pleas tell me or has someone else had a similar problem

[Anonymous]

OK so I’m 29 and I’ve been diagnosed with add 3 times in my life. The first when i was in grade school and they put me on Ritalin and i took it for until about junior high. I never noticed a difference and my grades and performance never improved but my mom used to say it was like night and day. I stopped taking it and there was no deference for me and i just keep trying and trying. In high school towards the end before I dropped out because after having been in school for 4 years and ever passing a English or math class. Getting a GED sounded better than more talks with teachers about how i just need to apply my self better and if i would just try a little i would be just fine. So after I got my GED I had job after job after job just trying to find one that I liked and that I was good at no luck. So I thought I really like computers and electronics maybe I should go to college. So joined the army for the gibill got out for very long years later and went to school. So now I’m going on my third year and a community college and after my first semester full of frustration and disappointment i thought i should get a fresh perspective on my situation. So now my Psychologist and i are trying the fifth medication sense starting college adderall xr currently on 60mg in the morning. I have had no side effects or benefit from any medication. I wish more than anything that I could say that it helps me even a little to not drift off and daydream in lectures or, that I can read more than a few pages an hour or that I could read more that a few sentences with out forgetting what I just read. Belie me I keep trying and trying. If it weren’t for my girlfriend I know I would have failed out by now but even with here help I’m still headed down that road. I’m starting to wounder again what if its not ADD what if theirs something my present and past psychiatrist and psychologist missed. And yes I do see a counselor and I have a process tutor. I welcome any thoughts I would love any tips at all on reading.

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[Anonymous]

Bryon,

I was reading through your post and it brought up a couple of questions for me. You mention being diagnosed ADD 3 times and that you have seen a psychiatrist and a psychologist. What kinds of testing has been done? (Psychiatrists don’t usually do ‘psych’ testing in the sense that I’m thinking about right now.) Have you ever had psycho-educational testing done? It’s the kind of testing that pinpoints weaknesses in the processing ‘software’ programs of the brain, so to speak. (verbal, language, mathematical)

Yes, I’m one of those horrible teachers that everyone around here seems to complain about (yeah, it’s been a tough week at school so I’m crabby right now) but a couple of your comments made my ears perk up. You mentioned that you only seem to read a few pages in an hour (maybe it seems like an hour 😉 ) and that you can only remember what you’ve read for just a few sentences. Perhaps you’ve got some of those processing issues going on or some memory ‘issues’.

Some students/people who deal with similar issues are often dealing with memory issues. Some of those ‘lucky’ people have a brain that with long-term memory issues (can’t remember things from the distant past) and then there are those who’ve got short-term memory issues (can’t remember what happened in the recent past, last week, yesterday, earlier today, 5 minutes ago).

Then again, there are a gazillion and one other language processing issues that can also affect one’s ability to decode/read/comprehend and store the text being read.

What I’m saying is please don’t be so hard on yourself! When my ‘kids’ are struggling with the actual reading process and/or making sense of what they’ve just read, I start demanding that ‘the pros’ be called in to make some recommendations.

Yes, but before that happens we teachers have to do a complicated song and dance routine to prove we’ve tried everything under the sun to help the kid read/make sense of the printed word before admin will even consider putting the child’s name on the list for psych-ed testing by the psychologist. (It all boils down to budget $$$ and how loudly parents scream and stamp their feet, too.)

What am I saying? It’s not that you’re not trying hard enough and that you’re not applying yourself. You have ADD and quite possibly other things going on in your brain. ADD people frequently have what the pros refer to as co-morbidities. (Horrible word- the root word being ‘morbid’!!) Really, it’s not the end of the world once a person knows what they’re dealing with.

Knowledge is power in this case. There is a ton of great software now that will ‘read’ material aloud for you. If someone has good auditory processing, they’re off to the races. If it’s another kind of issue, there are other answers or ways to slay the dragon. The key is finding out what is causing your issues IF (the big IF) you are really trying.

I didn’t mean for this to be a full length novel but I hate when I hear of others feeling so defeated because of ‘learning’ issues. On Tuesday, when I’m back to work after the long weekend, I face the ‘gauntlet’ at school. I have a stack of files/assessments/student work to take to an 8:30 meeting to plead my students’ cases. They are all deserving of extra support/testing but I’ll probably only get “we’ll monitor them for another year.” *sigh* Never give up ’cause I won’t! Some of us teachers are on your side!

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding i wasn’t sure if someone would. The first time I was diagnosed was sometime before the fifth grade. My Grandmother had my brother and i in counseling at the child study center Ft Worth for things that happened before i was in kindergarten nothing really bad just a long story.

As to your question about the testing they did the works we were up there about 2 times a week for 3 weeks just for testing. basically all i remember form that was them telling me i had a college level English comprehension that i remember that because i was really proud of myself and that i had a above average IQ but in all fairness i have never meet anyone who said they have an average or lower IQ. With all that testing the only thing i got was a trip to the nurses office once a day for meds and put in a classroom full of kids that couldn’t tie their own shoes for half the school day.

I don’t really remember what test they gave me the second time but i know i didn’t spend more that a few hours testing. The 3rd time was through the VA hospital and I spent about 6 hrs testing. But i will look into the psycho-educational testing. Also on the amount of time it takes me to read is factual i used to time my self i thought that i could turn it into a game and see how fast i could get through a page and remember a general idea about what it said or what happened it didn’t work.

I know the ability to read is there somewhere i have started and finished about 10 books but i only seem to be able to focus that well when really crappy stuff is happening example I read 4 books in 3 days when i was told my dad was dying of cancer and i was waiting for a ticket to travel back home.

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[Anonymous]

BryonA82, I am so sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time. My son has ADD as well as me. He does not see the difference when he takes his meds (strattera), but my husband and I absolutely do, and his grades go from f’s, d’s, and c’s to A’s and B’s. His attitude is so much better when he is consistently taking them and he is so much more able to follow instruction. You may not be seeing the difference yourself, but if it is the same as my son, there is a big difference that for some reason you are blind to.

Don’t give up, just keep on keepin on. Maybe the adderal isn’t for you. That is what my son was on first and then the dr put him on the strattera. Strattera is a non-stimulant that builds in the system over time and stays there 24/7 as long as you are consistant, where as adderall is a stimulant and leaves the system. Just know this, you are so not alone, I am 40 and am still trying to find my way, but have many blessings that I have collected along the way.

zsazsa, it is so refreshing to hear a teacher that really does care and take the time to recognize that it isn’t just a lack of trying. I really wish I could look back and see more teachers like you in my educational history. I have to say the only ones were my art teacher and my photography teacher in high school. Thank you for making such a difference in so many lives!

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[Anonymous]

Here’s a completely ‘out there’ question, but something that my pyschiatrist rides me on ALL OF THE TIME, how much caffeine do you drink, if any? I never saw myself as a huge caffeine drinker, I don’t really drink soda, but I love coffee, and the occasional energy drink…okay, so I guess I am a HUGE caffeine drinker! My doc explained to me that the more caffeine you drink, the ‘harder’ your medication has to work and it can add to the anxiety and agitation that you feel as well. It can also cause problems with sleep because you are kind of ‘doubling up’ on stimulants, and that’s just a downward spiral! I cut back considerably on it and did notice a difference, and when I ‘fall off the wagon’ and drink my usual 1/2 to a full pot of coffee, I notice that as well. I’ve been on Vyvanse for almost 3 years and there are days when I feel like it’s a miracle drug, other days when I feel like it’s a waste of time and money, but for the most part, I notice the little things. Like you, I was diagnosed previously with ADD. I was started on Ritalin, but my mom took me off of it because she didn’t ‘like’ how I was on the meds. I don’t remember much about it, but once I was ‘rediagnosed’ with ADHD 3 years ago, I talked to my dad to see why it was that they took me off the meds. I didn’t want a ‘repeat’ of the side effects. I have also had people tell me that they notice a huge difference in me and can rarely see it in myself, but I’m learning that the meds are great, but they are like putting a Band Aid on a knife wound, I’m working a lot with behavior modification and I’ve found the biggest (and hardest to acheive) part of it all it PATIENCE with yourself. If you can’t concentrate on something, put it away for a minute. I know that seems so counterintuitive to what we’re fighting, which is a lack of attention, but when I try to FORCE myself to read something over and over and over again, not only do I get very upset with myself, I still have not comprehended what I’ve read. I also started taking Yoga at my local gym, again, very ‘off the beaten path’, but I find that the breathing and the stillness of the movements kind of ‘trains’ my mind that it’s okay to be ‘still’ for a minute or two. My doc always says that us ADDers think that we are ‘Wonderful” at multitasking when in reality, while we do 5 or 6 things at once, we may only do 2 of those things correctly. Your mind may be on something else while you’re trying to read and that’s why you have trouble focusing. I’ve been like an information ‘sponge’ since my diagnosis, just trying different methods to see what works for me. You’ve come this far, don’t get discouraged. ***Sap Alert***You’re not alone.

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[Patte Rosebank]

So many ideas & questions, especially from all the great new people here! New people bring new ideas & advice!

Can I start by asking a favour? Please break your postings up into paragraphs, by hitting the return key twice, after every few sentences.

Huge blocks of text are scary to the ADHD brain, as we all know! We also all know that, once you get going on an idea, it just spills out, and before you realize it, you’ve typed a huge block of text. (At least, that’s how it is for me.)

I know it’s scary to read through it again and insert paragraph breaks before you post, but those blank lines make your posts much easier to read, so you’re more likely to get a quick reply.

Thanks!

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[Anonymous]

I agree, Larynxa, and you’re right.

When I see a big block of text I start reading it, but go OMG how am I ever going to concentrate through all of this, so I go to the end (where the essence of the thought should be summarized) and when I don’t see that, I go on to the next response to see if it explains what I just tried to read, and if there’s no responses, well, I just give up and move on. It’s really painful for me to focus on a loooong stretch of text.

I still tend to run off at the mouth when posting, but at least the blank spaces between the paragraphs helps me organize my thoughts and edit them. So thank you for posting this reminder!

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[Anonymous]

That is so true! I do need to separate the texts! I get on a tangent and watchout, but it does make it easier to read, that’s for sure.I should also watch my overuse of exclamation points, but one step at a time.

I love the forums and do get a lot of helpful advice and support on them. It’s a little sad to me that there are so many of us ‘out there’, but so few resources like this in the world. Ah well, I guess something is better than nothing at all.

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[Anonymous]

Steffie101,

I agree with you about the caffeine intake and the effect it can have on us. My Pdoc also asks that question when I see him. We also need to be careful with a lot of other products out there that have ‘hidden’ caffeine in them. Many of the soft drinks (referred to as sodas by some of our American friends) have caffeine in them and I’m not even talking about the ‘colas’.

Coffee flavoured yogourt also contains a kick of caffeine. Way I think way back to my university days, I remember a tidbit my older sister shared with me. Her pharmacology prof said people often had a cup of tea to calm themselves down or relax in the evening. Apparently, the caffeine in the tea is actually released into our systems much sooner than caffeine in coffee.

Tonight I shall sleep the sleep of the dead. Two hours of sleep last night and a VERY busy and stressful day at work. Ah, blissful sleep!

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[Anonymous]

For anyone who feels they must have a cup of tea in the evening, Typhoo Tea makes a very good decaff that doesn’t really taste decaff. It’s a British tea, Zehrs markets sells it. I brought back a bag from a visit to the UK in 2001 and was hooked.

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[Author]

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