Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Dear Neurotypical,
Please stop giving me advice about how to be more organized. I have heard it all before and it really doesn’t help me. I already have a system that works for me. You just don’t understand it. Where you have a place for everything and everything in it’s place, I have several places for everything and know that I will find what I am looking for in one of those places.
For example, when I want to brush my hair, I know exactly where I will find my hairbrush. It will be in the bathroom on the counter next to the sink. If it is not there, then it is either on the shelf in the corner of the bathroom, the right side of the medicine cabinet, or the centre of the medicine cabinet. If it is not in any of those places then I know it fell on the floor. If I don’t find it on the floor then I wandered the last time I was brushing my hair and left it in whatever room I was in when I was finished with it. The most likely is the living room. If it is not there, it is in the kitchen. If it is not in the kitchen then it must be in the bedroom. If it is not in the bedroom then I was abducted by aliens while brushing my hair and left it on their ship. And if that it the case then it explains why I have no memory of that conversation you claim we had last week. You were not talking me, you were talking to a clone.
So you see, it all makes perfect sense and it works perfectly well. As long as I remember to leave enough time to check all of my places for all of my things every morning. And if I sleep late and don’t have time to check all of those places, there is always the little hairbrush in my purse. And if it is not in the brown purse then I know it is in the blue purse. If it’s not in the blue purse it must be in the white purse……
Of course, I can always just go with the ‘wind blown’ look.
REPORT ABUSEI just don’t get twitter. I only have an account because I wanted to take part in the Bell Let’s Talk thing for mental health awareness. But in the handful of times I have used it I definitely managed to embarrass myself. Same with Facebook.
I am a lot better now than I was when I first got online and started commenting on things like YouTube and various forums. I try to really take my time now and read over every post at least twice. My biggest problem is that I am very snarky and sarcastic. And I just can’t resist that oh so clever comment once it pops into my head.
REPORT ABUSEROFL!!! sar316, I LOVE your letter. Too funny. And so very, very true.
REPORT ABUSEI’m sorry to hear that Wgreen. But it sounds like you have a very good understanding of the situation and you are being very reasonable about it. You are right of course that many people don’t get ADHD and never will. I have heard the “ADD is just an excuse for being lazy” line a couple of times from friends and family.
I used to feel a lot of guilt over how my failures affect those around me. Especially my disorganization, procrastination and lack of time sense. People are always waiting for me and I never do things that I say I am going to. It hit me really hard last year when my dad died. All I could think about was all the things I had been telling him I would do for him and kept putting off. I really had no idea how much time had passed, and how little was left.
As for my mom, we’re about six feet apart right now and I wouldn’t mind if it was a little further. But she has been very supportive and accepting, especially since she has come to understand ADD and accept that I have it. If she would just stop getting that “yeah right, I’ll believe it when I see it” look on her face every time I say I going to get the house cleaned up and organized.
Really, honest, I am going to do it. No, seriously, I mean it this time….
REPORT ABUSEWhat do you find confusing about it?
REPORT ABUSEI recently discovered caffeinated chocolate. : )
REPORT ABUSEOh, I haven’t done this for a long time. I used to keep a note pad by my bed and write a list every night. Some nights it was a struggle to come up with something, especially when the depression was really bad, but it was a reminder that it’s not all bad.
Today I am grateful that it rained so I didn’t have to go out and water the garden. I am also grateful that the worst of the storm missed us.
I am grateful that I am not sick anymore and able to eat solid food again. And I am grateful that I have food to eat.
And I am grateful for the ceiling fan and ice cold ginger ale that are keeping me from melting right now.
REPORT ABUSEI just have to say it is possible to quit Bupropion ‘cold turkey’. I do it all the time when I forget to take my meds for a few days, or weeks. The only time I ever notice it really working is when I start it again and get a rush for the first couple of days. As for helping with the ADD though, it sucks. I spend half my day just trying to get focused and the other half trying to remember what I wanted to focus on.
I haven’t had experience with any of these other ones. My doctor is old school and Ritalin is all he knows. And then he just up and decided to take me off of it because one time I said I wasn’t sure how much of a difference it was making. Never tried to adjust the dosage or anything. Just cut me off. And now won’t give me anything.
REPORT ABUSE@distractedmomma– Sorry for highjacking your thread. It’s a bad habit. I promise to try to stay on topic after this.
@dithl– Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I was put on Welbutrin for depression as well. The diagnosis was something like “an attention deficit with elements of depression”. I recently went to a new psychiatrist for assessment. He only assessed me for depression and completely ignored the ADD. He said all my ADD symptoms are being caused by the depression, which he determined after knowing me for a whole 15 minutes. He prescribed an SSRI to take with the Welbutrin but I had to stop taking it because I have been sick for several days and can’t tell if it is the cause. I’m going to give it a couple of days until I feel better then try it again but I typically do not do well with SSRI’s. I am willing to try treating the depression first though and see what happens before trying the ADD meds. It is really helpful to be able to see what others have experienced with different meds. And I plan to one day start getting regular exercise too. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow…..
@Larynxa– My doctor doesn’t have a clue, and not just about ADD meds. He was a little better last time I saw him though. I think my therapist told him that I complained about how he never listens. There is one ADHD specialist in my area but he is very, very, expensive. Since I am recently unemployed, not really an option. But, since I am unemployed now, I will have time to start working on things myself, like diet and exercise, that will help. And I have a few group therapy things lined up for things like self esteem and anxiety. Not looking forward to them since I don’t like groups (or therapy for that matter) but hoping that it will help to keep me more focused and motivated.
I am already learning a lot just from being here. I was never really sure about the ADD diagnosis myself, even though I was the one who brought the subject up in the first place. But when I read other people’s stories and see myself in them over and over again it’s pretty obvious. Especially when I read them to my mother and she says “oh yes, that’s you alright!”
REPORT ABUSEInteresting. I don’t really suffer from “binge eating” on a regular basis, but I definitely have those days when I just can’t stop eating the potato chips. And sometimes it’s like no matter what I eat I’m just not satisfied, like there is *something* that I want but I just don’t know what.
I asked my doctor about Concerta but he is refusing to try it. He thinks that because I am taking Welbutrin I don’t need any other ADD meds. But considering that I just lost my job (again) due to chronic punctuality issues (again) and my house is so upside down I’m lucky if I can even find my clothes in the morning, I don’t think the Welbutrin is helping much.
Does anyone else take Welbutrin? Does it work for you?
REPORT ABUSEShould you hate your mother? No, because hating someone requires too much energy and doesn’t do you any good in the long run. You also might regret it later.
I was angry with my mother when I was first diagnosed and found out that Ritalin had been prescribed for me when I was about 7 years old and she refused to give it to me. I blamed her for a lifetime of failure. But at that time ADD was almost unheard of and my mother didn’t know why it had been prescribed and was scared of the side effects.
REPORT ABUSEAugust 21, 2013 at 10:19 pm in reply to: Anyone out there have a traditional, 8-hours a day, 40 hours a week job? #121333I have always worked low paying jobs with low expectations, when I work at all. When I was younger I never had steady work. I did telemarketing (would rather starve than to that again), delivered papers, did customer surveys, door to door sales….never for more than a couple of months.
I managed to keep my present job for 6 years but I was only hanging on by a thread for the last two. Started at 40 hrs/wk and ended up at 20. Stress at work and in my personal life increased dramatically, I got depressed, and I started to slip, often being as much as 20 minutes late and forgetting to do things that I needed to do. They gave me my notice a couple of weeks ago. Which didn’t make me sad because I was bored stiff and desperately wanted to get out of there anyway. Just would have preferred to do it on my own terms. But I have always been too stupid to quit before I get fired.
My plan for the next few months is to collect EI and try to get my house organized while I continue to work on getting my depression under control. Hopefully I will be ready to return to work by the time the benefits run out.
REPORT ABUSEUnfortunately, understaffing, burn out and high turn over go with the territory in such a high stress job. I’m amazed that you can even do the job in the first place. I don’t think I could. You obviously really care about your patients and want what’s best for them. And the support you provide is invaluable.
The others already gave you the best advice possible. So I’ll just say be strong and don’t be afraid to do what you need to do. I know how scary it is to look for a new job. I just lost mine and I can’t even think about going out and looking for another. Fortunately, my doctor agrees. But you have to look out for yourself and if the situation where you are doesn’t improve then the negative effects of the stress might start to outweigh the benefits.
REPORT ABUSEHi memikee. I just joined too. Well, actually I joined a little while ago, forgot to become back, then came back but forgot my password, reset my password, then forgot to come back again……
Anyway, I’m certainly no expert, but your description does sound a lot like ADHD. In fact, it sounds a lot like a normal day for me. But there are other conditions that can cause symptoms that look like ADHD. Depression and/or anxiety could also be responsible for all of things you listed, for example. Whatever it is, it sounds like it is interfering with your life a lot so I think you may want to talk to your doctor about it, if you haven’t already. It’s no fun living like that. And you don’t have to.
REPORT ABUSE -
AuthorPosts