What did you do before you had meds?

[WolFish]

I ran marathons - it took the edge off the ADHD and any associated symptoms. Swimming helped at one point when I didn't have any. Caffeine in huge doses made me functional - that's how I got through the PhD program. I took those tablets they used to sell on the highway and dissolved the candy into my sodas. Also took ginseng but it never seems to have much of an effect.

Before the marathons and the caffeine I was a horror of a person to be around. Nothing in my environment could be moved or changed. Nothing in my routine could differ. My food was always the same, my laundry was all done at the cleaners, and I had my desk meticulously arranged. When I tried to make friends I realized they didn't like that. When I let go of routine I still couldn't make friends and then I couldn't get the routines back - that's when the train wreck started.

When I was in grad school my quack of a therapist sent me to a psychiatrist, telling me that I was clinically depressed. After listening to me awhile the psychiatrist agreed that I was not depressed. He did recommend Rescue Remedy because there was a social situation that was stressing me out - a more senior student was put in the role of supervisor in my practicum and he decided that meant remodeling the office and reassigning the desks. When we came in he had moved everything, including our belongings. He could not understand why this was not OK. I am never the alpha in such situations. He was a short guy with "short man syndrome" and I was in my new age zen meditation era. I tried to sic the real supervisor on him but he wasn't an alpha either so he said, well, you will have to work it out. Life was quite stressful until the practicum ended, but the rescue remedy worked great.

I did try Wellbutrin when I was first getting off the 1200+ mg of caffeine I was taking daily. Massive headache and spending spree and we went right to trials of stimulants after that.

["couldbecousin"]

  Before meds I drifted and floundered and wasted time and lost time (not in a fugue-state
  sense, more like time leaked away from me like air out of a tire).  It took me so long to do things,
  I had trouble staying on task over time, and as much as this frustrated my parents, I couldn't explain
  why I had trouble in school.  I could and did make excellent grades at times, but I was, and still am,
  a "slow learner" in new situations.  At my current job it used to take me most of an hour to dish up 90
  servings of fruit cup for Sunday dinner.  An hour.  I can't even remember what that felt like anymore.
  The Strattera keeps me on task over time, so that I can get things done much faster, consistently,
  and it also takes the edge off my OCD anxiety, seems to stop the obsessive loops of fear.  Overall,
  I am a better version of myself when I'm on it, "more tightly wrapped," as I like to put it. 

[Queen Victoria]

Beyond the morning cup of coffee before school (even in grammar school), there wasn't anything. 

Thankfully my body and mind are slowing down and I'm finding more peace, tranquility, sensibility, patience, etc. than I ever had before.  I hope to never go back.

[Icequeen]

Nothing now.

Last one on the list was Ativan, and although it did dull my senses enough where I could function better, longer in situations...it also seemed to trigger episodes of depression.

Back when I had friends...I was the one sitting in the corner trying to become comfortably numb enough to deal with them or planning my escape. I finally ditched the friends. Most people like going out to eat, movies, loud bars, dances...I like things that please my senses not irritate them, nice scenery, being outdoors, museums, car shows, yard sales...other woman like going out to eat, talking about how people dress, their kids, their hair, or gossip...I relate better to their husbands most of the time. 

Never really heard the term "sensory overload" until I hit 30...but that about fits what I've dealt with my entire life. The world moves too fast, it's too bright, and it needs a mute button, and I find that people are too fixated on drama and things that really don't matter  to me 90% of the time.

[Lestat]

Once I finally got old enough to manage my own medical affairs, discovering NMDA antagonists, adrenergic suppressants, and cannabinoids has been a sanity-saver.

I found that things like dissociatives, ket, dextromethorphan etc. in LOW doses supressess what I experience as a kind of internal 'static chatter' that gets in the way of proper sensory processing.

But the psychotropic effects, for that use, are unwanted, I wish I could get my doc to put me on a daily dose of memantine, I've trialled memantine before and it was a godsend, but getting it on the NHS has been proving impossibly difficult. :/ Memantine turned down the internal howling white noise, without the cognitivively disruptive effecs of less suitable NMDA antagonists.

[odeon]

I tackled OCD the best I could, and sometimes not at all. I lost a lot of time. I was worried a lot of the time.

["couldbecousin"]

I tackled OCD the best I could, and sometimes not at all. I lost a lot of time. I was worried a lot of the time.

    OCD is a fucking bitch! 

[MLA]

Had a lot of headaches

[Parts]

Got distracted even more than I do now and slept worse.  I currently only take ADD meds which help a lot  with staying on task and with sleep.  The anxiety meds I stopped as they made me a bit zombieish

[El]

...attended kindergarten and first grade.

Forget if meds came before or after being expelled from the latter.

[WolFish]

...attended kindergarten and first grade.

Forget if meds came before or after being expelled from the latter.

How do you get expelled from first grade?

[renaeden]

I daydreamed a lot. I got into trouble too, in school for not handing in homework and taking too long in the classroom to start tasks. My psychiatrist read my school reports and found a lot of evidence of ADHD.

When I was older I was accused of being on drugs at work. I had two car crashes that were due to my inattention.

["couldbecousin"]

I daydreamed a lot. I got into trouble too, in school for not handing in homework and taking too long in the classroom to start tasks. My psychiatrist read my school reports and found a lot of evidence of ADHD.

When I was older I was accused of being on drugs at work. I had two car crashes that were due to my inattention.

  You sound a lot like me.  I'm afraid to drive because I don't trust my processing speed. 

[renaeden]

That's why I only got my automatic licence. I had tried manual but I had difficulties driving and keeping attention on what was going on around me.

Automatic is much easier.

This didn't stop me from getting my forklift and front end loader tickets because they were automatic too!

["couldbecousin"]

That's why I only got my automatic licence. I had tried manual but I had difficulties driving and keeping attention on what was going on around me.

Automatic is much easier.

This didn't stop me from getting my forklift and front end loader tickets because they were automatic too!

  That's so badass!  I sometimes think I'd like to be a forklift operator.