Is there anyone else who can relate to this description?

[Anonymous]

I’m 42 years old & just found out about 6 mouths ago. I MEEN I REALY KNOW NOW. “I know I fit the clinical definition”. So iv learned a lot in this short peraed of time asoeated with having ADHD. Some by following the forums here. Some from CHADD & some from the psychologist I found. “I’m very lucky to have gotten one of the best. Well here it gos, does any of you have an exsteamly poor working/short MEMMERY I meen realy bad & or siver dyslexia, can’t really use a computer & is learning disabled ? But I’m sure u figured that last one out by now LOL. By the way it took me about an hr & a half to right this & I did it in the lounge area of a funeral home when whale there was no vowings going on. Don’t worry I’m in the Aquarium business & they’r a customer of mine.

REPORT ABUSE

[billd]

>>does any of you have an exsteamly poor working/short MEMMERY I meen realy bad <<

R U kidding me? PoorMemory is my middle name. I mean SO bad, all through the day, from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

I can’t remember something I sat down on a table 2 minutes ago. I walk out the door without shoes, I go to the store for milk and walk out with bread. I park my car in a Menards or WalMart parking lot, and come out of the store 20 minutes later and have no clue where my car is, at times forgetting which car I drove.

My mother referred to me as the “absent minded professor”.

My wife says “can’t you remember ANYTHING?”

Uh, no.

REPORT ABUSE

[kc5jck]

We must think that such things are not important in the grand scheme of things and feel they are not worth remembering. So how many things do you remember about Star Trek or a 4bbl carburator?

REPORT ABUSE

[Gary]

Short term memory has always been a problem for me as well. I liken it to having so much “noise” in my head that the memeory of actions such as Billd mentioned are lost in the clutter of the noise.

I read somewhere that ADHD people can’t really prioritize information as it comes in, it’s like listening to every station on the radio – at the same time – at the same volume, all the information has the same “weight”, therefore none of it “stands out”. I think that’s why I forget where I left my glasses, the assignment I was given at work… on and on… 30 seconds after it happened.

I look at it in a 3D analogy- “normies” can prioritize information as they get it – some things have to be done right now, those go to the front of the line – others can wait, or no action needs to be taken, those to the rear. In this fashion, there’s a 3D dimensionality to the structure.

IFor me, everything comes in at the same level – there’s no “depth” to the importance, therefore where I placed my car keys is no more important than turning off the bathroom light, or deciding what to wear, or whether I fed the cats….Uhm, what was it I was doing before???

Dang, here we go again … hide and seek.

REPORT ABUSE

[caper]

I find memory practice helps (try n-back on cognifivefun.net) as well as dexamphetamine.

REPORT ABUSE

[Saffron]

I use my auditory memory to keep things in my head for a minute or two (e.g., I say out loud “I’m putting my keys on the counter.”) Works well.

I write down *everything* that needs to be recorded for longer than that.

REPORT ABUSE

[billd]

ALL very good replies so i won’t address each. Very well said. And good tips all. I told my wife long ago that she’d hear me repeating things, even re-wording in my own words for better understanding. And yes, me saying it often helps, NOT always! But enough to make it worth it.

I write things down – and this is a fact, it got SO bad, I had paper and notes all over. Finally, my wife and a neighbor who helps clean, put a box that was about 6″ x 8″ x 4″ tall on my dresser and put all that stuff in it. Guess what – it was over-flowing! Stuff was falling out. So I sat the other night and sorted through it all. Over half went into the trash, and some of the other – I had my laptop and my phone with me and started organizing, adding contact info into my phone, and downloaded a droid notepad all, a reminder app and all and started organizing. The box is gone and it’s now down to a small bowl of smaller items to go through (or toss)

Gary really described how I feel about it – that was really well said! Thanks a lot, I love that and will use it again when others need to know what makes me tick – and why I forget.

Trivia – don’t even try to beat me at some trivia stuff. I don’t know much in some areas – areas that were not of interest to me when growing up, forget it. IF I was interested, you don’t stand a chance.

And the things I remember about certain cars and parts is amazing.

I have no idea what I had for lunch yesterday. I’m going to run out at noon and do a bit of shopping – can’t remember what for but think I wrote it into my phone the other day………. I hope. I just recall that I was going to go out shopping.

What do you want to know about a 1964 Holley 4bbl carb?

Which Star Trek character or series or episode?

There are times I think the meds aren’t really helping at all, and yet, a month ago, I wasn’t even interested in getting organized, notes and reminders in my phone, cleaning out that box, or finishing my shop.

REPORT ABUSE

[kc5jck]

It’s like normal people have a note pad and take notes. When the page is filled, they turn the page and continue. Notes are all sequential and in order.

ADHD people have postits. New idea or request? Write it on a postit and stick it on some random space on the wall, if you can find one.

REPORT ABUSE

[Outoftune]

Yes!

I feel like I have to lassoo my thoughts just to keep them from floating up and away. It’s like I only get so much time with each thought before I feel it slipping away.

REPORT ABUSE

[Pallist]

I just found out this year, as well, right before my 45th b-day. I can work on a computer okay but spellcheck needs to be on. I was also called “the absent-minded professor” (among other things) when I was young and now I still haven’t learned how to keep my keys where I can find them. Last week I lost a prized watch and left the chicken that I was going to cut for lunch out on the table because I was running late (as usual) to work. Had to throw it away when I got back home 8 hours later…

So I guess what I’m saying is yes, I can totally relate. (uh oh gotta run and I can’t find my shoes!!!)

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I got a chuckle out of some of the responses… When I was in high school my friends referred to me as an “absent-minded professor”. I could learn lots of facts about all kinds of various things, but could never remember where I put my drink, my book, or what time I was supposed to arrive for.

I had to make sure everything was a habit: I needed to leave my keys and school stuff in the same place every day, make lists, and carry a notepad so I could refer to it so I wouldn’t forget anything. It helped a bit, but I never considered having this condition until my late 20s!

REPORT ABUSE

[trashman]

*I have trouble remembering my own name some days and on those days don’t even ask me how to spell it.lol when I ask my doctor about my bad memory she just smiles and says you are so adhd. and then she tells me its ok and its normal for people like me to have these struggles.

REPORT ABUSE

[billd]

Pallist – we went shopping before thanksgiving. Bought a frozen turkey among several other frozen items. We used 3 green bags. I carried them in, 1 stayed upstairs and my wife put that stuff away in the cupboards. I took the other TWO downstairs to put the frozen things away (two freezers, veggies and stuff in one, meat in the other. I sat the one green bag down on the north side of the room next to that freezer, and the other I carried over to the veggie freezer and put the veggies away.

I took the green back upstairs, retreived the green bag my wife emptied and was taking them back out to the car when I asked her where the third green bag was. She’d not seen it, we didn’t find it, so I took those two out.

Next day she went to work and I took a day of vacation to work in my shop. I was upstairs in my woodshop when I heard her come into my shop downstairs and she was NOT a happy camper, she was furious and stormed up the stairs and confronted me:

“what the #@$% was that $#%^ turkey doing in the freezer room still in the bag on the floor”

OH $@#%^!!!!!!!!! It was ME! That was the 3rd green bag I could not find. I’d set that frozen meat and turkey down, and totally forget we even had it, let alone where it was……

Honestly, when I came back upstairs 24 hours earlier, I didn’t even think about a turkey. I didn’t recall having TWO bags of stuff to put away. I did the one and figured I was done.

There went the thanksgiving turkey………….

I was in an accident with my 4×4 truck – rear-ended by a semi. He totally blamed me and was furious and threw a punch that knocked me loopy for a bit. Troopers arrived and started taking down info. Of course he had his say first and was pretty convincing that I started it all and threw the first punch (in all honesty, I’ve never hit anyone in my life, not even in school, I never have thrown a punch and my fist has never made contact with another human – not even with a wall! I just don’t do that. I may have “anger issues” but it’s all verbal and very short-lived. I”ve never in my life been physical, I don’t even throw things.)

The troopers approached me and started asking questions. Guess what………. they wanted my home address and phone number, I transposed a couple of numbers in the address (it’s got numbers that are VERY easy to do that to) and I could not for the life of me remember my phone number. That happens even in a very ordinary day, but the stress of the situation made it worse. The trooper was totally PO’d and accused me of lying and being uncooperative. I said no, honest, it would come to me in a few seconds, but I couldn’t remember it at that exact second. He simply could not believe that a person could not remember their own phone number.

So his “retaliation” was a letter in the mail the following week that said I had to take the driving tests all over again to keep my license.

That was only a minor annoyance really as I always ace those tests, I never miss a question and even the actual driving, when it’s a test, i’m the perfect driver.

I took the written test, passed with no missed questions, took the driving test, finished that with no issues, and was on my way.

REPORT ABUSE

[kc5jck]

Sometimes when reading, I’ll start reading a paragraph and after the first sentence or two, skip to the last sentence of the paragraph and start reading more or less random words and phrases going backwards towards the top of the paragraph.

Does anyone else find this normal?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

ke5jck i do that often, why? laughs … normal .. on this site that is ‘normal’ felice navidad

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts