Not diagnosed yet but it fits so well–

[walkwithfarmgirl]

I’m 53 and haven’t been diagnosed yet. In fact I only realized this when I saw “totally add and loving it” on PBS (in the wee early hours of the morn of course!).

My question is regarding fatigue: I suffer from fibromyalgia and Sjogren’s syndrome, which induce fatigue of their very own, but can ADHD also have a profound effect on fatigue levels?

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[billd]

>>I’m 53 and haven’t been diagnosed yet. In fact I only realized this when I saw “totally add and loving it” on PBS<<

Same here – I’m 53 and saw the last 10 minutes of the show while………… channel surfing (a hobby)

I’m tired a lot – stairs wear me out, but when I get bursts – nothing stops me and I can work in my shop for hours, stopping only for necessary stops (which frustrate me as I see the call of nature as an interruption)

Meniers, Raynauds, forgetful, clumsy, mother with ADD, son with ADHD (who was better on meds, then went off meds and now neither his mother nor I know where he is)

Patrick must be my twin brother. That show was about my life. From school to current – multiple moves, 3 careers, 9 jobs, shelves of unfinished projects, stacks of papers dating to the 90’s I’ve not bothered to file or go through.

I’m not diagnosed, and know very little of the other things you deal with, but I find I wear out easily, tire easily, yet don’t sleep much either – unless I take a cat nap. If left alone I could probably sleep much of a day away.

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[walkwithfarmgirl]

If Patrick’s your twin brother well meet your sister (we’re triplets!!). I too found the movie was like someone had spied on me throughout my life! In my twenties and thirties I moved EVERY YEAR! Have never been fired but was never able to come up with a comprehensive plan for myself…got a degree and a good job in that field and within three years I was flat on my back, out of commission with a mysterious illness that presented like MS but tests showed I didn’t have the disease. Fibromyalgia, Meuniere’s, Sjogren’s all appeared.

And let’s talk basements and unfinished projects…let’s not. My sister used to call me the energizer bunny but now I can barely tolerate stress of any kind.

I think my ex was probably ADD as well–no wonder it ended. But boy did I fight to try to keep it together. And my son is going to be tested when he gets home from his project in March. We were always telling him to sit down and school was a nightmare for him.

So good to talk to other people. I no longer feel crazy and hopeless that it’s all my fault. So happy to know that there are things I can do to make my life better and easier. Difficult is so highly overrated!

Cat naps are great, aren’t they? It’s the only way to go some days. If only I could predict which days they would be!

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[billd]

Never fired, but was “downsized” with 70 others back in ’02. I usually quit – decide to move on, get bored, or get concerned that I’ll no longer be able to do the job, and if I start over, it will take 6 or 7 years before someone finds out I’m “different”.

Agree on the lack of plan – when asked what I want to do in 5 years, 1 year, 10, whatever, I just sit there, can’t decide!

One of my project cars has sat for months in part because I can’t decide on how to lay out the wiring and computers in it! Oh, I have the technical ability to do it in a day – if someone would just decide then tell me where to put things! So for a month, the engine control computer has sat up on the fender while I do other things – until I decide to design a bracket and finally install it. I can read the schematics and figure all the wiring out fine – but I’d rather someone just give me a list of what needs to be done. (I’ve wired cars totally from scratch, after-all…)

Anyone else note this – or am I just WEIRD:

I’ve suffered some injuries – a couple semi-major – like ripping the bicep tendon loose in my left arm (and I’m VERY VERY left-handed). Sure, it hurt, after a hour in OR I started to sort of feel sick. Funny thing, though – there was never any real panic. IT was like, gee, I don’t think my arm should look like that – bet they can fix it”.

And when I was given options – I said – so let’s just set this up and get it fixed. Then after surgery I was asked when I wanted to start PT – I asked how soon – the reply was “as soon as you feel like it. Surgery was Wednesday late afternoon, I started PT Friday morning. I was always confident (almost always) Same after I got my fingers and thumb (left hand again) into the table saw. Gee, I suspect they can fix this, too.

It’s like I don’t take these things seriously, and have a “what, me worry?” thing – but other stuff REALLY stresses me out and I worry about all sort of little stuff, silly things!

It’s either:

Oh, well, totalled another car

or

Man, I’m so nervous – hope they like me, or hope I look ok

Huh? What’s up with that? Isn’t that backwards?

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[billd]

OK, talking to myself here maybe………. I just took the “virtual-doctor” test here at this site.

How ordinary is this for ADD – I had to honestly, and even didn’t need to think, honestly answer ALL of the questions Yes.

I got a perfect score- all around, 9/9

Something about a combined?

I SO wanted to be able to say no to just one or two, but wasn’t able to.

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[jameswing]

@billd – Are you reading a book of my life? I have the same thoughts, and behave the same way to injuries, and “minor” annoyances.

I did the test on this site and score 9/9 on the first set and 8/9 on the second. I also did this one and scored a 90 with nothing being lower than moderate. Many of the questions i answered moderate to have been things I have been working on to improve, and would have been quite a lot or very high a few years ago.

I fell skiing a several years ago and did quite a number on my shoulder. The week before surgery (I couldn’t lift my right arm above the shoulder, and couldn’t lift anything) I remodeled a bathroom, because it needed to be done before the baby was born, 2 months later.

Or this semester I decided to totally redesign the curriculum for my department (this is my second year in charge of the Drafting department at a college), I edited 6 courses, added 6 more, edited 2 programs, and added 2 new programs. Everyone else is acting like I’m crazy, but I was able to knock it out pretty quickly after I gathered all the material.

But if I’m stuck behind someone going 60 on the freeway I can’t stand it. I didn’t realize this was add until I watched the show.

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[billd]

Ah, you don’t want to ride with me, especially when I am driving this thing……….

http://theamcpages.com/images/javelin/suspension/javelin-new-tires006.jpg

Anyone that sits at the green light for more than .01 second is too slow and needs to learn how to drive. Well, not THAT bad really – I do have some heart – maybe they weren’t paying attention?, but some believe I need to learn “patience”. LOL – if you are afraid to go, then take the bus.

I’ve toned it down a bit after I realized how expensive repairs and new cars were – and with that thing, not at all replacable, I tend to be a bit more conservative, but that horsepower is just begging to be turned loose, I’m sure of it.

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[jameswing]

I totally understand

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[Anonymous]

It’s pretty amazing to finally understand myself. At 41 years old I think I’ve finally found something that ties all those odd things about me together. Was never a bad student, but not a good one. Could work endlessly on a task the was of interest to me, but starting or completing anything that else is a struggle. Always leaving things behind, books, coffee, toys, jackets, wallet, ID. Short temper, no patience. Frustrated, depressed, anxious, restless. Can’t sleep at night when it’s quiet not with this inner dialog, but I could nap at any time of the day. Redlights, lineups, traffic, detouring around construction delays, covering half a city during a snow storm to just keep moving. Always thinking when others are talking to me, never fully there mentally, I’ve moved on to the next thing. Commercials mean channel surfing or a trip to the bathroom, or for food, or a smoke.

I found every excuse in the book for my problems, and have managed to learn how to manage parts of my life better so the side effects of being me are not overly disruptive. I knew I was some how different I never understood why. Life is a series of compromises between what I what to do or need to do and what I have been told is acceptable, imposing all sorts of boundaries on myself to contain who I am because all I knew was that I made some people uncomfortable because I was too excitable, or could have a bad temper, or always had to add his input. Understanding what makes me me, helps me to remove some of those self imposed constraints allowing me to open up and be me. I don’t have to stifle or suppress who I am now that I understand what that is.

ADHD was not the explanation I was looking for but it fits like a very comfortable old glove. For the first time in a long time I feel hopeful and happy. This week I speak to the family doctor, a good guy with an open mind and knows my history going back to age 5 so fingers crossed that this ride to recovery is just getting started.

Happy holidays everybody!

Niall

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[billd]

change the number from 41 to 53, leave off the smoke part, and that first paragraph is me…………

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[jameswing]

That’s exactly me also, It’s good to finally see that I’m not the only one like this.

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[Anonymous]

I have never posted anythnig on a site like this (or any other), but callmecrazy described in almost perfect words how I am. This is a strange feeling. I’m 38 and have been treated for years first, for depression and that wasn’t cutting it and then for mild bi-polar. That seemed to fit much better, but never once did I consider ADD for myself. Then I saw saw the show! I almost felt “cured”. Haha. I always feel like there’s something wrong with me but I can’t figure out what. Can’t wait to talk to my doctor and do some re-vamping on my life!! I’m glad I joined this site!

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[Anonymous]

How about ‘radio’ surfing? I quit watching tv because it was always the same thing, same re-runs that I know by heart & what good is news if it’s mostly bad news?

But music has helped me throughout my life. I have not been ‘officially’ diagnosed but so much of what I’ve learned here & read from your posts continues to confirm it. My score was middle on most of it but I guess it seemed I was just thinking of not seeming as intense or maybe I just need my husband to answer questions for me(maybe he would be more insightful than me).

And it really is hard to answer ‘yes’ if it’s not everyday & constant because through the years I’ve learned to keep from being so impulsive or made myself keep from saying the wrong thing. The test results state I’m more of the Inattentive Sub-type.

And I believe being female, the more docile, has something to do with it too verses male, more aggressive.

Unless you really piss me off then I REALLY show my anger & impulsivity, lol.

But I think I’ve gotten most of my anger out through the years or maybe I’m just kinda on a low end right now, lol, I don’t know.

Hopefully I can get to an ADD doc & get tested once and for all & know for sure what is up with me. I’m thankful though to my circumstances in that I don’t have to work outside the house.

Ok, enough here, I better get to work…….my energy is mostly in the afternoon to late night and sometimes early morning hours.

I hope to be here again soon since I need to learn more about this.

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[walkwithfarmgirl]

Well, my family sat me down last night to discuss this ADD thing, and while they thought it was a good thing to check out, it seemed, at the same time, to be saying that I just have to decide what I want, what it is that I want to go after. Broke into tears because I couldn’t explain to them that that was part of ADD and just felt criticized and a total failure in life. And I know that therapy and coaching will help with that but it’s still really hard to bear.

Grew up in a dysfunctional alcoholic family and learned to totally suppress anger. So now they think that I don’t “fit” the profile.

After feeling so good about ADD and loving it, now I just feel let down and that I just should “buck up”.

And maybe it would be better for my family if I just moved to the other side of the country so they wouldn’t have to worry about me all the time.

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[Anonymous]

How about reading and watching the TV at the same time, so you can concentrate on both better? Organize your thoughts while driving/traveling long distance?

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[Author]

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