ADHD Truckers who drive without medication

[-]

AsphaltPirate74@reddit

Adhd actually helps me be a better driver, I'm hyperfocused and thoroughly enjoy driving. Whenever it does get a little mundane, I snack on some hot cheetos or sour candy to help keep my brain stimulated. 1 small can of soda helps in the morning, apparently low blood sugar levels can be related to adhd and affect you just like diabetes does. Nicotine pouches help me too a lot, self medication is real with adhd. If booger sugar was legal, I'd just use that honestly.

I also have a variety of playlists with different music genres on Spotify ranging from 3 to 20+ hours of music on each of them so I never get bored of the music.

Talking to myself and thinking of hypothetical scenarious that piss me off to the point where I have to finish thinking them through to completion or just thinking about life in general aka future plans/goals, my family, friends, memories good and bad, what I could've done/could do differently with my life all help keep aware and focused and make it through those long stretches of driving. Talking on the phone helps a lot too.

When all else fails, I just tell myself "Ain't nothing to it, but to do it" and toughen up and keep on trucking.

If I'm severely drained and getting lethargic and bored from under stimulation, I find somewhere to park and take a 30 minute nap. But stopping every 150 miles and walking inside a store to use the restroom and to stretch my legs while looking around real quick helps keep me stimulated throughout the day. I rarely have to take said naps.

[-]

Chillimaniac@reddit

I’ve used music apps since they started becoming a thing and I never until now considered making different play lists like that. My efficiency mindset just put a song into one of 5 playlists and then it’s always a pain to shuffle through to the song I want in that moment. How I’ve never thought of this is beyond me but THANK YOU

[-]

AsphaltPirate74@reddit

Glad my comment helped! I used to struggle with music too and even had youtube playlists with ads which sucked until I got spotify, then eventually after a LONG time, it finally clicked that I should make playlists lol

[-]

Chillimaniac@reddit

I’m just a little thick headed sometimes and I think routines and systems cant change. I limit myself with my rigidity sometimes until I come across something like your comment. Reddit is the best

[-]

AsphaltPirate74@reddit

I'm the same way, it's like a lightbulb goes off and my world has completely changed lol

[-]

Chillimaniac@reddit

Yup. And sometimes I could’ve just listened when someone told me but I’m too stubborn or dense for that or something. Idk why I do it. Terrible personality trait.

[-]

AsphaltPirate74@reddit

Lol

[-]

warwgn@reddit

I find myself the same as you on your 1st point and your 3rd point.

I’m also hyper focused and enjoy driving. But I’m not perfect. I have made mistakes.

I also have a wide selection of music genres, and podcasts. Most of the time I have a friend and former co-worker I talk to on the phone to keep my mind occupied.

Every so often my Dad will ride along, and the fart wars, stories from the good ol’ days, and inappropriate jokes are constant. It’s a riot having him along. We’re a great team. I do all the driving, and he passes the snacks.

Sometimes I do talk to myself, and have imaginary arguments about stuff that bothers me. The amount of of stuff that my dashcam has recorded, that I don’t want anyone else to hear is insane.

[-]

AsphaltPirate74@reddit

Seems like we're all living the same life then 😂

That's awesome you bring your Dad along, sounds like a good time!

I know, I'm glad my company doesn't record audio on the dash cams, I'd be locked up hahaha

[-]

warwgn@reddit

Yeah, when we both finish off a jar of pickled eggs in 2 days, or have liver & onions, and spicy Indian for supper, watch out.

My company’s dashcam doesn’t record audio either, but my personal dashcam does. The railfan in me likes to save videos of trains going by, and post it on my YouTube channel. Literally driving down the highway and “Oooh train!” Click

[-]

meizhong@reddit

Those of us with the worst cases of adhd didn't respond. They briefly considered it, then forgot.

I say that, but I have it pretty bad, and I'll actually comment often. But while driving, I'll have something I want to post, but then by the time I stop I have no clue what it was, if I even remember I wanted to post anything at all.

If the adhd sub wasn't full of people with adhd, it'd have 5 times as much content.

[-]

KungFuFactory@reddit

I feel ya. I have the spicy kind as well(and a touch of the Tism thrown in). Shit gets hectic in the old cranium sometimes. People who don’t have ADHD don’t realise how easy life is without 16 brain tabs open, a song playing in the background (usually a shit one too) and the memory of a goldfish.

[-]

RudeOrSarcasticPt2@reddit

And the name of the goldfish escapes you.

Yeah, my doctors tested me for both, and the results came back negative.

But my brain didn't get the memo.

[-]

drama__@reddit

Unmedicated adhd my whole life. Big symptom for adhd in adults is anxiety. Working out helps a lot, even if it's an aggressive paced walk for 15-20 mins. Get the blood moving.

[-]

Affectionate-Tax-119@reddit

Remember when you were a kid and your teacher said you needed to pay attention because you would never find a job staring out the window. I found a job where I stare out a window!

[-]

Lolivares93@reddit

Shits wild some days. But you know what walk arounds are always done lol.

[-]

jabber1990@reddit

Anyone who has this fake disease shouldn't be driving a truck

[-]

SnooTomatoes2834@reddit

Having been diagnosed with ADHD several times by several medical professionals, if it is real, I've got it. Ngl though, I know what you mean by "fake disease." Like fk that there isn't anything wrong with me at all.

[-]

jabber1990@reddit

....and did you get drugs for it?

[-]

SnooTomatoes2834@reddit

They did. I took those drugs for like two days then refused to take them after that. Hated the way it made me feel.

[-]

LimpBizkit420Swag@reddit

Lol, stupid comment

[-]

RuneScape420Homie@reddit

That’s a sick username you have. I think we’d get along irl

[-]

LimpBizkit420Swag@reddit

Hell yea fist bump homie

I tried for the life of me so many times to get into RuneScape it never hooked me 😭

[-]

KungFuFactory@reddit

Ignorance is not an excuse for stupidity u/jabber1990. Theres a reason psychologists and psychiatrists diagnose ADHD and it’s not because it’s fake. Be better.

[-]

jabber1990@reddit

You mean people who get paid by pharmaceutical companies with a profit motive?

[-]

Fuzzy1598@reddit

What are your reasons for this belief? Why do you think it's fake? Also it's not a disease like ignorance.

[-]

HashnaFennec@reddit

I’m medicated now, but I spent my first couple years trucking unmedicated. Days felt like they’d drag on endlessly and I was getting severely burnt out. Now that I’m on generic vyvanse, that isn’t as much of a problem.

As for my driving skill, it didn’t change much, but at first the meds made me a little too focused on driving and not enough on navigating.

[-]

warwgn@reddit

the meds made me a little too focused on driving and not enough on navigating.

How many times have you been talking to someone on the phone, and driven past your exit?

[-]

TypicalOcelot7933@reddit

Did you have any problems with your meds and dot physical?

[-]

HashnaFennec@reddit

I have to bring a note from my psychiatrist to my DOT physical and I have to get it done every year instead of every other year.

I’ve only been drug tested once since being on meds, but Vyvanse and Adderall are both amphetamines, like meth. My psych warned me about that, so I informed my fleet and they were chill with it and warned me that I’d get a phone call within 3 to 5 days. A single call that if I missed, I’d get a failed drug test on my record. I canceled the camping trip I’d been planning for months and when I got the call I was treated like a criminal. I was told that they’d found drugs in my urine and given a long lecture about how this would fuck up my life. I told her I’d been legally prescribed and she said, if that was true, I could appeal by emailing photos of the current bottle and a letter from my prescriber. I did so, then got an email a couple days later saying I passed the drug test.

[-]

TypicalOcelot7933@reddit

Sounds like a headache. Im glad it worked out for you

[-]

Tiatake@reddit

As an ADHD driver who has been prescribed Adderall for over 20 years, it’s all right. I don’t take my meds anymore and I’m not driving into fields of ponies or anything. I think my awareness of wildlife is through the roof and I’ve never had a deer strike or accident because of my hyper awareness. I do tend to put my arms in weird ass positions on the steering wheel though lol.

[-]

BLeeS92031@reddit

For me, the hardest part of driving with untreated ADHD is all the time to think about how I wouldn't be driving a truck had my ADHD been treated somewhere along the way.

[-]

mr-doctor2u@reddit

Nah that's some bitch shit to sit around blaming the world for the choices YOU made

[-]

BLeeS92031@reddit

By your own logic, you choose to be the kind of miserable person that will take the time out of their own life to shit on a stranger.

That's pretty lame.

You might want to take a look at why my comment made you feel the way it did. If you do it honestly, I bet you'll realize that it wasn't ME that you were calling a "bitch".

Take care.

[-]

Admirable_Lab_7867@reddit

What do you want to know specifically? I feel like adhd goes well with this job - i dont have to do anything other than pick up and deliver on time. The hardest park is doing my paperwork lol. I wouldn't be caught dead doing any stimulants driving all day, driving is already hard enough on your body.

[-]

Silver_Storage5809@reddit

When I was otr I’d wait 3 or 4 days before I did my paperwork and submitted it. Took me a whole 5 minutes too.

[-]

Feisty-Tomato8812@reddit

The only thing I struggled with paperwork wise was paper logs. I once got stopped in Indiana and hadn’t filled out my logs in a week. The officer asked how my logs looked, I said eh they could use a little updating. He said I’m going to the car, get them caught up before I get back. I put myself off for a week and showed where I left from that afternoon. He came back gave me a verbal warning for speeding and never asked for my logs.

[-]

TexasTangler@reddit (OP)

I guess how hard is it for truckers with ADHD not taking medication to drive all day?

[-]

Admirable_Lab_7867@reddit

Its rough at first but with time it gets easier. The tough part is keeping your mind occupied, but I do that with music, podcasts, audiobooks and good ol fashioned day dreaming. Exercise helps dramatically. I personally think driving with ADHD is much easier than a corporate desk job slog with adhd. Ymmv

[-]

Codexe-@reddit

why cant you take medication?

[-]

ConfectionOk201@reddit

One of my coworkers calls me "eagle eye" because I regularly notice things that no one else does. One that surprised him was when I pointed out a small u-bolt laying on the gravel road we haul on while driving by at 45mph. It came off the fender of his pup trailer.

[-]

supergoosetaco@reddit

The only time I have ever needed any sort of ADHD medication is when I was in school. It doesn’t really affect my life outside of studying.

[-]

Chillimaniac@reddit

Be careful not falling into the trap of eating for stimulation. I didn’t in the first half of my trucking journey. I even lost weight in the beginning. Then I had an injury mess up my flow. So. I’m in it now and it is HARD to get out of. Also audiobooks. Get you a library card and get Libby on your phone. Just don’t hog the books I’m reading

[-]

FossMan21@reddit

I had been diagnosed as a teenager. I’m 40 now just got medicated about 3 months ago. I did fine before being medicated. Only got it to help improve home life.

[-]

Ok_Bug_6470@reddit

Don’t think you can take that medication and drive commercially.

[-]

mr-doctor2u@reddit

I've been raw dogging life with diagnosed and unmedicated ADHD for 15 years. It 100% is a strength if you figure out how to channel it

[-]

TexasTangler@reddit (OP)

Incredible

[-]

pm_me_ur_demotape@reddit

Pretty sure I became a driver because of ADHD. Every other job I ever had was like pure pain not wanting to be there and feeling bored and clock watching and trying to look busy or actually be busy but not wanting to and not sticking to the task at hand. First I became a pizza delivery driver. 20 minute tasks at a time, go go go. Get in the store, grab the pizza, find out where it goes (pre cell phone/gps days), run out to the car, blast my own music in my own space (car), no clock watching because I don't have to stand do some task for a certain amount of time, I have to get this pizza to where it's going! And probably have to search for the place. Drive fast! Plus when I get there they are going to hand me cash in hand I get to take home!
Eventually I got into trucking because I needed real paychecks. No more instant cash, but the rest is similar. I always did local, never over the road. Long highway driving would probably not be good for me. I need something that commands my attention at all times. I never have to clock watch, I have a stack of deliveries, a stack of pickups, then go home. Doesn't matter what time it is, how long this lasts is up to me. I have a million little things (other cars. Pedestrians. Road signs. Etc) to catch and hold my attention, and it holds my attention because the stakes are high. Death! Property destruction! Getting fired!
Going to different places all the time, 2 minute chats with different receiving people all the time. Drive for 15 minutes, get out and unload (physical activity), drive for 15 minutes, get and unload.
Really scratched all the right itches in my bird brain.

[-]

homucifer666@reddit

I've never had medication my entire life, so I don't really have a frame of reference. I do know that I'm one of the best at my job despite or perhaps even because I'm AuDHD. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[-]

MostOriginalNameEver@reddit

I cope by constantly moving and overly checking my mirrors and what not. I wouldn't last a shift without podcast.

Toothpicks, vaping, and sunflower seeds when I'm really bad

[-]

No_Ocelot4019@reddit

I walked to my trailer tandems 3 times today cause I kept hitting my trailer brakes while trying to slide them. It was 1000ish storming I had been in a dock since 0430 and there since midnight

[-]

Lopsided-Bath-8404@reddit

The adhd actually helps . Once you learn to hyperfixate on the moment .

[-]

No_Competition_9238@reddit

How?

[-]

Snappypants9@reddit

My brain can get pretty skittish if I don’t have meds - especially in the morning. I don’t feel nearly as safe

[-]

Lopsided-Bath-8404@reddit

The trick is to learn discipline . You have to discipline yourself like you’re your own parent .

[-]

chaos_nexus__@reddit

Why wouldn't you take your meds??

[-]

HelloGlarc@reddit

My paperwork is fucked up, my organization is gone, my time management is fucking childish

[-]

Gr00veChild@reddit

100% this. 😬

[-]

warwgn@reddit

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was like 7 or something. I was on Ritalin for a while, but that shit never worked, so I stopped taking it when I was like 15 or something. I’ve been unmedicated ever since. I’m 45 now.

I don’t know if it’s related to ADHD or just a work ethic, but despite getting paid hourly, I’m very driven to get my trip done as quickly (and safely) as possible and move on to the next trip. “Git ‘er done!” I don’t like my time being wasted, and I don’t like wasting other people’s time.

On non driving tasks, I really need to concentrate on what I’m doing. I’m easily distracted and forgetful. The amount of times I’ve forgotten to do something because I got sidetracked is mind boggling. The amount of times I’ve had to get back out of the truck to double check because I’ve forgotten if I’ve done something, immediately after doing it is also mind boggling.

[-]

meroisstevie@reddit

I always felt this way and chalked it up to being told I had to work a certain number of hours, and then my time that I could do whatever was being encroached on when people wasted it.

[-]

Captain_Wag@reddit

Never had a problem with it. Staying focused on driving was never really a problem for me. The hard part is keeping yourself sane with the racing thoughts throughout the 11 hour drive. Audiobooks, podcasts, and music all day definitely helps. I'm currently listening to a bunch of nerds on a podcast playing a game of dungeons and dragons and I'm loving it. Find what works for you.

[-]

DrillTheThirdHole@reddit

i dunno the adhd is kinda baked in, i dont know what non-adhd people do on this job

[-]

TwoTrucksPayingTaxes@reddit

I drove before I was medicated. In some ways it was great, in some ways it sucked. I liked being able to pull over and take a walk when I got agitated. I liked listening to podcasts. To keep myself functioning I drank an insane amount of sugar and caffeine, though. Gained so much weight

[-]

Songgeek@reddit

I lived on nothing but caffeine and nicotine. And when it got bad enough what the company dont know doesn't matter. Its between me and my dr and if no company will accept a medical card with it from a dr ive actually gone over my history with truthfully, fuck it. Ill sue em for medical discrimination or something.

They send you to get your medical done to who they're paying to say yes or no. That dr usually gives 2 shits if youre healthy or not. They're looking for uppers and downer meds. Be it Adderall or sudafed, hydrocodone or benadryl. You list it youre fd and they'll treat you like an outcast. So instead you spend 15 mins with a stranger and tell them just enough to get approved. I stopped even putting my inhaler on my medical card cus too many would deny me over something I've had since a child and used occasionally. My dr knows my health and if some chiropractor or nurse practionier on retainer for these companies wants to say they know better than someone ive seen over 20 years... fuck em

[-]

Fuzzy1598@reddit

Best thing for me. I'll get impatient towards the end of the day but the drive is nice. Not knowing where I'm going next is a great thing too. Downside is the house keeping. It gets pushed to the wayside more often than not.

[-]

Tutorele@reddit

I've had to drive without it before, honestly it just makes my idle thoughts to keep myself entertained less coherent. And I can feel a little less well equipped to predict far in advance. But I'm talking like 30 plus seconds down the road, my normal driving is less affected, but I'm happy to have the medicine because it makes me generally feel less stressed. I find I get less in a loop of time planning every minutiae when I'm on it. I'll make the plan, I'll feel confident in it, then I execute. When it's off / faded due to a long day, that's where I end up getting stuck in a loop there and stressing myself out more than I need to. But honestly some of that is probably correlation instead of causation too, because it also aligns with general tiredness.

Mine is a fair bit more mild than others though, so their mileage may vary

[-]

Beginning-Loan1873@reddit

I stay occupied with audiobooks and music. I've also worked desk jobs and customer service without meds, so this is easy. I do take some good supplements that help, but I feel ADHD meds are to addictive and stop working to soon. It really just depends on how your brain works.

[-]