Asking for what I need

Last week Dr. K switched me to 10mg of Adderall twice a day instead of 70mg of Vyvanse once a day and I feel so much better! I get almost no irritability and discomfort when it wears off in the afternoon. I can also control when I take it in case I have a late afternoon meeting or for when I want to eat lunch. I had assumed that the drugs were basically identical but my reaction to them is completely different.

I messed up my appointment with Dr. K about 3 weeks ago and had to reschedule which left me with a gap in my medication for about 3 days. Mike gave me some of his Adderall and it worked so well I wanted to try it for myself. The only slight problem right now is that 10mg in the morning isn’t quite enough which I suspect might be my body trying to acclimate to the new medication.

It feels so great because I had given up on hoping that I would ever find a medication that didn’t give me such bad rebound irritability in the afternoon. There are some days now that I don’t even notice when it wears off.

Today life is good and I am grateful for the ability to ask for what I need.

How do I respond?

In 'Courage to Change' they talk about some people having a long-standing habit of responding to problems by feeling like a helpless victim. How do I respond emotionally to problems?

I feel the need to have the answer or find the answer right away.
I feel tired that I have one more thing to deal with.
I feel scared that I won’t be able to deal with it.
I try to ignore it.
It weighs on my chest and stomach.
I feel like it may obliterate the façade of perfection that I have spent so many years developing.
I am scared that it will expose me as the fraud that I am.


What are some different ways that I can choose to respond?

I can say the serenity prayer.
I can remind myself that no problem will change who I am as a person.
I can remind myself that I deserve love and care.
I can choose to delay responding for a few moments.
I can remind myself that I have a lot of resources available to me.
I can choose to look at and acknowledge the problem but not internalize it.

Today I am grateful for options.