On a side note, I think one of my sons inherited my genes and has the same problem. He is young enough that bad organization, not finishing things etc is not causing him problems yet. But I expect that to change once he goes to the elementary school. What are your thoughts on giving ADD drugs to children? Would it have helped you if were on a drug regimen when you were young? I am scared of giving him drugs because of the side effects you mention(I get most of what you get plus the extreme insomnia). But if it is going to help his quality of life and learning, it might be a worthwhile thing.
Far and away the best treatment for insomnia was to workout--hard. That's what Ratey's book is about. Not the vanity like I'm going to try to get jacked workout, but stressing out your body to the point where it focuses on rebuilding your body so your brain is forced to relax.
I've often thought about how I'd raise my own kids (married, but no kids yet). I think I would let me kids fucking explore and play with them a ton. It's hard being a square peg and fitting in the round hole of compulsory education, but there has to be a better way than just letting him/her flounder like my parents were forced to with me. (Not by choice, they just didn't know better the information available on the brain and psychology is about 1,000 times better than 10 years ago).
It's worth noting that ADHD has a huge co-morbidity with other diagnoses, bi-polar, depression, manic depressive, anxiety, etc. Often times if you treat the other condition it can help the ADHD and vice-versa. More than anything it's trial and error. It took me probably 18 months to really figure out what works best and I'm still not great at totally controlling it.
I started with therapy and drugs. I've taken ritalin and adderall. Between those two drugs, I tried many different variations in dosing. The best for me was a 10mg XR in the morning and 2.5 mg IR in the afternoon. Without the IR I'd get a bitch of a headache in the afternoon / evening.
On the regimen I got the best grades of my life. I was in the Top 10% of my law school class that semester. But I felt like shit. My eye twitched, I was constantly thirsty, my skin was really dry it was weird. So I took another course. I started meditation and working out. I have worked out a lot before, but I went to more of an aerobic based workout after I read the books below.
It's kind of hard to get legitimate insight on this. Folks don't like telling their story. Feel free to email me if you want. I'll try to update this as the thread goes.
1. Spark the science of exercise by John Ratey (great read by someone who has ADHD) 2. Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood by Ed Hallowell and John Ratey.