BEAS!- Brain-training, exercise, adderall, and systems!

[kristya]

I have struggled with ADHD my entire life (25yrs currently) and didn’t know it until I went into graduate school. I thought I was stupid. I studied really hard all my life and couldn’t do as well as most people who only spent a quarter of the time studying as I did. I lost everything constantly. I had developed a habit where I would check all of my pockets every few minutes to make sure I had everything. The thing that drove my husband the craziest was that I couldn’t stop chewing on everything I had on me: pencils, pens, necklaces, my wedding ring, etc. (also, he had to keep picking up after me).

A year after being diagnosed, this is what I have found that works for me: brain-training, exercise, adderall, and systems. I had exercised consistently before I got diagnosed and found I could concentrate and understand things better for a bit after wards. After I got diagnosed and put on medication, I felt much better; like I could hear and take in everything around me. I stopped chewing on things almost immediately (probably trying to stimulate my mind). However, I still struggled with a few things here and there.
My next step was to start organizing my space and time. The space thing was easier, but the time, the time is still hard for me. I have been working on systems to try and organize everything and, slowly but surely, things are getting even better.
Finally, I got into brain-age: concentration training. Training your working memory (which doesn’t work so well with people who have ADHD) really helps with focus and memory. I can feel the difference after a few days of training and have less trouble keeping my ADHD symptoms down.
With all of these, I still have trouble sometimes (I left my wallet in my in-law’s cars and they had to mail it back to me :/). Overall, each of these life alterations have helped significantly. I couldn’t do everything (make all of the changes, I mean) at once, but over time I implemented (am stilling implementing actually) and the difference in my confidence, speed, processing ability, and overall quality of life has drastically improved. My husband has also seen fantastic improvements and truly loves my change in lifestyle.

I know I have ADHD pretty badly. It was my work ethic, willingness to sacrifice my sleep, and my mother’s amazing help in high school (she would quiz me while I bounced all around the room to study) that got me to graduate school. Maybe some of these will help you too? Does anybody else have any other ideas that worked for them?

REPORT ABUSE

[seabassd]

@kristya, I’m still pretty new at this so I haven’t implemented a lot of systems and I’m still working on finding the best medication and dose. Your post did make me think about life actions prior to my diagnosis that I implemented in an effort to counter perceived shortcomings.

I experienced a relatively peaceful 2/3 years following a rough patch which landed me in a halfway house. It occurred between the ages of 25 and 28. The list below comes from that period.

1) Unstructured and fun exercise. I road my mountain bike everywhere, I was on it constantly. Put the ear buds in and just go crazy on the streets of Houston. I released so much emotion that way.

2) Concerts  in small venues where I could get in the Pit and just go nuts in a relatively safe way. Another way to release pent up emotions.

3) Basic jobs that did not require excessive political correctness i.e warehouse work.

4) Keep it Simple was a rule I lived by. No credit cards or debt, simple meals, comfortable clothing, Sat. and Sun off (two days in a row were critical)

5) Music

6) Faith: I had bottomed out and stopped relying so much of my own plans. I would usually say a quick prayer then take a positive action and not worry about the outcome.

7) Small successes that led to bigger successes.

8) Stopped judging myself based on my occupation.

9) Friends: I had a core set of friends who were working to change their lives and together we were there for each other. Really helped with the self-esteem.

10) An appreciation for humility that allowed me to accept my limitations. I saw my limitations and was more willing to work within them. I stopped fighting myself so much and became grateful for the simple things instead of  demanding I be something else.

11) Let myself make mistakes and be human. The time before this I constantly turned my mistakes into self-hatred and fear. I found that people appreciated my humanity in some ways it made them less self-concious around me. They were definitely  more comfortable around me as I wasn’t so nervous and sensitive.

12) I’ll add this one again. Unstructured Exercise. This one was one of the foundation elements along with Faith.

13) Lived in neighborhoods and around people that were less judgmental and more open minded. Moving to the suburbs at one point was a huge mistake. Environment on some levels really does matter.

 

Glad you brought up the topic. It makes me think back to what worked at one point and how those might be incorporated into my life today. I’m 44 now so there’s been a pretty long dry spell since I felt relatively peaceful about things. The reflecting has done me some good.

Thanks,

Damon

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Amazing write up about brain training and exercise to..May it favorably works for all of us..

Increase memory

REPORT ABUSE

[dspicelady]

@seabassd. #11. I’m working on that one all of the time. I find that I can forgive everyone but myself for making mistakes and being human. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time, but you’re right about people feeling more comfortable when I’m not beating up on myself. Thanks for the reminder.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts