Clearing my head about meds.

[Anonymous]

Just clearing my head.

I have been taking 27 mg of Concerta for about 6 months. It has been awesome for me, though I am not getting the same effect but it does still help.

During that time I have figured out that a good hard work out everyday is awesome for me (I am trying to lose extra weight)

I also found a book on self coaching at the library and I am getting much better at pulling myself back to what I need to do.

I also realized that knitting is relaxing to me and I use it as a way to clear my head, and in trying to get rid of clutter in the house I am having an easier time although the noise of three active children still make me a bit crazy. Now if only I could keep in front of the mess, though I don’t think they make a pill to help with that.

My husband is even noticing that I am doing better on non medicated days than I ever have, though even with meds I can still talk nonstop.

I am finally feeling in control of my life a lot of the time with or without meds. My current plan is to use it on days I need it.

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[agnoscet]

I started with 18mg Concerta six months ago and increased to 27mg in December. I have an engineering job, and really need to focus, and it’s been wonderful. I used Daytrana for a year prior to that, but the patches are annoying at best. If I ever become nostalgic about that, I can get out some duct tape. Yeesh.

I work 4 day weeks and the 27mg really doesn’t let me relax as much as I’d like when I’m off duty, but I tried going without Concerta on my days off and spent most of my time listening to the circus upstairs… so I tried doing some of my leftover 18mg’s on my off days, and 27mg’s on my work days, and it has worked out well. Now I get two scripts for 27’s and one for 18’s when I see my doctor every three months. Took a couple years to get the meds right, but was well worth the trouble. My kids can tell when I forgot to take one… I don’t talk much when doing the internal channel surfing thing. Fact is, I don’t do much of anything useful when I’m not taking my meds. I was a professional worrier prior to diagnosis, and I find I’m much more able to do what I can about things and put them away (hence – not worry about them).

These days, I don’t suffer from ADD and dyslexia, I enjoy every minute of it.

Congrats on getting in control on or off your meds. I aspire to reach that point someday. I’m overjoyed to be able to function for now :o)

BTW, what’s the name of the self coaching book you mentioned? I’d like to give it a shot. Thanks.

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[Anonymous]

The Disorganized Mind by Nancy Ratey. I meant to put it in the original post.

I found it at the library, and realized I learned quite a bit so I found it cheap on ebay. It is not perfect, and some reviews I read when I was looking were complaining that they read similar things other places but I was looking just for a book of tips without spending half of a book reading symptoms. I am trying to work on one main symptom goal on improving time management. I found a watch that I like with lots of alarms and an hourly beep and I try to look at my to do list every time I hear the hourly beep to evaluate my progress. I am also trying to keep track of what I am doing during the day so I can figure out what my big time suckers are. I thought it was a waste of time until I tried it and figured out where my time is going.

And yes I have more issues than just time management, but it is the one that if left unchecked causes everything else to get worse. I am also trying to improve organization skills, but I catch myself procrastinating. I am at least getting good at looking at myself and seeing how I am doing without beating myself up over failures.

I do wish navigating this was an easy process, but since I found out that maybe I wasn’t just a waste of flesh I am learning to deal better.

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