I take Ritalin 10mg on a needs basis since I generally have functioned ‘alright’ into adulthood.
Just took one to get some work done today and it still amazes me how normal I feel about doing work once I’m medicated. Like there’s no massive hurdle to even starting. No massive reluctance and task paralysis to fight.
Coming from a whole week where I’ve been procrastinating on whatever isn’t urgent, suddenly it’s so easy to just… do.
I also get incredibly chatty (hence the post, lol), but yeah. I can’t imagine how life changing it must be for people who struggle even worse with executive dysfunction.
Wish I started this shit earlier. It’s sad to think about all the wasted potential and chronic under achievement.
Are you also a recipient of the “You have potential, you’re just lazy” award?
Its sad to see that we all bear that weight of all these great expectations we just couldn’t seem to meet, despite our best efforts.
Every. Report. In. School.
After my diagnose my life changed. I got a master degree while working full time and raising two kids.
I’m considering getting back on meds because my job is so demanding lately.
Those thoughts are natural but it’s important to put them behind you.
I was diagnosed at 39 and had the same thoughts about the wasted time, but less than a year later I was driving, had a car, drug use dropped dramatically, made better choices (not perfect), and now I work as a software developer.
I still can’t believe the before and after and the fact I have wanted to do this career for 20 years but I made it in the end.
This doesn’t mean I am “happy”, I don’t think I ever need I’ll be but I’m happier and that’s important to me.
I majored in communications because I was so burnt down after secondary school that it was more a process of elimination - I couldn’t do everything from A to Y, so that only left Z. But I would’ve liked to go into something to do with computers.
My father’s a software developer too, and seeing my neurotypical younger brother following in his footsteps now is a bittersweet experience. He gets a lot more attention from our dad, and I feel like he’s the white sheep of the family, where I’m the black sheep for not being able to do well in life
I don’t know if I’ll ever retrain to pursue that career, but I’m in my mid 20s and there’s time if I’d like to. Right now I have a stable career, and I’m working towards life milestones one day at a time.
My partner helped get me Dx’d seven years ago. Was medicated for three years until Cigna decided what was ‘best’ for me and overruled my pDoc.
My partner likes to remind me that for over thirty years, I managed with my own cooing mechanisms, which they think are amazing. They also point out how my creative projects have benefitted from an intense focus, not scatterbrained ADHD ‘squirrel!’ problems.
I do suspect at least a few jobs I had over the years could have been easier with meds though…