Pre-Nursing Students with ADD

Hey folks,

I've already introduced myself previosuly. I'm 19 & doing all my pre-reqs to get into the RN program but I'm having trouble because of my ADD. I self diagnosed myself & I'm positive that I have ADD as all the symptoms are present in my condition. I fear this will be very detrimental for my nursing pre-reqs. I have trouble engaging in my studies without my mind switching to some other thoughts. I have no desire to resort to any medication at all & I plan to find any means that'll offer a natural remedy for ADD. Are there Nurses or students who have been dealing with ADD? If so, how did you deal with it? And if someone has treated it through natural means (no medication), can you please share that remedy.

I have ADD. I found out when I was 34. I'm 40 now.
I viewed meds as a crutch for a long time, but now have come to accept that I need them. I do I take them regularly? No. Do I see a difference when I'm not taking them? Absolutely.

Fact is, the only way I can do as well as I am in school is with the assistance medication provides. Is it everything? No. It serves to quiet the noise in my head that distracts me, aids in my focus, and prevents me from acting on the impulses that I spent 34 years getting in trouble for. Does it curb them all? No. Do I still have trouble? Yes.

I started with Ritalin. I didn't like it. I'm taking Straterra now. It's not the answer to everything, but it helps. I did a lot of work on being aware of my own behavior, and it was very tough to do. But at least now I can relax and stop being my own worst policeman, and have gotten better at identifying the behaviors that cause me trouble and I can curb them most often right after they start, and sometimes before.

My academic career was laced with frustration, ridicule, boredom, stress, and failure. My self esteem suffers til this day. It's getting better, largely in part to my success in returning to school, earning a 4.0 GPA, getting accepted into a tough nursing program to get into and stay in, and now I'm two weeks into the last semester of the program and I graduate in May.

I have found numerous ways to study, including retyping my notes over and over, labeling diagrams over and over, flash cards, and lately, I have been reading my notes over and over while walking around my neighborhood. I now have a treadmill for those inclement weather days. I find that if I give my brain something else to be responsible for (forward motion as in walking) then it is easier for me to focus on what I'm reading.

My suggestions to any serious student with the notion that they've got ADD are:
a. If you haven't already, get a real, official, definitive diagnosis. You can't treat what you just "think" you have.
b. Accept that your brain functions differently than that of the average individual. I do not use 'normal' because to me, there is no such thing.
c. Talk with a professional about options available to assist you. Meds are one of them.
d. Accept that needing medications is part of having a disorder. They are often abused by people who have a friend that hands them out, but actually needing them should cause no feelings about looking like a drug seeking addict. Medications provide your brain with the chemicals needed to help it along, just as insulin helps a diabetic manage glucose levels.

I for one wish I did not need meds, but the fact is I do. I wish I did not need BP meds, or Cardiac meds, or meds to control sugar and cholesterol and triglycerides. But sadly, I do, because like ADD, these other issues have been genetically passed from my parents to me.

If I think of more, I'll add it later.

ND

i am a nursing student and i very much do have add, which makes it so hard for me to focus. I have considered adderall, however i am aware that alot of college kids use this as a recreation drug and i dont wanna look like a drug seeker when i present to the Doc. Im only 21 and i plan on many more years of school once i finish my RN but i have got to get control of this.