Has anyone developed the skills to handle their adhd well?

I'll try and keep this short, I was diagnosed with adhd around 7 or 8 and put on Ritalin and stopped around the time I was diagnosed with depression at 15 because I was put on Zoloft I was handling my adhd well up until recently until I finished school and currently have nothing to preoccupy my time. To make matters worse I found out the hard way that my heart was weak to stimulants such as caffeine and denied medication because both my doctor and my psychiatrist have agreed that the meds pose to much of a risk.

So here I sit its been a year and I still cannot sleep. I occupy my time by looking for jobs or studying people and their habits or what ever else catches my fancy, but at the end of the day I lay down and close my eyes only to stay awake because my mind continues to wonder on about everything that I can or could be doing but without the drive to focus on anyone subject for to long.

*Deep breath* Sooo anyone have any good techniques for coping with adhd?

Have you tried melatonin for the insomnia? It works wonders for me when I don't get interested in something like Psychforums and stay up till 3 am reading and commenting on posts. If I would just GO to bed I'd be out like a light in 30 minutes.

Didact wrote:So here I sit its been a year and I still cannot sleep. I occupy my time by looking for jobs or studying people and their habits or what ever else catches my fancy...

why not get a job in a starbucks or something. i wasnt aware that they had any minimum skill requirements. ok, that takes care of 40 hours a week.

also, get a new doctor, and get the stimulants that work for your symptoms. better an early death than a sad sleep deprived life.

good luck!

I hear you with not focusing log enough to accomplish...

2 skills I use

1. Exersize routine, it gets addictive feels good and realy helps with sleep.

2. I try to use people skills.

A. Not sharing on every idea at the "wrong time" annoying people.

B. Not responding with anger when confronted with "hey you forgot A,B or C... again" by a person using the tone that sais "you forgot cause you don't care"... do better next time.

I will scare/snap-at people I don't care much for into not pointing out my ADD mistakes if I realy don't like them anyway, but making enemies unnessasarily is stupid.

Im done with pills, ADD/ADHD remains making a list and keeping to it helps also.

Didact wrote:I'll try and keep this short, I was diagnosed with adhd around 7 or 8 and put on Ritalin and stopped around the time I was diagnosed with depression at 15 because I was put on Zoloft I was handling my adhd well up until recently until I finished school and currently have nothing to preoccupy my time. To make matters worse I found out the hard way that my heart was weak to stimulants such as caffeine and denied medication because both my doctor and my psychiatrist have agreed that the meds pose to much of a risk....... *Deep breath* Sooo anyone have any good techniques for coping with adhd?

Umm, that would depend on which type of AD/HD each person has, for some there is no treatment other than drugs. You might like to talk to a psychologist, preferably one that has an opposition attitude to drugs, then whatever is suggested you know will meet your basic criteria.

Have you tried swimming laps just before bed? I find a good workout knocks me right out. Swimming is the best bc the water in my ears eliminates some of the noise outside my head. The breathing patterns required to swim properly give me a nice rythm to focus on. Exhaustion quiets some of the clutter inside my head. Weight training in my own home, to music is nice, too. Free weights don't cost much.

I also found guided meditation and various relaxation techniques helpful, but they're not for everybody. I had a prof, also with ADD, who taught college level Anthro, biology and evolution. She had one of those cassette tapes, with a guy with a mellow voice talking about breathing to a collection of ocean and seabird sounds. She said the tape stressed her even more, because some of the birdcalls belonged to predators, while the others were their prey. She said that all she could see/hear when she listened to the tape was bird carnage and dying bird screams

I'm not familiar with Melatonin, but I've heard good things about it. It's all natural. So is tryptophan. Have you tried any herbal remedies? Warm milk or cocoa, even?

My official diagnosis is ADD, non-hyperactive combined type, btw.

I'm turning 40 this year, and I'm starting to question whether I actually ever had ADD. Maybe my underdeveloped basal ganglia has finally grown to the shape&size it should be? Or maybe I've just had enough experience with my *female* and blood sugar cycles to counter my problems with impulsivity, inattention and crankiness with extra vitamins and healthy food before they get out of hand?

As the last commenter noted, your ADHD puts you in a different headspace from mine. Ymmv.

Xena wrote:My official diagnosis is ADD, non-hyperactive combined type, btw.

I'm turning 40 this year, and I'm starting to question whether I actually ever had ADD. Maybe my underdeveloped basal ganglia has finally grown to the shape&size it should be? Or maybe I've just had enough experience with my *female* and blood sugar cycles to counter my problems with impulsivity, inattention and crankiness with extra vitamins and healthy food before they get out of hand?

As the last commenter noted, your ADHD puts you in a different headspace from mine. Ymmv.

I highly doubt your basal ganglia could have grown like that at this age. But yeah you could be doing a bunch of things right (health, meds, routines). I bet you've become an expert on dealing with it!

-- 25 Apr 2012, 10:52 --

Xena wrote:Have you tried swimming laps just before bed? I find a good workout knocks me right out. Swimming is the best bc the water in my ears eliminates some of the noise outside my head. The breathing patterns required to swim properly give me a nice rythm to focus on. Exhaustion quiets some of the clutter inside my head. Weight training in my own home, to music is nice, too. Free weights don't cost much.

This sounds like a good idea. I do love swimming.

Marshmellow, I was half joking when I said that about my weird basal ganglia. I couldn't find any diagrams in textbooks as to what that is precisely, so I let my quirky imagination run away with it. I pictured it as some bizzarre little limp penis in our grey matter that grows when we stroke it properly and TADA! We're *normal* er--sort of...

I work hard on the other stuff, like taking care of my physical health, and trying to stay educated/well-read, so I won't have to take any meds. I find they turn the curlicues and funny popup cartoons in my mind into something that reminds me of fog and steel wool and barbed wire. I'm boring and grey when I'm in that space. I prefer my quirky, laughterful penis-brain. Healthy laughter cures whatever ails me

Xena wrote: I pictured it as some bizzarre little limp penis in our grey matter that grows when we stroke it properly and TADA! We're *normal* er--sort of...

LOL! does it work better is someone else strokes it properly or if we do it ourselves AND if i do it too much will I go blind?