A.D.D. /A.D.H.D .. support group

[morningstar55]

I know I have ADHD well im sure the ADD is all the same....... as mentioned in this news link.....
I been tested for this and know I have this.... How many here have this???
How do you cope??
one of my best friends is always trying to get me to get on meds for it... but im afrraid of taking chemical type drugs.... isnt that what it is???
im trying to find more natural ways of dealing with some of this , if any one has suggestions /ideas would love to hear them....
How do you handle it???

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...0-c4494d69b4a6

[morningstar55]

alrighty now........ i seee there has been a lot of peekers but no one posting there 2cents.... heh ... well thats ok.......
here is something id like to share.......
i read 2 books by Terry Bradshaw ..... whom talks about his ADD/ADHD and how he has handled it and handles it now..... he talks about it on a serious note.. jokes about it and lets you know the good advantages of having ADD/ADHD .. lol
here is a link to check it all out.....
http://www.adderworld.com/blog1/2008...erry-bradshaw/
1st time i read one of his books on this...... and read how much of the same things he went and goes thru , is the same things I have and still go thru just brought tears to my eyes...... cause here is someone whom is in the spotlight and openly talks about it ..... and ha keeps a humorus out look on himself and this crazy ADD thing.
I hear Cher has this too........ but i have not heard much from her talking about it.... anyways hope some here enjoy the Bradshaw link.... later gators

here is a link to one of his books where he talks about this..
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=keeping+it+simple%2Cterry+bradshaw"]Amazon.com: keeping it simple,terry bradshaw: Books[/ame]

[Rockinonahigh]

This runs in my family,I have it and both my sons have it to some degree,When I was a kid they didnt hahve meds for this so my grandfloks just kept my over active mind and hands bisy and becomeing an adult I just still manage the goofy things that happen..I gess the thing that really buggs me is when I lose my thoughts in th middle of somethig or cant keep my attention where it needs to be.One othe thing is I can type or wright things out more clearly than I often can talk about it.

[morningstar55]

I hear ya Rock ........ i dont like the the side effects im finding with the meds for this.

[Rockinonahigh]

Im not on any meds and dont plan to be for the or add or adhd cause I have see ppl on this junk and they go around spaced out,I told some one who commented on the sorta confused look I get when it hits...I got the dumb look dealing with the real world who just dosent get it and prolly never wiil.In school as a kid the teachers said I was just slow and didnt comprehend whats going on,I went to summer school a lot cause it was a one on one thing so I understood more cauer I felt I could ask questions on how to understand the work with out the crap of school in real life..mom wouldnt put me in special edd cause she said I just didnt apply my self like I should have.

[morningstar55]

... i have a nephew whom is ADHD .... docs wanted to put him on meds...
my brother and his wife...... said noo way , not doping up our kid....
soo they just keep him busy , he is in various sports which takes up a lot of his time.. and seems to help a lot.....

[Diva]

I have not been diagnosed, but having taught in the public school systems for over 25 years, I know I am quite the ADD wonder....

Oh look....there's a chicken!


And no. Diva will not do the ADD Drugs.

[morningstar55]

Originally Posted by Diva

I have not been diagnosed, but having taught in the public school systems for over 25 years, I know I am quite the ADD wonder....

Oh look....there's a chicken!


And no. Diva will not do the ADD Drugs.

hahaha........ yep thats me too..... i get side tracted easy...
and in middle of conversations....... omg. im not rude just well...... looking for that chicken....... lol lol
i have read and heard to many side effects with the drugs....
and like terry Bradshaw stated in his book.....
he tired the meds.... took himself off it.....
he said...... **rather have others put up with his goofyness , better then being on the meds.**
they made him have mood swings and want to sleep all the time.
and i know for ......... Me........ i dont want to sleep my life away.

[Rockinonahigh]

I had one of those dumb ADD moment this week,I had to mail somethig off so I sat down an addresed the envelope..I did it back wards and sent it to myself,I didnt realise it untill it came back in the mail..such a dork...my mind was going about a hundred miles an hour at the time.

[DressyFemme]

I've had Adult ADHD combined type (both inattentive and hyperactive) since 2005. At first, I thought my increasing problems at work as an admin assistant (disorganization, forgetting information and where I put files, losing my car keys, forgetting names, problems with prioritization, multitasking, pile-making) were due to a drop in estrogen due to my 2002 total hysterectomy, so I asked my ob-gyn for more hormones for forgetfulness... he said he wanted me to see a neurologist instead for an organic brain scan which scared me half to death. But my psychologist I saw for 13 years, when she heard my symptoms, wisely referred me to a psychiatrist specializing in adult learning disabilities and cognitive difficulties as she thought it was more cognitive in nature. All this after 7 years of flawless work performance. It was heartbreaking and I felt totally clueless as to what was going on and scared half to death.

then a friend of mine from BF dinner group here in town and I were talking one evening about my symptoms. She said "That's how I used to be before I took Ritalin for my A.D.H.D. I'm much better now and function almost normally in everyday society." It hit me like aton of bricks and being the social worker I am I plunged head first into weeks of reading, visits to my local bookstore and Internet research.... recognizing my symptoms the more I read...

It took the psychiatrist a few months to determine whether it was my depression or actual A.D.H.D., but one thing that made the difference between a "think so" and diagnosis was that I had maintained contact with my first grade teacher all these years. A.D.H.D. usually doesn't begin in adulthood and is present throughout childhood as well, so I thought if I asked her, I might get a good perspective on what I was like as a student at that age (I remember procrastinating on work at age 7 and wondered if I had had problems as a student but didn't remember them). She told me if she had known in 1978 what she knows now about A.D.H.D. as a tenured teacher she would have requested that I be tested! Brought this into the psych along with many, many lists of forgotten items, took several diagnostic tests, etc. and eventually I was diagnosed and put on 120 mg. strattera, which is a non-stimulant drug recently developed for the condition and used often for those with addictive personalities in place of the other drugs commonly used like Ritalin, Concerta, etc. The only side effect has been dry mouth, but I've learned to handle it with gum and drinking fluids all day.

Although my work issues continued despite medication (which weren't helped by a crazy b*tch of a boss) things got a lot better at home and socially. I did eventually lose my job of 9 years which was attributed to my not performing up to standard. This work situation was also made worse by the loss of my mother the year before I was terminated. All of this was a devastating blow and it took 2 years of gaining other job experience enough to put the nightmare behind me. I'm now working at a job I love (social worker, which is what I originally trained for in school) and doing well at it.... which I consider a gift from God. I just had a great job review, and they are hoping to make me full time soon. I am learning, a day at a time, to manage my symptoms with the help of an ADD coach and therapy... and networking with other like-minded folks online. It's no longer the death sentence it once seemed.

Daily coping skills I use include to do lists, deadline tracking, keeping notes/fact sheets posted on my walls where I can see them and hiring a personal organizer/cleaner to help me organize my house (one room at a time). I also make sure I meet with my boss on a regular basis to review my priorities, and any issues that come up now get addressed right away, instead of getting "sudden surprises" at review time.

I am also thinking of writing a book about surviving unemployment/finding work for ADHD folks. Most of the ADHD books out there focus on ADHD *on* the job, and the books on "finding a job when you have a disability" mostly focus on physical, NOT mental, disabilities. Which is a shame considering how prevalent ADHD is and how so many undiagnosed - and diagnosed - ADHD folks have so many problems in their careers. I have an outline for the book already and am planning to go full steam ahead when I go full-time at work.

Great topic, Morningstar! You rawk, grrlfriend!

DressyFemme

[Nat]

I wish I'd had meds when I was a kid because I missed a lot of what was going on in class. I still did fine until I got to college and discovered I hadn't developed any study skills.

If you are totally anti-med, regular exercise is supposed to do a really great job of regulating ADHD brain chemistry. It also helps regulate the stress that comes from living with ADHD.

Also, I noticed about a year ago that simple carbs worsen my symptoms. When I'm being super-healthy, my mind works better. Then add me some sugar, and I my brain just spazzes out immediately.

If I could afford it, I'd get myself an ADHD coach. There are some good free podcasts out there. Oh, and a maid and professional organizer too, while I'm dreaming.

[morningstar55]

How do you know if YOU have ADD or ADHD ??
here is a link for a quick test.......

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...9979&gt1=31001

Celebrities With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
These celebs managed to thrive despite their diagnosis.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...ntid=100251011

ADHD Affects Women Differently: What to Look For and How to Fix It
Millions of adults suffer from this so-called kid's condition that can cause memory problems, depression, and more. Are you one of them? Here's how to find out.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...ntid=100251020

[morningstar55]

Video news report about ADHD

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...f-e51f9aced756

[Rockinonahigh]

OHHHH my have i been haveing one of those days I wish I didnt have at all,yep u got it brain fog,its sorta like watching tv ad the station loseing the link so u get this crazy static thingy.I know on the days I work out it rarely happends..to me its seems to have something to do with my oxygen intake cause I do deep breathig exersises and am doing hard physical work outs wich us more oxygen,the days like today wich it has been really bad storms I havent been able to work out at all cause all my equipment is on the paito and I have a big adverson of geting struck by lightning while rideing my exresise bike in the rain...heck it my jiust be what I need a huge jolt to rewire it all.Any ways I didnt sleep will either cause of my allergys stuffing up my nose so I didnt get to sleep till 4am.I do know sleeping well as well as exersiseing then keeping my diet as healthy as I can helps a lot.Another thig..I take a fue meds for asthma,arthritis and acid reflux...I make shure to get the doc to make shure it dosent have anything that can make me sleepy or have any nero type side effects so I can stay as clear minded as possable.I do have some pain meds and muscel relaxers for my back when I need them but I gotta be dieing before I take any.

[Gráinne]

Bumping this thread, as after nearly 50 years on the planet, I now know what is going on with me. I'm not "stupid", "unmotivated", "not applying myself", "ditzy", or especially "special education". I have ADD.

What happened was that my son can not remember the nose on his face to save his life, I haven't seen the floor of his room for a year, and he's brilliant but does his homework in a way only he understands. So, on a hunch, I took him to a child psychologist for evaluation. As she asked him questions, I found myself thinking "That was me" or "Yeah, me too". So I got myself evaluated. Now I know why I do the things I do, and why I make my life so hard. I'm not crazy or some kind of failure. The counselor pointed out that I'd finished college and a masters' degree, and raised my kids in the best way I knew. I'd coped around ADD without knowing it.

The good news for both my son and I is that the problems can be addressed, and how fortunate for my son that schools know something about this and won't lump him as "slow", "stupid", "slob". Back when I was his age, ADD was unheard of, and it was a moral failing that my desk was a mess, I forgot slips and homework, and I'd lose mittens, my jacket, library books. Now we both have a lot of work to do, but at least I can work with myself and not fight it.

A great book: The ADD-Friendly Way to Organize Your Life, by Kolberg and Nadeau. I found it today at B&N.

[ButchEire]

Thanks for bumping. I have severe (diagnosed at age 31) ADHD and only made it through my undergraduate degree by literally rewriting my textbooks. Needless to say I went through several hundred notebooks (rewriting helped slow my reading and improved my retention) but I knew I couldn't continue on to a graduate level with this way of learning. I shut the notebooks and stopped studying (which never worked anyway) and graduated with a 3.9gpa. I applied the same practice in graduate work and also achieved a 3.9gpa. I not so proudly tell people that i've honestly never read a book, because I can't. I can read just fine and oddly enough, i'm a writer. I can't read however and "see" the picture that I understand other people form when they read a good book. Movies are my godsend and without them, i'd never have anything visual to go with a story. I can read an entire novel and never see the picture, never follow the story and couldn't tell you what it's about. Oh, I also lose my car regularly in parking lots,lol.

[kannon]

Originally Posted by guihong

Bumping this thread, as after nearly 50 years on the planet, I now know what is going on with me. I'm not "stupid", "unmotivated", "not applying myself", "ditzy", or especially "special education". I have ADD.

What happened was that my son can not remember the nose on his face to save his life, I haven't seen the floor of his room for a year, and he's brilliant but does his homework in a way only he understands. So, on a hunch, I took him to a child psychologist for evaluation. As she asked him questions, I found myself thinking "That was me" or "Yeah, me too". So I got myself evaluated. Now I know why I do the things I do, and why I make my life so hard. I'm not crazy or some kind of failure. The counselor pointed out that I'd finished college and a masters' degree, and raised my kids in the best way I knew. I'd coped around ADD without knowing it.

The good news for both my son and I is that the problems can be addressed, and how fortunate for my son that schools know something about this and won't lump him as "slow", "stupid", "slob". Back when I was his age, ADD was unheard of, and it was a moral failing that my desk was a mess, I forgot slips and homework, and I'd lose mittens, my jacket, library books. Now we both have a lot of work to do, but at least I can work with myself and not fight it.

A great book: The ADD-Friendly Way to Organize Your Life, by Kolberg and Nadeau. I found it today at B&N.

Thanks for this link.

[kannon]

People with ADHD are different thinker, not stupid. I took the WAIS and scored like 149 on the perceptual reasoning index (top 1 percentile). I scored below average ( 98) on the processing speed index (timed test that demands high concentration). This is why I lose stuff or forget what I was doing and get sidetracked. I always have like 5 or 6 projects going on at the same time. I've gotten better at finishing projects. I still have many that get abandoned. I don't take meds but I exercise and I take ginseng. I have different gadgets and people(daily planner, smart phone, friends and family) to keep me on track. ADHD can be difficult but manageable.

[morningstar55]

wow good morning planet dwellers
ha...... ty for bumping ..... i forgot all about this thread.. lol
and wow ..... very interesting stories. ty all for sharing