Do i have inattentive?

[Anonymous]

All my life i have been told i am smart i just need to apply myself. In school i was constantly losing papers and completely unorganized, even though i would try to not be. I’m now 21 and still to this day i have to find my belongings more often than i can remember where i put them, car keys important papers wallet (omg ive lost my wallet so many times even on an air plane once). I have a problem with forgetting appointments, i will forget to do things that i meant to do. It’s extremely frustrating and i get so mad at myself over it. I’ve always had alot of trouble socializing with people, its like i zone out alot when they talk to me and have to ask them “What?” all the time it really makes me feel ignorant, have alot of trouble staying on conversation, and alot of the time are more interested in the thoughts in my head than what people are saying to me. It has caused me to withdraw since i can remember, never saying much at highschool (i’ve had 4 friends in my life….) and since highschool has ended i don’t talk to anyone. I used to close at a gas station and it never failed every night i would forget something that i had to do (even though it was the same stuff every night) and it made my managers extremely irritated. I have trouble sleeping because my mind is going nonstop topic jumping every minute. I have always thought it was just laziness and that i’m different but since i got a job at Lowe’s as a loader i’ve realized that i’m an extremely hard worker…. and after looking up adult ADD it blew me away with how many symptoms i’ve had all my life. I showed my mom the symptoms of inattentive and it blew her away too said it described me to a tee. Can someone please help me i want to know if its all in my head or if i actually have a problem that can be fixed, and how to go about doing so. Thanks for any replys!

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[Anonymous]

forgot to add this but lately i think i have minor depression symptoms, i’m not suicidal or anything but my emotions have become extremely blunt, with the only sharp ones being irritability and dissapointment.

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[Anonymous]

Hi,

The inattentive subtype of ADHD overlaps strongly with depression and anxiety. Have you checked out the http://totallyadd.com/virtual-doctor ?

The first step is at least putting it on the table. Now you need to get an assessment by a competent psychologist/ and/or psychiatrists but start with your family doctor first. Start putting all of the documentation together and get your mom involved to get a clearer story from childhood. With all of this pulled together, keep coming to the site and learning more about what you are and what you need.

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[Anonymous]

Dillon, I very much doubt that it’s your imagination. I’m inattentive and a lot of what you describe is how I am too. Strattera is helping some of this. I haven’t missed an appointment (either through plain forgetting, or writing it down wrong).

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[Scattybird]

Hi – it sounds to me like you have ADHD – the inattentive subtype. But do take Dr J’s advice.

Try to get as much evidence as possible – such as doing the virtual test on this site. There are others on the internet in general that you can download if you want to take the results to your doctor.

It seems clear from the posts in general on this site that you need to ask to see an expert in ADHD. Don’t let your doctor fob you off with a diagnosis for depression. Whilst you may have that, it might be a result of undiagnosed ADHD so both should be checked out.

Good luck.

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[Scattybird]

Dr J – would Ritalin work for anxiety? It works for me (I have been diagnosed with ADD) but I sometimes wonder about the overlap between ADD and anxiety. If a diagnosis was incorrect and the problem was depression and not ADHD, would there be brain chatter that is stopped by Ritalin?

Sorry to hijack the post but it is kind of related. Dillon mentioned thoughts in his head. Guess that’s brain chatter.

Thanks.

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[Anonymous]

i tried some of my brother’s vyvanse today, 15mg, it really helped! it’s helping with anxiety too no doubt about it.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Dillon – glad to hear it helped. If it helped so quickly then maybe you do have ADHD but you must see a professional.

So, is your brother ADHD then or does he take it for another reason?

ADHD does run in families.

Anyway, do take care if you take anymore of it – firstly you won’t have had a physical health check from your doctor and secondly you don’t want to leave your brother short of his medication. Nice to know it works though. Careful how you tell your doctor that though – if it’s a controlled substance he could get into trouble letting you try it.

Hope you soon get things sorted.

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[Anonymous]

Yes my brother is ADHD.

And I’m not going to take anymore of it for one its illegal and 2 my brother desperately needs it. As for telling my doctor i don’t think i will i just wanted to see what it would do, it has definately helped me with being more attentive. I havn’t had to look for anything today sounds silly but it’s nice lol. Had some good conversation with people today too so far. Do you guys think i should bring up to my doctor that i tried the medication? i don’t want to come off as a drug seeker…

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[Scattybird]

Well I don’t like to give advice but my opinion is that if you were me, then I would not volunteer the info about taking it to your doctor unless s/he specifically asks. If that happens then don’t lie. Interestingly my shrink asked me in my first session whether I had acquired any Ritalin to test. So it’s probably something they expect or perhaps they would be interested in the effect it or other meds have.

However, you must tell you doctor that your brother has been diagnosed and is on meds.

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[Anonymous]

just an update, so i talked to my doctor about it and he ended up testing me for testosterone instead just to rule it out. test came back i have 229 and normal levels are 292-1080. I’m not sure if it will help with all of my symptoms but definately will help with some!

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