Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Dear Jacobi331,
Thanks for reaching out to the community. Personally, I would find a different doctor. Blaming Depression on your weight? Really? Wow.
I totally get how you can feel so depressed and despondent. I’ve been through several bouts of depression myself over my lifetime. I suspect most people with undiagnosed and untreated have.
In fact, for the last 3 years I had been saying to my wife that I feel like I’m in a mild depression. Finally I mentioned it to my ADHD specialist, we did a session and I told him how I’m feeling, how nothing is exciting me, that I feel drained and unmotivated… After about 10 minutes he interrupted me and said that yes, I was in a clinical depression and we needed to address it.
It may be impossible for you to feel that there’s any good news in this, but what I hear is someone who struggled with undiagnosed ADHD, and has discovered that medication makes a huge difference. I would find another doctor. A younger one is possible as they tend to be much better educated about ADHD.
And I would do as much research as you can into ADHD, take the TotallyADD Screener Test on our site, which is based on the World Health Organizations ADHD Self-Reporting Scale. and if you want advice on getting diagnosed there’s a video in out shop which lays out 13 common challenges to a proper diagnosis, and what to do about them. It’s called Embracing the Diagnosis It’s also available on DVD has part of our 3 video set.
And take our Unofficial ADHD Test as it will be helpful in giving you a sense of what’s going on. It’s meant to be light and fun, but as many doctors have told me, ‘It really does cover the range of ways it shows up in adults.’ https://totallyadd.com/blog/our-unofficial-adhd-test-video/ It’s no substitute for a full diagnosis, but if you can arrive at the doctors office with a lot of evidence and clarity about what’s going on, it should help. (But some doctors don’t get it.)
- This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Rick Green - Founder of TotallyADD.
Well, Harry1, in our video on Sleep & ADHD one of the doctors explains why a stimulant can actually help with sleep, because it diminishes the level of ‘hopping, skipping, and jumping from one thing to another.
REPORT ABUSEWell, Harry1, in our video on Sleep & ADHD one of the doctors explains why a stimulant can actually help with sleep, because it diminishes the level of ‘hopping, skipping, and jumping from one thing to another.
REPORT ABUSEI was told that the caffeine in coffee will speed up my metabolism, so I end up ‘metabolizing’ the Concerta faster that is intended.
I’ve also heard that Orange Juice can Concerta don’t mix. Anyone else heard that?
REPORT ABUSELove hearing that the video is making a difference! Thanks for the kind words. (I hate to ask, but I want to impact as many of our tribe as possible, so if you can go to the shop page for ADD & Mastering It and write a review I would really appreciate it. There’s so much junk out there and as you probably know from personal experience, so it can be disheartening trying figuring out who has reliable information vs. who is selling bogus ‘cures’
And I’ve been surprised at the number of people trying to undermine the idea very that ADHD is real. Who would do that, you ask? (I assume you asked.)
It’s been my experience they are either internet Trolls, pr people who’ve had a bad experience in childhood around ADHD (Ie. Misdiagnosed), or they are people who recognized themselves in a list of ADHD symptoms and are terrified that they might have this mindset (Because they think it means they are ill, or broken, or whatever)
Anyway, thanks for the kind words!
And if you want discounts on the videos make sure you’re subscribing to our weekly Newsletters and Friday Funnies.
Here’s the link. (I had to go to the website to get it. Ha!)
Oh, and David, who runs the website, has put up a special offer, when you subscribe you get a free bonus video, 7 Things You Should Know About ADHD Medications.
REPORT ABUSEMy wife and I have little gadgets on our key chains that will emit a beep if you walk around with the matching ‘remote.’ So if one of us can’t find their keys we grab the remote from the little china donkey on the shelf (Long Story.) and walk around pressing the remote until we hear the beep.
But you have to be close to it. 2 acres and all those buildings is not all that close. They work well on a key chain, hooking onto the metal loop. Not so practical for a phone.
There are a number of apps, as Richard mentions. I suspect every make of smart phone has one. I don’t have the FIND MY PHONE app turned on, I find it’s better to remember the last time I had it in my hand… Was it for a phone call? Checking the weather? Texting?…
I also bought the brightest, gaudiest phone case I could find. It helps me to spot it more easily. I did the same with all the remote controls for the TV, and even attached ribbons to some of them. It worked so well, I wrote a blog about it. https://totallyadd.com/blog/adhd-friendly-house/
Finding the remote used to be almost a daily challenge. Not any more. Dunno if that helps with your husbands phone.
REPORT ABUSEWell, Richard, I hope you can reap the rewards as well. Because based on the last year or so, I’m not sure I’ve learned anything. Ha ha hah!
REPORT ABUSEHello! I have also been AWOL, and TotallyADD.com is supposed to be my website… Actually, it is my website.
We redesigned the whole website, with a lot of help, to make it more ‘mobile-friendly,’ but what was supposed to take a month took 8 months. And all the regular stuff, Blogging, running the shop, sending out Emails, Friday Funnies, and so on, was all-consuming.
At the same time, Jimi, who was with us for almost 8 years, moved across the country where his wife is now interning as a doctor. (And Jimi has opened an apple cider business!) so David Riddles, a long time friend who has a background in computers and programming offered to help out a bit. A bit became a bit more. Then a lot. And now he’s working with my wife Ava and I pretty much full time.
Anyway, yes, it feels good to be back!
REPORT ABUSELaughing at these! So funny.
My confession: I got one of those small battery operated gadgets that you attach to your key chain. So if you misplace your keys you just pick up the ‘remote control’ and walk around the house pressing the button on it. When you get close to your keys it emits a beeping sound. So far I have used it three times. I could have used it more but I either forgot to change the batteries in the beeper or the remote or both, misplaced the ‘remote control’, or simply forgot I had this gadget in the first place.
Which, I suppose, is why “ADD Stole My Car Keys” was the perfect title for my first book on ADHD.
REPORT ABUSELisamummy, I’m not sure about any doctors, but you might contact Candace Taylor who is an ADHD coach and lives in Port Perry. She’s a knowledgeable womman. addcoachcandace@gmail.com
The other resource you might try is CADDAC. They are more of an advocacy and educational organization but they are well connected with ADHD specialists across Canada.
You might also talk to a psychologist who specializes in ADHD, as I did, and they may be able to recommend a doctor or even advise your own doctor about what they think may be helpful. Psychologists aren’t qualified to prescribe medications but some of them have been helped hundreds or even thousands of patients with ADHD, Depression, and Anxiety, and they have seen what works, what new medications are around, and so on.
Hope that helps.
REPORT ABUSEYes, @Miran64, you are also describing me, when I was in my 40’s, before I was diagnosed. As Richard @That Guy With ADHD says you do have a number of the signs. But as any doctor would say, “Those could also be signs of Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, or something else.
One difference between Depression and ADHD is that Depression is an illness, an abnormal state, whereas most of us are born this way. As Dr. Ari Tuckman says in one of our videos, Depression is, “What’s wrong with you, Susan? You’re not yourself these days.” Whereas with ADHD it’s more like, “What’s up with you, Maria?” “Oh, I’ve always been this way.”
Getting a proper diagnosis is tricky. My suggestion to anyone is similar to what Richard said above, watch videos, read, learn, ask questions here.
The Unofficial ADHD Quiz is funny and light, but it’s actually chock-a-block crammed with some of the common symptoms that adults struggle with. No one has all of them, some may be severe and some may just be causing you minor inconvenience, but they all relate to the core issue of ADHD which is a brain that’s not great at sorting, filtering, focusing, prioritizing, and following through.
If you need help getting diagnosed, the second video in the 3 video collection, The Comprehensive Guide To ADHD is called Embracing The Diagnosis. A better title would be, “13 Roadblocks To A Proper ADHD Diagnosis, And How To Overcome Each One. By the way, the Comprehensive Guide is on sale at the moment, something like 60% off!
REPORT ABUSEI went to the 2017 International ADHD Conference and did my one-man show, “My Award-Winning, Coast-to-Coast Mental Disorder” as a fund raiser for the Conference and got a standing ovation at the end! Wow!
I can see now that what made the difference was running the show numerous times, but in sections, rather than trying to get through the whole 95 minutes in one go. No one rehearses a stage production from the top to the bottom until just before opening night, but I kept starting at the beginning, and then I’d notice a mistake in the power point, or want to modify the wording, and end up losing my momentum.
In fact, what i did was something I do with almost any big task, I broke it up into do-able, digestible, manageable chunks.
REPORT ABUSEMustacheKitten, a lot of adults with ADHD have problems sleeping. It’s huge. People actually asked us to make a video about sleep issues, and we did.
Being awoken by your dreams is so disruptive. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture. And it works! So this is a big problem.
Folks with ADHD do have much higher rates of poor sleep. In our video ADDeep Sleep, Doctor Roberto Olivardia says that everyone he knows with ADHD has sleep issues. Including himself. The video also gets into it in detail, including something called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. And there’s a ton of suggestions for getting more restful sleep.
I, like you, have vivid dreams, yet another member of my family believes they never dream. I’ve suggested maybe they just don’t remember them but they say no.
I love Shutterbug55’s suggestion to journal your dreams. Whether or not you use them as fodder for stories, you may see a pattern and recognize fears and concerns that are driving your dreams… and be able to deal with those.
There is also something called Guided or Directed Dreaming, where you actually set yourself up as you’re falling asleep, telling yourself what you want to dream about, and even how it will end.
REPORT ABUSEThe overlap with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, and other disorders as well, is so tricky. But I have to admit, there are a lot of aspects of ASD that fit me. The very fact that I got my degree in Science, that I can be a big awkward around strangers, and my wife has to remind me to make eye contact with people when I’m talking… I sometimes wonder if the anxiety that comes from the ASD aspects of myself, if that is indeed what they are, prevented me from getting into substance abuse or risky behaviors as a teen. Drunk people scared the crap out of me. Still do, actually. I remember a Psychiatrist who worked in ER, and I asked him who were the scariest patients, and he said it was drunk people. “They are totally unpredictable.”
Boy, did I wander off topic or what? Ha!
REPORT ABUSESome good ideas here. There is a device that you can buy that will help you locate them using your cell phone. It’s called a ‘Tile’
Amazon has them but they’re out of stock.
Wish I’d bought one when they first came out. I lost my keys three weeks ago and my wife and I have been sharing hers since then. This weekend we will be doing an exhaustive search of the house. Because the first 5 searches turned up nothing!
REPORT ABUSE -
AuthorPosts