For me, exercise is critical, specifically running. The combination of physical exertion, repetitive motion, “me time” and getting outside is one of the most helpful things for both ADHD and depression. When I’m not able to run for a few days I feel the difference. There are times I don’t enjoy running, but I almost never regret having gone for a run. This can be hard because depression will tell you it’s so much easier to sit and watch TV or play a game.

I know that not everyone likes running or has the ability or space to do it safely, but long walks, swimming, biking, etc, might be alternatives.

Been trying to manage without medication for quite sometime.

When I was able to consistently run daily, it helped, but keeping a habit is really hard for me.

Also, having a healthy diet helped, while I was able to maintain it.

Overall, I am not doing a great job so far, I hope you have better luck.

About seven years ago, I quit dexmethylphenidate after eight years of various stimulants. I wish I could tell you there’s a general solution, but I was just reading a completely unrelated book and had to get up, log into Lemmy, and respond to this thread I skimmed past three hours ago. I do take caffeine (~400mg) and nicotine (~6-10mg) daily, as well as a drop of hemp oil weekly to manage the caffeine side effects, so I might be disqualified according to some, but I don’t think so. I’m sorry, but nothing will ever approach the unconditional dopamine of strong CNS stims.

Diet and exercise are essential. If I neglect them, I can fall into a loop of unproductive behavior. I mostly eat seeds, legumes, and veggies, with plenty of grain to facilitate cardio. I run 5-10K three times a week. I take protein (pea) and fiber (psyllium) supplements on top of a battery of vitamins. All of this helps me maintain a balance of stable productivity, but honestly the most life-changing thing I’ve ever done was get to a point in my career where I’m allowed to be productive on my own terms.

It took me until I was 26 to find a job where I was allowed to work mostly alone and be measured by my overall productivity instead of being graded by the horseshit pseudoscience that passes for academics and middle management. Obviously that’s not much help to you if you don’t have it yet, but please hold out. Don’t listen to the horde of people with a work ethic in place of a philosophy. I fucked up or walked away from so many opportunities. You can still find independence. Society needs divergent thinkers, they just don’t like to advertise it.

There are still days when I can’t get anything done. There are times like this when I abandon what I’m supposed to be doing and fixate on something that really isn’t part of the plan. My solution is to practice discipline generally so that I can forgive myself for wandering occasionally. I hope this isn’t too disappointing. Take baby steps and trust no bitch.

I know the feeling of medication sucking, I’m 11 months in on finding the right medications and think I’ve finally hit the end of that journey. My body is weird in fun ways including, it turns out, being extremely sensitive to stimulants. The first bout of tachycardia was not fun, but by the fourth one it’s more an annoyance on the pathway to finding the right medication. These days I even need to be careful if/when I have my single cup of caffeinated tea per day. For me 3mg Intuniv and 5mg methylphenidate hydrochloride instant release in the morning seems to be optimal, the former for task initiation the latter for distraction. The methylphenidate often is still working through to the following morning.

I got to my late 30s before even realising I had ADHD (the gender dysphoria I also didn’t realise I had didn’t help), and by then had independently developed basically all of the standard coping strategies:

• I always update my calendar with events, for example booking my next dental appointment is in there as a recurring event
• I have a big todo list always open on my computer to add things on, both to page out things from my brain and to track things I want to do (with deadlines where there is one). This will often duplicate the calendar events.
• Internally, even with the above I still fret about not missing events. So it is extremely rare that I will miss an event.
• I have a running shopping list on my phone, great for ensuring I don’t miss something. Or buy something I’ve already gotten a replacement for.
• I have a reasonable food/groceries stockpile, so even if I forget to buy say flour I’ve pretty much always an extra bag which’ll give me a few weeks/months grace
• I keep some easily cooked frozen food in the freezer for the days I’m just not up to cooking properly
• I avoid buying food which I know I’d snack on excessively
• I will place things so I remember tasks. If I need to say wash my clothes, I’ll leave the basin out on the kitchen table to remind me.
• The only bills I don’t pay automatically are ones where the provider doesn’t offer that
• If my brain gets distracted and I move off a thought/task, my brain cycles though things fast enough that I’ll usually come across it again within a few hours and then handle it - plus remember that I forgot it so will be more driven not to get distracted again

One of the issues I face is that if there something that I feel must be done (e.g. take my meds, following some of the above coping strategies, or do some specific work with a deadline) I will do so via sheer force of will even if that ends up harming my mental health. I am a bit better at managing my workload these days.

The fact that despite all of the above strategies and being objectively and outwardly very successful, that ADHD was clearly a major detriment to my life and mental health is why I aggressively sought medication.

Realising that ADHD was the culprit for many of my behaviours also helped, so I now roll with my brain jumping all over the place rather than beating myself up over it and other ADHD behaviours. So for example if I have an idea for doing something that’s stuck in my mind, I’m just going to do it and not try to force myself to do the task I was “meant” to do.

I hope some of that is useful to you.

Let me know if you figure it out. I used a lot of coping mechanisms for years and got by ok, but I think I would have been a lot further along in life if I had atomoxetine that whole time.

Have you tried a low dose of vyvanse? That has the absolute lowest side effects per unit dose, because it truly is slowly activated in your bloodstream to adderall. All other meds spike after taking them and then fade, so you’ll always have side effects on the peaks. Also, buspirone works better to take the edge off than a lot of things but you gotta go like 15mg or more a couple of times a day. There really isn’t evidence for effective behavioral approaches. It’s a disease that affects us in the microseconds before we blurt something out or take a stupid risk, there is no opportunity for your cognitive brain to rethink things without a med.

These are the things that keep me from anxiety and depression.

Maintain high-quality relationships with people who enrich your life.

Get good sleep. 7.5 hours of solid sleep every night.

Watch your diet. Don’t eat too much processed food. Keep meat and dairy to 1/3 of what you eat.

Take care of something. Dogs and cats are great but so are reptiles, fish and even plants.

Find work that challenges you in ways that keep you engaged, but doesn’t punish you for being neurodivergent.

Coffee, one cup in the morning. Try to get your focus work done in the first half of the day, while the caffeine is still pumping. If you can handle it, have a 2nd cup before noon, buy only if it doesn’t keep you from going to sleep at a good time.

I tried vitamin supplements after Adderall wasn’t available, they’ve only helped me 5-10% of what Adderall did for me. Specifically Focus Fizz and TeenFocus (I’m in my 30s, but it’s just marketed towards teens.) Other than that, taking my dogs on a walk at first light has helped. Any bit of exercise seems to go a long way.

My DBT therapist has ADHD and she just uses skills taught by the school of thought. Maybe that?

Nothing much to add but I’m sorry you have not found a stable medication regiment. We went through the gauntlet to find what works for me with the lowest side effects.

For my brain it’s Zoloft and Vyvanse. They keep me from depression and total executive collapse but not much more.