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My whole life I had a hard time sleeping before about 12:30 at night and could never really ‘rev down’ before bed. If my husband turned a light on or made a noise I would be wide awake and mind racing again. I was always a light sleeper and never felt well rested.

I was diagnosed with ADHD combined type in January this year and since have tried a stimulant, then another stimulant and both made sleeping worse! I am on Strattera now (non stimulant) and I have been sleeping like a baby! I’ve consitently been going to sleep by around 10 and sleep SOUNDLY! And am super well rested when I wake up! Plus my mind has never been clearer and I’m more patient/tolerant and feel settled for the first time ever.

Maybe Strattera is worth a try if you’re having sleep issues? It’s nice that is’s not a stimulant. I really like that I’m still myself and don’t feel ‘altered’ at all.

Good luck to you

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For me it would be my ability to connect with horses. It’s almost like I understand what they are thinking. This is atrributed to the fact that I am extremely sensitive. I’m tuned in to the slighest change in feel. This is everything with horses. Something the best trainers in the world have. There is only so much a trainer can accomplish with techniques and a ‘system’ to get to the higher levels of trust and communication with horses to the point that you are tuned in to what they are thinking and visa versa there has to be this thing called ‘feel’. Examples are Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Honza Blaha and Jean Francois Pignon.

I understand both sides of the above debate. I don’t think ADD has a direct link to IQ (there are examples of highs, lows and averages within our demographic) and I understand Russell Barkley’s theory of ADD is not a gift etc…

What I believe is that each quality/symptom we posses due to our ADD is 2 dimentional in a sence. For example by extreme sensitivity equals irritability, low tolerance, overreactiveness, thin skinned/taking things personally, and troubles sleeping soundly etc… while at the same time giving me the ability to sence many things other don’t and be able to get through to troubled horeses that others cant. For example my horse was abused and neglected and does not trust humans or other animals. She is a nightmare for anyone else to handle, even bit the vet yesterday. But I can work with her in a huge open field and she follows me, I call her and she comes galloping up to me. She won’t leave me on the trail and I’m the only one she will let brush her or get near her food. She even lets me sit on her hay and will even sleep beside me. Horses are extremely intuitive animals. Working with other horses I have been able to help owners when even they or trainers couldn’t get through to them. For me this is a remarkable ‘power’ because I care so much about horses that have had to endure suffering and am so glad I can help them. I do wish I could watch the news without having to leave the room though. I feel disturbed hearing about any stories of suffering and was given a very hard time growing up and in my work life for not having thicker skin and for crying at the drop of a hat. lol

ADD traights are part of the tapestry that is our individuality

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I wanted to bump this up to see if my way of seeing numbers, letters, and dates is normal for ADDers or if it’s due to somehting else or if I’m just wierd lol

Since probable about age 4 I have seen numbers and letters as certain colours. 5 is orange, 2 is a greenyblue, four is a purply blue and eight is red. The letter L is dark blue, M is a pinky red and N is a reddish orange, etc…

Dates are where it really gets wierd. In order to think of a date I picture an entire year, I visualize a calendar which is like a huge loop like a doughnut shape with January at the bottom left, June at the top, etc… This shape can be rotated, looked at upsidedown sideways etc… Months aren’t certian colours though because words are never a certain colour. Only individual letters. Same with numbers. A phone number for example isnt a colour but if I’m having to put numbers together like doing math for example each number is a certain colour.

The wierdest of all is that when I go to write a word or a series of numbers like a phone number or address I will find myself writing a random letter that isn’t even part of the word for example.

Do any of your have similair expereinces?

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I think there is a lot of truth behind your theory and it honestly sounds like a fantastic idea. I know that when I train horses I have to be 100% focused and attuned to my energy, gestures, the volume and tone of my voice etc… All prey animals react to all of this especially your energy and of course as an ADHDer my energy is naturally too intense for most horses and if I hadn’t learned to curb this I honestly probably would have had a very serious accident by now. For some reason growing up and not knowing I had Tourette syndrome nor ADHD no matter how many adults told me to hold in my tics and my energy I simply could not. No matter how much I tried and how many different techniques were shown to me etc… Horses however were able to teach me this. While I found that this skill never carried over into any other aspect of my life the fact that I could acheive this while riding horses was invaluable. It was so amazing to be able to feel true peace and relaxation even though it was only while galloping through the trails on a 1200 lb animal lol

I think you are on the right track and commend you for opening your mind and looking into this. The other added bonus with this is that taking care of animals automatically (without you realizing it) forces you to adhere to a routine and instills discipline even when nothing else works

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Well I don’t have kids but I can tell you that your daughter has a wonderful Mom and is going to be much better off because of how you are handling this! HUGE KUDOS to you! The earlier you start educating yourself and start treatment the better. As far as the meds go by the way I am a very holistic person, eat only organic, use chemical free beauty/cleaning products, I don’t even take asprin or anything and yet I have to say that I believe in these medications. For a child of course it is important to be extra cautious but provided you have her blood pressure, heartrate, and other vitals checked and after a few years make sure it isnt effecting any organs etc… and if course be aware of any side effects physical and effecting personality I wouldn’t be concerned. She is so fortunate to know now and have such a supportive Mom!

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Yes I hear you completely! Today is the first day since starting the meds that I have felt really restless as I would if I werent on anything. It’s so frustrating! Maybe my body is getting used to the dose and I need to up it a little? I’m on the lowest dose possible.

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Eventing: http://www.tapestryequine.ca/images/water-jump.jpg http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2009/06/horse-jump-415×589.jpg

Cow cutting: http://www.gotcowhorse.com/Stallions/3.5/mendoza/07CieloHickory1.jpg http://aqha.com/~/media/21E07A6C79EF49AB848CE71155FCA372.ashx?w=350

Dressage: http://www.dressage-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Matthias-Rath-Totilas-extended-trot-9T5U3946-web.jpg

http://www.mistyriverranch.com/Images/Dressage%20Final%20Frontier%20Ringo%201.jpg

To give you an idea of how different they all are

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Yes Yes Yes!!!

I always have! I have always been told that I am extraordinarily tactile. Must touch everything intriguing and must tap things with fingertips. Same applies to cool tactile sensations such as when I was a kid puncturing my Mom’s gel heating pad with a tack even though I knew I would get in trouble cause I just knew it would feel so cool.

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Sorry to hear that you are having to deal with this. I’m not surprised though. I have ADHD combined type and the mild form of Tourette syndrome. I love Dex for my ADHD symptoms and find that is literally has no downside with the exeception of slightly bringing out my tics. I can live with this because mine are not damaging to me as they are just blinking, head nodding, moving writsts/ankles, and a chest puffing out of air with a grunt (although I try to keep the grunt inaudible so usually just hear the air). Fortunatley none of these things impede my health or well being but if they did (as your does) I don’t know what I would do.

I find that the more exercise I do the less I feel the urge to tic. Since you work for yourself everytime you are concentrating or stressed and feel the urge to tic just get up and do some jumping jacks or go for a jog up and down your street? Excersize will probably help you with the being tired in the morning problem as well.

As for you having Tourette syndrome or not you would have to consult a professional however my Specialist told me that it is very common for the two syndroms to coexist. In fact over 70% of people with Tourette syndrome also have ADHD. I also know of some people with both as well as myself of course. Unfortunately it is common for the medication to bring out latent tics however in most cases the benefits outweigh the negatives of the tics (depending what they are of course).

Good luck to you Glenn and I hope the exersize idea helps you! It really really helped me! I try to go for a horseback ride as often as I can and the more I ride the better I sleep and the less I tic. Also when I’m at work for example and start to get the urge to tic I go to the back room and do some jumping jacks. Sounds silly but it’s the only thing that helps me. Things like Yoga and Meditation and deep breathing have never worked for me lol I cannot stay still or focus for long enough but jumping jacks I CAN do lol

Also, I’ve heard that excersize increases the effectiveness of Dex!

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YES!!!

The short answer is YES completely! You sound exactly like me in this regard! Especially the feeling driven to make impulsive decisions yet the perfect decision! It’s a battle we are bound to lose! I love that you used the makeup/beauty product example! Several years ago I was modelling and was fixated on finding the perfect shampoo, mascara, lip gloss, hair color etc… It got to the point that my hair started breaking off from getting my hair highlighted then darkened then highlighted then darkened trying to get the perfect shade. I was going to the salon every 2 weeks and had to start going to different salons so they wouldn’t ask questions. I would literally go to a beauty products store every day or everyother day and purchas a new mascara, lip gloss, what have you and the next day decide it wasn’t right for me and the next day be back searching for the perfect mascara, shampoo etc…

It got so bad my husband was so concerned at all the money I was wasting on this pointless cycle and we added up how much I had been spending and looked at my stash (containing at least 30 shampoos, mascaras, lips glosses etc…and lets just say my heart sank to the floor! It was probably over a thousand dollars on shampoo alone and who know how many hundreds of makeup products not to mention the salon bills EEEEKKK!!! Then i got out of modelling and got back into horses and it shifted to finding the perfect saddle, bridle, horse feed, etc… I was diagnosed with ADHD combined type with severe rating especially in the impulsive category and since starting treatment it has gotten alot better! I haven’t even been in a tack store (place where they sell horse equipment) since.

I find that there is still that underlying urge screaming at me but barely noticible and is becoming less and less to get fixated on what would be the perfect feeding plan for my horse and I have gone one or two times to many to the feed store however bags of feed are under $20 so that beats an $800 saddle by a long shot! lol I’m quite proud of myself and how much money I’m saving! It’s a great feeling to have that never satisfied feeling finally subside and finally for the first time ever in your life feel mostly contented with yourself and what you have! Good luck with the diagnosis! I bet it will change your life! I was only diagnosed a couple of weeks ago and It’s already changed mine!

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Yep! Drive and motivation elude me however I find the more I overthink it the worse it is. The more I think “Aggg I should really be making dinner right now it is good for me and I have to make food for my lunch tomorrow at work but my bed is sooo darn comfy and these pijamas are so warm and it’s freezing outthere in the kitchen so I’m just gonna keep reading my book in bed. *stomach growls* But what am I going to do at 3 in the morning when my hunger wakes me up and what am I gonna to tomorrow for lunch? It’s just too uncomfortable to get out of bed and into the cold and so many things to think about…finding the right pot to cook in in the mess of all the pots i’ve randomly crammed into the cuppboard and I don’t know where any of the ingredients I need are and what if I have to wash out a pot (cant remember if it’s clean or not) then I’ll get my hands wet and then I’ll be really cold.”

I’m working on this too and don’t have any tried and true answers for you unfortunately but what I’m giong to try is not to overthink or have any feeling about what I have to do and just tell myself OK you are going to just jump out of ben and see how fast you can run into the kitchen throw some food into any clean pot u can find turn the stove on and race back to bed and read the rest of the chapter in your cozy warm bed. This is all I’ve come up with so far lol we’ll see how it really plays out or doesn’t.

All I know is if I see a task as a long involved task that requieres alot of thinking, planning and searching for things or discomfort it WONT get done. But if I can make something into a game like timing myself and make is simple and short there is more of a chance of it getting done. lol

This has worked for me at work. I divide all the things I have to do into short little tasks and challenge myself to see how many little tasks I can get done in 20 mins and before you know it I have 2 long tasks completed I just don’t realize it lol

Good luck and I hear ya!

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Also, I just realized that you mentioned you have the predominantly Inattentive Type yet are having alot of struggles with Impulsiveness. This makes me wonder if you Doctor has diagnosed you as the Inattentive Type is it possible the meds you are on are specifically designed for the Inattentive symptoms only? Because I for example was diagnosed with the Combined subtype as I have Impulsiveness and restlessnes (yet was never hyperactive). Since the meds I was given helped me with the impulsiveness/restlessness maybe that would suggest that the kind he gave me targets impusiveness whereas maybe the one you are taking does not? I don’t know but maybe it’s worth asking your Doc about?

Hope this helps!

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I second the excersize suggestion! Horse riding is the best thing in the world for me! It has helped me more than any medication or therapy ever could! I’m finding that the more I ride the less frustrated/angry I get. The being outside in nature and having my less imput stimuli then you do in the urban world is very very helpful in actually calming me and giving me a contented feeling and lowering my irritation level as well.

As far as the impusive portion I think that is so ingrained into who I am that while riding does help (with horses you HAVE to think before you act/react for your own safety) it will always be automatic for me to be impulsive. The only time I’ve ever in my entire life been able to not be impulsive is recently when I took Ritalin for the first and only time. It was as if I had been somehow outfitted with a filter that allowed me to consider my thoughts and actions before speaking/acting. This was an amazing experience and while I always knew that I never wanted to be on meds I’m glad I tried it for that 4day period if only for the indesribable feeling of what it would be like to have a filter like most people do. The very interesting thing I noticed was that not only did it help regulate the output but most markedly the INPUT! I could be at work or in a busy restaurant with tons of people noises and sights around me and people requesting things of me and I didn’t get overwhelmed or shut down (go into dreamy tuned out mode) I was able to calmly filter in the input and easily decide whether to act on that/react or feel something from it (ie irritated) or not. It was interesting. Also I was able to have patience and seemed more aware of time. I suppose if you are open to taking meds if you talk to your Doctor maybe there is a brand you can try that helps more with this ‘filter’ as i call it? The one I was on was Ritalin if that helps I personally wont be ever taking meds but I will always remember that feeling of the filter and try to replicate it as best I can by talking myself through it.

Hopefully I’ve been of some help

Good luck to you and pls know you are far from alone in this! It is a struggle everyday! Please be kind to yourself though and realize that you are trying the best you can despite what people around you who just dont understand say.

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Yes!

I feel like I have to lassoo my thoughts just to keep them from floating up and away. It’s like I only get so much time with each thought before I feel it slipping away.

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I HAVE IT!!!!! 😥

I have ADHD Combined type and I also have Turretts (mild Turrets)!!!

The above explains ME! My whole life!

Thanks sooooo much for all your support you guys!!!!

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE THAT I FULLY ACCEPT AND LOVE MYSELF!!!!

I can’t stop smiling and crying!

I HAVE been trying as much as I could! I HAVE been holding back as much as I could (repressing ticks and the impulses/restlessness/etc) and DOING THE BEST I COULD!

I can finally look myself in the mirror now and LIKE WHAT I SEE THERE!

Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooo much everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All your support meant alot to me and made those last couple hours so much less scary!

This will be a day I never forget!

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