Thunor
10-13-2008, 12:07 PM
Bob, Index, Rheanna, Jane!! Where have you gone?
I figured I'd drop in an update for you all, since your help and support was invaluable to me a year ago when I was struggling through the diagnosis and beginning stages of treatment. I hope you're all doing well, honestly, I'm worried about Bob, I haven't seen him here in some time.
Anyone else, please feel free to read and comment. While my progress is good, I'm far from perfect, and I'm always interested in new strategies.
So here it is: I'm back in school part time, while still working full time. I'm on Adderall XR now, 15mg once a day.
Work is going well, I'm performing at a level equal to or beyond peers that have done the same job for years. That's not saying much, I'm just picking orders in a warehouse, but it pays the bills while I pursue what I really want, my education.
School's going ok. I'm doing reams more reading and homework than I've ever done before, yet I still find myself falling behind. I've resolved to go even further and get ahead in the next week, we'll see how that goes. I'm really impressing my professors though, my insights are clear and well thought out and I'm less afraid to mention them, I feel strong and clear-minded.
I'm finally getting to the gym regularly! It's only been a month, so it remains to be seen if I keep it up, but I'm actually keeping good track on a good program, which is a first. I feel awful and fatigued from working so hard, but I'm sure that'll pass soon.
Impusivity is still a serious issue. :( My diet is good, but not as good as it was in the summer. I find myself short on time a lot, so don't fix the meals that I had been previously, opting instead for buying food on campus or on the way to work. Not good. I'm still working on my impulsive nature . . . I think a lot of my negative behaviour is habitual now, complicating my impulsivity, so I think that may well be the most difficult beast to conquer. We'll see as time goes on.
I hope everything is well with you all,
D.
I figured I'd drop in an update for you all, since your help and support was invaluable to me a year ago when I was struggling through the diagnosis and beginning stages of treatment. I hope you're all doing well, honestly, I'm worried about Bob, I haven't seen him here in some time.
Anyone else, please feel free to read and comment. While my progress is good, I'm far from perfect, and I'm always interested in new strategies.
So here it is: I'm back in school part time, while still working full time. I'm on Adderall XR now, 15mg once a day.
Work is going well, I'm performing at a level equal to or beyond peers that have done the same job for years. That's not saying much, I'm just picking orders in a warehouse, but it pays the bills while I pursue what I really want, my education.
School's going ok. I'm doing reams more reading and homework than I've ever done before, yet I still find myself falling behind. I've resolved to go even further and get ahead in the next week, we'll see how that goes. I'm really impressing my professors though, my insights are clear and well thought out and I'm less afraid to mention them, I feel strong and clear-minded.
I'm finally getting to the gym regularly! It's only been a month, so it remains to be seen if I keep it up, but I'm actually keeping good track on a good program, which is a first. I feel awful and fatigued from working so hard, but I'm sure that'll pass soon.
Impusivity is still a serious issue. :( My diet is good, but not as good as it was in the summer. I find myself short on time a lot, so don't fix the meals that I had been previously, opting instead for buying food on campus or on the way to work. Not good. I'm still working on my impulsive nature . . . I think a lot of my negative behaviour is habitual now, complicating my impulsivity, so I think that may well be the most difficult beast to conquer. We'll see as time goes on.
I hope everything is well with you all,
D.
Sponsor
rheanna
10-14-2008, 03:59 AM
Thunor,
Thank you for the positive report -- wow! Im impressed at how you are making decisions that move you >>>forward>>> towards your goals! :)
I am not surprised that you are doing so well at work. You are smart and there is plenty of structure around you to remind you of what you're supposed to be doing.
School is, by its nature, a bit harder -- not because the work itself is harder, but because you are expected to set up your own structure to get the work done. Not an easy thing for us ADDers!
What order are you doing things in each day? I am assuming (for whatever that's worth!) that you are:
1. taking meds
2. doing a full day's job
3. attending classes
4. doing homework for classes
So, my first thought is that the meds are not lasting into the late evenings when you are struggling with this foreign concept of attending to your studies. Would it be possible to consider a small dosage of regular (not long-lasting) med after work to carry you through the evenings?
Another thought is that, as I said above, it's much easier to attend to tasks when the structure is provided for you. One of the things that helps me is the concept of "when I am in this place I do this activity". At work (when I used to be a member of the gainfully employed class of folk), I generally was able to put in a reasonable day's work because that's what you did when you were there. Or you got fired.
By the time I got to college, I had figured out that I could pay attention better when I was sitting in the front row right under the teacher's nose, and, of course, it was a lot easier to pay attention when the teacher had something interesting to say! :)
However, homework was another problem. It's tough to do it when there are so many other temptations for whiling away one's time. If I were in college today, what I would do is schedule time in the school (or town) library or someplace that isn't at home, where the task at that time and at that place is to do my homework. No other temptations.
Another thought is that there might be someone who could act as your "homework coach" -- someone to whom you would have to report on a regular basis regarding specific tasks and guesstimates for required time for upcoming assignments, guesstimate amount of studying required for tests, reporting of whether these tasks have been accomplished, and regular re-assessments of expectations. In other words, an outside stucture.
Yes, it's much easier to discuss your class topics right there in class -- that's the outside structure that we ADDers need -- there's nothing else to distract you right then and there and you can impress your professors with your brilliant insights about the topics. The homework (reading and writing assignments) are not so easy, because you -- the ADD boy -- can always find more interesting (and easier!) things to do.
So the idea here is to work with your ADD brain -- you need an outside structure. It may be a place (such as the library) or a coach who will hold you accountable, and/or a dosage of short acting meds for later in the evening, and/or specific music in your earphones to enable you to concentrate.
You're doing great!!! Don't compare yourself with other folks who seem to be having an easier time of it -- they are successful merely because they have found a way that works for them. Once you find the methods that work for you, you'll be able to accomplish so much more without the distractions of low self-esteem.
I'm proud of you!!!
--Rheanna
Thank you for the positive report -- wow! Im impressed at how you are making decisions that move you >>>forward>>> towards your goals! :)
I am not surprised that you are doing so well at work. You are smart and there is plenty of structure around you to remind you of what you're supposed to be doing.
School is, by its nature, a bit harder -- not because the work itself is harder, but because you are expected to set up your own structure to get the work done. Not an easy thing for us ADDers!
What order are you doing things in each day? I am assuming (for whatever that's worth!) that you are:
1. taking meds
2. doing a full day's job
3. attending classes
4. doing homework for classes
So, my first thought is that the meds are not lasting into the late evenings when you are struggling with this foreign concept of attending to your studies. Would it be possible to consider a small dosage of regular (not long-lasting) med after work to carry you through the evenings?
Another thought is that, as I said above, it's much easier to attend to tasks when the structure is provided for you. One of the things that helps me is the concept of "when I am in this place I do this activity". At work (when I used to be a member of the gainfully employed class of folk), I generally was able to put in a reasonable day's work because that's what you did when you were there. Or you got fired.
By the time I got to college, I had figured out that I could pay attention better when I was sitting in the front row right under the teacher's nose, and, of course, it was a lot easier to pay attention when the teacher had something interesting to say! :)
However, homework was another problem. It's tough to do it when there are so many other temptations for whiling away one's time. If I were in college today, what I would do is schedule time in the school (or town) library or someplace that isn't at home, where the task at that time and at that place is to do my homework. No other temptations.
Another thought is that there might be someone who could act as your "homework coach" -- someone to whom you would have to report on a regular basis regarding specific tasks and guesstimates for required time for upcoming assignments, guesstimate amount of studying required for tests, reporting of whether these tasks have been accomplished, and regular re-assessments of expectations. In other words, an outside stucture.
Yes, it's much easier to discuss your class topics right there in class -- that's the outside structure that we ADDers need -- there's nothing else to distract you right then and there and you can impress your professors with your brilliant insights about the topics. The homework (reading and writing assignments) are not so easy, because you -- the ADD boy -- can always find more interesting (and easier!) things to do.
So the idea here is to work with your ADD brain -- you need an outside structure. It may be a place (such as the library) or a coach who will hold you accountable, and/or a dosage of short acting meds for later in the evening, and/or specific music in your earphones to enable you to concentrate.
You're doing great!!! Don't compare yourself with other folks who seem to be having an easier time of it -- they are successful merely because they have found a way that works for them. Once you find the methods that work for you, you'll be able to accomplish so much more without the distractions of low self-esteem.
I'm proud of you!!!
--Rheanna
Thunor
10-16-2008, 12:32 PM
Thanks Rheanna, I can always count on you for support and good advice. :)
I worked it out in such a way that I don't have to go to class and work on the same day, easing the stress of trying to go from one to the other (I can't drive to school, parking costs too much there, so it's a long bus ride to and from). The problem I'm running into as a result, however, is that now I haven't had a day off in six weeks. Complicated by the fact that getting to the gym takes time I generally had to myself, I'm starting to find it difficult to get everything done. I've decided to solve this by dropping a work day every week, which means I lose my benefits and vacation (by virtue of the fact I'm now classified as part time), but I think the sacrifice is worth it, school is my top priority.
As far as a short acting med, my doctor won't go that route, his 'big blue book of drugs' says Adderall XR is good for at least 12 hours, so that's all he's willing to prescribe. While I'd like to up my adderall from 15mg, I'm stuck with this dose for another month, I've already paid my 100 bucks and I'm not going to pay another till these are gone. ;) So, the rest is up to me.
So far, this week has been an utter disaster, I've done literally everything that I could wrong, and I'm depressed as heck about it, complicated by the fact that they've stopped my mom's chemo now so it's getting close to the end. This is the point in the semester where I'd traditionally start to spiral down into missed lectures and dropped classes, so I'm not surprised I'm struggling, what I need to manage to do now is to somehow refocus and get back to the point where I'm ahead of my readings.
Wish me luck. :)
Now if only I could get Bob or the others to pop on. ;) I miss my old crew here.
I worked it out in such a way that I don't have to go to class and work on the same day, easing the stress of trying to go from one to the other (I can't drive to school, parking costs too much there, so it's a long bus ride to and from). The problem I'm running into as a result, however, is that now I haven't had a day off in six weeks. Complicated by the fact that getting to the gym takes time I generally had to myself, I'm starting to find it difficult to get everything done. I've decided to solve this by dropping a work day every week, which means I lose my benefits and vacation (by virtue of the fact I'm now classified as part time), but I think the sacrifice is worth it, school is my top priority.
As far as a short acting med, my doctor won't go that route, his 'big blue book of drugs' says Adderall XR is good for at least 12 hours, so that's all he's willing to prescribe. While I'd like to up my adderall from 15mg, I'm stuck with this dose for another month, I've already paid my 100 bucks and I'm not going to pay another till these are gone. ;) So, the rest is up to me.
So far, this week has been an utter disaster, I've done literally everything that I could wrong, and I'm depressed as heck about it, complicated by the fact that they've stopped my mom's chemo now so it's getting close to the end. This is the point in the semester where I'd traditionally start to spiral down into missed lectures and dropped classes, so I'm not surprised I'm struggling, what I need to manage to do now is to somehow refocus and get back to the point where I'm ahead of my readings.
Wish me luck. :)
Now if only I could get Bob or the others to pop on. ;) I miss my old crew here.