Off My Meds!!

I'm returning back to ADHD. Almost exactly a year ago, I was told I have liver damage. They didn't know what caused it (it's still unclear), and my doctors took me off Concerta immediately. One of the listed side effects is liver damage. From what I have read, it's very rare to happen after years of taking it, it's more likely to happen just after starting. Normally it settles down after being off Concerta for few months.

But away from my liver. So they took me off my stimulants. I was lucky and unlucky that at this time, I left my job. Lucky that I didn't need the stimulants for work, unlucky that well finding jobs that I can do without stimulants isn't really possible. I wouldn't have been able to continue my work without them anyway.
So since then, I have needed to manage all my symptoms. I have gotten new symptoms from all the stress from my liver condition being diagnosed. I can manage home life somewhat ok without my stimulants. My home is messy, things don't get done quickly and I often forget, well everything. But I have food, I do clean when I remember. I keep active since I know it keeps my symptoms away a bit. But trying to find a job is impossible. I cannot focus enough on writing applications. I forget what I'm supposed to write, and I remember all the good stuff, after I've posted my application. My applications are mess anyway. I am not good writing them on a good day, it's impossible on a bad day. Meaning without my medication. I know what I am good at, and what I am capable and I know for certain that I am not capable of London standard without my medication. I am good when I am on stimulants, but without them, my head is full of chaos. With the stress, I am drowning in it. And it's how it is. There is nothing I can do about it. I eat healthy, so I get energy throughout the day steadily. I exercise as much I can since it helps with stabilising my brain. I try everything to manage my stress and try to focus on other things. I do crocheting, which for me is best form of mindfulness. Learning new techniques helps to keep my mind occupied. But I don't have much control of anything anymore, least of all my own brain.

I did manage to get a part time job doing something I have done before, but I notice that I am not as good at it as I used to be. I miss stuff, I make mistakes and at the end of the day I am often quite frustrated with myself. But at least I get enough money to survive to the next day. Which is all I can hope at this point.

And the reason why I am not on medication at the moment is that my GP has requested medication review from mental health team and I am waiting to hear from them. I expect I will continue to wait another several months, before I hear anything from them. The waiting list is very long. I expect I will end up waiting for over a year to get an appointment, and I was referred during the summer. Hopefully I will have my appointment year from now! Until then, I just have to hope I manage to get enough money to get food and some extra so I can continue crocheting to keep sane!!

ADHD and Sleeping

I haven't written for a while. My muse hasn't given me any ideas until today. I had hard time falling asleep and even harder waking up. It's normal when I'm not taking my stimulants. I toss and turn during the night, because my brain won't shut off. It just wants to keep thinking stuff. Even though I'm tired, I just won't be able to fall asleep. And it doesn't help, that ADHD brain generally tends to work best during the evening and night. A lot of ADHD people tend to be night owls. The brain picks up speed during the day. Excercise helps. So nights can be hard. I put my mind into a calm place for me, and keep it there, but it's still very difficult to fall asleep. It's a bit easier if I've gone to the gym or otherwise I've exhausted myself physically. Also I don't sleep as deeply as with stimulants.

And the other thing, waking up. Remember me saying about the brain picking up speed couple of sentence ago? Yeah, it doesn't help the mornings! When I'm on stimulants, I can wake up pretty alert. Without them, I keep pressing snooze button as long as I can. I'm just too tired. Amount of sleep doesn't matter one bit. It's as difficult after 6 or 9 hours of sleep. It gets a bit easier after coffee or other caffenated drink. Without them, mornings can be almost impossible. I have a rule, that my mom is not allowed to talk to me before some form of stimulant, coffee or medication. Normally people understand to give me space before badgering me. My mom doesn't. That's why I've given her the rule not to talk to me in person or on phone before I've had my breakfast and I give the ok. I'm extrovert and happy and patient person normally, except when I'm not on my stimulants and before coffee. I need to wake up first properly! After my coffee, I'm myself again.

And off the topic information: I need to take breaks from stimulants every once in a while. I had a talk with my doctor and stimulants can raise cortisol-levels in some people. Me having so many other health issues, it's doing that with me. I have to take couple days off every month and two breaks a year, where I don't take them for week or more. Symptoms for me are: difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep and anxiety.

Time

Wow, I've been away for a while and I've gotten over 160 views in the meantime! My muse has been hiding from me and I haven't thought of anything special to say. Now I have something!

Time. People with ADHD often experience time differently than neurologically normal people. Sometimes we start to do something. Like on last Saturday, I started to sew a skirt! I started at three by cutting the cloth. I start sewing with my machine and next thing I know, it's 7pm and I'm starving. Where did all the time go? This is called hyperfocusing. Time ceases to exist. There is nothing but what we're focusing. Even our bodies own signals aren't enough to "wake us up." I was starving when I was finishing. I didn't notice anything until I was done. Hyperfocusing is one classic sign of ADHD. It's one of the few times, when we don't suffer from lack of attention. Or which I prefer to call, attention to the whole world. The world and everything in it doesn't exist to us.

I've also noticed that time runs differently depending if I'm on ADHD meds or nor. Before them, time ran quickly. One hour was like one minute. Time would disappear into the chaos of my mind. I might be late for anything because I lost track of time. It would be everyday for me. Time just disappeared. I guess when the brain is full of everything, rambling thoughts, sounds, images, it's hard to keep track of time.
Now, that I'm on stimulants, time has slowed down. I get more things done. Sometimes when I'm cleaning and I've done the living room, part of the kitchen and bathroom, I come to take a short rest, I notice, I've only cleaned for one hour. I have more time. It's like I'm in a time machine. This comes with a down side as well. There is too much time. If I'm upset or tired, waiting two hours until I can go to sleep, feels like forever. And then people tell me it gets better. I hate that saying. When does it get better? How many eternities do I have to wait? One day is like a week for me, so waiting few years? Yeah, that's not good.. Even waiting to the next day is really long time. Getting bored can be really easy being like this. However it has a good side too. It's very easy living in the moment. The moment is generally good. Right now, spring is starting, snow is melting, it's getting warmer and I get to wear skirts soon! Hopefully the one I just made. People are more open and happy with the sun coming out. I get to notice all these things!

Some Observations

I've been taking bigger dose of Concerta again and boy am I feeling it! I've got opening night coming up next week and I am super nervous. I'm normally not this nervous, not even last year. It's normally this excited nerves, now it's just really anxious nerves. I am thinking Concerta and stress don't mix so well with me. I know for some (a lot?) people it helps with stress control, but apparently I'm not one of them. I don't know if this would settle, since it takes about two weeks for the body to get used to new doses and drugs, but I don't think I can take the risk. With lower dose, I don't function as well as I would with this, but this nervousness is killing me. I have to regulate my breathing everyday so I don't have a panic attack and concentrate of doing relaxing stuff like singing. Well not concentrate but do more of them and just them. And I eat more chocolate! I usually consume lots of chocolate, but with Concerta I don't crave it anymore. Well except now.

I've got to say I'm really excited about the play. It's not "normal" play, it's 7 small plays in one. Each one has different actors, directors and writers. They usually have some form of theme, like this year it's the mind. Each writer has done their own interpretation on the word and gone with it. Well, this year we had bit of an actor shortage. We had more plays and parts than usually, and we didn't have that many new people coming so one actor is in more than one role. I've got two. I'm lead in first play. Then I'm in another play as supporting role sort of. I find it bit funny that in this second role I've got more lines than in the one I'm lead role. I've got just couple of lines in that one, but I'm on stage almost every minute of it. Yesterday we had practise with all the plays and it was the first time I felt like I'm acting since starting rehearsals. We finally had some audience and it felt more real. Some might find this a bit weird, but I felt less anxious on stage. I actually felt really calm. This is what I'm supposed to do! Rehearsals have completely different energy. It's more fun in a way but there is something missing. But when you have an audience, it's home! I hope everyone will experience this once in their lives. It doesn't have to be acting, but that something which is their thing. It resonates in your soul.

Me and Weird Experiences with ADHD

I had to take off a week from ADHD meds. I was feeling a bit weird. I get like this when I have an infection and I thought I had something, but my blood test came normal. I did have slight cold but not bad enough for this kind of reaction. But it was an experience! I definitely noticed the difference. Doing normal stuff took so much more time than with meds. Preparing dinner was a nightmare! I would constantly forget things, go back and forth between kitchen, computer and forgetting the timer. Forgetting to put right things in right places at the right times. I don't think I used ANY seasoning on my food! I forgot half the ingredients in the store. Using lists never helped me since I kept forgetting to do the list, take the list with me or check it. The chaos in my life and head was a lot worse. I like a bit of chaos, but now with the meds I've grown used to less of it.

Another thing: I don't count any of my health issues as bad things or curses. I know many people feel even having one of these is horrible. Especially with ADHD. So many feel that it's a curse. I don't know if it's how I was raised or my own personality, but I don't think it as a bad thing, nor a good thing. It just is. It gives and takes like anything in life. Nothing is perfect but the attitude towards everything and anything is the thing that matters the most. There are days when I curse having diabetes or hypothyroidism or ADHD, but those are just bad days and they go away on their own. Then there will be a good days! I've had diabetes so long that I don't really actively think about it anymore. Most of the processes are automatic, like counting carbs and correcting for them, taking insulin, and staying consious on how I feel. I've had it so long I can recognise signs, ok now I*ve got high or low blood sugar. And I can have some fun with it. One of the funniest things for me is BS. It's short for blood sugar. I think getting diabetes at such young age really affected how I think about health malfunctions. My body hasn't worked like most people's since I was 8. So getting different diagnoses isn't too shocking for me. I get the initial shock yes, but after that it's just, ok I've got this, lets go back to normal life! I'm glad I'm like this. It makes my life so much easier! I do worry about some normal stuff, but I rarely get hang up on them. I refuse to let myself get that way. Life is very stressfull as it is, I don't need to create more stress. So much of that stress is created by the person. I can choose to let it go on, or think and worry about it. I'm not perfect in that aspect. There are certain things that I can't get over just like that, especially things that involve other people or waiting. I'm hopeless at waiting! And I always listen to people who have problems, but my patience runs out when they come to me about the same problem several times a week expecting me to fix it, when it's their thing. I'm their friend, I offer advice and any help I can give, but fixing big issues is their responsibility. Unfortunately there are people like this..

I got bit off track again! What attention problem?

Weird Experience

I've got three exams in three weeks and I'm busy studing now especially with the play being over. I've been reading today and my goal is to read at least 50 pages. Now I've been reading about hour and a half and I've read 30 pages with notes! With no difficulties! I have only twice gotten sidetracked and had to get up twice to stretch. This is very weird!! Normally I can ready very little at a time, few pages, and go back a lot to reread something, I do alot of other stuff in between. I love Concerta! I can remember alot easier the stuff I've read and I can make pretty coherent notes as well. And I don't get confused as much, going between book and notes. I can even remember where I was reading when I do back to the book. I know alot of people think this normal but not me. To me studying is really hard. It takes about twice much work for me than someone neurologically normal. Reason why I am so behind on my studies... I'm actually starting to like studying. I've even managed to contact teacher my email about course work and not think about it for days: I should do this. I'm bit excited to see how this studying will pay off, will I get normal grades, will the exam be the same hell as usually or not. Bit worried about reading 5 books and alots of online material for these. Will my brain explode before this is over... The exam I*m reading right now is about racism and it is fascinating. I can't understand it so I'm drawn to it from the unknown perspective. It's shaped societies since who knows how long. I'm minoring in Sociology.

side-effects

Ok lets try again!! I can't work the blogger with too much grace since I don't know how to undo the weird colour behind the text

So side-effects of Concerta. It doesn't work well with anxiety. I had to stop taking it for two days before the opening night of the play, since I was too nervous. Then started it again with hope I wouldn't get the starting side-effects. Which are panic attacks. They come out of nowhere and go away about as quickly as they come. I just had three panic attacks in one hour and then just stopped. Although green tea might have had something to do with it. I don't want caffeine with the drug since they have similar effects on the body. I was just standing in the queu for cashier's and it just started. I wasn't doing anything to trigger it and I was just listening to music on my mp3 player. ADHD kicking in again, I wrote mp5 player.. I wonder what that would be, you can't really play mp5... Anyway back to where I was. I knew what it was so I just waited for my turn and kept coughing. I don't know why but it's what I always do when I get panic attack. By the time I got all my stuff in my bag it was all over! well the first one was over.. When I got back home, I got two more. Then nothing. I feel a bit tired after all those but mentally ok. I know what causes them so they aren't that scary. It's a bit scary when they come out of nowhere. But knowing what they are helps! and remembering to breath and not get more anxious!
 Tomorrow will be complitely different thank goodness!! Only worry tomorrow is that I remember all my lines and don't lose my voice overnight. I can barely talk after yesterday. I have to yell in the play and with a cold... Good thing is that Concerta really helping with acting. I can focus more on being on the stage. It's easier to remember lines, where to be, how I am related to audience, what I'm doing, what to feel. On a normal day, it's really exhausting for me. Too much going on. And with all that trying to keep focused on the right things and not get distracted by others. AND we're doing comedy so the stuff other's do is HILARIOUS!! I have to keep poker face through the whole thing and it's so much easier with this!! I'm not saying it's a miracle worker but for right people it makes life more.. I don't want to say easier but more  manageable maybe? Life isn't easy but it doesn't need to be too difficult. If there are things to make it more manageable, I'm all for it!!

I'M ALIVE!!

Yeah, it's been a while. I was in a surgery about two months ago and I haven't been able to write. Well, I was able physically but not mentally. My ADHD got even worse with the recuperation. It was a big surgery and I still don't feel normal. I haven't felt well enough even to take my ADHD meds. And my concentration has gone from bad to worse. And of course this all happened at the same time as several entrance exams to universities and normal exams from my current major.. I have started to feel the "normal" hyperactivity. My muscles keep itching all the time. Not as bad as it used to be but getting there. I've gained weight without it. Usually I have to keep moving alot during the day to keep it away but now not so much. I've felt strong enough to start excercising for fun. After the surgery all my other health issues, like Diabetes t1 and hypothyroidism been strange as well. Now they have started to settle as well. But the weird thing was that I couldn't take Concerta. I would stay up all night if I did. And I took it at a normal time as before but it worked really weird. I didn't understand it at first but after the second sleepless night, I took the hint. I took 2 pills on the second week after surgery and it did work really well. Small dose felt like I*d taken 3 pills once.. Gotta listen to the body! It will tell you what is right. It's been telling me to eat healtier as well. I've been craving mandarins which is weird. Good but still weird.

Anyway, I just wanted to write to tell I*m still alive. Watching Captain America, first Avenger, with a very furry friend. Who is shedding.. Just reminds me that if I ever get a dog of my own, I need to get one with black hair! almost all my clothes are black and with white/gold hair, it stands out! But animal therapy works! I feel lessed stressed even though I've got too many lines to remember and exams coming up!

Oh yeah, I have a complaint! 3D and high speed cameras! They do not combine well!! I don't get travel sickness easy, UNLESS it's 3D movie! I just saw Winter Solder in theatres and the hollywood scenes (fight and/or explotions) don't work well in the high speed camera. They shoot more frames in a minute than normal and it just looks very messy! I couldn't really figure out which was whose hand and what was going some of the time because the screen was just so messy! I'm good now, I've been waiting to say that for a week now!

Me again

I've been keeping few days off since my life is so boring and I couldn't think of anything to write about. But yesterday I took a day off from Concerta. And wow did I notice difference!! I couldn't concertrade much on anything, I couldn't wake up like normally. I mean the type you do when you are already risen up from bed but you keep walking around like a zombie. And I couldn't fall asleep as easily as I have before. I got no school work done, couldn't really clean up either. My sense of time was so messed up. I went to computer, started doing stuff, looking at homework assigments, went to facebook and before I realised, I'd lost 2 hours!! That stopped happening with the meds. I could keep aware of the time so much better!! Well I can since I took them today normally. It's so weird! They are definetly doing something to me. I even forgot to take my insulin yesterday! The weirdest thign is to me that now on my meds, I can go do stuff and then come back to what I was doing before!! I can even go back on a sentence, put a comma and then go back writing without loosing my thought! Is this how normal people feel?? I have to say I like it. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be normal! But doing things with this easiness.. I could get used to this! I never really realised how much more difficult ADHD makes life. This med is supposed to even out my brain to more normal level of brain function. ADHD is caused by low level brain activity in certain areas of the brain. It somewhat differs with different ADHD people. That's why the symptoms vary so much! I mean there are 2 types of it, Attention Deficit (and Hyperactivity) Disorder. The hyperactivity is in brackets since not every one has it, and then it's ADD. I'm hyper enought to power up a city if I was put on one of those huge wheel systems like with small animals for exercise!!

And I do notice my logic and thoughts are still a bit jumbled. I keep jumping from one thing to another. Not sure if that'll stick or will it dissapear with bigger dose. I like it! Althought doing essay it's not the best thing. But I have also noticed that when I do learning diary for a course, I can get original thoughts so much easier. I think I wrote about it before.. I think I should stop before I start repeating myself too much.

I've read some people saying that getting ADHD drugs lessens their creativity. It is one of the positive symptoms of ADHD. Gotta say not happened here. I've written more now with the meds than without. I finished some homework 5 DAYS BEFORE IT WAS DUE! And I got alot done yesterday. Washed some clothes, cleaned my appartment a bit. It's not particularly clean now but in the right direction. I was writing 3 assigments. Read couple of article needed for them. Got some original ideas for all assigments. I even watched 2 movies! The strangest thing is that I can listen to music while doing all of this. Normally I need absolute silence while I read and write. I've got to try writing my story like this.

I've got to say that this is step in the right direction, but I'm still hoping for more. School is still really difficult. It's a bit easier. I can focuse a bit better on what teacher is saying and I can keep thoughts longer in my head. At least long enough to write them down. I get more ideas during lessons. That one was weird. Usually I can't do that since all my energy is going into listening and writing and I keep getting confused with everything going around. Now I could write important points, listen and write at the same time and contribute on the notes. And I think cooking is a bit easier. I can hold thoughts in my head longer definetly. Normally I have to focus on one thing at the time. If I didn't, I'd forget it instantly. I couldn't even think about washing the pot while I had the meat heating up and have music on the background.

All this normality is so weird! Not bad weird. Everything is a bit easier now. I have more energy to focus on other stuff. I can listen to music which I love! Before I could only listen to every once in a while when it didn't interfere with what I was doing. I'm listening to Coldplay right now! And I have not written any lyrics into the text yet! I think..

On a more negative note, I've had more headaches with the meds. I've been having tension headaches for years and now this is making it slightly worse. And I keep drinking ALOT! I want a bigger water bottle for school so I don't need to go fill it during lessons! And I'm still always hungry! 

I am just so glad this hasn't taken away any of the features I love about ADHD. I am still the same lunatic I was before! well not lunatic. Eccentric. Weird. Ok maybe a bit lunatic. But in a good way! I am still the same spontanious, in the moment me I have always been!

More thoughts about ADHD

Now this is weird. I'm writing on a second day in a row! I've been making a small list about things I want to say. If I don't write something down in the same second I get the idea, it's lost forever. I think for me this is one of the worst symptoms of ADHD. Too fast brain. I keep forgetting important things like my insulins.

One thing I've been very worried about the meds, is how they will affect my personality. I'm impulsive, I've got a quick wit, I tend not to worry too much since I don't remember the thing I'm worried about for too long. ADHD does affect the personality somewhat. Then one night I realised while trying to fall asleep, I'll still be me. I'd like the impulsitivity to lessen quite a bit. I like being spontanious and I don't like living the same way every day. I love changes. I doubt that will change much no matter what. I'll still adapt. Maybe now I won't get so bored all the time when the every day life is so monotonious. I can't tell yet how this'll affect me. It's still too early for me. But I*m not worried about those effects anymore. I'll be me no matter what!

One of the things I've noticed while theatre practise is that I have alot of trouble to concentrate on the right things. I have to keep battling with my brain all the time. I get distracted so easily. I so wish my acting ability will get somewhat better when I can actually focuse on what I'm doing in that moment rather than everything. Usually I feel like I've got too much on my brain when I'm on stage. 

I haven't noticed much change in me now that this is day 4 on my meds. I don't want much chocolate anymore. Normally I always eat chocolate. And I always want more even though I just ate some. Now I've got at least 3 things I want to start today, lets see how many I actually start. Usually I get nowhere. Well I am here writing this so maybe some improvement is happening. I need to start looking info for one essay on Lingua Franca and start study diary at some point. And I've got to finish that damned English essay. It's giving me too much headache. I just hope I'll be able to read a book properly. Now it's more read line or two, then get sidetracked by something, a noise, thought.. I can't read if there is tv on. If there is any changing noices or lights, it keeps stealing my focuse. I don't want to read for fun since it's so difficult. I want to read but I hate it as well. I very rarely get hyperfocused. Well I can't really remember that happening since high school. Then I could just sit and read Harry Potter book without noticing anything around me. My mom would have to come and nudge me to get my attention. I wish that would happen with my course books but no luck so far...

ADHD and My Experiences with It

I've always been a bit weird child as long as I can remember. I never liked what the masses like. I was a nerd since I knew how to read. I never got along with the popular kids. I like the real characters. But aaanyway.. I knew something was wrong with me since I was 8. I couldn't read well. It was way to difficult. But with child's logic, I decided to hide it. It took me about two years to learn how to read properly. Once I found an interesting book, Star Wars pocket book, I started reading incredibly fast. I just figured I finally cought up with others.. At high school, I started to get t he reading problems again. What I learned later on that I got hypothyroidism at this point which made the problem worse. I considered going to the nurse with the thought of having Dyslexia. Well I didn't. Then more years later at University, I got the though again going to the nurse with Dyslexia since my reading ability was getting ridiculous. I could not concentrade on anything, I kept forgetting, skipping lines, words.. Noice somewhere, and I forgot everything I read in the last few minutes. At some point here I had read up on ADHD and realised this is me! I couldn't concentrade on anything. I couldn't remember anything more than few seconds untill something else came up. My cleaning was, start pick up things on the floor, "oh there's a fork, I'll take it to kitchen, what's my hair dryer doing in the kitchen, lemme take it to bathroom, oh clothes I'll put those away" and on it goes. I might remember the cleaning part days later when I saw a dust bunny hopping by. I took a test and I got 96 points on concentration and remembering. The limit to suggest ADHD was 75... Finally I made it to doctor's office. Few months after that I got an apointment to psychiatric doctor who leads the team on neuropsychology. At the first appointment he told me it sounded like I've got ADHD and I was so relieved. We made more appointments for diagnosis and treatments. Finally I was getting the help I needed.

At my last appointment, I got a Concerta trial. It is the most often used ADHD medication. It is a stimulant. Its effects last about 10 hours or is supposed to. I've taken it on two days now. Only thing I've notices I am always hungry. Which is sort of ironic since I was warned by the doctor and pharmacist it will most likely take away my appetite. I was already rooting for loosing a few kilos. No such luck. I've taken it on two days and I've noticed, I'm hungry, I get more tired in the evenings. This one could be from exhausting theatre. We're in the middle of a play season. We're just past the midway. I'm always exhausted when I get off stage. But this is more profound. I've fallen asleep more easily than normal. Often I've had trouble falling asleep when my brain won't shut off. It just keeps thinking about thousand things it doesn't need to. I haven't noticed anything in my school work. Well that's not entirely true. I noticed several mistakes in my own essay, which teacher in a few minutes pointed out to me. I've been reading that essay for weeks and not noticed anything.. Not sure if it was the paper form of the essay or the meds. Maybe it is helping since I am here writing this one. I showed some iniative!! and managed to start something. And now I am hungry again although I ate large breakfast about an hour ago. The meds are starting to kick in apparently.

I just thought I'd share my experiences with adult ADHD. It's been a process but an interesting one. I know I'm forgetting alot of stuff for this one but I'll add them in later posts. Like more symptoms and how this is going.