Confusing…

[Anonymous]

I was diagnosed with ADHD at around 4 or 5. I had the opportunity to grow up outside a small, forgiving town. Living on a ranch helped too; helped me learn responsibility (although it took some time and doing). I always struggled with ADHD, but more so the hyperactivity, and impulsiveness, that is not to say it was not a struggle to concentrate though. Even so from kindergarten through today, I’ve been an honor roll student. On my report cards i never got a D or F. I rarely got C’s, and infrequently got B’s. In class all the kids would sit around me and copy off my paper because they knew 9 times out of 10 I was right. The teachers either loved me or hated my guts; there was no in between. Many of them were understanding of my condition, but it was the ones who didn’t gave me trouble. Throughout my schooling it got hard to concentrate, I’d do stupid things, but I still had great friends. Granted some of them were weird, and to this day are, but for the most part I was pretty popular. I still got in a mess of trouble though, I bounced around between a couple small schools, dealt with suspensions and expulsions. In 7th grade I left traditional school for reasons unrelated to my ADHD. I was enrolled in a charter school where I went one day a week to classes and met with my teacher. The school was great, and I got to take welding, which I became pretty good in; later on I actually went back and was TA in that class. Fast forward to highschool. Still going to the same charter school, because it is K-12. I’m shy and awkward and scared people will find out my secret and ridicule me for the next four years. I found that was not the case. I made some friends, but it took lots of time, and patience on their parts. I am now 17 and a proud outgoing senior. My fall semester grades were 5 A’s and 3 B’s.

Anyways enough rambling, down to why I’m here. I have found good ways to cope with my ADHD. But in August I was taken off my medication, which hadn’t been working for the last 2 years. It was a big leap for me. Now in my waning days as a senior, I find my ADHD rearing its head again. I procrastinate, even on a schedule. I get overly hyper. Yesterday in PE I was ridiculed and called hyper and rabid, something that had NEVER happened to me before. Granted I had been hyper, but still not in public. I don’t know when I get hyper, and I am afraid that I will never know, because to me its normal. People have always described me as hyper, enthusiastic, and exuberant; things my baseball coach and PE teacher love, because it kind of starts the energy flowing, but the teachers hate it. I am a slob with a mind set of “I’ll do it later”. In the end I stay up Monday and Thursday nights (I go to some classes Tuesday and the others Friday) doing a weeks worth of work and in some case a month. I can hyperfocus very well, but usually only during crunch times like that, wherein I can get through more stuff than normal people and retain 95% of it. I would like to go into the Army National Guard, and one day be a sheriffs deputy, but I am concerned that procrastination will be the death of me. Currently I cannot go into the ARNG due to my recently disposed of medication, and my schools status as a “Tier 2” school. I have no clue what to do. I refuse councilor help any more, because they do not get to the root of the problem and the fact is most of them do not understand. I was hoping someone with ADHD could help me.

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[kc5jck]

I’m no expert. What I know is from this site and a couple of books. I would say you definitely need to be back on some medication. Sometimes the meds quit working and you either have to up the dose or switch to something else. From what I read in your post, which is a very good one, I think the right med will allow you to get back on track with everything.

The problem is, if you want to get into the military, you have to be off meds for, I think, four years. This may have changed. Your grades will certainly help with whatever you decide to do. I grew up in a small town and was well known. I would bet that if I had wanted to work with their law enforcement, I could have taken some classes at the junior college and gotten help in getting a job. You might try working as a security guard to get some experience. I think coaches and teachers who like you would be happy to act as references.

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[Anonymous]

The problem is, I went to multiple doctors and they said there is nothing they can give me. I took Concerta 72 MG, with 1MG of Tenex. Before that the doctors tried every mix and match of medication they had. The last thing they gave me was Wellbutrin, which gave me a mean streak a mile wide, along with making me zone out and sleep through everyone of my classes. My mom is trying to put me back into Councillor, and spent an hour on the phone talking bad about me to the Councillor. Stuff like how I won’t cut wood to make money for myself, even though I do yard work for neighbors to earn money. She wants it to be a fix-all for trivial issues that bug her. Not what helps me out, but what makes mom happy. If she had her way, I feel that I would be dosed up the hilt on medication.

I have no clue what to do anymore.

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