Meds not always the answer... | ADHD Information
gypsywomyn...I agree wholeheartedly....I think it is easy to get tunnel vision and obesess about the meds...when there are so many factors....You are right to remind us all......
Or the only answer. I notice some of you always reverting other members to "fixing" the ADHD problems with medication or higher dosages.Meds are a great tool in helping us to work on the symptoms from having ADHD, but there is no "cure." There's nothing that we can take, and voila ADHD/ADD is gone. It still takes a lot of work and determination on our part. If were real lucky, we can do counseling with someone familiar with ADHD. And, of course, this board/forum is an excellent tool. It can boost our self-esteem, just by being able to talk with others with the same/similar problems and being accepted.
Then here are those who don't want certain traits of ADHD to be lost. Sometimes the ones that are important to us, are ones we may lose. Need to look at our priorities.
The meds help us to focus so we may pay attention and work on our negative and bothersome behaviors (to ourselves and to others). Or to finally get our dishes done! I truly believe just learning/knowing why we are or have been the way we are, is an excellent tool in beginning to change, even if not on meds like some on this forum.
Practice, practice, practice.
Oddly enough, being on my first day of a new dosage, I'm having difficulty expressing myself as I had hoped to or have been able to in the past. So hope it's not misinterpreted
what I've just tried to say. Thanks for "listening." 
GypsyWomyn38441.35875Thank you, Megan, I must have gotten the message out that I wanted to. Now, if those I'm speaking of get the message, wow....I really did good. Meds not always the answer...
Sure, but.............
ah, sweet, sweet, sweet Ritalin.
Mmmm. How do I love thee???
The Resistance!
I agree that meds are not always the answer but, if only I could find one to help me focus, thats all I ask, maybe i will get lucky soon!
I have taken meds ( Adderal) for over two years and it has helped me soooo much. My like is different now. I know what it is like to not have ADD. But then there are side effects.
I have tried herbs and they work well also. I am thinking of switching from one to the other, because they seem to wear out after a while. Even my doctor told me that some people have to take a vacation from their medication so that it will begin to work for them again. I can understand why. I had been taking my medication like I was supposed to but the papers were building up in my classroom. (I am a teacher) Then I tried some herbs and now I am as organized as anything. I have been taking these for three months now and I have started to notice that I am forgetting things again. So, possibly these herbs wear off too.
I have also read a book that claims that if you didn't crawl enough when you were a baby that you have an immature reflex. You can do exercises for this reflex and mature it. They claim that it keeps you so occupied trying to get comfortable, that you think of a million things and distract yourself so you can survive the discomfort. They claim that you don't notice the discomfort because it has always been a part of your life. I looked at all the symptoms and find it true with me. I am very uncomfortable sitting for a long period of time. I have to shift. I sit on my hands, etc. This reflex is one that urges you to spring forward when your arms and legs are bent. If you do not mature it, you still get the uncomfortable feeling of wanting to spring forward. This reflex gets us crawling when we are babies. When we do not mature it, we have symptoms that doctors now say is ADD or ADHD. This book claims that you can get rid of all your symptoms with exercises. It makes sense to me and I am going to try the exercises. I hope it is not just a pie in the sky. It gives me hope. I thought I would share to see what others thought. The book is called Stopping ADHD and it is written by two PhD doctors that graduated from Purdue University. They have done clinical research in schools in Indiana to prove their theory. I am hoping that it is a breakthrough treatment for those with ADD. Who knows? They say that everyone they have treated has been very happy. No one has asked for a refund. Even the doctor that made up the test for ADD endorses their book. It is very interesting to me.
I think that a lot of adhders get so used to being "screw ups" or used to getting negative feedback from others and getting lousy self esteem as a result that we just get so happy when we finally find something that makes us "normal" to the rest of the world and able to live life and function the way "normal" people do...
I think that maybe it's a self esteem/fitting in thing....
we get such negativity about our symptoms that we forget about the positive side of our symptoms sometimes....
sonya_h38415.9532986111[QUOTE=sonya_h]I think that a lot of adhders get so used to being "screw ups" or used to getting negative feedback from others and getting lousy self esteem as a result that we just get so happy when we finally find something that makes us "normal" to the rest of the world and able to live life and function the way "normal" people do...
I think that maybe it's a self esteem/fitting in thing....
we get such negativity about our symptoms that we forget about the positive side of our symptoms sometimes....
[/QUOTE]
EXACTLY how I feel!
ATM we are doing well without them.
We work on ourselves all the time, and I think the big difference I find in myself and some other families in my community is that I am very forgiving and easy on my kids - I dont have huge expectations, but I dont not have any either.
But I think accepting each other how we are and learning to love oneself is sometimes more important that medications.
But I believe there are some situations that people do not live well without them.[/QUOTE]
Good to see you, Rae! I'm not advocating not taking meds, in fact, I wish I could take one that would give me the results I've read so many others are getting. I just don't think what I'm on is going to cut it, and unfortunately my dr will not agree to anything else.
So I need to convince myself I can cope without meds if I end up not taking any. And you're a good example that it can be done. After all, I made it 55 years w/o meds, albeit with some difficulty.
Just knowing why my life was difficult is a definite start on helping myself, right?
So I'd like to use you as my motivation, to remind me it CAN be done. Thanks, Rae!
[QUOTE=Reizende]I am sure we also need to try to re-organize our lives in a way we can handle it in pieces also. I have always been able to accomplish a "normal" day only if I sit down, visualize a normal day, type up a schedule of daily activities, post schedule on the wall, then memorize this schedule. The only problem is I cannot divert from the schedule or I slip back in..thus I am back to where I am today. lol
Cruelly, old friends used to nickname me Rain Woman because on occasion I will display autistic characteristics..its a piece of me struggling hard to follow a set schedule so I have some sense of consistency which I lack. It drives me bonkers.[/QUOTE]
Reizende, oh how I wish I could accomplish what you do to accomplish a 'normal' day!
I think I've been unmotivated, unfocused so long that when I've tried a 'technique' such a yours, I still have difficulty. The key word you used is "try," and try I must. Thank you!
GypsyWomyn38441.3694791667Thanks, Gypsywoman. 8 ) I try my best or *not* my best depending on the day of the week. Right now I don't wanna try my best grrr. 8 ( Just organizing a grocery list feels like doing rocket science. It feels like physical excercise to me. I just wanna zone out..ughGypsy - you know I dont use meds and I dont encourage the use of them either. I dont assume to know anything! But my own instinct is to not use them unless my life or my sons life has no quality without them.
ATM we are doing well without them.
We work on ourselves all the time, and I think the big difference I find in myself and some other families in my community is that I am very forgiving and easy on my kids - I dont have huge expectations, but I dont not have any either.
But I think accepting each other how we are and learning to love oneself is sometimes more important that medications.
But I believe there are some situations that people do not live well without them.
I am sure we also need to try to re-organize our lives in a way we can handle it in pieces also. I have always been able to accomplish a "normal" day only if I sit down, visualize a normal day, type up a schedule of daily activities, post schedule on the wall, then memorize this schedule. The only problem is I cannot divert from the schedule or I slip back in..thus I am back to where I am today. lol
Cruelly, old friends used to nickname me Rain Woman because on occasion I will display autistic characteristics..its a piece of me struggling hard to follow a set schedule so I have some sense of consistency which I lack. It drives me bonkers.