The Forums › Forums › I Just Found Out! › My Story › 51 and just diagnosed———now on meds
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February 13, 2011 at 6:22 pm #89087
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 13, 2011 at 6:22 pmPost count: 14413Now I understand why I was different and why I did certain things to sabotage my life.
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 13, 2011 at 6:43 pm #100090welcome to the place you will learn a lot and find out that you are not alone. I just found out late last year at 47. so lots of answers in all the forms enjoy the reading.
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 13, 2011 at 8:18 pm #100091
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 13, 2011 at 8:18 pmPost count: 14413i just found out too. 43 and spent the last 15 years being treated for anxiety and depression – duh!
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 13, 2011 at 10:07 pm #100092Haven’t been diagnosed yet but, by watching the movie and reading a LOT of books on it, it seems crystal clear to me that I am ADDed too. And I’m 54! Never understood how my life was so off track all the time and why the worst options I could choose were always the ones I ended up with. How I was always told how intelligent, personable, charming, etc and how I ended up not getting to the goals I wanted to attain. On Ritalin now to come out of a major depression and I can’t believe how much clearer my mind is already and how much I’ve gotten done in the last month and a half.
Welcome to Punapaul!! You are home!!!
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:02 am #100093
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:02 amPost count: 14413Awesome, I’m just diagnosed as of last Thursday and am seeing my doctor this Thursday for my first prescription. Can hardly wait.
“m also 51….
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:30 pm #100094
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:30 pmPost count: 14413Welcome,
48 years young here and recently diagnosed…….. PP….You will never be Ignored here…… Have fun and enjoy the ride…….
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:44 pm #100095
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 24, 2011 at 1:44 pmPost count: 1441349 years old female from Norway, diagnosed some months ago. On meds, and see things clearer, but just now starting to realise the extent of ADD.
For the first time i feel home, reading testemonials (?) from others like me: I am not alone!
My 28 y o daugther is also diagnosed.
REPORT ABUSEFebruary 25, 2011 at 5:10 pm #100096
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 25, 2011 at 5:10 pmPost count: 14413Thanks everyone for your possitive comments!!!!!!!!!!!!I. I am learning to train my mind now and audit my thoughts, and am going to turn this around and be the best person I can be now!!!!!!! .And all of you are a biggggg help!!!!!!!!
I am not getting older I am getting younger!!!!!!!. You guys rule!!!!!!! REPORT ABUSEFebruary 25, 2011 at 11:00 pm #100097
AnonymousInactiveFebruary 25, 2011 at 11:00 pmPost count: 14413Yes, 51 and on my first full day with meds. Although I’m currently experiencing some nausea and vomitting, it is likely due to other factors which I detailed in the topics “my first day on meds” and “1st dose of ritalin about an hour and a half ago”. The way I worked last night and today is like a totally different person…okay, not totally different but strikingly unfamiliar. Thanks for all your posts.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 2, 2011 at 5:09 am #100098
AnonymousInactiveMarch 2, 2011 at 5:09 amPost count: 14413My first time here. I have been on meds for depression for years. I have felt this way since childhood. Couldn’t make friends, couldn’t concentrate, bad grades, always wondered why I couldn’t learn anything, bored very easily. I found out years ago I had ADD. My doctor did nothing about it. I finally switched to a therapist, she also diagnosed me with ADD, but didn’t do anything for me. I switched therapists again and she began to ask me questions like why aren’t you on something for this? She told me she did’t think it was depression, but ADD. I didn’t know it was all linked together. I really didn’t know what it was until just recently. I saw a psychiatrist, but because of my age, he didn’t want to start me on stimulants. My husband left me, now I can understand why, I had breast cancer. I will be 56 years old in March and I feel like I have been cheated out life.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 2, 2011 at 11:47 am #100099I have often said that I am my worst enemy. I now know why I have always thought that. I see that as soon as things were going ok it would seem like something would happen to set me off and quit. I now know that it is part of my adhd. having said that I will be working on ways not to sabattage my new job I got yesterday. I really hope I can keep this one . the pay and the benefits are great and the only down side is it really smells. thats why the good pay.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 2, 2011 at 5:40 pm #100100hi, I think we will have to change the name of this thread to maybe , wellcome to the forties and fiffties where adhd rocks. It is amazing how many people are out there that are just finding out. and I was just woundering how many of you were living with adhd and how many other LD , and how long have you known and how old were you when things started going wrong or diffierant. I known about forty years , just didn’t know why . for myself I have five other LD plus my adhd. so now atleast I know what I am up against and yes reading and spelling are in this group. so the next thing I would like to know is how have you couped and what have you tried . what worked and what didn’t. thanks
REPORT ABUSEMarch 2, 2011 at 10:13 pm #100101Riverblues, speaking as a former river guide (still qualified and part time work for an erratic ADDder, I idendify with you as turning 51 and just recently being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and starting a medication aspect of treatment. Currently, my psychiatrist has prohibited me from working ANY job, let alone my legal work, for a minimum of one (1) yr. After after that time and with counseling/interviews/more testing and the appropriate med combination, it appears I’m functioning at a high professional level, he “MAY” approve of a return to the work I’m trained for or for unskilled work. I’ve been on the meds now for 6 mos. and as we get the combinations more refined, the better I feel, the more I get done and the more I look forward to the future.
Ritalin for the ADD and Oxazepam (SERAX) was for the first 2 mos. and helped immensely with the ADD/Anxiety/Depression. After a couple of months on the Ritalin, if you feel you’re getting to acclimated to it or you don’t like some of the side effects, talk to your Dr. about Adderall. When I was “upgraded” to the Adderall and a bit stronger anti-anxiety med, I found my focus/concentration level, anxiety and depression to be profoundly affected positively. I’m not pushing the Adderall, though I find its chem composition to have a much “cleaner”, longer lasting effect for me throughout the day. I’m told though that Ritalin is best for some, Adderall for others.
So, best of luck from a fellow traveler and don’t underestimate how well some of the ADD meds work (contrary to what some would suggest would lead you to drug/alcohol abuse.) When I’m taking my meds regularly, I’ve no desire whatsoever to use or abuse alcohol or other drugs (Frankly, I’m surprised how well the meds don’t arouse those thoughts because 15yrs. I probably would have abused.. Bottom line is: Give the meds at least 6-12mos., upgrading/downgrading under your Dr.’s directions to find the right balance. Unless of course your Doc has a different treatment plan.
This is just my long-winded way of saying I strongly support your approach. Don’t give up on the meds, most of the side effects will pass or can be managed with something else. For some of us, the combo of meds and behavioral therapy is working, and working so well that even at our mutual ages of51, I see a strong future–maybe in different, more exciting professions. Just give the meds and the counseling/therapy time to work and then see. Don’t give up! If I can help, just let me know. To many of our friends, family, employers and other “laymen”, we ADDers are simply lazy, indecisive, unmotivated, unreliable, erratic, un-thorough–but sometimes brilliant– individuals that just can’t be figured out and certainly can’t be relied on. Thank God for the psychiatric/medical advances in recognizing the condition in adults and the continuing study of what many of us (and our families, lost relationships, employers, etc.) have suffered in the darkness for so long.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 3, 2011 at 12:36 am #100102
AnonymousInactiveMarch 3, 2011 at 12:36 amPost count: 144133 years ago, after our youngest son was diagnosed with ADHD, I convinced my oldest adult son to seek help and sure enough he was given a diagnosis of adult ADHD. While doing all the research I did for my sons, a light came on..then a sense of relief fell over me, I now understand why as a child I was a “daydreamer”, “bright but lazy”, “not trying”….and now why some days I can get so much done, and other days I can barely focus long enough to complete anything, I get so sidetracked then hyper focus on something else all together, I have to see, hear and feel anything new to learn it, and I forget things unless I write everything down. So now at 52, I too am seeking a diagnosis. Thankfully over the years I learned a routine that works for me to raise a family of 5 great kids, (2 grown and 3 still at home)… and have been so blessed to be able to be a Mom (and work) at home for 28 years. But still I await the official diagnosis, and at the very least through this journey I have answers and the tools I need to make my life a little bit easier.
REPORT ABUSEMarch 3, 2011 at 12:57 am #100103
AnonymousInactiveMarch 3, 2011 at 12:57 amPost count: 14413Myredjeep, my doctor didn’t want me to start on meds either. I almost had a nervous breakdown in his office; he could see my dissapointment. I convinced him. Saw him again today, a week later, and told him I am doing better. I hope he’s getting it. I relate to feeling regrets about my life, but i have to say, I made it to this point on my own….friggin’ hard work. It made me who I am, and I do like who I am. I hate the confusion in my life but the meds are making me hopeful that that too is going to improve. Get a second opinion. I’m hopeful for you. I’m 51…not far off from you. Good luck, and hang in there. Keep me posted.
Alfred E. Newman, aka Barrister 14, thanks so much for your thoughtful post!
The nausea and difficulties were due to a GI bug that I had for about 1 1/2 days. My wife got it a couple days later. A bunch of colleagues and kids from our work environments had it last week. It was coincidental.
The meds are helping. Not miraculously but certainly giving me hope. To tell you the truth, I can hardly tell they are doing anything, until i start winding down and catch glimpses of my old self. I’m way less distracted. My wife is yapping on the phone, full blast, about 20 feet from me as I type and I can almost totally tune her out, instead of freaking out and storming off to another room or sitting here in a daze wondering why I can’t think anymore.
I’m going to an ADD group starting tomorrow night. I’m really hopeful that I’ll get some good counsel and perhaps some coaching from them.
re self-medicating. I use to over indulge regularly. I’ve cut back the last two years but still can go overboard if my mind is racing too fast. I have no real desire to drink since starting on the meds. I’m quite surprised and happy about that. I will be discussing other medication with my doctor. I have no real bad side-effects but the meds don’t seem consistant. Also, because there is a peak and an eventual let-down I find myself changing throughout the day. I don’t know what dose is best yet, too early, but I told my doctor today that I’m taking them 3 times a day instead of his recommended 2. The worst side-effect is coming off them and becoming my confused, distracted self again. I went without a 3rd dose last night and sat in the kitchen in front of the computer accomplishing nothing, even though I was trying with all my might.
Thanks again,
Trashman, I’ve had a pretty successful career, but I have to work twice as hard as the next guy for the same results, so I’ve been burning out. I feel like a big fake, but love that I pulled it off as well as I have. I had to quit upgrading for my after-degree after my mom died last year. I had so much to do that I couldn’t keep it all straight in my head. I would put in hours a day just making lists, worrying about my next move, and freaking out over how fast time was going and how little I was getting accomplished. YOu’re right though, we do rock, don’t we. We’ve made it this far… I’m really hopeful about the coaching I’ll be getting, the fellow-ADDers I’ll be meeting, and the tools I’ll be introduced to. I’m also hopeful that I will find a dose and type of med I really flourish on.
gotta go….
nice thread..
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