Oct. 23, 2025

ADHD Medication and Me: The good, the bad & the unexpected

ADHD Medication and Me: The good, the bad & the unexpected
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ADHD Medication and Me: The good, the bad & the unexpected
ADHD Medication and Me: The good, the bad & the unexpected
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Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon PocketCasts podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon
Season 16 Psychology & Neuroscience Women's Health And Wellbeing Goals & Habits ADHD

In January, I commenced ADHD medication and now 11 months later, I'm sharing my experience of how it has impacted my productivity and mood. While my experience has been mostly positive, there are some negative effects that I wasn't expecting and even now, I'm still figuring out the right balance for me.In this episode, I'm sharing as honestly as possible what I was struggling with before, how the medication has improved things and the reality that it isn't a cure-all. If anyone is considering seeking a diagnosis and not sure whether they want to take medication for ADHD symptoms, I hope sharing my experience is helpful.

**This is my personal experience. I am not a medical professional and when it comes to medication, every person's experience will be different. You should talk to your health care provider about what the treatment options are and what you might expect.Takeaways:

  • The diagnosis of ADHD can be a turning point and a catalyst for healing your relationship with yourself, giving you a better understanding of your past experiences
  • Medication for ADHD can enhance focus and productivity, but there are some things it doesn't improve such as ability to prioritise
  • It's essential to prioritise self-care such as eating regularly, getting sufficient sleep and taking breaks
  • Personal experiences with ADHD medication reveal both benefits and challenges in daily life.


Connect with Cass:

www.cassdunn.com
www.instagram.com/cassdunn_xo

Contact Crappy to Happy:

Email: hello@crappytohappypod.com
www.crappytohappypod.com
www.instagram.com/crappytohappypod
www.tiktok.com/@crappytohappypod


Are you a coach, therapist, service provider or solopreneur struggling with self-doubt and imposter syndrome? I'd love to talk to you! (for market research purposes only!)

Book a call with me to share your experience.

Want more great content and less ads?

Upgrade to Paid in the Spotify or Apple podcasts App to get immediate access to "Beyond Happy", the subscriber only podcast featuring bonus content, meditations and more!

Chapters

00:00 - Untitled

00:00 - Introduction to Crappy to Happy

10:19 - Understanding ADHD and Its Impact on Life

11:56 - Navigating Life Changes: Managing Energy and Focus

19:52 - Reflections on Medication and Focus

26:50 - Navigating Life Without Stimulants

32:45 - Managing Medication and Self-Care

Transcript
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This is Crappya Happy and I am your host, Cas Done.

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I'm a clinical and coaching psychologist. I'm mindfulness meditation teacher

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and of course author of the Crappita Happy books. In

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this show, I bring you conversations with interesting, inspiring, intelligent

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people who are experts in their field and who have

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something of value to share that will help you feel

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less crappy and more happy. Hello, welcome back to Crappya Happy.

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Before I jump in, I am doing some market research,

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so listen up if you think that this could be you,

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because I might want to talk to you get your insights.

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I'm currently doing some research into how imposter syndrome, which

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obviously is my favorite topic. How imposter syndrome shows up

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for entrepreneurs. But even if you don't relate to that word,

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which some people don't, if you're a service provider or

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a solo practitioner, if you are self employed, basically you're

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in your own business and your business is you to

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relyant on your skills. So you could be a coach,

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or you could be a therapist or health coach or

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nutritionist or something like that. You could be a graphic designer,

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you could be just somebody who uses your own skills

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and expertise to run your business, physiotherapist, ot, etc. If

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you are that and you really struggle with self doubt

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and imposter syndrome, and you know that this affects how

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successful you are in your business. Now, how that often

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shows up? How that looks I want to hear from you,

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But in my experience, how that often shows up is

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procrastination and perfectionism and that whole loop. Feeling overwhelmed all

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the time because you're doing too many things because you

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feel like that's what you need to do to be successful.

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Struggling to make decision because you don't trust yourself. You

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don't trust your own instincts, so you are reacting all

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the time to opportunities that come in instead of directing

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from you and using your agency and your own priorities

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and preferences to determine how you run your business. Struggling

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to raise your fees, discounting over delivering, so doing way

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more than what you charged for offering extras, having very

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fluid boundaries, inability to set boundaries in terms of the

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scope of your work, and so you're constantly taking on

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extra things, and therefore you feel stressed and resentful and

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burnt out. You're in your head all the time thinking

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about what you should be doing differently, or criticizing for yourself,

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or what you haven't done. You haven't done particularly well.

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You might feel a sense of shame around your business,

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around what you're earning and how much you're working because

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it looks successful on the outside. But if people really

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knew the hours that you're working or what you were

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actually earning after all the expenses, etc. Then maybe it

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doesn't look so great. So I think that this is

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the group of people who really really needs some help

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to grow that inner confidence, which is what I specialize in.

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But like I said, I'm not here to sell you anything.

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I'm just looking to talk to people who resonate with

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that to find out what your experience is so that

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I can use it to help me create content or

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develop my own program so that it more effectively meets

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your needs. If that is you like what you would be,

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what you experience, how it affects you, and what would

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be your ideal solution. If you can help me out

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with that, If you've got a lot to say on

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that topic, then I'm going to put a link in

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the show notes to a page where you can book

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a call with me, and we're going to get on

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a zoom call and we're going to have a jit

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chat and you can tell me all about it, and

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I'm going to take a lot of notes and I'm

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going to use that because I don't want to just

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go on my own assumption. I want to hear directly

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from people who experience this. So that's that. So sorry

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to bang on about that for five minutes. But if

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you know somebody who might relate to that, then send

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them this, them the link, get them to have on

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a call with me. So we're coming to the end

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of October, would you believe? And in the Beyond Happy

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subscription podcast last week, I was talking about the idea

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that it is the last quarter. And I'm not a

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person who typically thinks in quarters, but coming to this

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time of year, we tend to start thinking about reviewing

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the year that's been, what we've done well, what progress

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we've made, what we haven't done well, et cetera, and

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considering what we might like to look differently next year.

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Now that's a whole episode in the subscription podcast. I'm

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not going to repeat myself here, but what I want

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to talk about is that in my reviewing of the

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year that is gone, the big change that happened for

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me in January was I started well. In December, I

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was diagnosed with ADHD and combined so inattentive and hyperactive.

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And in January I started on medication, and I spoke

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about that on the podcast at the time, and I

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spoke about wanting to do things differently this year with

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that diagnosis and with the medication, and having a sense

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of optimism about how that might look differently. And so

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now as we come to the end of October, ten

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months into the year, I wanted to give a little update.

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The reason I wanted to talk about this is because

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I've talked to a lot of people and even my

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private coaching clients over the course of this year. Several

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of them have either realized that they have ADHD and

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have gone and got a diagnosis, or they strongly suspect

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that they have ADHD, and they have talked to me

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about pros and cons of getting a diagnosis, pros and

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cons of medication, etc. I can only speak for my

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own experience with having a diagnosis and being medicated. I

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don't claim to be an expert as a psychologist in

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this area, but I can speak from my personal experience.

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The other thing I want to say about that is

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that I know that some people, some women in particular,

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can be really reluctant to go down that path, reticent

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to even consider that you might have ADHD. There's a

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lot of dismissal and denial. And I can't possibly because

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I do X Y Z, and because I managed to

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do these many degrees and hold these jobs. And you know,

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I wrote three, well four books, if you count my

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audible original I wrote four books. I've got four qualifications

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from Munich, two master's degrees. Like I've achieved a lot

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of things too, but not without a lot of really

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overwhelming stress, a lot of leaving things to the last minute,

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a lot of very hap hazard ad hoc approach to

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any of those projects, and just a lot of unnecessary stress,

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which in hindsight I didn't probably need to endure. So

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if you are a person who feels like everybody's just

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getting on the bandwagon, you feel a little embarrassed that

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people might think that about you, if you were to

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get a diagnosis, if any of those sorts are in

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your head, if you're feeling reluctant, Can I just gently

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suggest that you are within your rights. You're entitled to

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get good health care and to give yourself the best

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chance of being the best version of you, the most healthy, happy,

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productive and efficient version of you, the most relaxed and

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calm version of you. And if you feel like the

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symptoms of ADHD that you might be experiencing, which probably

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got a whole lot worse if you happen to be

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in the age group where you're going through perimenopause, that

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you don't have to you don't have to put up

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with that, Like you are allowed to see if there

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is a better way to see if potentially this might

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be something that is impacting you, that is having a

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negative effect, no matter how well you've tolerated, and how

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many systems you've put in place, Like you are allowed

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to find out for yourself. And it's a personal thing.

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It's a private thing, it's not for anybody else's judgment,

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and life can be a whole lot easier potentially if

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you have that knowledge. If the thing that is stopping

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you from getting a diagnosis, getting a referral, or seeing

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your GP is that you're thinking, well, what would be

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the point because I'm not really sure I want to

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take medication anyway, So I'll just use the tools or

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the strategies that I've been using so far. Then that

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is completely fine too. But let me tell you from

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my experience that having the diagnosis really does make a

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difference to your whole perspective. You will see things. You

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will look back on your whole life and see things

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through a different lens, through the lens of, oh, I

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see why I did all of those things. I see

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why that was so hard for me. I see why

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I behaved in those ways. Oh I thought that I

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was really doing well, but actually I really wasn't. You

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just see things through a different perspective. You will look

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back and you will have these insights and these realizations

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about certain periods of your life for certain experiences or

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you know, when you're at UNI, or when you're at school,

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or when you're in the workplace, like, you'll look back

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and you'll see and it will suddenly become very clear

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that this was ADHD the whole time, And just having

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that insight can be just really helpful for your relationship

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with yourself, particularly if you've ever had a lot of

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negative labels attached to yourself and a lot of self

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critical thoughts about your own lack of discipline, your lack

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of organization, you're an ability to follow through with things.

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You're making big plans and then just abandoning them, and

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everybody thinking that you're flaky and you're unfocused or not

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fulfilling your potential in certain areas. You know, all of

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that lazy, disorganized, that kind of narrative. You've been carrying

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that around for a long time. It can be really

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helpful to realize for yourself that, oh, actually, I'm not

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any of those things. I'm actually just my brain is

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wired really differently, and I need a different way of operating,

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and I need different systems, and the world is not

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set up for the way you operate and the way

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that your brain works. So that can be really liberating,

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and it can be really a bit of a relief

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maybe and a bit of a healing maybe for some

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of those old past wounds that you might be carrying.

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But let's talk about medication, because that's what I came

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here to talk about. So I want to tell you

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my experience about being on ADHD medication so that you

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can have some sense of what it's all about and again,

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every person has a different experience. It's very much a

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trial and error see what works for you. And I'm

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ten months in and still working out what really works

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for me. And different people have different diagnoses and different

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combinations of diagnoses, Like some people have ADHD and they

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have autism, and some people have ADHD and they have

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a like other issues going on, and so there's not

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a one size. That's just my disclaimer. I can only

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tell you about my experience. So the first thing that

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I noticed when I first started taking the medication was

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that I I was super focused, super clear, super alert.

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So it is a stimulant medication, and I would sit

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at my desk in the morning and I would start

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doing my work and I would still be at my desk,

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happily working to the evening. Now that hadn't happened for

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a really long time. The reason that I went to

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get the diagnosis in the first place was because I

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was really struggling to stay sitting at my desk, to

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the point that it felt painful to sit at my desk.

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I would try to force myself to sit at my

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desk and just make a start on a project or

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something that I needed to do, and it would be like, honestly,

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I can remember how it just felt like I almost

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had to chain myself to my chair to force myself

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to sit there. I just wanted to get up and

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do anything else. I could not start on projects. I

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knew all about what I had to do. I had

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all of the plans in my head. I knew exactly

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what was necessary, but actually executing was impossible. And the

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other thing that was happening was and I don't know

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if this was to do with perimenopause or what was

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going on, but I would really crash in the afternoon.

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So I'd have these alert kind of morning hours, which

220
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would be the time that I would see clients or

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I would do podcast interviews, and then in the afternoon

222
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after lunch, like two in the afternoon, two or three

223
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in the afternoon, I would just have this energy crash

224
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where I could barely some days could barely even keep

225
00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.399
my eyes open. And so that created all of this

226
00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:27.639
anxiety for me because it was like I woke up

227
00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:31.200
in the morning and I knew that I had until

228
00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:33.679
like two o'clock, and then the day was over for me,

229
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and it was almost like going back you know, when

230
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you have kids in school and you're trying to run

231
00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:40.080
a business and you're trying to do work and projects

232
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and all these things you've got to do, and you've

233
00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:43.519
got like that little window of school hours, like you've

234
00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:44.879
got to do the drop off and the pickup, and

235
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you've got that tiny bit of time in between nine

236
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and three. And I'm long past that time off my life.

237
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But that's how it felt, like, I've got until two

238
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and then it's all over. So it just became unbearable.

239
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It became unsustainable, beyond frustrating. And so the very first

240
00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:04.720
thing that I noticed was this ability to just sit

241
00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:06.519
at my desk, know what I had to do, and

242
00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:08.960
do it all day. So when I say all day,

243
00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.240
I literally mean all day. Because the other thing that

244
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:15.840
medication does is that it really diminishes your appetite. So

245
00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.080
I am on liss dex amphetamine, which is the brand

246
00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:24.240
name is other Vivants if you are in Australia l

247
00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:27.360
Vance here in the UK. I think it might be

248
00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:30.080
Vivants in the US as well. Anyway, Vivants or el vants.

249
00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.960
It is the same thing that medication is also used

250
00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:35.480
for binge eating disorder. It takes away the urge to eat,

251
00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.240
so I really struggled to eat, and I would often

252
00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.399
even when I felt hungry, I would go to the

253
00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.159
fridge and I'd open the fridge and there's just like

254
00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.720
nothing's interesting to me. They're like, no, nothing is of interest.

255
00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.600
So I would sometimes even just force myself to like

256
00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:54.120
have a slice of cheese or something like. I started

257
00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:58.320
buying little yogurt pots just to have something to eat,

258
00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.799
like those high protein months, because I knew that I

259
00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.120
needed to eat so lots of energy, lots of focus.

260
00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.320
The first few days insomnia, you know, I'd just be lying,

261
00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.279
wide awake at night. After a few days that settled down,

262
00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.240
I noticed that when I then increased the meditation, the meditation,

263
00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:16.120
the medication, because you do sort of taper, you go

264
00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.600
through this titration. So I started on thirty and went

265
00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.240
to fifty and have stayed on fifty ever since. The

266
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.600
maximum we can go to seventy. I think the lowest

267
00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.879
is twenty. Most people are around the thirty or the fifty,

268
00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:31.000
I find. Yeah, So when I increased the medication, I

269
00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.559
noticed the same thing about three nights of insomnia before

270
00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.000
it settled down. I also noticed that if I took

271
00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:38.679
things like magnesium in the evening that would help me

272
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.279
to sleep better, and I've over time kind of worked

273
00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:43.000
out what works for me. So that's a bit of

274
00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.440
a process because I started taking the medication in January

275
00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.600
and it was that it was combined with all of

276
00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:51.639
that New Year kind of energy, like that, Okay, I'm

277
00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:53.279
setting myself up for the year. Things are going to

278
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.000
be different. I'm on the medication. I spent a lot

279
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.759
of time I did worry at the time was just

280
00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:03.600
another way of time, like just another wasted hyperfixation. I

281
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.840
spent a lot of time learning how to use notions.

282
00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.240
So if you've heard of Notion, it's an online, free tool.

283
00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.840
It's a database system where you can create whatever you want. Really,

284
00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:15.720
you can create to do lists and project management and

285
00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.759
organize yourself and your life. You can create a database

286
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.879
for just about anything. And I spent a lot of

287
00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:23.720
time working out how to use that so that I

288
00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:25.799
could create one that was tailored to me and what

289
00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:29.000
I needed it for, with a view to just stopping

290
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.000
myself from having a thousand different systems endless pieces of

291
00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:35.559
paper with scribble all over them, because that's what my

292
00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.399
life was. It was just like notebooks just full of

293
00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.360
to do lists and ideas and things to remember, and

294
00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.879
not just one notebook but multiple notebooks, and then transferring

295
00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.080
things from one page to the next just a mess,

296
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:51.279
just a disaster. So I really focused on having this

297
00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:53.639
one system. I can report that ten months later, I

298
00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:55.600
still do use Notion. I don't use it as much

299
00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.120
as I had initially planned, but mostly because after that

300
00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.919
initial burst, I haven't really spent the time to go

301
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.120
in and set up the databases to be effective. But

302
00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:07.759
in terms of just tracking what I need to do

303
00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:10.960
each day and each week, and keeping track of projects

304
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.480
and even personal things that I need to like just

305
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.639
not forget just having this one tool where I can

306
00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:20.440
put all of that information and access it on my phone,

307
00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.159
access it anywhere. It's been really helpful for me, So

308
00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.039
I spent a lot of time setting that up. The

309
00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.000
lack of effortche means that I lost weight really quickly.

310
00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.440
Now I wasn't mad about it, because again perimenopause. Menopause

311
00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:33.159
is a time when a lot of us put on

312
00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:37.519
weight and it's almost impossible to shift and it doesn't

313
00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:39.840
matter what you do. So they did say to me,

314
00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:42.039
you've got to report your way, if you're losing too

315
00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.799
much weight, then we need to be careful about that.

316
00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:48.399
But I wasn't overly worried about that in the beginning.

317
00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.480
So if you don't need to lose weight, or if

318
00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.679
you tend towards being underweight, then that can be a

319
00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:56.720
real concern for some people, Like you really have to

320
00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.679
force yourself to eat. I know a lot of people

321
00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.519
just being online and seeing what other people post that

322
00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:04.279
a lot of people kind of go through the whole

323
00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:07.720
day not eating, but then wildly hungry at seven or

324
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.920
eight o'clock at night, which is me actually. Thankfully, my

325
00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.240
husband does dinner, so he has dinner ready for me

326
00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:17.279
at about seven o'clock and at that stage on ravenous.

327
00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.079
But I sometimes haven't eaten at all until then, which

328
00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.279
I know is not great. I'm not here to be inspirational,

329
00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.920
it's not great. Sometimes I can force myself to have

330
00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.319
a smoothie like a protein shake. Started having protein shakes

331
00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.519
for breakfast, which was great. I just kind of have

332
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:35.759
fallen out of that habit as well, so it's a

333
00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:37.480
bit hit and miss with the food. So that's something

334
00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:40.519
to be aware of. What the medication does. It makes

335
00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:44.960
you alert, it gives you focus that for me otherwise

336
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.279
was very lacking. What it doesn't do is give you

337
00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.960
executive functioning. And what I mean by that is you

338
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.680
can get very focused, stay on task, and really be

339
00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:00.119
in the zone. On this medication, it can keep you

340
00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:05.000
from being scattered and procrastinating and trying to do a

341
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:06.920
thousand things at once or not doing anything at all.

342
00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.880
For me, it helps me get in and do stuff.

343
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.240
It doesn't necessarily mean that what I'm doing is the

344
00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:16.559
most important thing of the thing that I should be doing.

345
00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:19.440
And again, being self employed, and when I have control

346
00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:22.440
over my own time outside of client appointments or whatever,

347
00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.839
then that can still be a problem. For example, today

348
00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:27.599
I had a whole lot of things on my to

349
00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.000
do list, and I'll probably get to them still. But

350
00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.000
one of the things that I have been frustrated with

351
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.839
recently is hosting my private podcast, might Beyond Happy podcast.

352
00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:42.920
It's available on Apple and it's available on Spotify via Substack,

353
00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.440
which means that I have to have a Substack account,

354
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.640
and anyway, it drives me mad and I want a

355
00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.240
different solution. So today I spent way too much time

356
00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:58.559
researching other platforms that potentially could I could use to

357
00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:01.079
host my private podcast, and my private podcast is the

358
00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:04.640
most tiny, tiny part of my business. It's not like

359
00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:07.559
the major it's not my core business. It's not the

360
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.559
major thing that I do, and I enjoy doing it.

361
00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.799
And also the system is working. It might be annoying,

362
00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:16.640
but it works. So this was not something that I

363
00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:19.200
needed to spend hours on. And yet today I did

364
00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:25.480
spend hours researching what platform I could use and where

365
00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:27.240
I could move it, and what would integrate with my

366
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.440
website and what would like just a waste of time.

367
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:31.599
So this is what I mean. Focus is one thing,

368
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:37.200
but needing to still have the discipline to be able

369
00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:41.960
to prioritize is a work in progress. I have got

370
00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:45.000
much better at it, but that's just the reality. It's

371
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.279
not necessarily going to make you focus on the right thing.

372
00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:49.799
In terms of my mood, that is another thing that

373
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.440
I noticed was a big positive difference. Not that I

374
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.799
am a person who has really suffered from mood disorders

375
00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.720
or really suffered from anxiety or or anything like that,

376
00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:05.160
but I have, like I said before, like I was

377
00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:10.119
getting so frustrated and so deflated by my inability to

378
00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.240
follow through with things and the inability to get things

379
00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.720
done and just feeling really despondent almost and just feeling

380
00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.960
bad about myself because I wasn't making progress on things

381
00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:19.519
that I know I can do. I've got the skills,

382
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:21.319
I've got the ability, I've got I know what I

383
00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.400
should be doing. I know how to do it. It's

384
00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.400
just this lack of execution. It's like walking through cement,

385
00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.640
just not able to execute. Just the frustration of that

386
00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:31.839
and what that does to use a sense of your

387
00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.599
own self esteem, like your sense of self worth. It's

388
00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:38.680
not good. But the medication puts me in a good mood.

389
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.920
It acts on dopamine receptors in your brain. So I

390
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:47.880
noticed that with the medication, like I feel not just focused,

391
00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:52.119
but I feel not excited. Like it's more like like

392
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.000
I'm ready to go. I happen to love what I do,

393
00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:58.759
Like I love my job. I love I love the

394
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:00.880
work that I do. So there's a lot to feel

395
00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:04.359
good about. And I'm full of ideas and I've always

396
00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.960
got something that i want to do. So what the

397
00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.519
medication does instead of make me feel like, oh, this

398
00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.119
is so overwhelming. I've got all these ideas and I

399
00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.720
don't know where to start, and I know what I

400
00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:14.319
want to do, but I'm not doing it and I'm

401
00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:18.039
procrastinating and I'm feeling stuck and distracted. Like now I'm

402
00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.279
just like, yeah, let's go, let's do it. I feel good,

403
00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:26.240
I feel motivated, I feel inspired, I feel energized. And

404
00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:31.680
that's just it's the best. Like, honestly, for me, that

405
00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:35.200
is the best. It just gets me going. And again

406
00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.279
for me personally, because I love what I do, that's easy.

407
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.119
But I didn't always have that without the medication. I

408
00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.799
also feel less overwhelmed and likes's anxious by like I

409
00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:46.799
just finished saying, I'm not really an anxious person, but

410
00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.559
I would sometimes feel And people with ADHD will relate

411
00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:52.640
to this. It's like, if there's one thing on my

412
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.799
calendar at four o'clock in the afternoon, I'll spend the

413
00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:56.720
rest of the day kind of waiting for four o'clock,

414
00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.839
kind of anticipating four o'clock. It's really hard to book

415
00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:02.799
in multiple things in a day because you're kind of

416
00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.640
feeling like you're kind of tense and everything's just about

417
00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.240
like that thing that you've got in the afternoon, which

418
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.319
you know, again really unproductive, Like it's really out to

419
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.000
you get a lot of ours that you could be using.

420
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.559
But when you're just feeling like you're sitting waiting for

421
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:21.240
that four o'clock thing, not great. I noticed when I

422
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.200
was in Australia recently, not recently, back in April, that

423
00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:27.319
I had a flight in the evening and I still

424
00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:31.119
hadn't packed, and I observed that I felt really calm,

425
00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:34.119
like I didn't feel overwhelmed. I didn't feel like I

426
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.359
was fixated on the shuttle bus coming and I fixated

427
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:39.039
on all the things that I needed to do and

428
00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.880
worrying that I wouldn't get them done, and at the

429
00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:43.759
same time not doing them. That's the nature of ADHD,

430
00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:45.079
being worried about all the things that you've got to

431
00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:47.440
get done and at the same time not doing them.

432
00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:50.039
So I felt really calm. I went to the shops

433
00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:52.960
at like three o'clock when the bus was picking us

434
00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.039
up at six, so that would never have happened in

435
00:22:56.039 --> 00:22:59.680
the past. I just felt so much more relaxed despite

436
00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:02.279
having a lot of things to do, and I think

437
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:05.880
that is definitely because of the medication as well. I

438
00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:07.960
didn't take the medication that whole time I was on holidays,

439
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.119
and I'll get to that in a second, like they're

440
00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.720
not taking it. But towards the end there that last

441
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.119
couple of days when we started to get organized to

442
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.079
come home, I took it. So I really noticed that

443
00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:19.839
straight away. That was the day that I was packing.

444
00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.200
I was like, hmm, wow, I feel really calm and

445
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.240
just at ease, which is a big difference. I think.

446
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.960
The other thing that is important to note is that

447
00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:31.640
I have talked on this podcast in the past about

448
00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.880
giving up drinking. Right, So in the past I didn't

449
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.319
drink for close enough to two years, moved to the UK,

450
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.039
living the London pub life, you know, going to the pub,

451
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.799
wasn't going to restrict myself. So I was drinking again,

452
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:45.319
and then it got to the point I thought, you

453
00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:47.720
know what, it's just too much. It's just all the time,

454
00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:48.920
all the time at the pub, all the time, with

455
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.880
the wine, all the time. So I wanted to stop again.

456
00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:56.079
So when I got really serious about wanting to get

457
00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:01.160
a diagnosis of ADHD, I had heard that alcohol and

458
00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:04.400
ADHD are like a really bad combination. I mean, people

459
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.200
with ADHD I tend to be prone to addictive behaviors

460
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:10.359
because it's the dopamine we're looking for. The dopamine rush, right,

461
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:13.319
and also just to shut up your busy mind. Sometimes

462
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.240
there's a whole lot of reasons. But somebody made the

463
00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:18.759
point that if you have ADHD, if you think you

464
00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.000
have ADHD, then probably the worst thing you can do

465
00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:24.920
is be drinking. Not a great combo. And so once

466
00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:27.680
I got really serious about wanting to get the diagnosis,

467
00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.359
I thought, well, if I'm going to do that, and

468
00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:31.920
if I'm serious about it and I want to change

469
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.400
my life, then I can't be drinking. It feels self defeating.

470
00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:38.200
It feels like, you know, doing one thing to try

471
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:40.160
to remedy this problem, well at the same time doing

472
00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:43.160
something that's only making it a whole lot worse. So

473
00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:46.799
that's why I stopped drinking in December last year, at

474
00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.920
the beginning of December, and I have not drunk alcohol since.

475
00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:53.480
So I haven't drunk alcohol for ten months, almost eleven months.

476
00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.519
And the other thing was that when I did get

477
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:01.759
the medication prescribed, I was told that, particularly in that

478
00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:04.640
first three months when I was working out the dosage

479
00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:07.720
and going through that titration process, that I should avoid

480
00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:11.559
other stimulants, that I should avoid drinking coffee and energy drinks,

481
00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:16.039
and that I should avoid doing strenuous exercise and raising

482
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:18.880
my heart rate, because what the medication does is it

483
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.960
raises your heart rate and it raises your blood pressure.

484
00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:25.359
So kind of avoiding the things that are likely to

485
00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:28.920
raise your heart rate and your blood pressure even more,

486
00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:33.079
and not forever, but especially during that kind of titration

487
00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:35.839
process where you're settling in and working out what the

488
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:39.960
right dose is for you. She recommended giving up other stimulants.

489
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.799
So I gave up coffee. So I have for the

490
00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:47.599
past ten and a half months not drunk alcohol and

491
00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:50.559
for the most part, not drunk coffee. I will have

492
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.799
coffee on the days that I don't have the medication,

493
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.759
but I typically will not have the medication and coffee,

494
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:57.799
and I known that is not the case for a

495
00:25:57.799 --> 00:25:59.799
lot of people. I know that a lot of people

496
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:04.519
joke about, you know, they're riding their zone after a

497
00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:07.799
Vivans and a two lata Is or something, and that

498
00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.720
works for some people, and that's fine, but it's not me.

499
00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:13.839
So therefore it's possible that maybe I don't have those

500
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:17.599
energy crashes in the afternoon, partly from the medication, but

501
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:20.880
also partly because I I don't have coffee anymore. So

502
00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:25.559
maybe the caffeine and the alcohol were also affecting my sleep,

503
00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:28.920
my energy levels, having crashes, et cetera. So I just

504
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:30.799
feel like that's a really important disclaimer. This is not

505
00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:33.799
just about medication. I also gave up caffeine and alcohol,

506
00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:36.599
so that's obviously going to have an effect, a positive

507
00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:38.920
effect as well. But that was the whole point. It's like,

508
00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:41.880
if I'm going to give myself a chance to be better,

509
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.480
then I want to give myself the best chance. Okay,

510
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.480
so on that on the days that I don't take

511
00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:50.039
the medication, So very early on, I decided to take

512
00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:51.799
the weekends off. I thought I'd just need this for

513
00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.680
the weekdays when I'm busy and focused on work, and

514
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:55.440
I'm not going to take it on the weekends. When

515
00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:02.640
I didn't take it, the first I noticed that I

516
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:05.799
felt really flat. I just felt really like, mmm, my

517
00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:08.279
husband plays golf on Sundays, my daughter she was off

518
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:09.920
away or she's at work, or something that was hume

519
00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:12.079
by myself. I was like, Oh, just feel a bit

520
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.000
bored and lonely and miserable. And I wouldn't normally feel

521
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:17.119
like that. I would normally be really happy to have

522
00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:19.039
the space to myself and have my own projects I'm

523
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:21.160
working on and do my own things. So I thought, oh,

524
00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:23.599
that's interesting, And that happened a couple of weeks in

525
00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:26.119
a row where I felt kind of just down and flat,

526
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.799
and I wondered, is this because of not taking the medication?

527
00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:33.079
And nobody had mentioned that to me, like nobody had

528
00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.039
warned me about that, so I wasn't aware. So I

529
00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:40.519
decided to just keep taking it all the time, not

530
00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:43.119
miss days, and so I did that for a few months.

531
00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:45.920
I took the medication without a break for a few months.

532
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:50.599
And the way that affected me was the medication makes

533
00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:55.400
me really productive and really focused. Remember it's also impacting

534
00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:57.960
my appetite, so I'm not eating so much, but to

535
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:02.440
a degree it sort of still affects you, not so much. Definitely,

536
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:04.599
I'm alert a lot later into the night than what

537
00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.799
I would have been, but again not drinking alcohol, So

538
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:09.079
there's that. What it does. I feel, what it did

539
00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:11.039
to me, and what I've heard other people say as well,

540
00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:14.440
is that it's almost like I was pushing my body,

541
00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.160
like even when it needed rest. When my body needed rest,

542
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:21.039
my brain and my alertness and my focus and everything

543
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.480
was like go go, go like the stimulants were keeping

544
00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:27.400
me going and focused and doing even when my body

545
00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:30.240
was tired. And so I started feeling like I was

546
00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.000
on the edge of getting sick, feeling really run down.

547
00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:35.759
And then so what I did was I took a

548
00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:40.480
weekend off the medication and I just slept and slept.

549
00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:42.839
And now some people say that that is like a

550
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:45.359
crash or a come down, and people talk about that

551
00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:49.920
like the exhaustion when you don't take the medication, and

552
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:51.960
I think that's all it is. I feel like the

553
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:55.279
medication kind of pushes you and revs you up to

554
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.079
get done what you need to get done, and it

555
00:28:57.079 --> 00:28:59.240
gives you the focus, and then so when you don't

556
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:02.759
take it, it's like this compensatory effect. And I still

557
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.440
notice that. I still notice that if I take a

558
00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.720
weekend off the medication that I will sleep a lot

559
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.680
longer and deeper. I get really irritable if I take

560
00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:14.559
more than a couple of days. That is a side effect.

561
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:17.880
Again I was not expecting. I mentioned that when I

562
00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:19.759
would have those odd days, the Sundays that I didn't

563
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:21.400
take it, I felt a little bit flat and a

564
00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:23.799
little bit sad. I also noticed that I was really

565
00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:26.079
irritable with my husband sometimes, like you would come home

566
00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:28.240
and I would just be like mad at him about

567
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:30.039
stuff with He didn't know what I was mad about.

568
00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:32.319
I felt very justified it because we always do when

569
00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:35.440
we're really mad. We always feel like we are perfectly justified.

570
00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:38.839
But he was like, what the fuck? And over time,

571
00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:40.559
what I've noticed is that it's when I don't take

572
00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:43.720
the medication, like I go through a period of being

573
00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:50.240
really irritable, moody, snappy, short tempered, and again it doesn't

574
00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.599
last like if I stay off it, I'll go back

575
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:56.279
to normal. It is temporary, but it does last a

576
00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:59.599
few days if I stay off the medication. So that's

577
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:03.000
just something to be aware of as well. I now,

578
00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:05.519
I guess you know what I said. It's been ten

579
00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:07.720
months and I'm still figuring it out. But this is

580
00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:09.880
the thing, right, it's ten months. I've noticed all of

581
00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:13.160
these things over time and had to work out what's

582
00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:15.319
going on and what's working for me. I don't have

583
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:18.319
a medication review until because I had three months of

584
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:20.960
titration and we landed on the dose. And unless there's

585
00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:23.680
a significant issue and I need to go back for

586
00:30:23.720 --> 00:30:26.519
a review, I don't get reviewed again until I think

587
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:29.440
it's January, it's twelve months and to see how it's going,

588
00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:33.039
you know. So over this whole period of time, it's

589
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:34.519
just been up to me to kind of figure it out.

590
00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:37.079
I haven't been having regular ongoing appointments. My GP now

591
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:40.480
prescribes the medication, but the GP wasn't the one who

592
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:42.839
initially because of shared care kind of arrangements. So my

593
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:46.240
GP prescribes it, but my GP didn't initially prescribe it,

594
00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:48.000
so I can't like talk to my GP or anything

595
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.559
like that. So that's just the logistics of medication and

596
00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:55.079
how it gets dispensed in the UK at least, I guess.

597
00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:57.960
The only other thing is that when I talk about

598
00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:01.720
that hyper focus, like that locking in and focusing on work,

599
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:04.160
when I've got a project that I'm working on, I

600
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:08.279
will work. I will be singularly focused. And anybody with

601
00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:12.440
ADHD knows that they have that ability to be singularly focused.

602
00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.839
I mean, that's the way we get anything done. We

603
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:17.200
have the ability to focus, which is why most of

604
00:31:17.240 --> 00:31:19.920
us think we couldn't possibly have ADHD because there's been

605
00:31:19.960 --> 00:31:21.440
all these times in our life when we've had the

606
00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:26.160
ability to focus. There's just certain conditions normally that give

607
00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:28.000
us that ability to focus. So allow us to have

608
00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:32.240
that capacity to focus novelty, interest, deadlines, things like that.

609
00:31:32.279 --> 00:31:35.559
But the medication gives us the ability to get into

610
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.920
that zone. And when I say I'm locked in if

611
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:42.359
my husband is in here to say dinner's ready or

612
00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.559
what time do you want dinner or something, And there's

613
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:47.279
been times that he's away and I'm working and I

614
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:49.160
sit down at my desk at eight in the morning.

615
00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:51.920
And I mean, obviously I make cups of tea during

616
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:53.960
the day, and I walk my dogs in the afternoon,

617
00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:55.400
but it can get to eight o'clock at night and

618
00:31:55.400 --> 00:31:57.119
my dogs are harassing me, and I'm like, oh yeah,

619
00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:58.559
just a minute, just a minute, just a minute. And

620
00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:00.000
then I walk out of my office and realize that

621
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.279
the whole house is pitch black because I'm the only

622
00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:04.400
one at home. I would probably if it wasn't for

623
00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:07.920
the dogs harassing me, I would probably just keep on working.

624
00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:10.799
So that needs to be managed. You know, that's not

625
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:14.359
a great thing for me, being able to just switch off,

626
00:32:14.599 --> 00:32:18.559
set a boundary, eat, get to bed, sleep properly, like

627
00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.680
really doing all of those things, making sure that I

628
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:22.759
go exercise, this is the other thing. So I'll sit

629
00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:24.599
at my desk all day and I'll feel like I

630
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:25.880
want to go to the gym, or I want to

631
00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:27.200
go to a pilates class, or I want to go

632
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:30.000
to a yoga class, but I cannot bring myself to

633
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:31.759
get up from my desk and go and do that

634
00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:34.400
thing because I'm so focused and I feel like I

635
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.160
just want to keep on working. I just keep on doing.

636
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.559
I just want to keep on because I'm locked in.

637
00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.720
So the self care thing, the balance is a real issue,

638
00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:46.480
continues to be a real issue for me. I really,

639
00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:49.240
I guess that's a real focus of mind going into

640
00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:51.720
next year. Speaking of how we set ourselves up for

641
00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:55.119
next year, I really need to be better at scheduling

642
00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:58.599
breaks and getting away from my desk and making time

643
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:00.319
for all of those other things, making sure that eat,

644
00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:02.279
making sure that I get enough sleep, and making sure

645
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.640
that I do some exercise, get out away from my desk.

646
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:07.599
So that's it from me. I'm going to wrap this up.

647
00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:10.119
Like I said, it's just my experience, but so many

648
00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:12.359
people ask, and I just wanted to have this kind

649
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:15.119
of in one place that you can just jump in

650
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:16.480
and you can listen and you can send this to

651
00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:20.400
a friend if somebody is curious. Again, it's just my experience.

652
00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:23.559
Everybody's going to be different. Some people the medication weighs

653
00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:25.720
off really quickly and they take a little top up

654
00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:28.400
dose in the afternoon. Some people are on the maximum

655
00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.480
dose and they feel nothing. Some're on the lowest dose

656
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:33.240
and they're wide. Everybody's body is different, and everybody's got

657
00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.319
to find that balance that works for them. And then

658
00:33:35.319 --> 00:33:36.880
some people just decide, you know what, I just don't

659
00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:39.599
like how this makes me feel, and so they choose

660
00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:42.400
to stop taking it, and they choose to do other things,

661
00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:46.759
you know, find other ways to manage their attention and

662
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:50.880
to motivate them to get things done. Maybe I'll get

663
00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:54.839
to that point eventually. For now, I really value the

664
00:33:55.319 --> 00:34:00.559
positive effect that I have experienced from taking medication. So

665
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:03.799
for now I plan to keep taking it, but I

666
00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.559
do plan to keep taking breaks from it. At least

667
00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:08.239
one day a week. I will take a break from it.

668
00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:10.239
You don't have to take it every day. That is

669
00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:11.599
not the case. It or some people think that once

670
00:34:11.639 --> 00:34:14.199
you're taking it you can't stop. You can stop anytime.

671
00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:16.920
It's not addictive. So I will take a break at

672
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:19.400
least one day every week, sometimes two days. Certainly if

673
00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:21.880
I'm on holidays, I just don't take it. I'm relaxed,

674
00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:24.360
I'm happy. I might be a little irritable, but usually

675
00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:25.960
i'm on holiday, I'm pretty relaxed, so I'm not that

676
00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:29.360
there's nothing to be irritable about. And even on the weekends, though,

677
00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:31.159
sometimes if they've got something that I know that I

678
00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:33.920
want to get done, I will take it because it

679
00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:36.280
also helps me to organize my house and organize the

680
00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:38.840
stuff that I need to do with my playing out

681
00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:41.039
my wardrobes and getting my shopping done and doing all

682
00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:44.840
of that stuff also benefits from the medication. So I

683
00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:46.199
play it by ear and I take it when I

684
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:48.280
feel like I need or it would be beneficial for

685
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:49.639
me to take it, And if I think that I

686
00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:51.519
don't need it, then I don't, And then I enjoy

687
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:55.199
a lovely cup of coffee and I am happy enough

688
00:34:55.239 --> 00:34:58.199
to you know, to be a bit scattered and just

689
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:01.000
to walk around the house and so looking for my keys,

690
00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:03.119
because that's what I do. What I don't take the medication.

691
00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:05.239
Hope that is helpful. If you have any questions, hit

692
00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:06.880
me up. If you go to the Crappy to Happy

693
00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:09.960
pod dot com website. There's a little microphone button and

694
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:11.960
you can send me a voice note. If you've got questions,

695
00:35:12.039 --> 00:35:14.440
please buy all means go there and send me a

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voice note. If you've got a question, if you've got

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a topic, if you've got feedback, if you've got anything

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00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:20.400
at all, then absolutely send me a voice note or

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00:35:20.440 --> 00:35:22.639
send me an email. Thank you so much for being here,

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Catch you next week. Crabby to Happy is created and

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produced by me cas Done. If you enjoy the show,

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please hit the follow button wherever you listen to ensure

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you never miss an episode. Share with a friend and

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get me into the ears of more lovely listeners. And

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I would love for you to leave a five star

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rating and review. Thank you so much for being here,

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and I cannot wait to catch you next week for

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another fabulous episode of Crappy to Happy