Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer

Often times our differences are ridiculed and discounted until we let them shine and create success. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was teased and discriminated against until they needed a shiny nose that glowed one foggy morning. That is when they all started to love him. Here are the lyrics copy and pasted from Lyrics Mode.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.,
But do you recall?
The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names;
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
You'll go down in history.

Often times those of us with ADHD are ridiculed, laughed at and called names, thus blinding us to our gifts. Yet once we are diagnosed, treated and get coaching we can uncover our shiny red noses and guide Santa's sleigh when no one else can. Coaching offers someone who isn't going to laugh, call you names or judge you for being you. We can help you guide the sleigh in the fog and sometimes help you figure out how to lift the fog too. To learn how ADD/ADHD coaching can help you or a loved one, email me at sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com. Being a loved one's sponsor or a friend's could be a great Christmas/Hanukkah gift too. I am happy to share details in an email and subsequent Skype/telephone call. 

medication side effects

Whether you have ADHD, depression, bipolar, anxiety, and/or any other medical/psychiatric condition you've probably had to deal with side effects. Sometimes these side effects can be remedied by self-care strategies. For instance, if the side effect is increased thirst can be helped by drinking more water. I found this side effect actually useful because it forces me to drink more water everyday. Most of us with various diagnoses tend to not practice good self care strategies anyways. Most of us tend to not drink enough water, eat enough [alternatively overeat] and/or healthily, lack sleep or get too much sleep, lack exercise, get enough down time, or listen to our bodies. We often have lives that are out of balance, relationship issues and too much stress.

When we finally get treatment for our diagnoses, we start to obtain the tools to start fixing this lack of self-care. So if you have been drinking 1 or 2 glasses of water a day for years and all of a sudden the meds you're taking makes you thirsty...Maybe that's a good thing. You will need to eat foods to provide the meds and your brain the substrates to make the neurotransmitters. Considering neurotransmitters are primarily made of amino acids the building blocks of proteins, it makes since to get enough protein in your diet. Fish oil or other omega-3 fatty acid supplements are useful because the myelin sheathes that insulate your neurons are made from omega-3 fatty acids. These myelin sheathes have gaps called nodes of Ranveir, which allows the electrical impulses to travel down the axon of the neurons at a reasonable speed. Multivitamin/mineral provides your brain with the various materials that your body needs to allow your enzymes and other biological processes to occur. Also make sure you eat a well balanced diet with enough healthy carbs, vitamins, minerals and an assortment of other good stuff. All of these things can help the meds work better and reduce the side effects.

Then there are things like sleep, exercise, stress management and other good things to remember. Even people without a diagnosis have trouble functioning when they don't get enough sleep. If you don't get enough sleep when you have a diagnosis or more, you can't expect yourself to function any better. If you have sleep issues, find out what they are and get them treated. Exercise helps clean body out and gets your blood moving. It is said to be one of the best stimulants and antidepressants around, so if you can exercise. This will make your meds more effective and make it possible to reduce the amount you need to take.  Stress management can take on many different forms including meditation, therapy, life/ADHD coaching, strategies, support groups, managing your other medical conditions, getting support, focusing on the positive and your strengths, and so forth. Lastly, other good things to remember include staying hydrated, don't get overheated, don't get too cold, getting as much rest as possible when sick, know allergies can make your condition worse and effect the effectiveness of the meds, when hypoxic [low oxygen] or hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic [low blood sugar/high blood sugar] your conditions/symptoms will be worse.

You can develop strategies and systems to reduce the side effects/symptoms that involve good self-care. An ADD/ADHD or life coach can help with this. If you'd to find out more about ADD/ADHD coaching, feel free to email me at sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com. I can help you even if you have additional diagnoses to ADD/ADHD. Email me and we can set up a free, complementary session.

Organization and ADHD

I know it's good to be organized, manage your time and manage your life. I realize that clutter can be overwhelming and can drag your energy down. I have been working on my organizational skills for my entire life. It's one of the biggest challenges I face to this day. I have been diagnosed with ADHD for 10+ years now. I have been blessed with having a good response to the meds I take. I have been through a little psychotherapy, and lots of coaching. I have read 40+ books on ADD/ADHD, and read lots of research/articles on it, taken several neuroscience classes, and participated in many online communities that address ADD/ADHD. I have read many strategies and tips for getting organized, decluttering, and so forth. They are good strategies and very effective, and they help me. However, I still have a messy room and struggle to maintain order.

I have not let my organizational challenges keep me from making a difference, go to school, receive training, get involved in the global community, and I haven't let that keep me from becoming an ADD/ADHD Coach. Dr. Edward Hallowell, talked about getting well enough organized to make your life work for you in his book Delivered from Distraction. Take this too heart because if you're like me you have severe challenges in organization, spending your life getting organized before you do anything in this world is an exercise in frustration and futility. I'm not saying don't work on it, I'm not saying don't improve in this area, or don't build your skills. If you wait until you're perfectly organized, you might never get organized.

There are organizational tips and ideals that are wonderful, but seem completely out of reach for me. For example, every thing in it's place and a place for every thing is completely beyond me. The best I can do is make sure it gets in a general area, organize small pockets of my space, organize my backpack, or organize around a project. I am not sure if this strategy or organizational philosophy is realistic for me. It might not be realistic for you either.

Some strategies I swear by are the "five easy pieces" method and using a sheet to sheath a massive pile to reduce overwhelm. I have some learned organizational strengths too. I am better at self-management and time management than I am with spatial management.  So my two cents are figure out which areas of organization seems to be doable and those areas that don't seem doable. Make the doable areas a priority to work on with a coach, a friend, doctor, therapist, consultant, or any other assistant. Then after you've mastered that area, consider pecking away at the less doable areas. Focus on what you can do and your strengths and forgive yourself for your lingering challenges.

Are you letting your organizational deficits/impairments, keep you from pursuing your dreams and focusing on your strengths?

AD/HD education-How ADHD Coach can help

What would you like to know about ADHD? Do you know what it is, how it shows up, when it shows up and how it impacts your life or the life of someone you know? If you are diagnosed have you read any books, joined websites, support groups, watch videos,? Where do you find your information? Do you know what type of services and resources can help you manage your ADHD and even enjoy it?

There are lots of resources and services available to make life with ADD/ADHD fun, exciting and fulfilling. There's medication, therapy, coaching, websites, eNewsletters, blogs, social networks, facebook pages and groups, twitter and so forth. Education entails learning about the basic neurology and symptoms of ADHD, learning what it looks like generally and personally. A good, well trained ADD/ADHD coach can help you learn about your ADHD and help you build a life that you want. An ADD/ADHD coach provides support, helps you learn strategies, about the ADD/ADHD brain, develop better self-awareness and build a life that helps you harness all your strengths. You learn that you aren't "broken", or defective, but uniquely wired. You learn it's ok to do things differently, to be curious and do more of what you enjoy and build a healthy, positive outlook on life. My coach helped me with all of these things and more. I would love to help others do the same.

I am now an ADD/ADHD coach. I can give you the same if you would like. Send me a email sarah.gogstetter@gmail.com or find me on Skype: sarah.gogstetter is my Skype name. We can set up a complementary session.

I'm offering 2 packages:

1. Those who sign up for at least 3 months coaching will get 2 weeks free. 
2. Those who sign up for at least 6 months coaching will get 1 month free.

I will offer these packages until 12/31/13. My fees are reasonable and I have sliding scale. Mention this blog post in your email or Skype message to get the packages.. :)

10 Ways To Overcome Overwhelm

This article has good tips for dealing with overwhelm...my only word of caution is for those of us with ADD/ADHD. Some of the stimulation reducing strategies might keep us awake instead of helping us to sleep. The other strategies are definitely good.
10 Ways To Overcome Overwhelm