your mind is getting "incoherent" (As I like to call it, the million miles a minute useless type of mind set) set some vast distance and start walking. It may not fix the problem, but when your heart starts beating (If you're in good shape maybe even start jogging!) and your legs kind of ache and you start breathing in that fresh air.. and that dog barks to the right and you feel the night chill (or day heat).. it distracts you in a natural way. Before long, it may even get your mind off what's inside and more on what's going on around you. Hey, it doesn't always work for me, but it does quite often. When I ran cross country and did a big race the LAST thing I would think about is what's on my mind, I was thinking about how every single pore on my body was in pain, that air couldn't come into my lungs fast enough, it was an overpowering feeling and you learned that what you THINK are your limits are truly just you limiting yourself of your true capacity.
I think physical ways are some of the easiest routes to "jolt" your mind and make it realize it really isn't in total control of everything.
Have a physical related issue that makes you unable to walk? That's fine! find an alternative way to distract yourself. Take a shower and just focus on a specific tile in the room. I mean, really focus. Start by analyzing. Figureout everything you can about that dang thing with your hyperactive memory. Tire that mind out. Then your vision may blur. Then you'll get really bored, but hey, keep focusing on that tile. What else do you got to do? keep focusing on that tile. Give it a name if you need to. The point is, the tile isn't going anywhere. And nor are you, until you decide to. Tell your mind that too. Tell your mind you're in control and just like the water beating on you, the tile that is staying perfectly still, you too want to relax and do absolutely nothing. daydream, whatever. It just ends up me getting sleepy and bored. I bore myself into relaxation some times I guess? lol!
I treat my mind as a seperate entity. It is a great tool and is 100% compatible with me (obviously.. lol). But it is seperate because you can converse with it. You can really sit down and debate topics. Find yourself being pessimistic about something? Make a case for the optimist to fight against the pessimism. Debate the topic a while, you got plenty of time to think. WORK THAT MIND UNTIL YOU CANT ANYMORE. Solve a problem. USE your mind.
You may say "WHY???? I don't want to use it, that isnt' relaxing!" But that's the thing. To relax you first need to have a realization on WHY you need to relax. You can't just flip a switch, you have to have some inner power that can convince yourself it is worth relaxing. That switch has to be trigger by something outside of your logical thinking, and reach the subconscious level. It may sound difficult, but it's honestly pretty easy. JUST DO SOMETHING YOUR MIND CANT FATHOM (like stare at a tile. and have fun doing it.)
Just pay attention to things that make you relax and use it to do exactly that when needed later. :D
xackery38931.0655092593Sometimes when I'm too "hyper" and can't calm down and relax, I just have to smoke a good joint. Sometimes it's the only thing that works.
All I have to say is when you find out the answer LET ME KNOW!!!
I have to take meds at night just to shut my head up so I can go to sleep. I will say that since the concerta atleast I am obsessing on 5 things instead of 500. That slows it down or atleast narrows it down. I know forcing myself to lay down and breath slowly (mediation) helps. It is just making myself due it that is hard.
Dizzy
Cowboy
Just so you know, That if you are prescribed a stimulant and you have a rx for it and get tested it will show up positive on a quick tox screen (as speed) but they would have to send it to a lab and the lab would have to be responsible for breaking it down to exactly what it is and how much you take (to the mg). Unless for some reason you signed something saying otherwise you can take it and be up front with them or not.
Anyway I am not telling you what to do but if you are prescribed a medication they can not hold it against you and like I said the lab can pin it down to the milligrams you take and when.
I worked at a rehab for quite a while and had to deal with alot of this stuff.
Dizzy
Oops just looked and Glen already put most of that. Sorry.
Dizzy
I guess thats what i get for going to a "quicky-mart" medical clinic.
As soon as i told her i was on meds for ADHD she told me i couldnt posses a commercial drivers license. I actually had to show her in her meds book that Strattera wasnt a stimiulant.
So as long as you have a prescription for a (stimulant) medacine you wont be voted off the island of employment, when they test you?
I'm going to have to start doing a little more poking around.
Maybe the light in the tunnel isnt a train after all - You guys are Awsome! 
Thanks for the hope.
Yup - I agree with the posts above. I take drug screens and the stimulant does not matter since it is prescribed for adhd, you just have to disclose it. You should research this and look into stimulants, Concerta has worked well for me!!!!Thanks for all the feed back so far, you guys are great.
I'm kinda stuck with straterra due to the fact that i'm required to have a comercial drivers license for work and its the only med that isnt a stimulant.(they have random drug tests) I had no idea it fades over time. DANG IT!
as far as going the exercise route, i live on 13 acres and am always doing something - feeding, mowing, building , etc. so i'm always on the go. maybe a more intense exercise will help. how long are you usually able to enjoy the relaxed fealing for?
Too bad about the stims. Have you asked if they have exceptions for Rxed stims? It's allowed and prescreened out in drug tests for most regulatory agencies as it doesn't have the stim effect on us. They may just check for abuse of it against your prescribed dose. Just a thought.
The exercise keeps me relaxed through the day (8 to 12 hours) and about 2 hours after work. Usually I sleep like a log. And when I say I exert myself I keep myself busy for the entire time. I don't sit or stand idle and am always looking for projects so I don't end up in a holding pattern. Usually the relaxation is all day. I find on days off if I end up not keeping moving that the buzz and intense mental chatter comes back to at least some extent. So I've taken up roller blading and bought a weight set to keep myself working. I have an mp3 player that is filled with fast dance tracks and keeps me running at high speed.
Hope this helps!
stratterra usually is the last choice because of what you're experiencing. Even when it does work it usually fades over time.
Have you got any problems that would rule out the stimulant route? For us the stims tend to relax the mind and let us just live.
I also find since I have upped my exercise through work and outside of work (I am rollerblading - can you believe that?!?) that my mind has relaxed doubly over the meds and therapy alone.
Generally I only chatter a couple of times a day - when the meds are kicking in usually. The rest of the time I listen, contemplate or just hang around. It's nice - and people only give me the "would you just SHUT UP?!?" look occasionally.
It can happen - just be patient and get the help you need.
Listening to music really helps. My mind relaxes when I listen to something that reminds me of my childhood. It transforms my brains from thinking about the present to thinking about happy times during childhood.