So, I have ADHD, and a learning disability. I have noticed that it takes me a significantly longer time to get work done, but I always get it done, I also have a way of managing my time, via tools like Google Keep. After community college, I will have a 3.8 GPA, and will be heading off to a university. I understand that universities are harder than colleges, so I am considering going back on medicine. Should I do what I am currently doing and stay off the meds, or go back on to them? I am a computer science major.
Was the medication helpful to you in the past and were you able to use them with minimal side effects? Medication for ADHD can be helpful for improving concentration and reducing impulsivity. Whether or not medication will help you also depends on how impairing your symptoms are. It sounds like you are using some good strategies that work for you to compensate for your disabilities, you have to decide if this is enough.
You are probably addicted to it…
Thank you, mansoor, for your expert medical opinion.
How long have been able to be off of it in CC? I would say if you have been successfully coping for over a year, give it a try without it. It is very fast acting, so if you feel you need it later you take it again. You may want to get a script filled before going. (wish I could ditch mine! Jealous!)
I am late in this discussion, but…You know that you are diagnosed with ADHD and LD and that it takes you longer to complete work==I will call this time management. What you don’t know is whether taking more time to complete work is due to 1) LD versus ADHD, or 2) LD and ADHD in combo, or 3) some combination of disability with topic, competing demands on your time and energy or 4) even a combination of personal factors such as illness, fatigue, disputes with roommate, topic, time constraints, etc. Of all the possibilities why you take longer to complete any given task, only those instances in which ADHD plays a significant part in your slow work speed would medication be likely to have a positive impact. So, there are any number of reasons that you may be slow in a universe in which people vary in the amount of time it takes to do anything and tend to be fast or slow as a trait (slowpokes, for example) for want of a better word. Plus, you have conditions, ADHD or LD affecting particular tasks, that may contribute to your slow speed at times.
On the other hand and far better, you have developed skills and used strategies, technology, and whatever else helps you manage your time and productivity or whatever difficulty develops. As a need to manage time arose, you added something new to your arsenal of time management techniques and tools. Some may address ADHD, some LD and others your style and interests or a combination of factors. College will present new challenges for managing your time, as will work and professional advancement, social and personal relationships, moving to a new location, etc., etc. as well as the opportunity to repeat all of these and other adult life challenges over and other. Some skills and strategies will generalize over situations, others will work in more narrow circumstances and other are simply abandoned because their utility is minimal. That is precisely how you manage disability (and life’s challenges) over a lifetime.
If medication HELPS you manage time when used with your personal time management strategies, fine==get the medication. There will be times when difficulty with time and slow completion rate will overwhelm the positive impact of medication and you will have to bear down on or find new strategies. In contrast, if you have a condition such as diabetes that is not controlled without insulin, you need to be scrupulous about medication and not let your supply of medication get low. ADHD may fit this description. So, where does ADHD fit in your need to manage time through strategies versus or with medication? Do what best fits you as an individual.