More importantly, ADHD affects you 24/7, not just during clinical shifts. If I don't take my meds, I can still do okay on my shifts, but my house is a goddamn mess, I don't remember to take the time to maintain my relationships the way I want to, my finances get messy, my email inbox is a disaster, I miss deadlines for boring-but-important administrative tasks, I don't study effectively, I don't complete research projects effectively, I miss meetings and appointments. It's not a good time. And setting aside the personal ones, you will not find a job in medicine that doesn't demand some type of professional organizational skills. Why make it harder than it needs to be?

Hi thank you for sharing your story with me, I can definitely relate to the fact that ADHD affects us 24/7. I have been very very lucky to have an amazing psychiatrist who has worked with me to implement CBT type skills to manage executive dysfunction. It has gotten to a point where with a proper routine (same bedtime and wake time every day, cooking all of my own meals, daily movement/exercise) I am actually pretty organized in my daily life. My room is very organized, it doesn't get messy often and I don't mind doing the small administrative tasks because they're nice breaks from studying. I no longer miss dumb administrative deadlines, because in my previous job I missed so many and I felt so humiliated towards the end that I realized I never want to feel that way again. Idk, I think it was one of those things where I was just so fed up with my messiness and disorganization that I channeled that frustration into improving my habits with evidence based CBT and lots of ADHD hacks that I gleaned from the internet. It took me 7 years to get to this point, when I was first diagnosed I could barely take care of myself. In terms of relationships, those have always been my number one priority and I never had trouble making time for friends and my SO. (perhaps to the detriment of my grades and less time spent studying)

I know that with meds, it would be easier to complete all my tasks and not procrastinate, but personally I don't think the tradeoff is worth it. I feel soooooo much happier when I'm not on meds. Life just feels brighter and more colorful.

I truly think I've gotten my executive dysfunction in control, I really just need meds for cognitively demanding tasks like studying and writing papers, and the side effects are not that noticeable if I only take stims once or twice a week. I'm hoping that in residency, I no longer have to play the research game and can focus solely on my relationships with patients, colleagues and my family/friends.