Help! Just Diagnosed at 32. | ADHD Information

livingwithadd, exactly, if you were allowed to be yourself you would just be adhd brain chemistry and if you had people upset w/you all the time or trying to alter you and you couldn't change then negative symptons would apppear just from the strress and confusion

Jlieb,

If U need someone to talk to, I'm here...PM me...I am 34(going on 35), new parent dealing w/ADD...I know what U mean about not feeling U are at your Potential...I don't either, & it drives me CRAZY.

adhd symptoms had to be evident before the age of 7...
thats how the adhd diagnosis works..

bad habits can indeed lead to poor organisational skills  and low motivation..

thats why its so imperative to get good habits running from young...

Can anyone relate this this?  I am a 32 year old stay at home mom.  Since reading about the disorder 7 years ago when teaching elem. school, I have always wondered in the back of my mind if I have it--and actually joked a lot that I have it.  I recently went to see a clinical counselor who specializes in ADHD, to see if i possibly do have it.  I have been taking an anti-depressant for 4 years, but still felt that something was in the way of me "being" at my "full potential".  I constantly forget to do things my husbad asks me to do; misplace things; constantly try to get organized; chronically late for appointments; not good at time management; procrastinate; have a hard time prioritizing tasks; difficulty finishing tasks--start several at once; lack discipline, etc....  All of this especially frustrates my husband who is not at all like this--he is very disciplined, organized, gets things done when they need to be, etc..  I thought that perhaps I am like this because of being an only child who had little responsibilities growing up, etc...  Still wonder about that.

Anyway, the counselor did testing and diagnosed me with moderate inattentive-type ADHD.  The puzzling thing to me though, is that I couldn't think of any of these symptoms during childhood/adolescence.  I did good in school, easily completed college, had a good work history, good relationships with others, etc...  My family couldn't identify any of these symptoms from my childhood either. 

I tried Wellbutrin for a month, but it didn't seem to chanchange my ADHD symptoms.  Now, I'm also taking Strattera.  I just started it 4 days ago. 

In the back of my mind, i keep thinking that maybe I don't need ADHD medicine.  Maybe I just need to become more disciplined and really try to get it together.  For example, I see commercials about ADHD or hear about it on the news, and think:  "That is nothing like me!." 

Being a stay at home mom, I definitely have responsibilities, but not like as if I had a career.  Staying at home, I can be more lax about getting things done.  For example, I am often 5 minutes late for getting my children to preschool.  My mother asked me if I would continue to be late if there was a consequence like an extra fee for being late.  I wasn't sure of the answer.  I know that if i had a job, i would not be late for that.  Also, sometimes I think I don't focus and organize my day because I don't HAVE TO.  What I mean is:  if I had a full-time career, I would still have all the responsibilites of the home, plus my career, so i would be forced to PRIORITIZE and organize my day.  Staying at home, I don't always have to do so.  So, i'm really wondering if these ADHD symptoms aren't stemming from simply a lack of discipline.  I hope all of this makes sense. 

 

I was just wondering if anyone can relate to this?  Hope someone can help!

Many adults especially women have a hard time remembering if they actually had ADD symptoms as children. It is very common that negative ADD related symptoms did not show up because the environment was "ADD Friendly". A lot of the time if people look deeper the symptoms were actually present.

What would happend when you were younger if for some reason you weren't able to follow a schedule?

Were you usually in systems where somebody else created a schedule for you (work, school, home).

Did you have a lot of different interests as a child and young adult?

Did you have trouble making choices as a child/young adult?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i wouldn't guess you had ADD from what you said. 

i think i verge more toward brookelea's assessment than Tara's (although she is an ADD coach so, i guess she has more experience in this).

but i was in a severly scheduled environment, a school, where every minute was accounted for...

even so, i was always late.  always confused.  never remembered which day it was.  would forget to bring gym kit from 'house' to 'school'.  would leave work in 'house'.  would go to wrong classroom.  would look at schedule to try to re-orient myself and be looking at wrong day.   i was obviously different.  people used to take me on as a 'project' almost.

'i will look after christine, today'  --- dragging me from class to class to get to the right place.  i just wasn't all there.  as they said.  i was always in a different world.  time completely passed me by.  often i wouldn't hear the bell and i don't know. 

i just mean to say that i think if you are ADD --- you KNOW it.  it is like a watershed moment when you hear the diagnosis and you think omg, THAT was what it was.  you mean THAT was what was wrong with me for all that time.

it's not as though you have to hear the symptoms and TRY to fit them to your life.  they ARE your life.  they have ALWAYS been your life.  they just never had a name before.  it was just the way things were --- everything was confusing and a muddle and you couldn't understand how others made sense of it, when you could make no sense of it at all....

i wouldn't say you have ADD --- from what you said, perhaps you just need to learn ways to cope (time management skills etc. all that sort of thing) with having so much to do before it overwhelms you.

good luck anyway.