good ADHD vibes

Hi, I'm Anna :) I got diagnosed with ADHD two years ago, after which I started looking for a place to find some ADHD positivity and advice. I am collecting everything I find here! This blog is LGBTQ+ friendly (that includes aspec, trans and non-binary people!) Please check my FAQ before sending me asks!

[raylangivins]

[thadymiller]

Text: congrats on the failure babe, most people don't even try

[dogpuppy]

[agayworthfightingfor]

On Dentists

So I can’t brush my teeth. Like, it’s the worst kind of hell. I went to the dentist for a cleaning today and I told the hygienist this, and she was wonderfully helpful.

There are some incredibly soft toothbrushes available- namely, post-surgical brushes. Running them under hot water makes them even softer.

She told me that you don’t really need to use toothpaste- it’s mostly marketing. The foam gets to me, so that is really reassuring.

She gave me two particularly soft brushes and some xylitol gum. Trident is a market brand of xylitol gum, which helps with your teeth and can make your breath smell better.

The whole purpose of brushing is to disrupt plaque buildup. You don’t need to brush twice a day, every day with toothpaste if you brush correctly- little circles, focusing on near the gums (where most plaque builds up). So if you’re having a bad sensory day and can’t brush at all, it’s not the end of the world.

Hell, you don’t even need a toothbrush if even the post-surgical ones are too harsh. Going over your teeth with the same motions using a washcloth is enough.

She wants to find a fluoride rinse that has a taste I can stand (peppermint is the only mint I can stand) but she’s not particularly worried about it.

I go to Dr. Barr in Chicago. If you can get to the State St. Macy’s, his office is nearby. He’s very kind and patient and really understanding of my needs as an autistic person. The hygienist, I don’t know her name, announced everything she was going to do before she did it, and stopped frequently to see how I was doing.

This is really the only positive dentist I’ve ever had- past dentists have been too rough and not bothered to help find ways I can actually brush.

Basically this is a glowing recommendation for Dr. Barr’s office if you’re autistic, afraid of dentists, or have sensory needs. This is a recommendation even if you don’t have any of those things.

[huhnerkopf]

Im actually crying i feel like this post was reblogged for me oh my god oh my god oh my lord thank you

[lascapigliata]

You can also dilute your mouthwash and use it to swish around if it burns. My dentist does this so consider it dentally approved

[spoonie-living]

If you were feeling guilty about your brushing habits, either due to sensory issues, pain, allergies, executive dysfunction, or just plain fatigue, here’s what you need to know about what is and isn’t necessary if your dental care!

[charismat1c-megafauna]

Post-covid, I got really horrible shit going on with my gag reflex where for some reason the mint flavor of toothpaste (and only toothpaste) would make me gag so hard that I’d throw up. Then I found a kids toothpaste that’s like strawberry flavored or something, but it has the proper adult amount of flouride, so it works for me and I don’t gag much anymore. Here’s an article with some options if you’re like me lol

Best Non-Mint Toothpaste For Adults — Dr. Gemma Wheeler

Dr. Gemma Wheeler lists best non-mint toothpaste options for adults. The list includes those that are truly non mint, without oils or aromas

Also for the people who can’t stand foam, the ingredient you’re looking to avoid is called SLS.

[bisexualbaker]

I share this frequently, but I had a very difficult time making myself floss because I hated the way that standard floss digs into my fingers when I use it. I switched to floss picks, and boom: A hated activity instantly became entirely neutral. Much easier to convince myself to do! If you have the same problem with standard floss, this might be worth a try.

Also, my most recent trip to the dentist, I was told that xylitol is a very effective treatment for dry mouth! And also that dry mouth is bad for your teeth, because it can disrupt the PH balance in your mouth, making your teeth more susceptible to cavities. While you want to be very careful to keep any xylitol products away from dogs in particular and probably pets in general, if you have dry mouth, you can try checking for products with xylitol in them.

[bisexualbaker]

Of note: My brother endorses the OraNusre brand of flavorless toothpaste; he says it “tastes like toothbrush”. My mom, meanwhile, is a fan of the Hello brand, which comes in different fruity and sweet flavors. Both of these are listed at the non-mint toothpaste link above.

If you prefer a toothpaste or a mouthwash for dry mouth, I use Biotène; it’s not cheap, but brushing once a day with it, a tube of Biotène toothpaste lasts me around four to five months. As far as I’m aware, it’s only in mint flavor.

[thosetiktoks]

Credit: meg_langton_

[sing-you-fools]

oh hey i have one for this

[rohirric-hunter]

"You could get up early and do it before work" I could also wait for a magic beanstalk to start growing in my living room LMAO. Let's focus on things that happen in the real world

[actiiasluna-deactivated20250103]

[batbetbitbotbut]

When I fail to respond it's an homage to letters getting lost at sea

[gumi-megpoidd]

age regressing by 5 minutes so i can remember what i was just asked to do

[calamitys-child]

I've been enjoying this new habit of replacing Sunday morning doomscrolling with just clicking through links on Wikipedia. I looked at lots of niche dog breeds last week and now I'm learning about rubiks cube variations. I retain almost none of this information - I'm just scrolling and clicking and occasionally going ooooh - but that's basically all I'd be doing on instagram too except it would make me angrier and more depressed. Highly recommend this. Start from a random article and see where you get.

[seashellronan]

guys i’m so sorry to say this but exercising and indulging in hobbies rather than scrolling on your phone for 200 hours actually does improve your mood and overall mental health, this has deeply upset me more than anyone

[paperstarsfairy]

my absolute favorite slightly unhinged productivity hack is playing broadway songs and pretending i’m on stage and i have to do my chores while singing the songs exactly as the characters would (i lip sync)

so far i’ve emptied the dishwasher pretending to be diana goodman, and cleaned my room pretending to be jean valjean

[etherealspacejelly]

this is your gentle reminder to stop fighting against your adhd and instead structure your life around it

buy a pack of chapsticks and put one in the pocket of all of your coats and jackets because you always forget to bring one and chapped lips is sensory hell

leave important things where you can see them. if they go in a box or a drawer you will forget they exist

put any appointments or deadlines in your phone calendar As Soon As you get them. set a reminder for a week before, a day before, an hour before, as many as you need as often as you need them.

when that little voice in your head says "i dont need to write that down, ill remember it" that is the devil talking!!! write it down anyway!!

plan for down time. have a few hours at the end of every day to just do fun stuff like engage in your hyperfixations. even if you didnt get all of your work done that day, have the rest anyway. you probably spent the whole day beating yourself up for not doing what you Should be doing, so you still need the break.

if you never eat vegetables because its too much effort to chop and cook them, get the frozen or canned shit. it doesnt go off for ages and you just have to microwave it. theres no point buying fresh vegetables if they just keep going off and being left to rot in the bottom of your fridge

if you struggle to decide what to have for dinner every day, take the decision out of it. choose a set of meals and eat those on rotation until you get sick of them, then choose some new ones and do it again.

its not stupid if it works! our brains literally have a chemical deficiency. you are allowed to accommodate yourself. go forth and stop making your life more difficult than it has to be because "this shouldn't be this hard". it is hard, so make it easier.

[should-be-sleeping]

You are allowed to accommodate yourself.

[artistformerlyknownasbutttrumpet]

i bring a "technically i could do this tomorrow" energy to things that tomorrow me really resents

[elodieunderglass]

No, it's gone

[bellossom]

me when I "mysteriously" feel better after I "have something to eat"

[mikumiotics]

Miku Miku protip: you may have heard of the adhd hack of putting things like chapstick in a pocket of each of your jackets/bags/whatever so you dont need to remember to grab a chapstick every time.

Which is a good tip, but you can take it even further!

Put a pair of winter gloves + a winter hat in all of your heavy coats (those usually come with plenty of pockets) and you will always have them incase it is colder than you expect.

keep multiple umbrellas in frequently used bags, and your car if you have one (you never have the ONE umbrella you own when it does end up raining, better to have 2-3 on hand)

If you work long hours where you can't just LEAVE, you want to have everything you might need in a purse and/or backpack. So I'm talking things like ibuprofen, peptobismol, headphones, charging cords, multitools, pens/pencils, makeup, chapstick(!), eyedrops, etc etc etc. Put everything you might POSSIBLY need to get through a shift, and just, bring that same bag to work everyday. Make that your designated work bag, it'll save your life istg

My motto is "I'd rather have it and not need it!" because it acts like a ward. When you have prepared for a certain event/condition/incident, the universe will be disinclined to throw it at you. Although obviously sometimes the universe WILL say fuck it, and throw bloating&painful cramps at you in the middle of your shift, but you'll have the pepto-bismol to deal with it!

The same applies to the hat&gloves and the umbrellas, by preparing materially and mentally for something, you cast a ward around your immediate sphere of universal influence. Sometimes the universe breaks through anyway though, so watch out!

[cilantrhoes]

[shadowgremlin]

My wife’s idea of decompressing after the busy holiday was to rearrange every piece of furniture in our home is this an ADHD thing or just a her thing

I’m not complaining the way she’s done it is much better than it was it’s just like how is this your idea of a relaxing weekend

[kaity--did]

Listen I don't get to decide when the drunk elf that is my executive actually does the functioning but when he does we have a SMALL WINDOW OF TIME before he finds the schnapps again and we're done

[honeysbunchesofoats]

[kaity--did]

yes this exactly

[luminouspica]

So to me, there are spoons (general energy cost) and carnival tickets (specific energy cost).

Spoons can be used pretty much anywhere.

Carnival tickets are only good for the carnival, and it’s only in town for a limited amount of time.

So like, if I get “kitchen cleaning” carnival tickets, I can’t use that to clean my bedroom, that’s not where the carnival is.