Will ADHD Medication Work for Me?

In this Episode 69, I share my unfiltered daily video diaries from the first 8 days starting ADHD medication (Tyvense 30mg, then 40mg).

After getting diagnosed in August 2024 and waiting months due to required cardiology tests, I finally began this journey during a particularly stressful time (seriously sick loved one).

I share:

• Day-by-day honest experiences, including the "cheating at life" feeling on day
• Practical challenges like figuring out breakfast and protein timing
• Wins: You know, the little things like leaving the house without forgetting anything, tackling months of bookkeeping without tears
• The grief and wonder of experiencing what a "normal" brain feels like
• Tips for breakfast solutions and managing expectations
• How it affected my yoga nidra and physical yoga practices and meditation and
• Why proper rest matters for the medication to work

This isn't medical advice. It's my lived experience, shared to help demystify the process for others considering ADHD medication. Everyone's journey is different, but I hope this helps you feel more informed and less alone.

Next week: How cats can help make everything better (it's International Cat Day!)

RESOURCES

• The Feel Better Every Day Podcast

• Sole to Soul Circle (bonus content & deeper dives)

• Book: 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing

Always consult your healthcare provider about medication decisions. This is purely my personal experience.

Some relevant posts: https://selfcarecoaching.net/2023/07/31/happy-lughnasadh/ https://selfcarecoaching.net/2019/08/01/happy-lughnasadh-what-are-you-harvesting/ https://selfcarecoaching.net/2025/01/07/2025-is-so-last-week-how-do-you-hope-to-be-living-and-feeling-this-time-next-year/ https://selfcarecoaching.net/2025/02/04/some-self-compassion-around-my-own-journey-with-mental-health-issues/

Feel Better Every Day!

Learn from the self and Self* care practices the professionals depend on.

With a mixture of solo and interview episodes, your host, Eve Menezes Cunningham (author of 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing) shares trauma-informed and VAST / ADHD-friendly self and Self* care ideas to help you:

• Feel… (regulate your nervous system and do the things that help you create a life you don’t need to retreat from)

• Love… (accept yourself completely with love, compassion and kindness – you don’t need to do a thing) and

• Heal… (turn what hurts your heart into action to support your family, organisations, communities and the world at large)

Thanks for watching or listening. New episodes come out every Tuesday morning (Ireland time) and if you subscribe (via your favourite podcasting app or by joining the Sole to Soul Circle), you’ll be notified about each new episode. Sole to Soul Circle members get deeper dives each Wednesday morning.

WANT TO WORK WITH ME?

• There’s the book – 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing – and all the book bonus videos.

• All the free resources (for trauma, ADHD, menopause, solopreneurs, anxiety, sleep, confidence, resilience, finding purpose, meaning and joy and more) across my platforms and the library of self-care ideas and practices at https://selfcarecoaching.net

• You can join the Sole to Soul Circle on Substack (https://evemc.substack.com ) and get bonus interviews and content specially designed to help you dive deeper into each week’s theme.

• If you want to support my work but don’t want to commit to a membership, even for a month, you can choose any amount at https://ko-fi.com/evemc

• While my private practice for one to one work (trauma-informed and ADHD-friendly therapies, Self care coaching, clinical supervision and supervisor’s supervision) is almost always at capacity, if you’re based in Ireland or the UK, it’s still worth completing the short form at https://selfcarecoaching.net/contact to book your free telephone consultation in the hope that we can find a mutually convenient time to work together.

WANT TO CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

You can find me almost everywhere – please say “Hi” and share your questions or comments:

And if you’d like to leave a review and/or rate this and other episodes you’ve enjoyed, your feedback and support helps me help more people (of all genders) with trauma histories and/or ADHD take better care of their whole selves and create lives they don’t need to retreat from.

DISCLAIMER The content I share is not a replacement for one to one trauma therapy (etc). While you can do an enormous amount to support yourself, please always seek appropriate medical advice.

Thanks for watching. Please subscribe / follow and share with someone who you think will benefit from this episode.

Chapters and timestamps

(0:00 – 2:06) Intro – self-care, Sole to Soul Circle, book, and podcast overview

(2:07 – 2:50) ADHD and creativity – not feeling ashamed of doing many things

(2:52 – 6:29) Starting ADHD medication – nervousness and high hopes

(6:30 – 10:05) Day one reflections – “cheating at life” and immediate impact

(12:33 – 16:41) Accounting wins – numbers, memory and streamlining admin

(16:42 – 16:57) Breakfast – ADHD morning routine challenges

(19:06 – 25:00) Systems, euphoria and grief – realising how hard it’s been

(27:36 – 27:50) Catching up on months of financial admin

(27:51 – 28:07) Feeling the effects wear off

(28:08 – 28:38) Yoga, cats and less weirdness on day two

(28:39 – 29:06) Working on a Saturday and feeling fine

(29:07 – 29:26) Clarifying this is my personal experience

(29:27 – 30:18) Day three: an early start and protein first thing

(30:38 – 31:11) Chips, vegetables and concern about the drive home

(31:12 – 31:39) Medication and navigating very little sleep

(31:40 – 32:07) Reflecting on the impact and feeling grateful

(33:31 – 33:55) Realising how much time I’ve wasted

(33:56 – 34:18) Psychiatrist advice and overscheduling ADHD brains

(34:19 – 34:47) Looking forward to Monday and letting go of tasks

(34:48 – 36:02) Yoga nidra: appreciating stillness, not rushing

(36:03 – 36:42) Day four: I am not a squirrel!

(36:43 – 37:25) Oat milkshake breakfasts and fridge temperature issues

(37:26 – 38:22) Appetite, body image and cultural pressures

(40:27 – 41:04) A new stillness at the end of yoga nidra

(41:05 – 41:48) Day five: oat milkshake breakfast and smooth transitions

(43:06 – 43:33) Hunger, timing and realising it is working

(43:34 – 43:57) Committing to sleep and amplifying self-care

(43:58 – 44:37) Day six: late start, no clients and writing struggles

(44:38 – 45:09) Yoga nidra still helps, with or without medication

(45:10 – 45:34) Loved ones noticing improvement

(45:35 – 46:08) Day seven: sea swimming and breakfast adjustments

(46:09 – 46:30) Medication working better with proper food

(46:31 – 46:55) Day eight: higher dose and feeling the difference

(46:56 – 47:24) Prioritising proper rest and feeling grateful

(47:25 – 47:50) Breakfast rebellion and experimenting with protein

(47:51 – 48:24) Wrapping up: encouragement and medical caveats

(48:25 – 49:00) Bonus content for Sole to Soul Circle members

(49:01 – 54:04) Next week: how cats make everything better

FULL TRANSCRIPT

And again, I was thinking maybe it's not working, but I know the importance of breakfast now. So I had a protein bar with the tablet, first thing.

Hi, I'm Eve Menezes Cunningham, and you're listening to episode 69 of the Feel Better Every Day Podcast.

Every Tuesday, I share trauma-informed and ADHD-friendly self-care ideas to help you take better care of yourself and your Self, that uppercase S for that highest, wisest, truest, most brilliant, joyful, miraculous part of yourself.

The idea is to help you create a life you don't need to retreat from. And you can find out more at thefeelbettereverydaypodcast.com.

For deeper dives into each week's theme, you can join the Sole to Soul Circle for bonus interviews, practices and rituals, plus access to a rich archive, including the Love Your Whole Self Chakra Journey.

And you can also find out more in the book, 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing. And I have lots of other resources on the website, selfcarecoaching.net. In today's episode, it's a bit of a different episode to normal. I did a bit of a video diary a few weeks ago when I started my ADHD medication.

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