Could I have ADHD Inattentive?

[Anonymous]

Alright, my last post was way to long and had this whole life story in it. But to sum it up I am fairly certain I have adhd-pi. I’m 14 by the way.

And although my mom has already put calling the doctors to make an appointment on the list (I’ve been nagging her all week about it) I would like to hear your thoughts. Over the past week I’ve constructed a list of things I think are related to what I believe I have. I’d appreciate if you read most or all of these even though it probably looks like a huge list.

-There seems to always be music playing in my head. Because of this I’m always tapping feet/hands or “clicking” my teeth together. Like the back teeth make lower sounds and the front ones make higher wounds. It’s weird I know.

-Getting sidetracked, I forget what i was talking about because I was distracted and I’ll usually take a second then remember.

-ALWAYS on the computer watching youtube or playing video games (I built a gaming computer). About 90% of my time is on this thing. I’ll play a game for a while then get bored of it and play another. I’ll revisit old games and get addicted again, the cycle continues

-I have my own world I’m in a lot. Infinite possibilities. It’s awesome.

-Sometimes I will read words and just completely not comprehend them at all so I go back and reread and usually get it.

-It’s always onto the next thought. I don’t really like staying on the same thought for a long time unless its a captivating one.

-I will notice everything upon entering a room but only pay attention to the most interesting thing (unless its the first day of school or something and I need to pay attention to the teacher or something.)

-Always forgetting my phone and sunglasses and such. When I was younger I would walk away from a store then remember I forgot my phone on a shelf where I put it down

-Sprite is amazing (stimulant-ish?). Period.

-Standing there watering plants. For 15 seconds at a time. For 15 minutes. Drives me insane I dread it.

-Waiting for videos to buffer/webpages to load drives me nuts.

-This is a big one I think. I always play out these impossible scenarios in my head. Like some guy walks up to me and swings at me. I dodge… These whole short “movies” play out.

-Just noticed this but forgot to post it (oh the irony!). I go to bed very late staying up all hours of the night on the computer. i’m walking normally 4:30 in the morning. The only way I can fall asleep is by sitting there with my iPhone and watching videos until I’m tired. If I’m not feeling tired, if I don’t have my iPhone or TV, I end up sitting there for hours until the last night’s bedtime comes.

-Also forgot that I explain things in my head like I was explaining them to someone else. In fact I always seem to be talking to myself in my head. Like I think of things like this post, how I would say and explain my suspection of ADD, word for word, even though I forget it all later

If you’ve made it this far cool! I think a lot of these things have to do with ADHD-PI (ADD). I’m almost 100% because so many of these symtoms that people post here on the wonderful internet matches my life, but that’s the problem. I am still a but iffy on this whole ADD thing because I’ve always lived life like that so I’m afraid of using ADD as an “excuse”. You know what I’m saying? But I think at the end of the way if that’s what I have I’ll probably be relieved.

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[Anonymous]

This all sounds pretty normal to me. You didn’t mention anything about school. Do you find homework difficult? Listening to the teacher? Organising yourself? Those are the biggest impediments when it comes to ADD, concerning school life anyway.

Take an online test. The one on here is very good. The doctor will be able to help if they suspect anything is up. Good luck!

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[kc5jck]

Ten of the fourteen things you list match up with things I do. Especially the last about explaining things. I think I probably do this a lot while driving. Sometimes I imagine explaining things like jet planes and televisions to an imaginary person from hundreds of years ago, like Isaac Newton for example.

Like Berry, these things seem normal for me. And sometimes I think I don’t have ADHD, but I have all the symptoms and have had for years. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine that people could be any other way.

Some people have to buy books to escape . . . I just have to sit still.

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[Anonymous]

@berry I completely forgot to mention that! In elementary school I had awesome grades. These last two years in middle school my grades went downhill. Getting A’s and B’s in classes was my goal, but in classes like reading (7th grade year) and math (always my bad subject) I got C’s. My 8th grade year I probably failed French, got a C in english, I think a C in Math, B in social studies, and A in science, my favorite subject.

As for homework I simply cannot do it. I never do homework at home and always did it in the 30 minutes of free time we had before the day started. Many times I simply had to choose what homework I felt was most necessary because I couldn’t finish all of it.

I always had a very organised locker, but my room was always a bit messy. I WANTED to clean it, and keep everything in it’s planned out spot, but I couldn’t. I never organised my binders, my desk or sort of messy. I took the test and got 9/9 on the intention part, and got a total test outcome of Inattentive ADHD.

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[Anonymous]

@kc5jck Oh my god I do the exact same thing all the time! I thought I was the only one! I think you are my twin, because I feel like all of these things are normal and I am just dubbed normal labels, like lazy, slacking, not trying hard enough.

That’s cool though, about that explaining things to people from the past. I’d imagine showing someone from the 1890’s an iPhone and try to explain, how amazed they’d be…

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[Tiddler]

Hiya

Sounds like you’re smart and making connections while you work out who you are and how you learn. You’re right to be talking about it with the adults in your life, like your doctor and mum.

Some thoughts I’ve had:

Staying up for hours playing video games gives you broken sleep and broken sleep causes ADD like symptoms.

Spending too long on the computer is not healthy and your grades will undoubtedly suffer as a result of that and your lack of sleep.

Gifted children display very, very similar symptoms to ADD (and it gets more complicated if you’re both gifted AND have ADD as one can mask the other.)

Here’s a challenge –

Read up on how too much time at the computer, especially playing fast paced games, can cause problems.

Read up on how lack of sleep can seem like ADD.

Read up on how giftedness and ADD can get confused.

Then link what you’ve found out to what you know about ADD and see where you’re at. It might give you more to talk to your doc about.

What you REALLY don’t want is to get misdiagnosed with ADHD if what’s really going on is a computer game addiction or you’re smart and fast thinking.

Good luck. Come back and tell us how you get on!

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[Anonymous]

@Tiddler Thanks so much for the compliments! To answer your thoughts- If I DON’T play on the computer or play on my iPhone then llike I said, I simply can’t sleep. I sit there forever as my mind is racing and it takes a very long time to slow it down.

Do I have an addiction to the computer? Yes. Many people do. But I built mine, and I play a variety of games. Many are FPS, but one of my all time favorites is Microsoft flight simulator X. Aviation is my dream, and flight sim is such a fun game! Yes, people think I’m psycho when I say that…

During the summer, (which last week is when ADHD dawned on me), I get 10+ hours of sleep a night. Last night I fell asleep at 5 after playing on my iPhone for an hour. Today I woke up at 1 since my mom lets me sleep in, and I still have symptoms.

And I’d love to link you, but I’ve watched just about every YouTube video about it, and read probably over a hundred web pages.

Also, when I was younger my and my friend kyle would have these “interests” or “obsessions” for one week to a month at a time. We’d get interested into some random thing, like fountain pens, yo-yo’s, rubiks cubes, etc. Then we’d forget about them and move on. Kyle has ADD along with his dad.

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[Amy]

@natebot88, you just described me in your first post. I had to laugh too when you talked about “movies” playing in your head. I am always coming up with “what if?” scenarios that my friends always thought was funny (or crazy!). I think it helps me come up with creative ideas for my comics, but sometimes they cause me anxiety and stress because I’m unnecessarily preparing for a worst-case scenario when it won’t ever come to pass. Wasted energy in my case.

Amy

http://acatwithadhd.com

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[kc5jck]

Tiddler has some good points to consider. For years, I thought that my symptoms might be due to giftedness. However, as more and more pieces of the “puzzle” were placed, it seemed that many didn’t fit quite right with the giftedness explanation. A giftedness explanation became like adding epicycles to the Ptolemaic system of circular planetary orbits. An ADHD explanation, like the elliptical orbits of Kepler, provided a perfect fit.

I stay active until the early hours of the morning, usually wasting time on the computer doing mindless things unless I can find something productive to do. Otherwise I will lay awake for hours. Wanting to do things, even when having the time and ability to do so, and being able to actually accomplish something seem almost mutually exclusive.

As you go through school, your grades will suffer when you reach the point that you actually have to read, pay attention, and stay on task for longer and longer periods of time. When you reach that limit, you will be labled as not trying, except on those things on which you can “hyperfocus”, like science or math.

Well, I’m here on the tracks watching my train of thought go around the corner so . . . I guess I’ll quit for now . . . 😥

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[Anonymous]

@kc5jck Same here! I thought I had some “gift” and though I doubted other people were like me (not to sound full of myself!) , I was just not trying and went by the labels I was always given. Anyway do you have Inattentive type? Or one of the other types of ADHD?

Like I said you are like my twin so I hope we can keep chatting

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[Anonymous]

@natebott88, those seem like good grades to me. By what you’re describing, it seems like you’re on the right track, but perhaps there is something in the way that you can sort out. As Tiddler mentioned, it might be the computer habits. Those are never great. I can never sleep well, or wake up well, if I am concentrating on a screen for too long before I go to bed. It’s like it makes my brain 10x worse, and faster. I have all the words, sounds and images just whizzing around my head, on fast forward, constantly. I’ve experience this for as long as I can remember, when I was old enough to consider television or a computer before sleeping. I’ve realised now, that this is because all the stimuli is intensifying my already thought-jumbled brain, making me feel dizzy and unable to sleep. It actually feels like I’ve gone iceskating for too long, and when trying to get to sleep, I still feel like I’m on ice.

“As for homework I simply cannot do it. I never do homework at home and always did it in the 30 minutes of free time we had before the day started. Many times I simply had to choose what homework I felt was most necessary because I couldn’t finish all of it.”

It’s good that you can get your homework done, regardless of it being done at home. But what is the real reason for not getting it done at home? Is it too distracting? And yeah, I completely understand. It’s the most FRUSTRATING feeling ever when you just WANT to clean and stay organised, but you just can’t. I’d be so organised if I could keep up with it! Believe me, I’ve tried!

But anyway, you’re on the right track. Get help and professional advice. Perhaps try reading a book, rather than a game before going to sleep. Or try cutting down your game time slightly, day by day. See if it makes a difference

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[Anonymous]

@berry Sorry, I forgot to reply! Actually, I don’t feel dizzy. Last night (well this morning) was VERY annoying. So I installed a game I haven’t played in a while (Garrys mod, a great building game but you can do pretty much anything). I got off at 4 since I knew i needed sleep. after getting off at 4 I watched a couple episodes of a good show on my iPhone, which lasted 40 minutes. (Mind you it’s MLP, so it’s not violent or action packed or anything,it’s a good series don’t judge me ) After that I was around 5, so my room was just barely lighted up though that didn’t make a difference. I just wasn’t tired, I didn’t get tired, and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get my mind to slow down, or at least focus on breathing or the insides of my eyelids for more than 30 seconds. It took me an hour of sitting there getting frustrated as to why I couldn’t sleep until I finally did.

As for the homework, it’s not the computer that’s a distraction, though it’s the perfect form of stimulation that my brain needs so you can see why I use it so much! Homework is absolute torture. I just hate sitting there, doing nothing, looking at numbers. I’m just not doing enough activity, or even if it’s a project that’s hands-on I am not ever interested i it. So I get so insanely bored and it takes me 3x the amount of time it would take someone normal to do theirs. I get that homework sucks and everyone knows that, but I can’t be that bad to other people. Also, I’ve tried cutting down on computer time, believe me I’ve tried. But I just end up getting bored, and my iPhone can’t play very advanced games like I can play on my computer. Basically my computer keeps me from going insanely bored.

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[Anonymous]

natebot88 . . . go to the CADDRA site, pull off a screening questionnaire . . . do it, and then go to your doctor. Yes – you can have ADD /ADHD and get great grades in school ( I did . . . I just procrastinated the projects that bored me until I had created enough stress to kick me into overdrive and get it done. . . usually with good marks). . . .

You are 14 . . . you do not need to wait until you are in your 40″s to be diagnosed like I was last year. But you need to see a qualified , medical practitioner. . . start with you family doc, walk in doc. . . get a referral to a paediatrician / child psychiatrist.

Talk to the special ed / Learning assistant teacher at your school. Often comprehensive assessments can be done through the school district.

And talk to your parents . . . are there other members of your family who have ADD/ ADHD . . .or you could spot it a mile away even though they have not been diagnosed . . .

ENough on the website . . . get assessed.

GOod luck

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[Anonymous]

What you said fits me almost perfectly, and I am 70.

You are lucky to be 14 in 2012. When I was your age, people just thought I was strange, and my parents thought I was lazy. “If you’d just try harder, or have more self-discipline,” they’d say.l

I agree that you don’t want to use ADD as a crutch. But I do think knowing you have it is very helpful.

Definitely, think of ADD as both a problem AND an asset. Think of yourself as a thoroughbred racehorse. You may be prone to injuries, or need expensive feed. But given the right race, boy, can you run fast! So, put yourself in the right environment, and give yourself the feed you need, do your best, and you will win those races.

You can turn ADD into an asset. Despite having extreme ADD, I’ve been a relatively high achiever. I was a successful photographer. I just wrote a mystery novel, Prey for Zion, under the pen name of E.D.MacDavey. It’s available on Kindle Books via Amazon. It features a hero with ADD named Max.

If ADD creates problems for you, think of ways you can train yourself to improve. When I say train, I mean creating HABITS. Since you are young, it’s possible to train yourself. Here’s an example of habits, not necessarily the ones for you.

Set aside certain times of the day or certain days of the week for certain activities or tasks. For example, when you get up, immediately put a half hour into the most important task for the day.

Figure out what helps you get to bed at a regular time. Exercise will probably help, so make exercise a habit. Maybe it would be listening to an Ipod. Or a novel on tape. Whatever it is, use it to help you establish regular bedtime and getting up. Sleep problems will compound your ADD, so try to get a handle on regular sleep.

I find visual things very stimulating, and it sounds like you do also. So, it’s important to avoid visual things before bedtime. Don’t go near the computer or internet or TV after a certain time at night.

In other words, the conventional habits that most people use to cope may not apply to you. So you have to figure out and ingrain new habits that work for you.

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[Anonymous]

@Nunq68 An appointment has been scheduled for either this week or next week, I don’t remember Very excited!

@MaxADD Words of wisdom and an inspiring story my friend! As for that “visual stimulation” part of your reply, well that’s kind of a problem. You see I use that (like I said always my iPhone because I can lay in bed and still be connected to the internet on a high-def screen) BECAUSE it’s very difficult to fall asleep otherwise. After a while it tires me out and that’s what prompts me to sleep. Until my usual shut-eye time (increasingly late/ early in the morning, last morning was 5:30) I am simply not tired. I’ll get off the computer around 3 or so and sit there for a couple hours till light is barely visible then I know it’s time to get off. Unfortunately since it’s an electronic device with many many applications like videos which I usually do most of, the visual stimulation keeps me from going bored sitting there not falling asleep, which doesn’t help.

Anyway, like I said, doctors appointment next week I think and I’m very excited to know the answer and outcome! I feel lucky to have discovered what could be ADD at a young(er) age where people know it’s a real thing.

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[Author]

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