Hit with a tonne of bricks

[Anonymous]

Just ‘diagnosed’. (sort of) At 47 years old Pffft. Not Bloody impressed is an understatement.

It was really weird & unexpected. But also a relief, if I’m honest. Was at a 6 monthly checkup for my 13 yr old with his new ADHD doctor. In the middle of discussing the level of fighting within the family, the doctor suddenly fixated on me and started asking some very detailed question. How was I with organizing house work, did I sleep well, was I restless, did I have a hard time finishing projects, did I feel unreasonably frustrated or angry and unable to calm down or control it…He ended the list of questions by saying…Has it never occurred to you that you also have ADHD? It does run in families you know. I told him my younger brother has it. He said YOU also have it. I can’t treat you because I work exclusively with children, but I want you to see your GP as soon as possible. HIt me hard with tonne of bricks, as they say!

Discussed with husband & friends, …most of them laughed! NONE of them was remotely shocked by it, said it was very logical given how i lose things all the time, forget appts all the time, can’t get organized to save my life, can’t sit still, can’t bear it to watch movies or TV cos I can’t sit still…..when they said all those things and I realized how THEY saw me….(ditzy but harmless with it, and lovable, one said…ouch)

I have ALWAYS been frustrated by how disorganized I am, I really piss myself off, all the time. Took the test on this site, scored really high in all 3 areas…well. at least I can finally say I’m not going completely crazy. And, once I see my GP. maybe I can get sorted a bit. Hubs said -If she offers you meds, bloody take them! Maybe it will stop the fighting!

It’s been nearly a week since he said it to me and I am still astonished that even though I have had a child with ADHD living under my roof for 7 years, I never once saw it in myself! Just weird. But good. Here’s to a little better organization…it couldn’t come too soon!

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[memzak]

Welcome! You have come to the right place.

At least you knew something about it before you were diagnosed. All I knew about ADHD when I first watched the program is that kids got it and my niece had it. I watched the show solely to understand my hyperactive, 30 year old, social butterfly niece. I watched the show 3 times before I accepted that I am ADHD and then only after I had my daughter watch it and tell me the yes ma you are definitely ADHD (we usually just say ADD). A year later and many hours of study and dealing with depression and doctors and losing 2 more jobs I feel just in the last few days that I a finally getting a handle on things thanks, in a major way, to this website and all the people involved on all levels.

My husband and I did a lot of fighting while my daughter was growing up. She will be 25 in August. She is most definitely NOT ADD which I feel very grateful for because she is helping me get my life back on track. Back on track? Make that starting my life over again. I won’t go into detail here; you may not be ready to read a post that long.

The place to begin is to educate yourself on how ADD/ADHD affects adults. It is different than children. Watch the videos and read as much as you can stand every day. Someone will post something that you can relate to. there are a multitude of good books on the subject like “You mean I.m not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?”, and “Delivered from DIstraction” among them. It will be a bumpy ride but it will be well worth it.

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Hey Clumsybird,

It is both frightening and a relief to get the diagnosis. But as time passes, and you work your way past the ‘What if…” and “If only I had known sooner…” then you can take it on, and the fright gives way to determination to get it handled so you can do what you want with your life.

Or so it was for me.

And it’s ongoing. (My taxes are late this year for the first time in a while.)

More ground to take.

And to both of you, thanks for the kind words. We have a small but dedicated doing this website, and it’s easy to wonder if we are making a difference. So hearing what’s opening up for you is incredibly rewarding. We also have some amazing regular contributors. They really are angels. Bless them. (Do angels need blessing? Or are they already blessed since they are angels?)

Thanks

Rick

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[Anonymous]

Hey Rick,

I’m a former professional accountant (retired and on to new thrills) and I was always late with my own taxes. But that ended about two years ago when I found out that you can’t make an election on a late-filed tax return. That meant that income splitting with my husband was out. When I complained that although there was no penalty for late-filing if you had no income, the penalty of not being able to income split was punitive. So I promised that if they allowed it that year, I’d never be late again.

Motivation, eh?

Great site, have my assessment feedback meeting tomorrow, nervous as can be 😯

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[Anonymous]

I am a 56 year old female and have been recently diagnosed with ADD by my GP and my therapist. I have been on Concerta for 6 weeks now and I definitely feel the difference. Sadly, I have been on anti-depressants for the past 6 years as I was originally diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression. So many anti-depressants! The medication changes were difficult to say the least. My Concerta dosage is still being adjusted every 2 weeks and I have just started 56mg. I have a long way to go yet and I am finding this a mixed blessing of sorts. Researching ADD has answered SO MANY QUESTIONS about all the “weird” quirks I have developed over the years, often making my husband and I look at each other and laughing. I am still overwhelmed with so many things and suffer from hypersensitivity which limits what I am able to do and places I am able to go. I have been looking for more information on this sensory overload problem but cannot seem to find anything other than brief mentions with no tips on making it go away. I live in a city and the noise of traffic, the smells and large groups of people create a living hell for me. I thought the medication would help but it just seems to have increased the symptoms rather than decrease them. I do love this site though, and hope to find more answers to my issues in the future.

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