(Trying to be smart and ask this question now, not after struggling for months like I did after my autism assessment.)
What helped support you most to process everything after you received a diagnosis of ADHD?
I’m talking about after having had an assessment with a clinician and receiving an official diagnosis of ADHD. (Self diagnosis is valid, etc etc. See my quoted post below. My experience of self-dx has been generally easier, so I’m asking specifically about after an assessment, which is more like an event in itself.)
Obviously, there’s nothing available for me from the place I got assessed, damnit. So I’m needing to figure out what to do myself. Realising I have many questions, doing a lot of questioning, too. Feeling the same as after the autism assessment a few years ago: my life has been assessed with all its challenges, I’ve been given a label and now I’m expected to just carry on. I’m massively grateful, but it’s a lot to take in. How do I begin to process it…
@AnAutieAtUni@actuallyadhd@actuallyautistic What helped me the most is, first, accepting it, accepting ADHD, accepting myself. Then joining some online community helped a lot. I accepted it, joined that community, and booked my first appointment at around the same time, and I got the diagnosis' redults about 4 months later.
I don't think I was in the mental space back then to know that there was something to process.
I more or less stumbled over the diagnosis because my best friend had just received theirs and I listened and thought "This all sounds similar to my experiences, and it would explain a lot."
At that time I had just finished my diploma, but the circumstances were... not good. I had struggled a lot at the university, because there I actually had to learn something, which I had never done before.
(So I typically set there for weeks trying to work through materials that were sometimes interesting, sometimes not, but in most cases simply overwhelming. As in: "I can stare at these pages, but there is no knowledge transfer into my head.")
I knew little about ADHD so I began reading a lot about it. I took the medication in the prescribed dosage for a while, then began experimenting with it.
"Experimenting" in this case meaning:
Instead of just taking the same amount every morning and noon as prescribed, I didn't take it for a day, watched how I felt, what I was able to do etc. Or I took a higher dosage, looked at the effects, etc.
Later I switched from MPH to amphetamines, becuase MPH mainly increased stress and tunnel vision for me, but didn't help lower those obstacles all around me that prevented me from having a grip on my thoughts and getting where I wanted to go.
I read a book (in german) that contained "collected wisdom" from a self-help group, which was very enlightening (especially stuff like hyperfocus or fixation on a topic for weeks being explained properly, or why my plates keep stacking up even when washing dishes is a clearly defined and rather uncomplicated task).
And I think this is what helped me the most: Understanding some of my "typical problems" and properly analyzing the medication and its effects.
@wakame@actuallyadhd@actuallyautistic Thank you so much for sharing this. As someone who has just completed their 4th official attempt / 5th in total… at getting a degree at uni I definitely know what you mean about the challenges. It has been a very bumpy ride, but finding out I’m autistic 3 years ago helped point me in a better direction this time.
Really interesting to hear your journey with learning about the most common traits and also exploring medication. I have no idea about medication right now, but will chat with the clinician in a few weeks to learn more about all the options. I’ve got a couple of other health issues to be mindful of, but damn, I really want to get better at some important tasks related to life & work.
I think medication is largely still "unchartered territory".
I know people for whom MPH works great and others (like me) who hate it.
And then there is the whole delayed-release group of medication which seems to be good for some and bad for others.
Depending on the country you are in, the doctors might have varying opinions about which one is "best".
What I mainly want to say with this: Trust your guts and your practical experience with this stuff. 🐾
I haven’t been following many medication threads here but the ones I have seen basically echo what you said. Sounds like everyone is very different, lots to take into account. I’m guessing it’ll be a long journey to figure this stuff out.
I’ve been wondering whether it’s worth it to explore it, especially with medication shortages, but I also want to be ready for when I feel I need that intervention to help me with work/life. Might as well start learning now.