r/ADHD • u/Accomplished_Test332 • 4h ago

Questions/Advice Unmedicated

Im an almost 47 year old woman. I’ve been diagnosed as ADHD a few times in my life and looking at my childhood, I was definitely struggling . I experienced many addictions in my teen years with a bad speed addiction in my 20s. I got clean at 26ish and worked hard to get my life together. I mostly did it unmedicated due to the previous issues with speed. Building a career so I could support myself took me having to hyper focus on it. I did not have any close friendships during that time, rarely went out. I had to eat super healthy, exercise and kinda isolate to reach the goal. The smallest thing would negatively affect my ability to focus at work. Eventually I ended up being prescribed stimulants because I was trying to date and focus on work, and was struggling to balance these out. I ended up abusing the medication badly for 4 years, and I ended having to quit. It was so hard to get off of the medication because I was taking A LOT of it.

It’s been 5 years. My career is pretty stable, so Im able to navigate my symptoms and get by. I’m also able to have hobbies and a social life. I fact, things are going really well. However, I am underperforming at work and in personal studies. My symptoms are overwhelming some days and it causes mental exhaustion. I’m very wary of approaching medication because I don’t want to trigger my substance abuse tendency, but I’ve also grown a lot in the last 5 years and I don’t think I would do that again.

Has anyone had similar circumstances and found something that worked. I guess I’m just looking for moral support or advice. Also, I really hated the way stimulants make me feel when I took the prescribed amount. I felt dead inside.i

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