A rant. FYI, this post might be a but triggering for some.
She called about ADHD. She was renewing her nursing license (though she’s retired) and said she took a course on adult ADHD. She said she felt bad that she has been so ignorant about it, and that she didn’t know I was suffering all this time.
I didn’t, but I wanted to say, “what the fuck do you mean you didn’t know??? How???”
I literally requested help for it at like 13, but the doctor gave up on it immediately after I was on Concerta for just a few weeks because I was FORGETTING TO TAKE IT (???). She said, “you’re just depressed and anxious”. Okay??? As if it’s impossible to have ADHD too???
Never mind the fact that when the doctor dismissed me the first time, it took me crying to get her to even consider it the first place.
My parents didn’t even say anything when she took me off of Concerta and reiterated that she thought i just had depression and anxiety. They just accepted it even though I KNEW I had it. I did the research, because no one else was going to, clearly. And I knew my feelings usually weren’t taken seriously, anyway.
I was finally able to get medicated just recently. I’m 32. I appreciate her trying now, but I needed help then. My life could’ve been so much different if I hadn’t been easily and frequently dismissed.
All through university especially (but even to this day) one of my biggest existential life fears has been running out of Concerta (that’s also the med I’m on!) and then trying to get my prescription refilled without being on it. Once in uni I was super busy and let it slip and it took a week after I ran out to actually get resupplied.
In my adult (38) life I still constantly struggle with remembering to take meds everyday and it’s pretty common for me to walk to the bus stop and, once my mind unwinds and calms down while I’m waiting, to realize I skipped it. I currently take meds nearly everyday but for the first few years (especially when I was on short release meds that required afternoon doses) I often missed days and wasn’t as good at recognizing the difference in how I felt with vs. without them.
This may not be what you want, but I use an app called mytherapy to remind me about meds. Else I will forget. Best thing is that it will also harass you if it knows you’re running low. (You would have to tell it your inventory, and you can set the threshold). The hardest part is not ignoring the notifications.