Am I an anomaly here?

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry to hear about your Son.

I think it was Billd that properly mentioned that things may not be getting worse, you are now just finally taking action on the affects ADHD has on your lives. I think it is important to remember that ADHD at times can be a problem. It is also a gift as many authors have stated. I believe that in order to make it no longer a problem you have to look at all the things it does positively in your life. I am a 26 year old male. I have sat down with myself and have wrote pages and pages about all of the good things I do. All of the good thing ADHD does for me. Than I wrote all of the bad things down. I found once I have them on paper. I can actually SEE the problems. It is one thing for people without ADHD to say they have a problem and than just deal with it. I find for myself I need to have it right in front of me and than I can deal with it more accordingly.

I can not speak for any of you above. I know that we all have our struggles personally with ADHD and we all have our struggles as a whole. I may be younger but I have the same issues as all of you. I have been diagnosed since I was 7 years old. I have been on/off meds. Tried diets, excercise and all the shit in between.

My latest “invention” on dealing with ADHD goes like this:

Lets just pick one of the many problems. Memory Loss

Ok over the years I probably lost 40 shirts, 15 pairs of shorts, 23 pairs of jeans. Pens, Pencils, Dogs, Phones, Cars ( yes I said cars) I know that is a bit much.

So What Do I do about this problem.

1. I write down the problem. ie. forgetting my phone in the car.

2. What can I do with my life to help me remember my phone

3. I can write it down in my notebook but I may forget to look in it. So this won’t work.

4. What if I leave my phone inbetween my legs.

5. What if I leave it on my leg and that way I feel it there and will not forget it.

You see now that I have written down a solution and really looked at it than I can actually try and do it.

If I had of just thought all of this than I would forget about it.

This takes time to do and may be annoying to a lot of people. My mind is relaxed when I am doing this because of my medication. If I was not on my meds I could never sit down and do this.

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[Anonymous]

Hello. I’m brand new to these blogs and reading like mad. I was attracted to your title about being an anomaly because I’m not certain I have what is collectively known as ADD yet. I’m trying to take the logical steps but since I’m 50 and male – – well I kinda keep talking to myself the way one wrote about their family doctor. If you’ve been able to get this far fairly successfully, why aren’t you just you? I think most of you probably know how heavy that 500 pound gorilla on your shoulders really is and what it’s done to your self esteem all these years. I’ve been divorced and hurt important people in my life. And most recently, I’ve had a boss that could see through me like none other… wrote me up and counseled me for 6 months. Threatened to fire me. I first explored issues of sleep deprivation and found I was suffering some sleep apnea issues. That has helped with memory some, but it certainly isn’t all of it. And now… I’ve re-married and am adopting two wonderful little girls, one who as sprightly and delightful as she is, has been a handful and started acting out in school. (kindergarten and first grade) And now with the threat of her being “fired” we’ve sought counseling and she’s been diagnosed. I can no longer deny how much of me I see in her but have been confounded by the lack of “hyper” in my life until recently discovering the “inattentive sub type.” Now I have the box that I mostly fit into and must get out there and try to do something about it. My iPhone has been an awesome tool for keeping lists and reminders. Can’t live without it. Al lthe more reason to try meds I guess. Now my son from my first marriage, now in college, is thinking he has similar issues. (sigh) What I would have thought of as making excuses for oneself is rapidly becoming a real set of symptoms for me. Thank GOD for having seen this video on PBS. I’ve loved Red Green for years but never would’ve guessed why. Perhaps some “language” exists within this humor that we all pick up on sub-consciously??? (Okay – now I’ve written something I better make that appointment!)

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[Anonymous]

LindaVB19,

I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your son. I work with primarily with 6 to 7 year olds in special ed (but I will let a few ‘old’ 8 year olds sneak in) and I always worry that one of my little ones might not make it back the next year. (I have two students that I now carry around in my heart.)

Anyway, age does affect us. I’m shortly going to be 56 and I noticed a big change to my ‘faculties’ when the hormones departed.

Just today I was in to see the doctor on my way home from school. She had ordered an EKG and the nurse had put a copy of it in my file. My doctor looked at it and then to me and said, “Did I order this????” I laughed and told her that she indeed had and only 1 week ago when I saw her last.

I winked at her and told her not to worry, her forgetfulness was safe with me as long as my forgetfulness was safe with her. We’ve been together as doctor/patient for many, many years and have passed through many of the milestones of womenhood together!

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[bethshomeschool]

You are definitely not an anomaly. I am so very sorry about the loss of your little boy. I lost a baby girl 22 years ago and it still hurts, and I believe will always make everything even harder. I wasn’t diagnosed back then and often wonder if I had been if I would have done things differently. My husband also has ADD and he doesn’t do anything to manage it other than to drink a lot of coffee, nor do I as I have health issues, I have taken ridalin for long days at work, but lost my job after having some health problems and wonder if a lot of my health problems are due to poor impulse control and inability to follow a diet. I also suffer from depression and anxiety and the older I get the worse I feel, and function. This is my first response to anyone on these boards Linda, I just felt like I had to reach out my hand to you, to let you know you aren’t alone. <3
Beth

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[blackdog]

@bethshomeschool

You are very kind to want to reach out like that. I noticed though that the post from @LindaVB19 was in 2011, so I don’t know if she is still around. Hopefully she will see your message.

I am sorry about your little girl. The hurt may never go away but I hope you have some peace and have been able to find joy in life.

I know what you mean about poor impulse control leading to health problems. I don’t think I eat a horrible diet overall, but I do have trouble sticking to any sort of plan. I eat mostly on impulse, whatever happens to catch my eye when I open the fridge, or whatever I “feel” like having. And I’ll be doing really well, eating lots of healthy stuff, and then sit down and eat a whole bag of chips without even thinking. And then I feel yucky and I think “why did I do that?”

I hope you will be able to find something that works for you. Just don’t give up, keep trying.

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[bethshomeschool]

Blackdog,
Thanks for the heads up I definitely didn’t notice the date :o)
I usually start the day on a diet and literally forget about it during the evening. I also have impulse control around chocolate, especially those cadbury eggs this time of year. I buy them believing I’ll be sharing them with my college age kids but lose track of how much I have eaten and usually there is nothing left to offer them.
Not good as I have type 2 diabetes.

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[blackdog]

LOL 🙂

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that. I notice the dates a little more here because I am on here every day so I can see when something is out of place. But I have spent countless hours typing up responses to forum posts or comments on blogs only to notice after that they are years old.

I’m on the same diet as you, the one where you only diet for 3/4 of the day and then you’re done until you start your new diet the next day.

Do be careful about the sugar though. I know it’s hard but it’s better than the alternative.

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[Author]

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