I am currently re-researching ADHD management (for gods know what time already) after wasting the entirety of the past two days.

Wherever I go, I only see people talking about medication. How good it is, how to approach it, what to expect from it, how it was impossible before meds, how to treat them, etc.

I cannot obtain meds. Stimulants are illegal in my country. Strattera isn't, but I am afraid that I will not be able to pursue diagnosis for reasons I am not going to share here. Please do not tell me how good meds are - there is nothing I can do to have them.

I tried organising my thoughts, having a schedule, and so on (org mode in emacs), but I have forgotten about it, every single time I tried it. I have set up a periodic notification to remind me of it, I quickly started ignoring that.

What can I do to make it better? How can I make sure that I will not just forget to do the things that make it better? How can I make sure that I will not outright ignore the things that help me?

  • sewer_rat_420 [he/him, any]
    ·
    6 days ago
    • make sure you are getting as good sleep as you can
    • if you havent tried coffee, give it a go. I havent tried nicotine, but ive heard some people say zyns help them. All anecdotal but in the absence of pharma stimulants you gotta get whatever you can
    • avoid alcohol especially, and maybe avoid weed and other drugs. Again, alcohol is gonna fuck your sleep and anything that will make you feel worse tomorrow is going to make it even harder to stick to your plans
    • i found exercise actually does help me focus a lot, but this is more since i started my stimulant. But i guess it is worth a try, maybe moreso if you have hyperactive first adhd (i have the innatentive first type)

    Hopefully countries with regressive stimulant regulations will learn in time that they are so necessary and useful. And the abuse potential frankly is not that bad if you stick to the newer longer lasting or timed release types. I pop a 36mg concerta when i wake up and am good for the day, so i really dont have to think about it at all.

    Strattera helps some people, but i think stimulants are still considered the best treatment in terms of percentage that respond well to it.

    • Mardoniush [she/her]
      ·
      6 days ago

      Even in countries where they are available and there is public healthcare, adult diagnoses can cost upwards of $8000, so good luck.

      • TheDoctor [they/them]
        ·
        6 days ago

        I got quoted something similar for an adult autism diagnosis, no insurance accepted so fully out of pocket. But my ADHD diagnosis wasn’t done by neuropsych, just by my psychiatrist, so it cost about $50 for the session where I got diagnosed.

        • Mardoniush [she/her]
          ·
          6 days ago

          Yeah, so that's how much it costs for psychs here that will do adult ADHD diagnoses. The government will reimburse in theory but specialist doctors can charge what they want and there's a shortage so it's maybe 10% at this point. Don't even want to think about the cost of a clinical neuropsych.

          • TheDoctor [they/them]
            ·
            6 days ago

            That’s ridiculous. I’m so sorry there’s such a large barrier there.