So, I haven't been blogging for a while due to being busy with studying for finals, the holidays and all, but I'm back! I'm beginning a new semester in preparation for Nursing school and I feel like this is the first semester I'm actually going to be able to manage my symptoms and take charge of my grades towards the beginning and middle of the semester. 
   I've started semesters with similar feelings before, but not with the tools I've recently acquired to manage my symptoms and actually be able to learn. (What a concept!)
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  Along with gaining back control of my grades I'm also recovering my self-esteem. (Slowly but surely.) Failing over and over again takes its toll after a while, especially when you feel as if you, and/or you actually are disappointing someone. But like that quote that talks about running a race (or something...can't remember): It's not how you do during the race that matters, but how you finish it.
  I've decided the direction I'm going to take this blog in a more personal direction. I'm still going to be posting resources and articles I've found, but I want to document my experiences in a brutally honest way for a few different reasons. First of all, not a lot of people really know what its like to have to deal with this on a daily basis. Secondly, ADD'ers all have varying symptoms and most have humerous quirks that we all like to joke about, but for those with serious and/or worsening symptoms, it's no joke. 
   I've found that explaining your symptoms to those in your life that may have never noticed nor known about your symptoms before, often don't take you seriously or don't understand the gravity/extent to which ADHD affects you life. This can be especially true if you weren't diagnosed when you were younger like me. It's also hard to talk about at first because you're admitting that you have a problem to people that have never known you to have this problem, and it can be hard to decide who to tell and who not to tell (a whole other issue in itself!).
   I want to talk about Adult ADHD in order to inform and/or help someone out there, but I also know that blogging about my experiences will help to remind me: 1) What I should be doing 2) Why I need to be doing it 3) That blogging about my experiences feels a lot better and helps me more than being hard on myself, just like many ADD'ers can be. 4) That everyone is a work in progress and I'm not alone.
   Everyone may come to this realization (or at least maybe they should) eventually, but I've come to realize that I'm not going to be the person I thought I'd be before, so I might as well start living for who I am now, than waiting for my life to change, trying to change things that can't be undone, or wishing some things had never happened Some people might find that depressing, but after you deal with that part of it(maybe grieving for your loss of family, friends, opportunities, or yourself), it's incredibly uplifting to know you can be something else. You don't have to be who you or other people thought you would be. 

   Warning: Results may vary......lololol.
So anyway......

   Blogging on a regular basis will keep me thinking about how I can improve on a regular basis. A way to keep me on track, should I fall of the wagon.

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   So, towards the end of last semester, when I was killing myself trying to save my grades. I started using mindmaps to understand and organize certain Anatomy & Physiology topics. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do a lot of them, so I did a couple of nice ones for bones and the nervous system.
   This semester, I'm started incorporating them into my note taking during lectures and at home. There are many different types and styles you can use to customize your notes for the way that YOUR mind works.
   I'm a very visual learner and I love to doodle, so my notes include lots of illustrations and colors to help me visualize the concepts. 
   A testament to the fact that I'm a visual and tactile learner is the fact that I aced all of my lab practicals in Anatomy, but struggled in the lecture exams. (Of course, I know now what I should have done then, but regardless, it takes me much longer to study information than most others.)


 
   In my Health & Fitness blog, I talked about how an inner transformation has to take place as well as changing your body if you want to maintain your weight for life. It occurred to me that an inner transformation is crucial in ADHD management throughout your life. 
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   I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until about a year ago when I was 20. I've never seen myself as someone who had it, but instead as someone with quirks like being the friend who's late all the time and sometimes being humorously spacey, and forgetful. But in the past few years I began to feel really bad about my worsening symptoms (or who I thought I was at the time) and they really started to interfere with my life. 
   Now that I've been diagnosed, I'm realizing that I don't have to be this way as long as I'm diligent in keeping up with symptom management (as hard as that may be).

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   In order for me to be really motivated to manage my symptoms, an inner transformation regarding how I see myself and my abilities has to occur. Just like someone has to imagine who they want to be and making changes they can live with for life if they want to be truly successful in weight loss and weight management, I have to make daily changes that I can live with and picture how these changes can mold my own abilities.
   Managing symptoms of ADHD includes so many factors and changing habits can be really difficult! Exercise and proper nutrition really do improve cognitive abilities including executive functioning. For me, wanting a healthy weight and lifestyle goes hand in hand with this one, but I still have to continuously work on my motivation and discipline; changes I must make on the inside.

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   Then, changing my other daily habits pertaining to studying, organization, time management, taking medication, etc. also have to begin on the inside, or else I won't be motivated for them to stick. Motivation can be difficult when you have ADHD and other comorbid conditions like depression or anxiety, so a greater motivation has to exist to help push you along into actual change! As a side note, I am definitely not saying that those having a hard time coping with their symptoms are in any way lazy or deadbeats. I had to add this because I've encountered people I know and have read certain articles that are inclined to think so stemming from ignorance.
   Then there are hard decisions to make about your life like:  What do I think I'm realistically capable of? Am I limiting my goals too much? And a big one: Do you tell people that you have ADHD? All of these are personal decisions that though you can seek support from other sources, ultimately have to be made by you. None of us are the same or have the same severity of symptoms so treatment methods vary. But inner change has to take place to transform yourself and your life, allowing you to take control of your symptoms.
   Here was a great Halloween themed article/blog post about ADHD symptoms. http://blogs.psychcentral.com/adhd-man/2011/10/the-adhd-haunted-house-of-horrors-and-symptoms/. And as I've mentioned before,http://www.additudemagazine.com is a great resource for information and management tips. 

 
   For anyone doubting the power of ADHD over someone's every day life, this article is for you! Is it really  disorder? 
Find out ------>http://blogs.psychcentral.com/adhd-man/2011/11/adhd-d-is-for-disorder/
 
    Here's an article explaining the different ways exercise can improve mental functioning and our mood. http://blogs.psychcentral.com/dbt/2011/11/how-exercise-impacts-your-mental-health/.
 
   Every day is a series of choices that add up to make or break your productivity. The article below from ADDitude Magazine gives tips to increase productivity and insight into daily problems ADD'ers face.
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/8391.html
 
    Have you ever noticed being more forgetful or spacey when your with someone else? I've been realizing lately that there are all these little things I forget to do way more often than usual, like forgetting to pick things up, not locking the door, forgetting what I was looking for, and most embarrassing, trying to get a key out of the ignition and then realizing the car is still in drive.........lol. Basically, just multitasking while talking to someone else. But it's definitely better when the meds are taken. 
    Sometimes it's humorous, but it makes the person your with think you're like that all of the time.
 
    Are you punishing yourself for your ADD problems? "When AD(H)D problems, challenges, and stress make you feel frustrated and overwhelmed with anxiety, consider whether you'd be as hard on someone else as you are on someone else."


Read more at http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/8657.html.
 
    I noticed today while working out that I was having some trouble getting down the choreography for some of the martial arts sets in Turbo Fire. I'm totally capable of doing them, but I didn't take my ADD pill today because I woke up really late and didn't have class.
    This shows how much the meds can help with concentration not only during reading or listening, but also during exercise.
 
  "Disturbances of sleep in people with ADHD are common, but are almost completely ignored by our current diagnostic system and in ADHD research. These patterns become progressively worse with age. Recognition of sleep disturbance in ADHD has been hampered by the misattribution of the initial insomnia to the effects of stimulant-class medications. We now recognize that sleep difficulties are associated with ADHD itself, and that stimulant-class medications are often the best treatment of sleep problems rather than the cause of them." - William Dodson, M.D. in ADDitude Magazine


Read the entire article here: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/757.html
 
    Having ADD can make you prone to impulsive eating and makes it hard for you to determine what you body really is telling you. The article below from ADDitude Magazine elaborates on the ADD-impulsive overeating connection and provides tips on how to manage it.
   My favorite topic/tip was "Avoid Boredom and Stimulate Your Brain." Not being bored in anything is essential to losing weight! Overall you should be doing something fun or interesting during the day to keep you occupied and stimulated, but your diet should also not be boring or too constricting! Keep calories down but don't deprive yourself of enjoying a moderate serving of your favorite foods.http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/7306.html