I actually went shopping without checking out!

[PoppnNSailinMan]

I started taking instant release Ritalin almost three weeks ago, and although I thought I had noticed some subtle improvements, I was wondering sometimes if perhaps this was all just in my imagination. Then today I went to Walmart with my partner to go shopping. This is almost the ultimate test for me of whether the med is doing anything because I generally hate shopping and usually want to go in, get what I came for and get out. Most of the time when I go shopping with my partner or my mother or someone else and we're just walking around looking at different stuff that I might not be especially interested in, I usually tend to tune out which really bugs the people I’m with.

But this time I was on the Ritalin and was able to stay pretty much mentally present and halfway interested in what my partner was looking at and not disappear into my head. On the way there in the car, I was also able to follow my partner’s conversation without interrupting, suddenly changing the subject or going off on a tangent. All of this got noticed by my partner, so I know I wasn’t just imagining it. I really feel pretty pleased about this and feel like the Ritalin is actually working!

[Zevispaz]

Always a good feeling. I notice when I take my meds I stick to the list and don't come out with weird impulse buys.

[crystal8080]

Don't get me wrong....I think that's great! Its really awesome to get results and feel "verified" I guess is the best word I can think of right now I remember the first time that happened, well not really I don't have that good of a memory haha..but I remember I felt like there was hope for me yet.

But man I just gotta say it! I'm bursting! This is so not what I was expecting when I read the title of this thread. I was just about to share my story about being on the ferry to Victoria and walking right by the checkout till without paying and sitting down and eating my food before realizing it. I was almost done my food when it dawned on me

[PoppnNSailinMan]

crystal8080:

This is so not what I was expecting when I read the title of this thread. I was just about to share my story about being on the ferry to Victoria and walking right by the checkout till without paying

LOL...yeah, I was talking about mentally "checking out", but I've come close, too, to forgetting to do the other kind you were thinking of.

[fracturedstory]

I know Ritalin is working when I go to buy something and...I can't. I usually have an impulsive spending problem and Ritalin actually makes me not spend money. It's good when I don't buy things I don't need, but I have to tell myself 'no, I really need this' and then I can buy it.

[SquarePeg]

ha ha yes I thought you meant you walked out without paying. Good for you you can shop all the time then!!

I hate shopping, going to a new shopping centre with the kids, I have a 2 hour limit, then I´m like a child wanted to go home.

Actually my daughter is a great help clothes shopping, I just can´t be bothered to look at stuff, I can´t make any decisions, don´t know what I even like so end up having no clothes to wear. My daughter sweeps round the shop picking up things in my size that go together and aren´t black, brown or dark grey (my usual choice). I usually really like what she has chosen I end up really liking.

I can´t even do online shopping, 1 page is my limit.

[PoppnNSailinMan]

fracturedstory wrote:

I usually have an impulsive spending problem

It occurred to me after I posted this that it's not true that I always hate shopping. I just hate certain kinds of shopping. Grocery shopping in particular just bores me to tears and I almost always tune out when I go to the grocery store with my partner (or at least I did before I started the Ritalin. Maybe I'll be better now). I'm also like SquarePeg in that I hate to shop for clothes. When I was growing up, I'd let my mother buy all my clothes for me which was probably not a good idea. It's not that she had bad taste, but she didn't select the new styles that the other kids were wearing either. Now I let my partner pick out my clothes for me.

But I can be very impulsive about buying certain kinds of things, especially books. I usually can't go into a bookstore without buying several books that I don't need and probably won't end up reading anyway or I will only read the first chapter or two before starting another book. I haven't really tested the Ritalin yet to see if it is helping me to get through a new book without losing interest and starting a new one.

[whaddyacallit]

I hate shopping with passion, too. Especially enclosed malls. Agggghhhh! They seem purposefully designed to get you lost and KEEP you lost, probably by way of actually creating all these distracting "Gee look at me!" displays.

Then there's the loud music, the annoying kids -- I thought I was just a grumpy old man. Where's my pills!


And yes, I've wandered out of a store without paying for stuff. I always get the funniest looks when I go back and try to pay!

[silivrentoliel]

That's actually really awesome and I'm jealous I went shopping today for 4 things and came out with 6- a lot better than normal, and the extra two were a blanket (it was $3!) and a set of pillow cases for the guest room... really not extravagant, lol, just wasn't on my 4 item list.

[fracturedstory]

Grocery shopping brings me closer to chocolate and chips. OK, so it sells more than groceries. I avoid malls.
I like chocolate and chips.