What is your typical AD/HD day without medication?

For me:

10:00 AM - Wake Up & Take an hour to get ready
11:00 AM - attempt to eat
COMPUTER/TV/EAT RANDOMLY
11:00 PM - Sleep


:( How unproductive and pathetic. The day just goes by without me noticing. I enter a state of complete hyperfocus on the internet and I just cannot focus on anything else

:( How unproductive and pathetic.

It would be if you we were talking about personal willpower. But we're not. One of the most damaging things about ADHD is that we beat ourselves up with something that society has taught is largely attributed to individual self.

You wouldn't blame a diabetic for not making his/her own insulin, right? Imagine that, 'just focus hard enough and you'll be fine.' Or blaming a diabetic for being lazy when he or she has low blood sugar. Silly right?

10:00 AM - Wake Up & Take an hour to get ready
11:00 AM - attempt to eat
COMPUTER/TV/EAT RANDOMLY
11:00 PM - Sleep


Hey that's my unmedicated day...

What is your typical AD/HD day without medication?

For me:

10:00 AM - Wake Up & Take an hour to get ready
11:00 AM - attempt to eat
COMPUTER/TV/EAT RANDOMLY
11:00 PM - Sleep


:( How unproductive and pathetic. The day just goes by without me noticing. I enter a state of complete hyperfocus on the internet and I just cannot focus on anything else

Unmedicated I am so random day to day I could decide to do nothing and just sit on the Internet all day (or play Xbox). Medicated, I am more likely to do things. I might decide to clean out my truck or START on cleaning my bedroom (which rarely happens) or I might find things to do that fill my day up. I'm more likely to go to school and attend class. I'm also a bit less irritable at work.

The bad thing about medication while I am work is that much of what I do is routine and the meds cause me to hyperfocus so intensely that it's very VERY difficult for me to focus my attention on something else. It's almost like I am in another world and someone throws me into a new world that I must adjust to immediately.

It would be if you we were talking about personal willpower. But we're not. One of the most damaging things about ADHD is that we beat ourselves up with something that society has taught is largely attributed to individual self.

You wouldn't blame a diabetic for not making his/her own insulin, right? Imagine that, 'just focus hard enough and you'll be fine.' Or blaming a diabetic for being lazy when he or she has low blood sugar. Silly right?
I completely agree. Especially since we can "see" the difference in the functional and electrical activation of parts of the brain using imaging technologies like SPECT, PET, fMRI, and QEEG.

I think the hardest part for "normal" members of society to deal with is the realization that all it takes is one bonk on the head in the right place, or one unchecked illness that gets into the brain, and even the most self-motivated person could turn into someone who is "unproductive and pathetic" just like us...

lastwitness,

I have similar(motivational) issues myself. When I'm not working(like I'm currently not), I try to set a schedule of things to do. Here is what I try to do each day(during the week,not weekends).

Wake up at: 8:00 no latter, and maybe earlier. Eat breakfast right away. I'm a healthy, athletic person, and this is ingrained in me.

From about 8:15-8:30 on I get on the internet--this is when things start to go downhill...SOME days I feel PI$$ED and motivated to look for jobs, do job activities, etc..other days, I go to my favorite web sites, message boards and TRY to look and find jobs(usually I just get hyperfocused on various stuff BESIDES looking for a job! a vicious cycle!). Each day is different and the motivation seems different. I also try to exercise most every day(usually 3-4 days a week). Exercise and eating good are my only positives when I'm not working, other than that, I'm pretty much like you. Just tired of all the BS. Oh yeah, I try to never watch TV(just internet) during the day. I might turn it on around 4:00, usually in the evening. I like to watch sports, science, and history type shows. Luckily , I don't have kids or a wife, what a disaster that would be!!

Wake up at: 8:00 no latter, and maybe earlier. Eat breakfast right away. I'm a healthy, athletic person, and this is ingrained in me.

Not to take this thread off topic, but do you have any tips about how to force this kind of behavior? The longest I went with working out and eating healthy without missing a beat was 3 months. Now I don't work out and I don't like to sit down to eat (I'm more of a "on the go" eater).

absane,

lets see....I don't really have any tips, but maybe some suggestions...

I have always been looked upon by woman as being an attractive guy(I really do look like I have my $hit togheter, etc, just can't hold down a decent job or a relatioship! :))). SO, I have some confidence in my looks and apperance. I have had periods in my life where I have been quite the "player"(not somthing i'm proud off though). What I'm saying is, I was PARTLY motivated to eat, and workout(exercise) becuase I wanted to maintain my(physical) attraction for woman, and getting dates, etc. The MAIN reason is because its very important to be healthy and exercise. Studies have shown the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. So, I would focus(I know its hard) on this aspect. I cannot just sit ALL day and not be prodcutive at all. One of the other things I think about is that I am HEALTHY(around 7 percent body fat) and in GOOD shape, these are positives in my life. You always need to find some positives, even when things are bleak(no job, social life, etc). I would also try to join a gym(I usually either workout at home or at a track outside), the gym GETS YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE, and that alone should motivate you to exercise. At my age, I'm sort of tired of going to the gym. And motivation for me is usually not an issue(although sometimes it is), so I can workout alone(in my house, or outside). Bascially, I grew up playing sports(played in college as well), so its "easy" for me to continue doing what i have done most of my life--eating good(not all the time though) and exercising. Oh yeah, Tiger Woods is another reason why I eat good and exercise! hehe! kidding(sort of).I'm a golfer.

I'm rambiling now...hopefully, I helped a LITTLE.

Hey that's my unmedicated day...

Yeah pretty close for me too. Except I'll get up later and stay up later. :P and half the time the "getting ready" part isn't even bothered with unless I have something specific to do.

Let's see, here's a typical day during the winter:

wake up at 6:45 am for work (have trouble getting up after the alarm goes off, particularly during the winter)

get to work by 8am

surf the Internet and check email off and on (all day), especially when I'm bored and frustrated at work

get home by 5pm, make dinner and eat by 6-6:30, veg out on the couch and watch TV

ignore house cleaning/organizing tasks, only checking bills at the last minute, forget to call family and friends

have trouble falling sleep at times, too many thoughts racing in my head...

my usual week day:

5:45am wake up
6:00am get up
6:50am get a lift to a panera (or however you spell it) near work
from 7:00am to 1:00pm go to this website keep refreshing the page to look for new things, play little games, read about things that aren't useful, come up with really good ideas for websites to build, features to add and game ideas and features to develop.
1:00pm - 2:00pm go to work, sit and watch the tv there
2:00pm - 6:00pm work
6:00 - 8:00pm do a couple of chores and eat dinner.
8:00 - 1:00am go on the computer doing the same task I did in panera, also play css/cs make more plans
1:00am-2:00am quickly rush around doing the chores the gf wanted me to do because i feel myself crashing big time
2:00am - 5:45am sleep


of course my work hours vary but what i do in my spare time seems to remain the same, oh, i also message people on msn messenger at home.

DimensionX,

when do you sleep!?!? it looks like about 2 hours or less a night!?

i get two days off a week, i make up on sleep on those days, plus i'm not always on the comp till 1 sometimes i'm only there till midnight or if i'm especially tired 11.

Last night was one of my worser ones, i didn't get to sleep till 3:30 and still had to get up at 5:45 so thats why i'm a lil scatty and out of it

I dont take meds, but I just started a new painting job yesterday, and I also have to repair damages to walls, and im doing quite well, apart from the fact that I put some tools down, and when I go into another room to do another task, and I finish it, I cant remember where I have left my tools, so I am searching the whole building site for them ;)

On the other hand, if I am not at work, because of weekend, holidays...ect.
I pretty much spend all day playing a playstation game, or watching TV, and time just zooms ahead! :eek:

Im productive at work (while getting things mixed up) and I am just plain lazy at home. ;)

7am wake up.
8am struggle to get all three kids fed
10am naps for kids houseclean for me
11am start lunch for husband and kids
12noon maybe lunch will get served (it is a goal)
2pm husband leaves for work and I am unsupervised (this is when it goes down hill)

after this- It is crazy marci running around the house trying to keep kids clean and feed. It does not help that my three yr old has ADHD also.
9pm kids in bed and I stare at tv or computer untill I fall asleep. If I take my meds that is around 11pm, if not who knows!

5:45 Wake up turn alarm clock off
5:46 Go back to bed
6:00 Wake up again and get dressed
6:20 go down stairs to take meds
6:30 catch bus
7:20-2:05 School
Depending on the day sometimes I have band rehearsal or trumpet lesson
2:30 come home and rest
3:00 computer/TV/Video Games
6:00 Dinner Then HW
8:00-11:00 warm down and get ready to go to bed (not successful)
12: lights out

It will probably get worse in march when senioritis starts kicking in and I am mentally not at School.

What is your typical AD/HD day without medication?

For me:

10:00 AM - Wake Up & Take an hour to get ready
11:00 AM - attempt to eat
COMPUTER/TV/EAT RANDOMLY
11:00 PM - Sleep


:( How unproductive and pathetic. The day just goes by without me noticing. I enter a state of complete hyperfocus on the internet and I just cannot focus on anything else

Sounds like me!
Altho when i force myself and strain my brain hard enough, i get things done (or at least started)!.. So what if i get a headache, at least i read those 50 pages...? u know..
Just work against your adhd
Make "TO-DO" lists, that helps, tick off what you've done..

What is your typical AD/HD day without medication?

For me:

10:00 AM - Wake Up & Take an hour to get ready
11:00 AM - attempt to eat
COMPUTER/TV/EAT RANDOMLY
11:00 PM - Sleep


:( How unproductive and pathetic. The day just goes by without me noticing. I enter a state of complete hyperfocus on the internet and I just cannot focus on anything else
LAZY..geez..I wish

get up 7am ish...
leave for work..
9-5
get home
cook tea
do washing
clean
be a mother
talk here
hang washing
listen to kids
go to bed..

my only lazy day is SUNDAY AVO
where I put on ABC and watch whatever educational show is on
and still pop up and down doing stuff..