Is anyone trying to focus without Medication?

[Cherryredzap]

Is anyone trying to focus without Medication? I am 19 years old what do you recommend for more focus I have tried diet and exercise but I can't keep up because I have no motivation at all. and I don't feel good about myself most of the time I compare myself to other people like for example: she looks so good why? do I look fat/so bad despite of what other people tell me. Any tips would be appreciated thanks.

[ChaiLover21]

If I could go back in time I would try medication sooner. I waited years, thinking I could make positive changes through self-awareness alone (which did work for a couple of things) but really I was struggling so hard that I eventually burned out and just couldn’t do it on my own anymore.

Now that I’ve been on Adderall XR for a year, I realize I wasted those years. I could’ve been much farther along academically and financially if I hadn’t been so naive and stubborn about medication. It’s made a HUGE difference in my life! For the first time ever, I can remain seated and focused while working or reading for HOURS. The only side effect I’ve had is a dry mouth, which is fine because that just means I gulp water all day.

Don’t make the mistake I did! Be open to trying a medication that could change your life ❤️

[ChaiLover21 in reply to ChaiLover21]

Before meds, absolutely nothing could help me focus for any real length of time. Caffeine helped only a little.

But if you’re still not ready for meds, here’s what did work regarding other ways ADD affected me:

To keep from being late to work, appointments, etc: I started leaving at least a 1/2 hour earlier than I needed to leave, to ensure arriving early. Sometimes I’d arrive an hour early to work and just sit in my car reading. It felt great never stressing about being late anymore.

To keep my home neat: I started tackling small piles before they got out of hand and turned into enormous piles of clutter. Before, once the piles became large I’d feel so overwhelmed by how long it would take to organize them that I’d procrastinate, which made them worse!

When I caught myself interrupting someone talking, I’d say “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

[natkevjus in reply to ChaiLover21]

Sounds like you are doing well, please be very mindful of the dry mouth as for myself it lead to receding gums. If I would have known early on, I may have prevented it earlier. Perhaps it is not in everyone, I don't know.🙂

[iWasSunshine]

Hi Cherryredzap,

I haven’t been able to take medication because I was diagnosed with ADHD shortly after giving birth to my daughter and we’re still breastfeeding.

I’ve been using caffeine and coaching.

Honestly, having a coach has made the biggest difference for me! It’s been life-changing! I have a whole post on my profile talking about why I love having a coach, but if you’re interested right now and don’t want to go read the post (which I totally get, lol!) Here is her info:

Kristen Carder

ihaveadhd.com

You can also check out her podcast: I have adhd podcast

If you’re choosing not to medicate I think that’s totally fine. There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to do this. You’re searching for answers and reaching out to this community which is EXACTLY what you should be doing!

You’ve got what it takes!

☀️

[JuliaDeSousa]

Oh honey, you don't deserve to feel that badly about yourself! Consider giving your mind and self-image a "vacation reset" by going on a low dose of Adderall (I prefer it because you can use it only when you need it: workdays, etc.) for let's say 3 months. Of course, you need to work with a psychiatrist to do that. You should also see a psychologist or coach for weekly talk-therapy and guidance. Journal, if you can, to document what you feel when using medication; what's working and what's not working. Then if you really want to get off it, you can and you can refer to those journals to see what the difference is. I did that and in the end I decided that the medication was very beneficial to me.

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss]

I think that everyone your age feels like that. Especially about their body! I know me and all my fitness did! I was 5’9” and 115lbs. I was a model. Literally! And I hated my body. Self esteem issues are so big these days. Adhd or not. Chances are you are looking at other girls and admiring what they have but inside, they don’t like their body either. The problem with the adhd is that we can be more self deprecating. When I’ve looked into adhd coaching they lost that on most of the websites as something that needs to be fixed about the way we think. I definitely have a problem with that. There’s a who movement out there now a days for young women accepting their bodies. That’s why Kate Middleton and Megan Markle showed their post natal bellies to the world. The just owned it. We are who we are. There must be plenty of pod casts or YouTube channels out there promoting self imagine acceptance. Find someone you like that inspires you! My body image issues didn’t go away until I was in my late 20’s. But they did go away. However, they didn’t go away because I suddenly excepted my body. They went away because my opinion of beautiful changed. When I was younger I thought I had to wear a bikini and tight pants and show my belly (that was the style back then) and have large breast popped up and short skirts and high heals with exfoliated oiled skin and blah blah blah. One day I realized, that’s not what makes someone beautiful. I started picking out beautiful women that were still beautiful even though they had all their body covered. And no high heals. And loose clothing. Or their hair in a bun! I started to notice a trend. They were still beautiful even without being “perfect”. And they didn’t care. They just owned it. I know everyone says it while we grow up but it really is true. Beautiful is on the inside. You can glow without having a cover girl body. I changed everything I bought from then on. I started to buy light weight, beautiful fabric shirts that flowed in the wind. They covered down past my butt. I stopped wearing dresses and skirts all together. I hated showing my legs.

I mean this. I am not making this up. When I stopped trying to “play the part” of what I thought, other people thought was sexy, I got so many compliments! Before, complements came from men. After the change, compliments came from women. For some reason, it felt better. I stopped getting the negative attention from men and more respectable men started to be interested in me. So, who knows. Maybe you just need to change your mind as to what beautiful is.

Also, I realized that another layer or my problem with the way I used to dress was my sensory sensitivities. Many of us with adhd have them. When I was a child I hated tags itching me, certain fabrics, jeans (they didn’t stretch back then), socks on wrong etc etc. I didn’t know I had adhd and basically just had to get used to my sensory issue and accept that I didn’t like the way clothes felt. That carried on for a very long time. I was always so uncomfortable in my own skin and I really believe now that I know I have adhd, the tight wired feeling clothes didn’t help!

I hope this helps hun.

Try some positive affirmations.

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss]

Also, I don’t know if you’re just against stimulant medication but I also take some supplements. To help with focus you could try L-tyrosine and L-theanine (derived from green tea)

[Hidden]

I never take meds, I feel like they stifle my creativity

[AliceJansing in reply to Hidden]

Yeah same

[llugguss]

YES ME! My ADD medication gives me anxiety and I end up shivering a lot and worrying for no reason. Then I can't sleep at all, and that is the worst part about that!