Post-Medication Things I Now Celebrate
Because I'm new to adulting and feel like I get to pat myself on the back.
The first day I took my newly prescribed ADHD medication, I did the strangest thing and it brought me so much joy that I just giggled for a good solid minute. It seemed like one of the greatest wins I had chalked up in a very long time. Also, it’s flat out ridiculous.
I was working at my desk in my apartment. And, by this, I mean I was actually working. Things were getting done. My meds and my coffee had created a perfect union that could have been sung about by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in a duet.
I finished my second cup of coffee, looked at it, thought, “I should take that to the kitchen.” And then, like I was a totally normal person, I got up with the cup, went to the kitchen, rinsed it in the sink and put it in the dishwasher. Just. Like. That.
Here, I should pause and explain why this is a win. Pre-medication me would have had that thought and then the cup would have sat there until well into the next day when I would have to double check whether I was going to take a sip of “today coffee” or “yesterday coffee.”
Post-medication me did the thing. The whole thing. She blew right by “in the kitchen” and flew right into “in the dishwasher.”
Since then, I have become wildly aware of the things my medicated brain lets me do that seemed impossible before.
The short list of my celebrations as a medication person with ADHD include:
It has been a few weeks now since I have panicked because I had no idea where my debit card was. It’s right in my wallet. Where I put it after I use it.
I am fully aware that my glasses are on my head.
I have not locked myself out of my apartment when taking my dog out because I forgot the keyfob to get back in the building.
I walk into rooms and I know why. I enter rooms with purpose and intention.
These are completely normal things but when you have ADHD and find out as an adult, it’s kind of mind blowing.
Also, I would like to state for the record that I would like a second chance at a sticker chart where I get rewards for doing super basic shit. Because, I missed the boat there.
My parents made me one of those charts to try and motivate me. I failed miserably. I’d be super focused on that thing for exactly two days, not long enough to garner any kind of reward. Then, my brain would happen and out the window that went.
So, adult ADHDers should get a second shot at a reward system. We put our coffee mugs in the dishwasher every day for a week? We get to buy a coffee we didn’t make. How about that? I think I’m on to something.
What have been your small celebrations?
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My biggest celebration since starting medication is remembering that as an adult I have bills to pay, and actually paying them on time. I am one of those people that just chucks mail in a pile, and gets overwhelmed by the hundreds of emails I get per day because I subscribed to this, that and the other thing, so it often slipped my mind that to keep my cell phone running or to keep our electricity on I actually had to pay for it. Since medication I have not been late for a payment. HUGE win.