Oh Christine, I have lost count the number of times I've blurted something over-the-top inappropriate. Now, my good friends just consider it hilarious. I guess that's why they're good friends.
The first place to start is with a doctor, specifically a psychiatrist. Don't mess with the family practitioner. They'll probably just want to put you on anti-depressants off the bat. Check around, find someone who is qualified to evaluate adult add. What that evaluation will be or consist of is up in the air. Some use your school performance, your & families anecdotal evidence, etc. At least that's what mine did.
It really changed my world for the better. Just knowing that there was a reason why I was different helped more than anything.
Sounds familiar. I'm 34, and was diagnosed a few months ago after being on anti depressants, you name it i took it, for over 10 years, i guess i got lucky and found a doc that really questioned me etc. and felt i"may" be depressed becasue of being ADD/Inattentive, he took me off the anti depressant (a god send) and put me on Adderall and life is so much better. And so many many things make sense to me now that i look back on them and alwasy wondered what the heck was i doing or what the heck was i NOT thinking, it was a WOW moment for me!
christi
It never dawned on me until the last six months or so that I could actually be ADHD. I always did fairly well in school, and I got into and through Stanford grad and undergrad. I also never got into trouble when I was young. In fact, I was insanely shy and rarely spoke up until about junior high. So the hyperactivity didn't really seem to show until then. I do remember as a kid that sitting still for any period of time was the worst possible feeling in the world. I *HATED* it. I was never more miserable than when bored. But what kid doesn't feel that way? When I got into kindergarden, they actually wanted to hold me back, calling me an "immature bright" because I was hard to control and inattentive. They gave me an IQ test afterwards, and I tested a few points over genius, so they decided I was just too bored and that's why I couldn't pay attention.
All my life I've struggled to finish my work. I copied nearly every homework assignment up and through high school minutes before it was due. I never opened my backpack after school, and I never actually remembered that I even had homework. When I'd be reminded and couldn't copy it, I'd have to do it during the class before it was due. I don't think I ever got more than 1/4 a way through a single book through high school, college, AND graduate school. (don't ask me how I managed, I still don't know). I could never do my work, and if I had to sit down and write an essay (at the last possible second), I'd get up like 20 times. In the library I would spend two hours reading, but in reality I'd take like 8 bathroom breaks, 8 water breaks (funny how the two worked so well together), then I'd go check my E-mail five times, then I'd go check my voice mail, then I'd go walk over to the food stand (only to end up buying nothing), etc. Or I'd read through a short article (two phone breaks, two bathroom breaks, etc), and I'd pace around the outside of the library thinking like mad. I just couldn't manage to process anything unless I was in motion. When I sit still my leg shakes so hard that I've had friends stop their cars mid-travel to figure out why it's jostling so much. I've beat myself up for years over it, constantly asking myself why I couldn't just sit down and do my work like everyone else, even when it was work I REALLY wanted to do. My teachers and professors either thought I was a complete idiot (depending on how well I could pull off having read nothing or next to nothing for the class) or brilliant but "not working to my potential".
I finally tried a friend's strattera prescription for a month (she hated it), and I was blown away. I was calm and able to focus for the first time in my life. I started seeing a doctor who knew nothing about it, but she gave me strattera anyway (I also have an anxiety disorder, so I think she just figured at the very least she was medicating my anxiety). Then I found out that my mother was diagnosed with Adult ADHD a few years ago, and I started to really read up on it. When I read an article on gifted adults and ADHD, I almost started crying. It was a huge relief. I was like "oh my god, that's me!".
And now I'm working to find someone knowledgable about it who can help me get myself back on track so I can finally start law school, which I've been too afraid to try due to the ADHD symptoms.
is there any way for me to tell if i could have ADD or if all my symptoms are just caused by stress, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, meds,a zillion kids, or any other sort of thing that might be going on in my life?
I had a roommate a few years ago. She had been diagnosed since she was a kid. She never came out and said "you have ADHD." She would just make casual remarks that were kind of pointy. "Did you realize that was the 4th time you got up to make a sandwich and you still don't have one?" "Did you mean to leave your keys in the refrigerator?"
To make a long story short, I remained in denial, until my cat finally convinced me. He is very greedy about sitting on my lap. Eventually, I would get annoyed and shove him off. Then I would shove him off again. Next thing I knew, he would be asleep in my lap. He would sit at my feet and wait for my attention to wander so he could plop himself back on my lap.
Most cats can be pretty stealthy like this, but my cat is mentally retarded (literally). My retarded, obnoxious, velcro-to-my-leg cat had a longer attention span and memory than I did. Sigh. I couldn't deny that I had ADHD any longer.
My parents were told when I was a baby, then again when I was in primary school and yet again when I was in highschool. My parents don't belive in ADHD.
Last year at age 30 I took myself off to get a diagnosis. No doubt about it, ADHD.
You're life sounds hectic with that many kids anyway but add ADHD to the equation and no one you feel like you're struggling.
I'd have to say well done for managing this long
I had strong suspicions when I went to college and was taking a class that had a unit on learning disablitlies. When they talked about ADHD in children, their symptoms, and what we could do to accomodate and help those students. ( 504 plans) I started seeing myself in the list of symptoms.
I went for years asking others what they thought. Nearly everyone told me that I didnt have ADD because I was too calm and easy going. It wasnt until I hit near bottom on my job that I went in for a full evaluation. Sure enough ADHD combined type.. but primarily inattentive because somehow I had become an expert at hiding the "hyperactive" component.
I agree with bepatient. Go get a reevaluation from someone who is experienced with ADHD. Either you have it and will be able to change treatment strategies or you don't and will maybe find out something else about yourself that you didnt know before. Either way its win - win. Knowledge is power.
Sherry
Yes, you could have ADD. Sounds to me like you need a completely new evaluation. I would find a Dr. that has experience in diagnosing and treating AD(H)D. You may need to start from scratch (a complete overhaul!).
I was DXed with ADHD after my daughter was. I went and had an evaluation done after I read the book, " Driven to Distraction".
what is AS?