“What made you get a diagnosis, and how did it affect your life?”

[Robbo]

Good idea! @Larynxa

Got some experience gang? How about letting us in on yours.

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[Robbo]

I think it was about 20 months ago… give or take. I saw the video “ADD and Loving it?!” on PBS, it got my attention. Later I saw it again… I ordered one n watched almost a dozen times before I actually saw that there was a web site!. lol. No kidding, fortunately they showed it several times. Cuz that’s what it took for it to sink into my thick skull that “this ADHD thing is more than a lively topic for converwation, or something I’ve got in common with a couple of the coolest women in my life. My Neighbor and Her caregiver. Super sweet gals. My neighbor has a Son and Daughter in law who also say they have ADHD.

I’ve invited them here, mostly they just stop by n read some of our jokes n maybe watch a few videos. I would like it a lot if some of the folks in my life came here and participated. My imagination often thinks some of you guys are actually the people in my life. But disguised!. lol.

Yeah… I know who you are now…

Not! lol. I wonder some days. Just enough to feel embarrassed when one of you guys say something one of the friends in my live life would never say. Then I forget about that post, n it starts all over again.

If you’re about my Moms age, “You’re My Mom!”, if you’re my neighbors age. “YOU”RE MY NEIGHBOR!”

and on, and on… I like my imagination. It’s provided tons of entertainment when I was bored… I can rely on it.

It ain’t just my imagination that I’ve got ADHD though. I took the “Virtual Doctor” test right off the bat when I finished loggin in here. Even got a lot of help from more than just one person in the office at TotallyADD headquarters.

They helped with the login process cuz I goofed it somehow. Just plain couldn’t figure it out. But they helped me regardless of how dumb I seemed to be. (Just seemed to be stupid, lazy or crazy… SEEMED!) But folks like Jimi, and Pamela and others helped me out for Nothing!. Zero dollars you guys. So I’m feeling super grateful. Who wouldn’t?!.

I also got an official diagnosis about this time or maybe in Dec. 2011. With a fully accredited Phychiatrist. They made me take a long drawn out written exam. I ended up doing it three darn times

cuz I’m an ADDer for crying out loud and “that’s how we roll”

It was a long struggle. I’ve just spotted a wrinkled up page of the angry letter I wrote to my General practice doctor in Jan 2012, halfway under a blanket on my bed… I’m glad I never finished it, or sent it to him… I was a lil bit nutty, n sometimes stressed out… to say the least last Jan.

Of course I’m all better now… lol. We know that’s bull, huh?

I’ve got another appointment coming up on the 27th of Feb. Ack! that’s next week… Freaking finally… I’m only taking one wellbutrin each day now. Maybe I’ll try Ritalin again. We shall see what the Doctors say. 

It’s a long twisted, dramatic, and discombobulated story. Mines plastered all over this web site… It took me some time to get the hang of living with this ADHD business… But we’re on to an easy enough path these days… I can’t complain. It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I can tell you that my friends.

R-

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[Robbo]

BTW you guys. I can’t count either. I blame that on ADD too. 🙂

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[Patte Rosebank]

For me, it all started in 1984.

One Saturday afternoon, when my brother and I were kids, we discovered a comedy show called “Frantic Times” on the radio.  We were surprised.  We knew Mom & Dad used to listen to radio shows that had scripts and actors, in the old-fashioned days when THEY were kids.  But nobody still made shows like that any more…did they???

This stuff was great!  Who were these people?  At the end of the show, we heard their names:  Paul Chato, Rick Green, Dan Redican, and Peter Wildman.  With Mag Ruffman.

We were hooked.  Every weekend, we’d tune in and giggle like idiots.  This made Mom & Dad very happy, because it meant that for half an hour, once a week, we kids weren’t trying to kill each other.

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Flash-forward, about a quarter of a century (Yipes!)…

 

Three years ago, my brother was reading the Toronto Star, and he noticed an article about Rick Green.

But Rick wasn’t talking about his comedy; he was talking about being diagnosed with ADHD.  My brother was amazed to discover that all the things Rick talked about also described me perfectly.

So, my brother sent me the article, with the note, “This sounds just like you!”

He was right.

The article mentioned this new website that Rick and a Dr. Jain had created to help people who had ADHD—particularly adults who (like Rick) hadn’t even known they had it.

I went to the website, took the “Virtual Doctor” and other tests, scored very high, and knew I was on to something.  My suspicions were confirmed by my psychiatrist—after asking me a lot of questions about my test results and my life story.  My life started to make sense.

This piqued my interest.  And when I am interested in something, I want to learn everything about it!

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Today, I have a lot more insight and a lot more confidence (mostly), and I’ve done so many things that I never thought I could…

Instead of being at the mercy of my ADHD and my feelings, I’ve learned to understand them, so they aren’t so overwhelming (mostly).

I’m doing a job several jobs I love, with people who really appreciate what I have to offer—and are used to my quirks (mostly).

I have friends and peers who also really appreciate what I have to offer—and have some of the same quirks as I do!

I’ve embraced being a confirmed singleton, because I know that anything else would make me (and those around me) miserable.

I’ve conquered my impulsive spending (mostly), and gone from the burden of huge debts to the security of watching my savings grow—while still being able to afford the little pleasures that make life worthwhile.

I have a Purpose:  To use what I’ve learned, to help other people who are struggling as I was (and still am, more often than I’d like).

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To think, it all started with listening to stuff like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvUxIaD-cY on the radio…

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[Scattybird]

I was always thought of as eccentric by family but that was fine – looking back I wasn’t out of place at home but I was at school.

At work, I was always told I was ‘inappropriate’ and teased by colleagues if I had ‘drama-queen’ moments (which were frequent when stressed). I always seemed to work harder than my colleagues just to stand still but they actually progressed – I just attributed that to them being smarter.

I realised that my colleagues just couldn’t keep up with my thought patterns – one typical comment would be “talking to you is like being in an advert for Ritalin” – little did I know how true that was!

When I got to late 40s I taught some students that were ADHD – in particular one was VERY ADD and another was VERY ADHD and another was somewhere in between. I found I had SO much in common with these students. I ‘got’ their humour, I understood how they ticked. The other lecturers couldn’t understand them at all.

So I got to thinking and I contacted a psychiatrist who specialised in adult ADHD and she diagnosed me. At that stage I was just curious, but she started me on methylphenidate.

It has taken me a year to get the right does, to understand how it works on me and how to get the best out of it.

The ADD diagnosis has affected my life  for the better. I no longer feel like a freak. I know why I behave and think differently now.

Now I have got to grips with the meds I don’t act like a drama queen at work (not as much) – I behave more professionally now. I don’t freak out as much when the work load becomes overwhelming. In short, the meds make me feel like I can cope with my job.

I also feel like I am walking a tightrope sometimes – I know I need to learn habits – it’s not always easy and even with the meds I have to ‘work at’ not procrastinating and shifting my attention to what’s important. That’s not easy – even knowing why.

So in short – to answer the question:

A combination of three students and comments from colleagues made me wake up (late in life!) to ADHD and getting a diagnosis;

Getting the diagnosis has affected my life for the better – knowledge is power.

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[Scattybird]

PS – Can’t edit the above – but I wanted to also say that the biggest positive affect came with finding this site. The support from members here and the videos, webinars etc. were key to gaining the knowledge I needed to accept my ADD for what it is and to accept me for who I am. Thank you!

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[Scattybird]

Blue Yugo – I know what you mean. But eventually people on this site become friends. Sometimes when things are difficult, we post plans on here – just for the support and for the accountability. If you find yourself in limbo then please use this forum as a means of support.

Certainly I don’t discuss my ADHD with anyone other than those here. I don’t want them to know at work and my family wouldn’t understand. I have told one friend but I don’t want to go on about it to just one person…..so this site is my link with that aspect of my life.

 

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Blue Yugo,

I still feel alone, but I have this site, its videos, and a few DVDs from here by which I need to try to find encouragement and stamina to treat myself.  I hope I’m doing the right thing.

If it’s helping you, then you’re doing the right thing.

You’re one of a special category of people with ADD.  You’re someone who got it because of a brain injury (in this case, the effects of the Reye’s Syndrome you had when you were 5), instead of inheriting it.  That’s fascinating.

There’s a project to map the brain, in the minutest possible detail (http://www.humanconnectome.org).  The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is as important as the Human Genome Project, in giving us a way to diagnose (and even predict) conditions with DNA tests & MRI scans, which are far more accurate than current diagnostic methods.

Because the Reye’s Syndrome changed your brain into one with a cognitive dysfunction that’s usually only genetic, the HCP researchers might be particularly interested in you as a test-subject.

You might want to get in touch with them.

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[Blue Yugo]

@Larynxa

I always wondered if there were places who might want to look at Reye’s survivors’ brains and stuff, whether or not they pay any sort of compensation for volunteers.  There are so few of us, and Reye’s is on the decline because people are now more aware of the dangers of aspirin combined with the flu and chicken pox (and vaccines are making c.p. on the decline, too).  I am an “intact” survivor because unlike the vast majority of survivors, I do not have any physical impairments (aside from a slight speech slur which I find singing actually helps diminish).

Anyway, yes, I’d be very interested.  My father co-founded a chapter of the National Reye’s Syndrome Foundation in the early 80’s, and they still make donations to the NRSF every year (and my name’s published in the newsletters, yaddayadda…).  They’d drug-induced a coma so my brain and body could overcome it, and I had the whole “light at the end of the tunnel” vision, remember waking up, and even somehow retain memories of being a baby, which is highly unusual, but I remember way more than most.  Must have been something going on in the brain.

I did look it up…a side-effect of Reye’s does include ADD / ADHD, but I guess it’s harder to study because of how few survivors there are and that most are impaired physically or cognitively.

I gotta log off and go somewhere, but I’ll have to return to this later and look those things up.  “Add to To-Do List!!” I scream at myself.

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Phoenixmagicgirl, that is VERY premature!  No wonder your brain didn’t have time to fully develop!

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[phoenixmagicgirl]

@Larynxa, I was very lucky to have amazing doctor’s and nurses in the NICU where I lived for for 5 months after I was born. I was born at 24 weeks. I shouldn’t have lived, but I did! 🙂

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