[BuxomDiva]

I haven’t been active in these forums for years but this thread is exactly what I was looking for!

In one of the videos that Rick Green did (I think it was Add & Mastering it), he and Patrick McKenna tackled a task (sorting a bunch of toys) with a timer running. When they finished, Rick said “I think that took about 20 minutes, right?” and Patrick agreed with him. It had actually taken more than 90 minutes!

Here’s my question. Does anybody know if there’s an actual medical/technical term for that living in a time warp thing that is so common among us ADDers?

Thanks so much!

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[BuxomDiva]

Oh thanks for reminding me! Have to find those PET scan images that were posted on the NIMH website (I think?) years ago in a piece called the decade of the brain.

😀

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[BuxomDiva]

how do we combat this kind of foolishness? I feel like I have been beating my head against the wall ever since I got my diagnosis, trying to convince people I am not just “lazy, stupid or crazy” 🙁

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[BuxomDiva]

He tried to consult a psychiatrist, but Dr. J. told him to go to the family doctor!
From what he told me last night he hasn’t actually been taking the Effexor anyway. I suggested he go back to the doctor to repeat the Wellbutrin, which he had taken before with good result (helped him quit smoking) but for now he seems to have decided to smoke pot occasionally instead of taking pills every day. ~sigh!

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[BuxomDiva]

Our family doctor wound up putting him on Effexor instead (not sure why) and I haven’t heard back yet if it’s helping.
Interesting to hear that it helped with your SAD wyowildflower as I’ve got that going on too! Maybe I should get some for myself; I gave up on Paxil as it didn’t seem to be helping my depression and it was clouding my thinking I found

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[BuxomDiva]

That’s very helpful! He’s had the ADHD diagnosis for several years; this hair pulling is just within the last year as far as i know. I should clarify that my “baby” is 23!

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[BuxomDiva]

As usual I’m late to the party. Maybe I should look into that ADD thing I keep hearing about? (tongue in cheek – I’m on ODSP for mine it’s so bad!)
My younger son has it too, and for the last while he’s had a terrible problem with hair pulling.
He had been on this medication previously and has started back taking his leftover prescription. He’s taking 150mg twice daily.Looked for info on the CADDAC site about dosages but now that site is only showing the meds that are specifically for ADHD (did I just imagine seeing dosage info there years ago about other meds? possibly!)
He was going to try and reach Dr. J. directly about this but I thought I’d post here and see if anybody had feedback on the efficacy of this medication to help the hair pulling habit.
Thanks!

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[BuxomDiva]

Tiddler I apologize for missing your post earlier – I must have ADD or something – you are mistaken in believing that the moods last longer than a few minutes – in some people anyway – I had a classmate a few years ago who had what is known as “rapid cycling” bipolar – just an FYI – glad you found meds that are helping you 😀

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[BuxomDiva]

“a person can also be both ADHD and bi-polar but it is not common.” I’m not sure what your doctor meant by common, but Dr. J. told one of his groups that he is seeing a huge increase in the number of people getting a legit diagnosis of both – another thing I learned from a lecture at the Mood Disorders Assocation is that women are most commonly diagnosed with bipolar during one of the three transitional phases of our lives – i.e. onset of menses, childbirth, midlife – this was true for me – got my diagnosis shortly after hitting perimenopause, several years after getting the ADHD diagnosis – another thing I learned from that lecture is that they now know postpartum depression is a red flag for bipolar – zsazsa as long as you’re feeling good on whatever meds you’re currently taking, that’s the important thing!

P.S. lecture was from a doctor who is the go-to guy for bipolar at the University Health Network here in Toronto – the lecture was supposed to be about bipolar and ADHD – turned out to be about bipolar versus unipolar – yours truly was the ADHD expert in the room – Dr. Whatshisname was not impressed with my fielding all the questions from the crowd about ADHD – it was great

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[BuxomDiva]

P.S. after more than 2 years I have finally posted a pic – this was taken on November 11th – the day I turned 57 I made my professional singing debut! Late bloomers, bow before your Queen. lol

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[BuxomDiva]

Well over the last few months I have been spending far too much time on Wastebook and not nearly enough time in these forums!

To address the o.p., best thing I ever read about people claiming to have ADD or be a little ADD or whatever was something Rick posted on Twitter. I won’t get it exactly right but it was something to the effect of “ADD is a spectrum, like height. Getting the diagnosis means you are 6’7”

And while I understand your issue with people trying to join our club without a formal diagnosis, let’s not forget how hard it is for adults to get a proper diagnosis! I didn’t get mine until I sought help for my son, which seems to be a fairly common scenario among folks I know who were only diagnosed as adults.

I’m actually ridiculously pleased with myself that I kept telling a friend on Facebook that she sounded like one of us and she took me seriously enough to go and get diagnosed. Who do I see about my toaster?

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[BuxomDiva]

Great thread! I love what you posted Todreamalife. When my son was diagnosed my mom’s immediate reaction was “I don’t understand why you would want to label a child.” I bit my tongue rather than point out that she had not hesitated to label me as gifted! While I am very thankful for the excellent education I got as a result of that assessment, it was a terrible burden trying to live up to expectations with my then undiagnosed ADD!

When I shared the graphic from this site about the guy struggling to complete grade 8 as an adult because his parents were in denial about his ADD when he was a kid, I got the following comment from a Facebook “friend”.

“sorry – that is crap. I have ADHD… no drugs, no special treatment, I got Cs and Ds until I learned to control it, then As and Bs. I have a good job and an excelent skill set… put some effort into your life instead of expecting someone else to do it for you.”

another friend got my back before I had a chance to respond –

” glad you feel so wonderfully about yourself! I hope you aren’t feeling like you have been helpful here! You are suggesting that you are the only person with ADHD, that has put effort into their life? Why don’t you use your “excellent skill set” and turn on your spell check; and, learn how to use proper punctuation? Since your life is so peachy keen; I hope you are doing lots of humanitarian volunteer work with your “excellent skill set”! Truly wonderful meeting you here!”

aww Facebook – the playground of the 21st century!

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[BuxomDiva]

Flygirl33 you didn’t mention if you have other children? (or if you did I missed it). After my second miscarriage the doctor wanted my husband and I to go for genetic testing – karyotyping. Even though I had a child from my first marriage, 2nd hubby decided that there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with his sperm and blew off the appointment! He went on to father 2 kids with his second wife and I had a second son with a boyfriend years later.

Just saw your post that they can’t find a reason that you’re miscarrying, so maybe the problem isn’t you at all! I don’t know how far along you were, and I know firsthand how heartbreaking it is to lose a baby, but it could be there was something wrong with the babies. My mom once told me her periods were so irregular she might have had a number of miscarriages before she even knew she was pregnant. These tests that tell you before you even miss a period aren’t doing anybody any good imho!

Based on my personal experience, if it’s at all possible (not sure where you are, what kind of medical coverage you have etc) I think you AND your husband should get tested. Maybe it’s something in your genetic makeup that you can’t make a healthy baby together.

Good luck and I do hope you get everything sorted out!

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[BuxomDiva]

Larynxa that is not entirely true. I was diagnosed at CAMH and it was fully covered by OHIP. Elsewhere in these forums I know Dr. J. has posted about the crazy amounts some doctors charge because they can get away with it since there simply are not enough doctors with expertise in adult ADHD.

It may take some time to get in to see somebody covered by OHIP though. One of my Facebook friends decided she couldn’t wait and shelled out over $2K to get her kids diagnosed, something that should have been much easier to do and absolutely should have been covered!

Of course the first “expert” I took my son too informed me there was nothing wrong with him that better parenting wouldn’t fix! Thank heavens for Dr. J. who did a complete assessment on both of us, including talking to my mother who had to travel to Toronto from Kingston Ontario for the appointment!

As far as prescribing goes, over the years I’ve heard Dr. J. say a number of times that you should decide what symptom you want to manage. Many of us have a lot going on; I have type 2 bipolar as well as ADHD. When I hit perimenopause my mood swings made PMS a fond memory!

There is no such thing as a “one pill fits all” medication for ADHD but on this site and I think the CADDAC site there is a lot of good information about the meds for particular symptoms. I do better with dexedrine than ritalin for example, while my son is the exact opposite.

Best of luck!

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[BuxomDiva]

My sense of smell is next to non-existent due to chronic allergic rhinitis. The one time that I actually stuck to the diet for cadidiasis for a while my sinuses cleared right up and I could smell just fine. Didn’t keep it up; that would have been too logical!

I was just talking to my boyfriend the other day about how I will have to learn to identify pleasant odours once I get this sorted out permanently. Right now the only thing I can identify is ammonia (litter box – I’m years past diapers, thankfully!)

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