Anyone have ADD?

[Jack_Dawson]

I have trouble concentrating at work. I'll start reading some document, and then check my work email, home email, log onto DU for a minute, read for a couple more minutes, check my email again...etc.

Is this ADD or just laziness?

Also, if anyone has been diagnosed with ADD and taken drugs...were they effective? PM me if you'd rather.

JD

[Fleshdancer]

1. huh? what? did you say something?

what was I doing?

[Jack_Dawson]

2. See? :-)

[everythingsxen]

3. I might have ADD..

But then I might not.

I will go to the doctors if I don't get distracted.

[tsakshaug]

4. I do

I was diagnosed two years ago (I am in my 40's)
my wife finally dragged me to the Dr for dianosis.
I take Adderal-the once a day pill, there is a twice a day pill- but asking someone with ADD to take a pill sometime during the day??????

It works and I am more productive. I wonder how much better I would have done in school if there was such a diagnosis back then.

[Jack_Dawson]

7. Seriously, it works?

Or is it all mental? What happens when you take it?

[tsakshaug]

8. it works

the drug is basically speed. Don't sleep for the first week. There are some non-stimulant drugs out there, but this works for me

[afraid_of_the_dark]

11. I've heard that the non-stimulant drugs

(i.e. Straterra) only work for a short period of time... then they aren't as effective. Although, this is a complaint that I see with the kids that I work with, who are growing and changing at a quick rate. Since adults don't have that issue to deal with, I'm not sure if they would find the same thing to be true. But from what I've seen with the kids, on average, the non-stimulant meds work really well for about 6 months, and then their effectiveness wears off.

But it also depends on your individual neurochemistry... some respond better to one drug than another, or have more side effects with one drug than another.

[Susang]

16. I was a Strattera guinea pig

Didn't work for me and made me sleep constantly. None of the other drugs have worked well for me at all, so I do without.

The hubby, on the other hand, has the more traditional ADHD and does extremely well on Wellbutrin. So well, in fact, that when we were without insurance for some months and he had to go off of it, we ended up doing whatever it took to pay for it out of pocket, he needs it that much. It works amazingly for him.

[Mountainman]

29. Wellbutrin taken by me also

I took Strattera for a while with it but was constantly constipated. It did help me with concentration though.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. When you say "no sleep"....

what does that mean exactly? I have always been concerned with the effects of the meds. I've never been a big meds guy (thankfully, I've never been really sick)and I often forget to take my vitamins. I've never been a big fan of stimulants, but maybe that's an aspect of the undiagnosed ADD?

I've been thinking about going to a doc and getting some kind of diagnosis. I've known there's been something different with me ever since I was a child (I'm 36 now). My grades sucked (until I went back to school as an adult armed w/ coping strategies), I could not focus on anything and it still takes me forever to learn some things.

Your story is encouraging to me. Thanks for sharing.

[tsakshaug]

23. No Sleep

I would fall asleep at about 1am and be up and ready to go by 4am. That lasted for about three weeks. I went back to my normal 7 or so hours.

When I took speed in college, it did not effect me the same way it did other kids..Never figured that out until this was diagnosed

[NuckinFutz]

25. It's worth getting checked out.

If you've had the symptoms since you can remember, especially.

The meds help a lot, but for a lot of folks, they aren't enough, especially if when there's a lot of emotional baggage from not fitting in. The need for coping mechanisms is still there, and a lot of people benefit from behavioral therapy or coaching. I read from alot of places that in many cases, therapy doesn't do much good unless coupled with the meds.

[tsakshaug]

12. to finish

I didn't answer all of your question.
Prior to taking the meds, I would have long involved conversations in my head about what I SHOULD be doing and what I COULD be doing, then the conversation would wander around for awhile. Not really voices, but lots of noise and clutter in my thoughts. When I take the meds, the conversations stops. It is amazing for me to sit down for three hours and write. I had to do that in 5-10 min spurts before

[NuckinFutz]

14. my spouse is the same way.

He was diagnosed in the sixties before it was called ADD. He, too is on Adderall XR. He also takes the regular, non-extended version in the afternoon when he gets home. Before we moved to PA and he got on the meds, he had a hell of a time staying with a steady job, among a lot of other issues, mostly from the former professional belief that he 'outgrow it'. I had a hard time convincing him to take the meds, 'cause it hurt his ego. Now that he sees the results, he much more positive.

If your wife dragged you off for diagnosis, you probably already know this stuff doesn't give you a reprieve just 'cause you're not at work.

[tsakshaug]

15. cleaning the house

This was always a fun time. I would start with- say vacuuming the living room, well look there is a CD that is out of its case...put it back...but the CDs are out of order better fix that....Dust on the CDs better get a rag out of the basement....Look! laundry to do.....That basement window needs to be cleaned up...
and so on.
Then I wondered what happend to my day and why the vacuum cleaner was left running in the living room

[NuckinFutz]

17. I know the story all too well.

Sometimes I get it by over-exposure.

But, for the record, all of my guys are well above average in intelligence and they have creative imaginations. Never a dull moment. But the electricity bills...Oy!

[tsakshaug]

18. One day

about a week before my wife dragged me to the doc, she asked me about the "conversation in my head" so I spoke what was happening and the chain of thoughts...after about 2 min she told me to stop..it wore her out. If you know any add folks out there give it a shot.

[NuckinFutz]

19. my guys

describe it like tv channels or radio dials constantly changing. What do you think?

[tsakshaug]

20. maybe

But for me it is more of a long chain of thoughts...If i try really had I can get back to the beginning...This morning I woke up at 2:22, then thought..gee I wonder what ever happended to Karen Valentine...and then...well I don't want to get into it.

[NuckinFutz]

22. Sounds familiar..

My husband and sons can take the longest route to the simplest answer of any people I have ever witnessed. Funny thing is, when they get there, their tangential train of thought does seem to tie it all together somehow. It's kind of like watching the show "Understanding"...if you didn't see the beginning, don't even try to get the end, 'cause you'll never understand the connections made to get there.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

34. I've never heard it described that way before...

but it really makes sense. And scares me a bit too - because it sounds exactly like what I do. I've always known I was a bit on the hyperactive side (to this day, I can't sit still in a chair for longer than a few seconds... it makes meetings a blast for the poor people that have to sit next to me), as well as being somewhat inattentive (I can't focus on one task for very long... and when I try to, I get distracted easily!). But I never thought of taking meds for it - when I think of ADHD, I think of the kids that I work with that are so out of control that they are anywhere but at their desk. Now you've really got me thinking about it, and how those symptoms would manifest in an adult. I'll bet I'd get so much more done if I could actually focus for more than a brief time!

[Susang]

5. I've got the chick type

That's what I call it anyway. :-) It's less diagnosed and harder to treat. It's called type II inattentive and it's seen more in girls and women. Since it's often mistaken for shyness in school, it's not always seen as a problem. Our society's inherent sexism makes it worse since girls weren't expected to do as well in certain subject anyway, so who would notice if my grades dipped?

Mine started at puberty, I got really bad at math and sciences. No amount of tutoring could help me get above a C in any related class. I never did any of my homework (never could concentrate long enough) and coasted by on natural talent in the classes I was gifted in (English, Arts and Social Studies). Didn't get diagnosed until my thirties. So far no medications have helped. I've tried the new one, Strattera, and all it did was make me really sleepy. I just use coping skills and cognitive therapy to get me through the day. That, and I don't worry so much that the house is a disaster area. ;-)

[Raster]

6. i had an add....but forgot where i put it...

[Az]

9. Yes indeed, and I just want to say

that it has been .... oooooh a sparkly...

[lazarus]

10. I do

I take ritalin twice a day. Works like a dream. If I don't take my meds, I appear to be stoned on pot. Really weird.

You could just be bored, however. :D

[Liberal Veteran]

13. Oooo....what's that happening outside?

I'm sorry, did you say something?

[silverlib]

24. I think I do, too, but am not sure...

There wasn't a diagnosis for this when I was young (I'm 52). I think I probably learned to compensate. I made it work for me in a lot of areas, but not all. I always wondered why I didn't mind pinging from one job to to another at the whim of any of my bosses (and they actually wondered, too, and loved it). I enjoyed not finishing a task and being interrupted for a short time to complete something else in the interim and then go back to another.

I have always cleaned house or done other projects on "an award system." When I was a young adult, I drank a beer after each room was completed or a certain small goal was completed. Now, I use DU. (much healthier)

I have a granddaughter on meds that work great for her.

When my new primary care physician asked me if I had suffered from anxiety or depression, I just told her I was high strung and passionate.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

26. "high strung and passionate."

I love that! That describes me perfectly. If someone asked me if I suffered from anxiety or depression, I would have to say both.;-)

[TrogL]

27. Look - something bright and shiny!

[dryan]

28. ADD

This runs in my family. My mother is in her late 70s and can't watch a 30 minute TV show. She also talks incessantly. My brother has absolutely no patience and cannot sit down to the dinner table. Mine is quite so bad but I cannot work in a room with a lot of other people. I can multitask but I have to have my own office or I get easily disttracted. My parents made a conscientious effort not to give my brother and I medication so it was through sheer willpower that we graduated from high school, college, and hold down pretty responsible jobs. My brother was even in the SEALS.

[bif]

30. I was goingg to respond to this earlier but I got distracted

n/t

[Beaker]

31. probably.

but who has time to go to the dr. about it?

[Atman]

32. How many kids w/ADD does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Wanna go ride bikes?

[Jack_Dawson]

33. Hee hee

Dat was funny Grampa.

[populistmom]

35. Not officially

I have always had trouble sleeping and I absolutely HAVE to be busy to feel remotely close to content. I get bored easily and most people tend to bore me as well. As a child, I was gifted and extremely hyper. If I was born 20 years later, I'm sure I'd have been put on meds. I don't want to be on meds though now. I've toned down over the years and certain active, stressful fields of work need people like me because we thrive in busy, intense environments.