I Was Gonna Make A Thread Last Week (ADHD thread)

I meant to call my therapist today to reschedule last week's appointment, but I didn't wake up until 3 PM and didn't get fully out of bed until after 5. but I will do the thing in the morning (hopefully)

 

Was waffling about where to put this, but the exec dysfunction thread didn't seem quite right, so here it goes.

Idk if this is an ADHD thing at the base, but for several reasons including "I need to cut minutes off my daily routine bc time blindness fucks me over" I hate tying shoes. I don't have trouble with the act itself but it's a hassle to do all the time so I prefer slipping my shoes on and off if I can. I tend to destroy the backs of my sneakers because of this.

I have just discovered ELASTIC SHOELACES. http://www.newbalance.com/pd/elastic-laces/ELASTIC.html#color=White&size=36

Where have they been all my life.

 

Gonna see if I can talk more to my therapist about this because seriously, I do not think it's the depression that's fucked up my ability to focus so bad.

 

Does anyone else Take Forever to do things while you are doing them? It takes me forever to write info posts or long replies to threads or even stories because I have to get completely engrossed in the task and I'll stop for long stretches while I thinking about all the possiblities, directions and backstories of what I'm writing..and then Time becomes a very vague concept and pretty soon I've been typing for two hours. It's annoying, why can't I be fast at anything?

I've found that it REALLY helps to make small, mindless tasks part of a routine. If thinks like brushing teeth and tying laces are routine, then you don't have to think about how long they are taking or be impatient while you are doing them. It becomes another moment to think about other stuff besides what you are doing.

 

/looks at my resume
/looks at some of my role-playing plans

Yep. I can assure get distracted by thinking, and/or overwhelmed by possibilities, really easily.

 

When it comes to imagining things (an essay, a long post, fiction) I feel like I have to consider all the possibilities at once and wind up overwhelmed and distracted. And then when it comes to purely physical tasks (like working out) I get distracted because there's nothing to occupy my brain with.

 

yo @The Frood Abides idk if this is relevant anymore but your ADHD meds should not be making you twitchy or anxious. like. no, that's an adverse reaction, either an overdose or your body just Not Liking that particular stimulant. you know how you can overdose on caffeine? yeah. like that.

ANYway if you're still taking Ritalin and it's still doing that, you should fiddle with the dose, and if that doesn't work you should definitely try switching meds. there are several groups of 'em with different mechanisms; I'm on dexmethylphenidate, which is similar but yeah, different. (my doctor explained something to me about two classes of stimulant, one with Adderall and Ritalin and one with... other meds, including mine, but I don't remember the details.) there are also non-stimulant ones (for instance, buproprion, which I'm also on as an antidepressant; the interaction makes me sweat like a pig though, lol), although those don't metabolize as quickly as the stimulants afaik. for some reason a lot of doctors go straight to Ritalin or Adderall at particular dosages, but you have a lot of other options. and trying them is much easier than, say, what I like to call "antidepressant roulette," because they metabolize so fast. usually you can tell if they work in like a day! if you communicate with your doctor afterwards, that is.

good luck and I hope you can get on a med that works!!

 

cheers, eso, I appreciate the advice. I've actually stopped taking Ritalin for that reason. Coincidentally, I'm starting buproprion for depression right now -- no effects either way so far (though I hope to fuck the nightmares are unrelated, lol).

 

Anyone have any suggestions on ways I can remember to do things easier? My memory is absolutely terrible and as soon as someone asks me to do something it's gone, and I just can't drop what I was doing to do that or I'll forget what the first thing was.

I've tried apps and such but I hardly ever have my phone or tablet on me but rather in another room altogether since I also get distracted easily and run off without them when I'm trying to remember to do something else.

 

write things down. keep a pen/pencil and little notebook w you all the time

 

Tried that as well with the same result as the apps. I sit it down and end up leaving it there

 

For things I know I absolutely have to remember, I resign myself to looking like a dork and write it on my hand. Like "FIX WEBSITE POST" or "GET SNOWPLOW PIC"

 

+1 writing on hands/arms
you have to remember to look at your hands before it washes off, and you also have to deal with people seeing that possible being judgy, but it can be useful and you aint gonna lose it

you could have notepads around the house and write stuff down and stuff the note in a pocket that you check a lot? like maybe with your wallet or your keys. that way you feel the note and you remember it.

also post-it notes, post them up on your computer or someplace you will see.

 

i have a fancy little journal that is entirely for to-do list stuff. it stays in one place (next to my computer). that helps, if i see stuff not crossed off i check it

 

Seconding a thing that stays in one place. Or, what I do sometimes, i put things i have to take with me (or reminder notes) directly into my bag, or attached to something I can't leave without, like my keys or my blood sugar monitor.

 

yesterday i found out that "intrusive sleep" (exhaustion/drowsiness when in a boring situation) is a common symptom of adhd

guess who has spent many, many classes literally unable to keep her eyes open and head up

 

I really need to get back on some kind of meds. Maybe I should go back to adderall - yes, I felt like a zombie after it wore off every day and there was occasional insomnia, but it for sure worked unlike strattera (which may or may not have been effective, it was hard to tell), it didn't cause nausea like strattera, and it hardly ever gave me panic attacks like ritalin.

The only problem with that is that i need to find a psychiatrist or at least a GP (which I need to find anyway because of bone hurt) and the number of connected tasks I need to complete to accomplish that is Too many. I need to find a therapist/counselor too, but that's proved even more difficult since there really don't seem to be any therapists who have a focus on execdys in my area. Bluh.

 

I am having a miraculous experience: my room has been Actually Clean and Organized for like a month straight for, i'm pretty sure, the first time in my life. I taped off a small corner of floor where my eternal clothes mess must be contained and improvised some bookshelves with milk crates. There's still a few stacks of papers and shit on the floor because I don't have enough shelving but. My entire floor is visible? I can actually sit at my desk and eat there? And I've started naturally clearing away clutter every day or two instead of letting it build up? I don't know where this change came from, I just got really upset one day with the constant mess that I live in. My whole brain feels so much cleaner and I have more day-to-day energy than I've ever had (and I literally don't know what to do with it because I've never been able to just... be productive on a whim before). This is awesome. Probably not going to last more than another month or two, but it's awesome.

 

Me at work: hm. My reminder alarm went off a little bit ago and my hands are starting to shake from low blood sugar. Maybe i should break for lunch.

My hyperfocus, pounding rhythmically on the table with both fists: Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish.

Me: it's going to take at least an hour to finish this task, so why don't i come back to it aft--

Hyperfocus: FINISH. FINISH. FINISH. FINISH. F I N I S H.


Starting to think i should set two lunch alarms.

 

so my therapist has ADHD, which is honestly a really good fit for me-- she's been super helpful at troubleshooting strategies for how to deal with it, and she never minds if i'm running late or even manage my time badly and have to skip a session because whoops i'm supposed to be there in 20 minutes and i haven't eaten today. but it can also backfire. like recently...

therapist: [after taking a while to write something down] sorry, i missed my ADHD medication today.
me: no biggie! if you don't mind me asking, what medication are you taking? i've been thinking about looking into it.
therapist: [begins explaining]
therapist, mid-sentence: [points out the window] ooh look, there are two crows in the parking lot fighting over something!
me: oh wow cool!
prior topic: [forgotten entirely]