Hi all,
I’m an ADDer, in my early 30s, living in Toronto. I was first diagnosed as a teen (in about 1994 or so), and have been to a specialist or two since then (in fact, I received some very helpful and inspiring counseling by Dr Jain in my early 20s – big thanks Dr J, as your insights still help me to this day). The last time that I was on medication was about 1995 or so (I was initially put on Ritalin and later on Dexedrine). I say ‘put’ on Ritalin/Dexedrine because I was a teen at the time and really not all that aware of myself and of what ADD really was. I was; however, aware that I was having trouble with school and not achieving anywhere near to what my full potential was. I was simply responding to the desires and actions of my, no doubt, very frustrated parents at the time. Go to see the doctor, fill out some forms, talk about my shortcomings, listen to what the doctor has to say, take the medication he tells you to take, repeat.
The past 15 or so years of living ‘sans medication’ has been okay. Decided to finally go to college some 4 years after highschool ended. Did well in college despite my ADD… I even won an achievement award! Graduated college, then eventually got a decent job related to my college studies. And all along the way, I’ve had some successes, some failures. I’ve managed my ADD by turning to a combo of education (including reading the wonderful ‘Delivered from Distraction’ by Dr Hallowell), nutrition (take Omega-3 supplements each morning), exercise (I’ve always been a gym rat, and have recently taken up running) and self-awareness (I know that I boast the hallmarks of ADD-inattentive type). For the most part, these things have all helped tremendously in keeping my head above the water. But that’s it. At this point, I often feel like that’s what I’ve been doing over the past 15 years. Treading water. I haven’t drowned; but I’m not swimming to shore – or for that matter, doing the front crawl, the butterfly or the backstroke. I’ve always felt like I’ve been running to catch up with everyone. Overcompensating for one’s ‘quirks’ can be utterly exhausting sometimes – mentally and physically.
I’ve come to a point where I’m entertaining the idea of trying medication again. This time, as an ADDult, with more awareness, education and hopefully more conviction (I’ve always feared the idea of medication after stopping it years ago).
So back to my original point… does anyone know of any ADD/ADHD specialists in Toronto?
Hahahaaa. Good golly, if this post isn’t telling of ADDer’s trouble with getting to the point, I don’t know what is;)
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