Treating ADHD without meds

Hi everyone. A bit of history:

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my late twenties (now 33) and have been on and off, mostly on, stimulant medication since. Earlier this year I started off-label clonidine (technically a blood pressure medication) three times a day to help with the impulsiveness of Concerta, the medication I've found the most success with & have taken for years. Over the last few months I've acknowledged the things I've been feeling, like anxiety and aggravation, can be attributed to Concerta, so I went down to 27mg. I've been fighting pneumonia for a month and for many days took prednisone, which combined with Concerta caused mania-like feelings/symptoms (I'm also bipolar). I discontinued the Concerta while taking the prednisone, because really, I need to breathe more than be focused. I've been done with the steroids for nearly a week and haven't been taking Concerta. I've noticed that I'm a bit spacey, distractable, bouncy, but I'm also not crabby, anxious, irritable, etc. I've taken Ritalin twice since, but noticed the same, nasty feelings I had when on Concerta daily.

So, it seems the benefits do not outweigh negatives and I'm going to stay off of stimulant medication. I'm super sensitive to medication side effects, this is observable from other meds I've taken, as well. Do you all have any suggestions as to how I can treat my ADHD symptoms without medication? I work part-time and go to school full-time, so having focus and being able to concentrate are very important! I also do not drink caffeine due to migraines. TIA!

I am not a specialist, but I didn't know I had ADHD for more than 10 yrs and had to fight all the symptoms by myself. What helped me was to pick the symptom that drove me nuts the most, sit quietly by myself, and concentrate on finding the thoughts and behaviors that may encourage it. But not the ones that came first to mind, I looked for whatever was behind them, deeper and deeper, till I got to the bottom of the chain. I often discovered fears and insecurities that magnified the problem, and finding ways to beat these (or any other obstacle I spotted) has improved my ADHD significantly. I still need my dopamine fix, but luckily my favorite source is playing games, so I have created several "mini-games" to play in my head whenever I feel deprived (I'm still addicted to PC games, but it helps).

I still have problems with my memory and organization, but can focus on reality most of the time. And although I feel like an acrobat on a rope, I can live a much more normal life. And it's becoming easier as time passes. The hardest part was when I had to face my weaknesses and win, after that I could see clearly what I wanted and what I could do.

Thanks for your response! I think you've developed a good method to face and deal with these issues. I like this approach. It is difficult for me to give myself time to take deep breaths, but I try every day. This is really the first time in years, maybe 6, that I haven't taken a daily stimulant med. Primarily Concerta. So in a way, I'm just starting my life again, or... differently, so I'm a bit nervous and just starting to work at it. I appreciate your support.

This seems promising, though you may have seen it already. Omega 3/6 Lessons Symptoms of Inattentive ADHD Subtype | Psych Central News
I'm not sure whether I'll be able to take medications for ADHD or not, but it's possibly not. So I'll be trying that.

I also got a whey protein powder that I mix with water or milk or something in the morning. It helps take an edge off, at least a tiny bit. I'll take what I can get.

I don't have ADD, but I do often have difficulty with certain tasks like charting at work (love the patient care side of things and don't have difficulty there) sending presents for out of state family, concentrating on cleaning one room in the house. Etc. Basically executive function tasks sometimes are difficult for me, but more due to my chronic fatigue I think.

So I break down the task into smaller ones and set deadlines for each task.
Take the gift example. Instead of "I need to get my niece her present by her birthday" instead of three months later.

1) Buy present 1-2 months in advance
2) Wrap present
3) Get present properly boxed up
4) take to post-office.

It might sound ridiculous but I really just get overwhelmed at the thought of getting that all done at once and feel too tired to even start. By giving myself one step at a time with specific deadlines for each I can make it happen.

Np

Well, there's a catch with my method: I don't ever schedule it. Whenever I feel fed up with what's happening I sit down and allow my brain to think around the topic "my problems". I sometimes run away from the ADHD topic and end up finding other ideas, but I never halt my "thinking session" before I find something that makes me feel better. In that way, I get slow but existing improvements, and also use the feelings ADHD creates against it

I don't know if I can be much help to you, but here's my take. I am 52 and was not diagnosed with ADHD until I was 40. By that time, frankly, it seemed like a moot point to me, but I did try stimulants for a while. In the end, I decided I liked sleeping and eating more than I liked being focused and organized, so I stopped the meds and haven't touched them since.

I cope by knowing what I'm good at and what I'm not. For instance, I do not try to keep track of any important papers, like birth certificates, social security cards, etc. because I will put them somewhere where I think I will be able to find them easily, and never see them again. However, I am the master of hyper-focus, which is what got me through college and gets me through work now.

I was helped more by reading a book called "The Edison Gene, the Gift of the Hunter Child" than any drug or therapy I've tried simply by helping me to understand what it really meant to have ADHD and that it was more of an ancient survival mechanism than a disorder.

WW

Have you tried a non-stimulant med? I had some similar issues with stimulant medication- increased mood swings and irritability while on them. I didn't get that when I was on Strattera, but I felt that the Strattera was not strong enough to control my ADHD symptoms.

I also have Adult ADHD and take a stimulant. I use Lumnosity.com which is a " brain game" site that helps train your cognitive skills. I feel like it has helped my concentration.

My conversation with Texan MD Mary Ann Block:

Me:

Would you mind telling me what for example could be the cause of someone's constant daydreaming and chronic dissorganisation AKA ADHD (predominantly innatentive) and how for example you might approach treatment?

Mary Ann Block:

Allergies, diet, chronic strep, learning problems are a few

Sent from my iPhone

Me:

So a visual problem (AKA a learning disability) for example could be the cause of "ADD" rather than an actual neurochemical deficiency in dopamine?

Mary Ann Block
to me

Absolutely! ADD is just a lust of subjective symptoms. Even the DSM says no psych disorder should be diagnosed without first ruling out all underlying medical problems