A D H D

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Yep - I've got it! I was one of those women that was diagnosed quite late in life, at the age of 27. To help me manage my symptoms, I was prescribed stimulant medication and begun taking it around seven months ago.

The transition to the medication took quite a long time, and my body found it difficult to adjust at first. I experienced dramatic weight loss, many side effects and a few increases of doses to figure out what my body needed. To be honest it was a hell of a ride, one that I was completely unaware of. There is not much support for adults, especially women, getting diagnosed with ADHD later on in life. I thought that going on medication would suddenly fix my life - however that was far from the truth. I could probably open up a whole new blog on the life of ADHD and my journey! The medication did also have many benefits and I was feeling like I finally hit that 'sweet spot' of being able to manage my life medicated.

Then we met with the IVF specialist and was given much less time to try and conceive naturally before moving onto egg harvesting. There have been no studies conducted on women who were taking stimulant medication while pregnant, so the advice from my psychiatrist was to stop taking them immediately if we were trying to conceive. At the time, we didn't have any immediate plans - so I didn't think too much of it. Fast forward to today and our current situation. I immediately stopped taking my medication so that I could give my body time to heal and find it's natural balance again.

It's now that I realise the benefits of the medication that I was taking. I feel much more in control of my body when I am on the stimulant medication, I can get tasks done, I am less tired - the list goes on. I am finding the transition very difficult, especially as I quit cold turkey. Trying to find ways to manage my ADHD naturally, as well as manage my fertility and all of the specialist appointments, medical speak, testing and the brain explosion that is IVF - has been really hard. I tend to hyper-fixate on things - and baby making has all of a sudden been something that has been the centre of my hyper-fixations. I want to make sure that I can do everything in my power to help conception, but at the same time I am trying very hard not to overthink and put unnecessary stress on myself.

All I know is that I need to remember to take a minute to breathe, think and then act. When I am not medicated - I tend to run at a million miles an hour.

I need to slow down and take the time to smell the sunflowers.