7 years without ADHD medication

I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2017.

I’d been impulsive my entire life. But for three years before the diagnosis my impulsivity was extreme. Throwing rocks through windows. Buying expensive cars without test driving them. Doing anything I could to get another hit of dopamine.

I was becoming a big problem.

My then girlfriend persuaded me to attend therapy. After much resistance I finally agreed. And I’m glad I did. That first session was like blowing the lid off of a tightly sealed pressure cooker, releasing years of pent-up emotions and unresolved issues that I hadn’t realised were weighing me down.

Although helpful, that release wasn’t the most important part of the first session.

As I was standing up to walk out the door the therapist looked at me and said “have you ever considered that you might have ADHD?”

Standing there, hearing those words spill out of the therapists’ mouth, were like music to my ears. I didn’t reply. There was just a deep knowing that he was right.

Finally getting diagnosed a few months later felt like the lights had been turned on for the very first time. I understood everything I’d done my whole life. The impulsivity, the lateness, the emotional outbursts, the lack of focus, the poor academic results.

But most importantly of all I now had a way to fix those problems.

ADHD is no excuse. It might be a reason we do what we do. But it doesn’t mean we’ll always be that way. I wholeheartedly believe that with the right approach, ADHD can be almost entirely diminished.

After diagnosis I was prescribed meds but no other support.

The psychiatrist said “take these meds and you’ll be fine”. I was like “what other support can you offer” and they said “just the meds”.

This didn’t sit right with me.

I was already sceptical of medication. I don’t trust Big Pharma. Nevertheless, always up for an experiment I took them for a while (against advice from my neurologist).

Here’s what happened:

I realised that meds do work. I won’t deny that. But I immediately asked myself “at what cost?”

I experienced increased focus, better moods, and less noise. And I thought “well, you will do, you’re taking very strong medication, it’s going to alter your mental state”.

And then I came the side effects: * The crash * The feet tapping * The sweaty nights * The ever diminishing sleep quality * The lack of hunger

And of course that I was pumping amphetamines into my body every single day. It felt wrong. And dangerous.

So I stopped.

Determined to find another way to manage this complex disorder, I began a course of self-experimentation.

100s of self experiments

I tried everything.

Supplements, productivity hacks, diet changes, exercise (which did help a lot actually). I even tried having a full-time job for the first time in my life.

Aside from exercise, nothing I tried worked.

This ongoing failure led me to pine after those sweet sweet meds again.

Then I took a cold shower for the first time.

My wife and I were in Tbilisi, Georgia at the end of winter 2020 when, after binge watching Wim Hof videos, I forced myself into a cold shower.

Without over exaggeration, I can safely say that in that moment my life changed forever. The world around me sprang to life. I was awake, finally, from the ongoing stupor of my ADHD.

I’ve since learned the reason for this. Cold exposure boosts dopamine, norepinephrine, and other neurochemicals that mimic the effect of ADHD meds (with zero side effects).

I finally had hope.

The Drug Free ADHD method is born

Returning home from Georgia into a COVID stricken and locked down UK was the turning point of my life. I had the time to take my self-experiments seriously.

It was during 2020, after 3 years of struggle, that I created the Drug Free ADHD method.

Over the next twelve months I adapted cold exposure, breathwork, meditation, simplified productivity techniques, and the practice of letting go and surrender to the ADHD brain.

It was working wonderfully.

But there was a problem. I was a sample of one. I couldn’t (yet) prove it would work for others.

Thankfully, I found 3 people to trial it. It worked. And I guess the rest is history.

Those first 3 clients gave me the chance to create a repeatable process for helping people get off meds and help them manage ADHD successfully with skills (not pills).

Listen here to the incredible results Carly Watson achieved after learning the Drug Free ADHD method over several months.

How I’m doing 7 years on

Honestly, some days I struggle to find where ADHD affects my life.

It wouldn’t be this way without the method and the work I put in. But it’s changed my life in a way meds never could.

With meds, you’re always at the behest of their effectiveness (which wanes over time) and supply chain issues (as we’ve seen recently).

Without meds, you’re free. You’re in charge. You’re not relying on anything or anyone. It’s liberating. Which is why I thank God everyday that I couldn’t (really) take them.