Re: New professional career and having concentration problems!

[Anonymous]

Actually – one nurse to another . . . I was recently diagnosed at the age of 42. Excelled in school (because I loved it) as a child. . . but chronically messy and disorganized (always thought my brother just got all the ‘neatness” genes. . .

If you try a trial of a stimulant . . . and it calms you down . . . That’s the ADD brain chemistry !! Counter-intuitive – I know . . .but it is true. For 10 years I had attributed my chronic disorganization and other issues in my life to my depression diagnosis. . .only to figure out that I had not had a depressive relapse in 2 years but was having significant problems functioning at work with a promotion to a middle management position in health care with 100 emails a day and managing 6 programs. After being so high functioning in academia – I was falling apart with the basics (email, voicemail, carrying forward on committments. . .)

My son was diagnosed 2 years ago . . .his father was diagnosed 6 month before that . . . so we attributed the genetic link to the paternal side of the family. I was over looked – because compared to them – I was the organized one.

My job at work was close to being on the line. . so I as I was learning more about reading about ADHD for my son’s sake. . .I was recognizing more and more of the problems I was having. So I pulled a screening checklist off of CADDRA . . . and imagine that – I had many of the ADD traits.

So I trialed Concerta from my son’s meds for a week – and they made such an instant difference in my life, mind, concentration, patientce etc. . . that I went to my family doc after only four days with the screening tool and told him what I had done and what a difference it had made in my life. So – I was off to a psychiatrist for the formal diagnosis and dose titration. Although I am still working on the dose and timing right now – it had improved my work life by 75%.

To tie up the last 25% – I have just engaged with a ADD Coach to work on changing the dysfunctional work strategies into ADD friendly ones.

DO yourself a favor – pull off a screening tool – and take it to your family doc. Trial the meds. . . They are short acting – you know if they are working or not after a very short time . . .

If you are nervous – try the meds out on a Saturday first – so you know how they affect you. With COncerta and an ADD brain – if you get sedated – you have too much. . . if you feel calmer and more focused – it is working.

It has made a huge difference in my professional life and my parenting skills (patience) with my ADHD son . . .

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