hi
i am going to the doc after a hypnotherapist told me i have 13 out of the 24 criteria. i am a writer and suffer severe blocks. i feel like i will never finish my novel. the hypno doc told me meds could change my life. any thoughts and please tell me how you all decided to go with meds or not.
Hi Joann, I took meds because I was diagnosed at 40 and met (many) criteria. I’d get good grades but kept hitting a wall where I’d get completely overwhelmed, my marriage ended when battles gave me energy rarer than sapped my energy. These were clearly not my plan and I’d already tried a multitude of approaches, so I tried meds, finally finding one that worked for me. You could get another opinion by a specialist if you are unsure. You can always change your mind however, if one med has an undesirable side effect but you found it helpful, you can try again until you find a better match. You may choose no meds. It’s your decision, along with considered guidance from your doctor.
thanks artfish. going to the doc on thur. to find out. i feel that now that i have read more about it, i meet a lot of the criteria. i made good grades too, made the dean's list every time, etc. but i know i do have problems with follow through. it is really weird, how foggy my brains gets.
Let us know how it goes. Deans list - not bad, Joann! I’m sure the reading will be interesting for you. I liked the book Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and Ratey. I hope there’s an updated edition.
Thanks everyone. Writing is hard for everyone. But I feel like I am underwater or something. lol. Then it gets depressing. I will check out the book Driven to Distraction for sure.
Cheers and happy Labor Day.
Hello, I am Squeeze.
You are certainly in the right place. We are a friendly and sharing group.
I was Diagnosed with ADHD ABOUT 1 1/2 yr ago @ 60 yr. I had a friend who was my roommate for a year and we also worked together. We went to employee health fair and she out a small phamphalet in my bad and told me I needed to read. I took it home put on counter and after about a week I was ready to throw in trash and I thought maybe I should look and see what see was pointing out.
Leafed through and at the end was an article about ADHD,! I read it and had light bulbs popping!!
Lol. Lol. I ran to her apt and told her" I have everything on this list!" She said yes you do.
It was the biggest " ah ha" moment I have ever Had! I was floored.
I called and made appointment and received a DX. STILL STUNNED.
HOW COULd I get so far in life and not be Dx??
As I started medication and was trying to absorb and process this information.
I Was tripping down memory Lane thinking ah haw,oh my god! It explains soooo… Much!
It explained so much!! It took some tine to settle on right medication. I am now on two medications.
Also often sleep disorders are commonly found along with ADHD. I knew I gad and took med for sleep disorders but Dr asked me to humor him and go for sleep apnea testing. I said sure.
It was very simple to do at home. Dropped wrist cuff off with night info in slot. And that day it popped up on my email that I had sleep apnea? Floored!!
After I was set up and settled into CPAP use regularly slowly feeling much better and was able to decrease my ADDERALL IN HALF, go figure.
It has change my life. Helps me to continue working a very stressful and highly focused job until I am ready to retire. I like will take multiple medication adjustments. Pic had some side affects that were mild and went away with time. Added WELBUTURIN and take also. I understand now that WELBUTURIN is the first drug of choice generally to Start out with. I started out with Ritilian but too short acting and had to take multiple times a day and it got so where it didn’t last long enough between doses and was like falling off a cliff!
I am on extendd release ADDERALL. IT IS tightly regulated and legally can only go so high of dosage. So I did my research on medication and ADHD. I COMMUNICATE ALOT WITH MY Dr who prescribes and we have tweaked and adjusted so I think it is right.
I do not take holidays as they call it on weekends. Tried and DID NOT WORK. It took me all week to get back up to speed to function in times sensitive and pressured environment.
Have accepted that I can live with because it has improved the quality of life. Sometimes I think “a day late and a dollar short” but is not true. My life would have been so much easier if I had know so much earlier. But that is the way it goes. I have much to say about and questions about why females are generally Dx much later than males.also medication has been researched for males not females. Theory about why females Dx later in life. Generally. Unless female presented like males (symptoms) they often are Dx later. They present symptoms different than most males. Not all. But it makes for interesting conversation and and leaves many questions unanswered.
I have been through a whole range of emotion,stunned,quiet,thinking back about my life.
Determined and persistent to get the right medication and fine tune it.
I now feel empowered! I am was not just sweet but I was smart but no one knew in those days about learning disabilities (mine happens to be math)
I am wired different actually ?I choose to think of myself as special. I am SMART. I HAVE ACHIEVED MUCH IN MY LIFE AND CAREER BUT I HAD TO WORK 3 times as hard as anyone else!BUT I did it.
It was very hard but didn’t know it didn’t have to be or no idea that I just needed to be taught differently
I said I was persistent or as we say in Missouri “hardheaded”.
My father taught his girls that " you can achieve anything you want to do"
Ignorance is bliss!! Lol. Lol but it was so hard!
I feel empowered,sad,thrilled,cryed excited I have been on the roller coaster.
I guess it is better late than never.
No I know it is.
I am smart!! Go figure. By what I have accomplished it appears I can’t be stupid and likely have to be smart. But never realized it. I felt I fooled everybody and got here because I was so hardheaded. Raising my children different than I was raised to be normal healthy adults and was thrilled when we found they were so smart. They motivated me to achieve to be able to provide them with a good education.
It has been a a very short,intense compressed journey down a different path.
That is my Dx. How about anyone else. Want to share?
Squeeze
Thanks! I am looking back and saying a ha as well. Big learning problems with math too. Use to "do my homework" standing on my head, literally. Zoned out in class until Junior year, when I knew I better shape up to get into university. I did not have to study too hard to do well, but definitely see where I had foul ups. I really have a problem with follow through. Lately, since Dec last year actually I have been working on a novel and I am up against a brick wall now, even though I attended Yale summer session and I am wait listed for a couple of writing residencies. I feel like if I get into anything I applied for I would go and feel like an idiot. I feel like, I too am "fooling" people,although I have been encouraged in my writing since grade school.It is all so strange. I also have Fibro and get Fibro fog. I know I annoy my husband with my spaciness but I try to explain I can't help it.I am hoping the doc gives me the right dose of whatever. I am on meds for depression and the Fibro. I heard the right medicine could change my life. I am hopeful.
Joann, keep in mind what Squeeze said about sleep apnea and sleep disorders. I had a sleep disorder diagnosed after the ADHD, and it was a crucial piece of the puzzle. Getting enough good sleep increases productivity, too. 
I have sleep apnea as well. Did the sleep study too. Weird connections.
Hello Dkel,
I just read your comment about the difference of men and women perceiving when they are
Qualified for a job or position.
That was very interesting. I think that there must be differences in the symptoms and how they present in girls because so many have slipped by until older or even as in my case a crisis happens and the ADHD SYMPTOMS BECOME OBVIOUS AND OFTEN UNMANAGEABLE AS IN MY CASE.
As in heart disease men were studied and medications and dosages researched on men.
The thought was everyone presented the same or similar with heart disease and therefore
Research on men would provide the information needed to treat everyone.
They now know this is all wrong ! Women are different!
Really that should not have been a surprise ! IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT MEN ARE DIFFERENT THAN WOMEN,!! Why the assumption that we should present and be treated the same.
Goodnight or morning !
Squeeze