[dithl]

@blackdog, @darkwynde: cooool. I had a much better response but I hit the back button. I love the idea of laying responsibility for ADD “traits” on different characters. Never even thought of it that way. Would go on but it’s too hard to think right now…need sleep. Also need character names. I’ll be back when I’m human again….

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[dithl]

@Larynxa , I am afraid to click your 2nd link til child is in bed. Wait. I go to bed before him….*sigh* Did you know that you are starting to sound a little like Smeagul/Gollum, my precious?

Which begs a random, irrelevant question to everyone: When running your interior monologue, do you refer to yourself as “we”, “I” or “You”? Eg., “Guess ____ should go to bed now.”

I was “We” until sometime around marriage….I didn’t really notice the change. Then it was “You”. After divorce, I noticed I had gone back to “we” again. For me, it’s a much happier way of thinking:-)

@black dog – What? The NSA doesn’t like “toot”? Great – now we’re in trouble.

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[dithl]

Hmm. Posting a link to another forum. Is that a tangent or a filing system? I’d say no fair cheating, except there are no rules. So – well played.

Without even responding to @blackdog‘s tangent, cuz I’m ADD and that’s how I roll, (pfft!) ….here’s my highly subjective report on Rick’s show the other night. Highly subjective because I was overtired and it was late enough at night that meds were already done. Like me.

It was a little on the unexpected side. I thought I would be laughing all night, but also that my love would learn some more about the ADD thing.

Yep, there was lots of laughter, and plenty of self-recognition in those funny moments (like – has any of us on here NOT left their keys in the door? Overnight??) – not just for me, but you could hear it and see it in the laughter of people all around us.

I would tell you all about what Rick talked about, but I kinda don’t remember and anyway, he had his list of topics that he didn’t follow:-) So instead of a precise summary, I’ll give you the ADD snapshot memory account. (And wow, another moment of awesome – realizing that’s okay, my ramblings of half-remembered things are accepted here. I have an amazing memory for many things, but ask me to tell you what I did last night, or what happened in my favourite show last week, and I will look at you with a glazed expression. It makes for awkward conversation moments. But not here!! Wow!)

Loved the analogy to wrestling an invisible opponent. I spent all of my twenties and half my thirties doing that. And it’s exhausting! And having no idea that you are putting so much work into wrestling all day, every day, you wonder why you can’t “get things done” like other people do. Lazy? I wasn’t lazy, I was wrestling this invisible thing the whole time I was raising my children!

At first, I felt very uncomfortable…I’m not really “out” with ADD to many people. And our town is small enough that there were a handful of people I knew there. Strangely enough, that made “it” come back. That self-talk…”Don’t be silly, you don’t really have ADHD. He’s talking about little kids who get labelled as aggressive, that was never you. And you did well in school.” And so on. Rationally, I known that’s all a load of bull, but wow, that’s a very persistent voice. Will have to think on that whole thing some more.

The there were the tears, also unexpected. In connection to my dad, who was brilliant and loving and fun, but left behind him a trail of unfinished projects and unfortunately, damaged children. When Rick talked about people in their seventies only now getting diagnosed and treated, I thought, “If only”.

Sorry – will finish later…sweetie home and it’s time for bed!

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[dithl]

@larynxa @blackdog: It’s all good, though I still haven’t found the motivation to deal with throwing away something with that much liquid in it. Better get on it before I have a putrid mess to strain. I shared that story because it still amazes me how this thing, this ADD thing, can be so hilarious – and then absolutely vexing, and at times heartbreaking. Will tell you about the show in “Hijack my thread”. Thanks for asking 🙂

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[dithl]

*growing sense of horror, not humour!

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[dithl]

Ha! I forgot about Don Music! I’m sure I have bashed my forehead on the piano as a child…not really any harm, because you do it once, then STOP because it HURTS! Speaking of children mimicking what they see…the wonderful moment I truly believed I had this teacher thing down pat came late last year. We have the best helpers for our kindergarten class. They, however, are grade 7 and 8, and have not fully developed judgment.

They liked to bring up songs and such for the class during snack time on our big screen. And yes, were very dependable to ensure it was all kid friendly stuff. One day, they showed this video to the children, because they knew they would love it.

“How animals eat”. As I watched, the antics on screen triggered both my juvenile funnybone and a growing sense of humour. We all had a good laugh, then I spoke very earnestly to the children about whether this would be a good idea to try at school or home.

We had no rhinoceroses eating in the classroom that day – and no reports of Tyrannosaurus Rex at families dinner tables.

And THAT was when I finally knew I was a good teacher 😀

http://www.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/watch?v=qnydFmqHuVo

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[dithl]

@blackdog: *groan* commiserating….

ADD is funny. Until it’s not. Thusly:

“Ha, ha!” she said. “I forgot my wallet at work. But our tickets are being held in my name at the door. If they ask for I.D., I guarantee I can talk our way in – it’s a show about ADD, after all, ha, ha!”

And she laughed and was happy.

“What a perfect parking spot!” she said. “Just around the corner from the — wait-a-minute-that’s-not-the-theatre-we’re-supposed-to-go-to….”

“Ha, ha!” she said. “That’s funny, my memory played tricks on me and I drove to the wrong theatre. Oh, well, lucky it’s a warm night and it’s only an extra block to walk to the right place.

And she laughed and was happy.

And the nice people at the door let her in and she had fun at the show.

And then she went home and said, “sure, I will put the stew away” and she was happy because they wouldn’t have to cook dinner the next night because they had *planned* ahead of time and made a big, full crockpot of stew.

And then she went to bed and was happy and had a good but short sleep.

And then she woke up and was so so so so TIRED.

And then he said, “We’ll need to pick up something for dinner on the way home tonight because the stew has been sitting out all night.”

Now it wasn’t funny anymore. She was soooooo mad at herself. She was SURE she had put the stew in the fridge, but she hadn’t. She had forgotten, and now a whole pot of food with a whole package of meat had gone bad. And all his work preparing supper was for nothing. How could she made such a STUPID, expensive mistake?

See? ADD is so, so, so funny!

Until it isn’t.

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[dithl]

@Larynxa, too funny! I will compose VBP (Very Bad Poetry) at some point…at the moment it is time for bed. I have programmed a reminder on my phone on a randomly selected date to add “booger” to one of your threads. Bwah ha ha…now it will be a surprise to both of us. (Is there a thread on abuse of ADHD strategies? So much press about abuse of ADHD medications, but the deep dark secret of ADHD strategy abuse remains… deep and dark.)

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[dithl]

NOW we’re cooking and totally on a tangent. Or is that technically another weather reference?

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[dithl]

@Larynxa: Ooh, now you’ll have to watch your back — or your tags — someday, when you least expect it, I will add “booger” to one of your threads. Yes, we are now officially 8 year olds.

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[dithl]

@jojosephine, thanks for posting the update, good to know how you are doing. And agreed with @blackdog, to-do lists can be killer, especially when you don’t get a break from them because the evidence of your to-didn’ts are all around you in your living space.

I’m having the same problem with Adderall XR…supposed to be 8 to 10 hours, but I am coming off of it after 5 hours. It happened when we were out this afternoon…and made me decide that groceries were *not* going to happen today. Arg. I don’t know if Vyvanse and Adderall have similar effects, but coming off it became easier for me after time. Less bear-like, at least *most* of the time. Now it’s just usually more like, “meh, I don’t feel like doing this now…bleh, why do I feel so lazy? Ohhh right, meds worn off. Let’s go do nothing.”

@Larynxa, I came home to read up more on Dr. Charles Parker’s DOE info…I have trouble with it because it’s too much to take in – information overwhelm, plus something about the way he writes gets my inner skeptic going…hard to discern how much is salesmanship. Not meaning to be inflammatory, can’t think of a better way to write. Thank you for your input, I keep wondering if I really am coming off the meds that fast, or it’s just a normal dip…but your “crash and burn” describes it well. And — yep, protein is so important.

@jojosephine, if you don’t mind, can you keep us updated as you go? I’m really curious about how your psych will deal with the shorter duration…Charles Parker’s book talked about going to “off-label” doses (high) for people who metabolize fast…but for myself, I don’t know if I would want to feel the effects of more Adderall. My doc finally did prescribe an afternoon “booster” and it’s made a world of difference. But I guess I still wonder if I’m not taking too many meds.

Isn’t it cool to get a really good sleep? And so counter-intuitive that stimulants can do that.

Decaf coffee — caffeine content is pretty low. I kind of forgot about coffee and stimulants…will have one or two cups some days. I keep track of my heart rate when I think it’s a little high, but it hasn’t been high enough to warrant going off meds, thank goodness.

I’m trying not to make this post all “me, me, me.” Not sure if I’m succeeding, so I’ll say I’m still excited for you and glad to hear you have had some success, even if you’re not where you want to be yet.

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[dithl]

Hey @blackdog, thanks again for the feedback. Ya, it’s *really* hard to delay on things. I did the classic deciding by forgetting about it — I get totally wrapped up in work when I’m there, and can’t even think about “me” stuff. So — wait til summer it is. Which I think is the better decision anyway. I had to stay late on Wednesday night, and got home after 9:00…judging on how that affected my day on Thursday, that’s not something I should be doing for ten weeks straight, plus readings and assignments etc etc. Would college be an “all-in” kind of thing, or could you do it a course at a time on the side of something else? I find that things take up as much space as you have…hard to explain but sometimes it’s easier to accomplish things when they aren’t the whole focus.

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[dithl]

Afraid of haiku
I am not. Talk like Yoda
I shall. In haiku.

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[dithl]

@blackdog, thanks 🙂 I have a tipping point for “overdoing it”, after which I really don’t function well. (Zombie gait, zombie speech abilities). But it’s hard to figure out where that is, and I hate the idea of limiting myself more than needed – done that too much in the past. But then it’s so easy to say YES to too many things because they are all so interesting and worthwhile. Then I end up on overwhelm, which is really an alternate (and not so pleasant) state of being…and my family ends up with a zombie. I guess big picture is there’s no real wrong decision here…will let it rest a bit and see what gut feelings say. Right now, judging the amount of stress I feel thinking about it, the gut is screaming, “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! Wait til summer!”

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[dithl]

I haven’t yet asked for formal accommodations at work, though I did disclose to my supervisor when I had to undergo performance review, and in general that worked out. But I’m in education, and though there are lots of negative examples, we are *supposed* to know how to deal with different needs. @ADDled, I hope you don’t mind me piggybacking on your original question, but I have a question for the hive-mind.

For work, I’m up shortly after 5 am each weekday, and home at the earliest at 5 pm. Really trying to stick to a good bed-time (before 9:00, so I better hurry up typing here!) in order to prevent brain fog and stumbling over words and all those other lovely sleep-deficit charmers.

There is a professional course coming up. I have to sign up within 3 days, and it’s a chunk of money. Lots of advantages to taking it — improve my practice, increase my pay, and greater chance of staying with this particular job long-term.

Problem is, it’s once a week from 5:30 — 9:30 pm, plus a few Saturdays thrown in, until the beginning of December.

I really want to take this course, but I don’t know if that’s just setting myself up for trouble. I don’t know if I can hack those hours. I could ask for accommodation from the course provider, as in leaving earlier and making up the hours somehow, or I could possibly talk to my boss about a later start the mornings after the course.

This is one of those moments when I remember that this ADD thing is for real and it makes me different from other people. And suddenly I would rather it wasn’t for real 🙁 If I do this, I either try to suck it up, which isn’t healthy for me and people around me, or I have to be prepared to be a weird pain in the ass to get accommodations. Talking about chickens is a much more fun aspect of ADD. (Insert whiny voice here.)

3rd alternative is to wait all the way to July of next year for another course offering, which would mean a much more relaxed pace, as I would be off work.

I am actually not sure what my question is…just inviting comments and ideas, I guess. Or someone just decide for me 😀

Better toddle off, glad you guys are here.

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