I always knew there was something wrong…

[Anonymous]

I have always had a problem with focusing, staying on track, compulsiveness and so on. I had talked to my doc many times but to no avail. I own a business and my symptoms were really becoming obvious. I finally decided to talk to my new doc about it and she seemed to be annoyed by my self diagnoses and tried to dismiss it by telling me that ADD doesn’t just happen at 48! I approached her again and she told me that she wouldn’t do anything until I seen a counselor. Behold, I was diagnosed with ADD-inattentive. Everything started making sense, right down to my instatiable sugar and bread cravings, although I’m not sure how one has to do with the other but from what I’ve been reading it fits. I have just started concerta er 27 mg. I am anxious to start seeing a difference. I am happy to know that it’s not “my fault” but I am unhappy that it took so long for me to find out. Reading comments on this site has given me a lot of hope. I just hope that soon I will be a success story, as well. Wish me luck!

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[shutterbug55]

Hello harleydgirl,

Welcome! and two great posts!

There seems to be disagreement in the medical community as to What ADD is, and how it should be treated. They are people, even though some of them try to elevate themselves above the rest of us unwashed masses. I found it amusing that I had to educate my doctor on ADD, before we could have a reasonable discussion on the subject. I don’t need a referral to see a specialist, but he was irritating me to the point I started looking for another doctor.

Medication won’t “cure” you, nor will it make all your symptoms go away. Medication, along with coaching and counseling, might allow you time to change your behavior.

So if sugar and carbs (I love those as well) are your weakness, meds might let you ask yourself “Self? Do you really need that?”, instead of what happens to me now which is “Self? Did you just eat that whole plate of fries?”

I don’t notice many changes, unless I look for them, but my wife tells me there are HUGE differences between my brain and my brain on meds.

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[Anonymous]

Harley girl, I was also just recently diagnosed and feel the same way, it’s like all of a sudden everything makes sense. I always knew something was wrong too but not what…. I would investigate OCD, bi-polar, depression, but none of them ever fit completely and I felt so alone and that somehow I might be the only person in the world who’s brain just didn’t work right. At first I told my doc I didn’t want meds because I was scared of the liver etc side effects that all prescriptions have, plus I feel like by now I’ve learned ways to handle it okay. But yesterday I talked to a coworker who told me she got diagnosed just a few years ago, and she told me “you don’t have to live this way anymore”. That totally changed my mind so I’m going back for meds! I know my doc wants to start me on vyvanse first. Funny about the sugar/carb cravings because I definitely have that too. Pasta, bagels, desserts, I can’t get enough. The coworker told me she lost a bunch of weight when she started taking her meds…

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback! I am generally not the type of person to jump on the” forum” band but I just have so many emotions about my diagnosis that I thought this would be a good outlet. Its nice to know that there are many people out there that feel the way I do. i was watching a video today with Dr. E. Hallowell, explaining ADD in depth. He said that for ppl with ADD its like watching tv or having a conversation with someone and you can see the lips moving but you don’t comprehend what they said. I just lost it! I cried like a baby… Mostly because I’ve done that more often than not. Now that it’s confirmed I feel exhilerated just because I have a course of action now. It wasn’t just in my head! The ironic part to this whole thing is that my husband is a school teacher. I didn’t tell him until it was confirmed and he said, wow that explains a lot. I don’t want to sound like a nut case but I feel like this is the first day of the rest of my life! I know things won’t improve over night but I’m on the right track and things can only get better!!

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Everything you are going through I went through. I got stuck in anger for a while. The good thing was it spurred me to make the documentary ADD & Loving It?!

Tears too. More for my kids.

People don’t like anger. If you wrap it up in humour, they’ll listen to your message.

I love when you say it wasn’t just in your head. In a way it was. But now it’s not just in your head, it’s out in the open. You have a fighting chance to master it.

A decade after getting diagnosed, I am in a way better place. What continues to happen is that I notice yet another way this has impacted me, or is undermining me. Then I can separate who I am from these traits I have. And the ruts I tend to fall into. Or the beliefs I assume are true.

Right now you know. Be careful. Protect yourself from those who would dismiss ADHD, deny it’s real, or argue, “What are you talking about? You’ve always been this way. Your grandmother was the same…” Share the news with very few people at first. Some will be supportive. Some will be hostile. And some will surprise you and say, “Yeah, well, no kidding. I always figured it was something.”

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[Anonymous]

I don’t call my relationship to sugar/carbs cravings, so much as an addiction. All the addiction signs (sneaking around, stealing, going to extreme measures to get addictive substance, etc), I’ve had in relation to sugar (as young as .

However when I stop eating the carbs, after a while not only do I not have the cravings, I don’t even want them. And if I have a small amount I think it tastes horrible and wonder why I even wanted it in the first place. Though if I haave too much too often (like holliday season, a string of birthdays), its really easy for me to “fall off the wagon”.

While ADHD can cause the lack of impulse control that causes us to give into our cravings, I don’t believe it causes the cravings itself. Sugar/carb cravings are often caused by hypoglycemia or hyperinsulinemia (low blood sugar/high insulin), candida overgrowth, nutritional deficiency, hypothyroidism, or food intolerance.

If the medication helps you ignore the cravings and eat healthily and they slowly go away, its probably just low blood sugar reactions.

If as you eat healthfully as you ignore the cravings, they don’t go away or get worse, there might be something else going on and you should talk to a doctor or natural health practitioner.

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