Pretty late to this party, but I was diagnosed with mild ADHD at 35, but had lots of signs when I was younger. At 9, my parents were recommended by the elementa

Pretty late to this party, but I was diagnosed with mild ADHD at 35, but had lots of signs when I was younger. At 9, my parents were recommended by the elementary school I get medicated, but didn't follow through. To be up front, my ADHD is quite manageable through "tricks" similar to how the post describes but not as strict/many of them. At 35, I always wondered what it would have been like if I had been medicated. Who could I have been if focus was easier? I went to the doctor to get formally diagnosed and get my hands on Ritalin. For me, it was a double edge sword. For 1 week, the focus was incredible. I describe the feeling as if I'm a ball. Normally, I'm a ball on top of a hill, where I'm unstable and easily pushed off the hill. Text, emails, news all so easily nudge me and roll me down the hill. It takes incredible effort to stay focused and on the correct spot at the top of the hill. While on Ritalin for the 1 week, it was as if I was at the bottom of a valley. Texts, coworkers, whatever tried to distract me but it was so easy to return to the thing that I needed to work on even when it wasn't desirable. Things like eng docs or management reviews. Basically, non-coding things. Sadly, I couldn't continue. My high blood pressure (HBP) was simply too high, 140/100, and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. The benefits weren't worth the drawbacks for me. We tried non-stimulant alternatives, but they weren't as effective and, to a lesser degree, still had HBP issues.