I'm in a doctoral program and am not on any meds nor do I expect to be. (Heart issues). I'm able to hyperfocus easily when I'm interested in something and am also into writing. I don't expect trouble with my dissertation. In fact, I've been talking w/ several instructors who've encouraged me to decrease the scope of my research. According to them, the degree is a key to the clubhouse. Success relates to what you do after you're inside.
Are you thinking about going back for a doctorate? If so, you may want to check about joint dissertations. Some schools allow them. If that's a possibility, you might team up with someone who has the skills that you're lacking. If not, go talk to the disability office and find out what service they may have available (sure they've been through it before) for doctoral ADD learners.
I was recently diagonosed with ADD, and I made it through grad school without meds. The class work was cake becaue I was interested in the work, I had 3.8 gpa and as an undergrad I had 2.5 gpa. The problem was writing my Masters Thesis it took forever...5 years! The meds would have really helped in that Dept. I know there's quite a few individuals who made it through undergrad college without meds. But I was wondering if anyone here made it through grad school without meds.I never had major problems until I got to grad school, and was even able to manage then until my thesis. Now I see person after person finish and can't understand why I can't. I started with 25 mg of Zoloft then talked to my doctor about ADHD...the Ritalin (other than the side effects) definetly seems to have made a difference....not like all of a sudden a switch is flipped but it has definetly given me a little push...I'm still experimenting with dosage and meds and will probably look into counseling when I'm done, but right now I just really want to get my thesis done. I think the MA program, esp the thesis is like a special hell for ADHDers...no deadlines, a broad topic you have to focus yourself