Sensory Stuff | ADHD Information

Before I was diagnosed with ADHD, I lived in Pennsylvania (went to college there) and would wear out a tshirt w/ a vest in the winter -- even when it snowed.  Since being diagnosed in my sophomore year and now that I have graduated and live in Texas (uh, why? I still am not sure) ... I am cold!!!!  I used to be unable to feel things well emotionally and now I can and now I'm beginning to feel cold and such, too ... Just curious if anyone else has experienced this deal ... I mean, kids with Autism and other neurological disorders (like adhd) do have sensory problems, so I was wondering ... 

I guess it is different for everyone.  My best friend's husband is dealing with ADHD too and he finds it really different being a man with EMOTIONS.  They flow all over the place and always leave him feeling 'less than'. 

 I remember those days.  I used to feel worthless and never good enough.  My emotions took control of me and I would explode or get depressed or flow where ever they took me.  In the last 8 years, I have learned a lot about emotions and how I can control them instead of them controlling me.  I've had a lot of sad events in the last 8 years.  My parents both died, my husband's parents died, my teens went in directions that really hurt us both, my husband lost his job of 19 years and we bumped around in a lot of unsecure places.  And I started with weird health problems.

It was tough and I spend almost a year on the couch depressed.  Then I began to get my feet under me and I decided I never wanted to go to that place again.  When my youngest daughter took us on an emotional rollercoaster ride for 5 years, my husband was a big help. He kept reminding me not to keep going down the same'ratholes' in my mind.  Finally, I began to get it. I had to choose to take my mind somewhere else besides the places that would sink me.  And you know what?  It works!

 I'm thankful that I'm able to deal with things without the meds.  Experience and a lot of pain were my teachers.  But I'm glad for those who can find a quicker solution in the meds.    No matter what way we go through it, the goal is to move beyond the failure mentality, find out what we were made for and are good at, and then sow to the strengths.  When we lean into our strengths instead of being consumed by our weaknesses, we can become the wonderful, creative, joyful people we were created to be.

bannabunch,

I have ADHD. My physical coldness came from bad circulation,low blood pressure & anemia(tiredness).
 I'm not on meds either. I am hypervigilant when it comes to my body. I suffer from hypochondria. (can't seem to get this affliction under control, I think it's a (fear) seperation issue from my daughter that I can't deal with . The inevitable that is to come some day.
I have suffered severe tragic events also recently but refuse to let my emotions overcome me.
 I can distract myself well. (just not from my hypochondria)

i DON'T KNOW IF THIS RELATES but as I get older I find I'm cold almost all of the time, I have much more trouble with the smell of cleaning products, I'm more sensitive to the feel of tags in my clothes, and I have a greater need to be comfortable. 

I've learned to adjust and give myself what I need.  I sleep with a hooded sweatshirt and three blankets.  I wear a fleece vest in the house and I'm probably going to buy L.L. Bean winter wear so I finally won't freeze all winter long.  I wonder if other ADHDers go through this too?

No, I'm not on meds.  I don't care how much I have to deal with.  I need to feel like me.  My daughter tried meds 2 years ago and ended up in paranoia.  She finally decided to get off and she says she'd also rather feel like herself

So with me, meds aren't making the difference.  I wonder if, with getting older and being a woman, it's hormonal changes triggering it?

I'm really starting to get comfortable with all of this since I finally realized that most of it comes from ADD. Before I knew what it was, I just thought I was weird.  Now I can look at it all and sometimes just laugh.  I can say, "Oh yea.  It must be the ADD again".   I find that when I take it all less seriously and just find ways to make myself more comfortable, it doesn't seem so bad.

I used to try to fight everything all the time and try to be 'normal'.  Now I realize that this is normal-for me.  So why fight it?  I just roll with it and take the best care of me that I can.  Once I can love me, with all of my quirks and oddities, I take better care of me.

Are you on meds.  Since I have started medication a few months or so back, I can relate to what you are saying.  I feel the temperature extremes more and my emotional feelings are pretty tuned up.  So I guess now I feel things more physically and emotionally.  I think it is kinda bizarre myself, but I am getting used to it (sorta of).  Sometimes it can be annoying, I don't neccessarily want to feel too much.  It seems a waste of time.  I am on meds and I think that once I got out of college is when I started getting the whole I'm cold feeling (I was diagnosed in my sophomore year of college ... )

To respond to banannabunch: I personaly feel more like me when I am on meds ... The me who isn't is the person who has great ideas, but cannot do any of them.  I Think there are a lot of kids of adhd and people need to value all of them.  There are as many kinds as there are people with the disorder, y'know? I don't think any of us are really trying to be "normal" either -- I challenge you to find a normal person anyway hehe :), I think we are all just trying to survive the boredom, the hyperactivity, and the other symptoms that hurt our personal, professional, emotional, and the other -al parts of our lives.  I would so much rather be on medication and able to say "i love you" to someone and mean it rather than blurting it out b/c it seems like the right thing to see even though I don't feel it.  Do you know what I mean?  It's different for everyone and I'm really happy for you that you don't need medication -- what a relief it would be to be able to keep my 100 dollars a month or so in my pocket rather than walgreens :)
We certainly do have our share of physical things to cope with, don't
we?  With me, it's something new every few months.  I'm starting to
learn to ignore most of it but if something serious ever happens, I wonder
if I'll recognize it.
 
Good for you at taking care of yourself and learning distraction.  Most
of what happens to us, we can't stop by worrying anyway so we might as
well try to look for the good things in our lives and deal with trouble
as a natural occurance when it happens. 
  
  We are born to troubles in this lovely old world.  I used to be
surprised about that and thought that if I could just get through this
problem, things would be fine.  But then I learned it's always something and
I might as well learn to get used to it and not let it destroy me. 
Every time hard things come, I try to remember that I made it through
before and I will this time too.  And I always learn something in the midst
of it to make me stronger.
  
   Better to deal with your daughter's departure when it happens than
to suffer every day from now til then. Then, you'll have had lots of
really good days to help you through the tough ones.  And the tough ones
don't last.  there really is a life after kids.  I'm in the midst of all
of that now and there's actually an interesting person in me who has a
chance to come out now that I don't have to use so much energy taking
care of someone else and trying to survive all the stress from it.
 

I was always cold.  I would get out of the shower or bath and just shiver with clattering teeth until I got warmed up.  Smells bothered me too.  I hated strong perfume, gas smells, chemical smells.  Tight clothing bugged me.  Certain light at night driving would weird out my eyes and I would have to cover them with my hands - I have contacts and it would only do it when I was wearing them.

Since I have been doing crawling exercises (see the "crawlers unite thread in the alternative section of the board) I can wear heavier perfumes, I don't shiver after the bath or shower, and my eyes don't overreact to the light.  It is really interesting and amazing to me that these improvements have happened to me.  It has been about a year since I started the crawling exercises and the changes have stayed.

Could you give a quick summery of what crawlers is?  I tried to read the thread but I couldn't follow it long enough to understand itI don't know if this is ADD related or not.. but my feet are generally always cold (no circulation issues) repetitive noises bother me (you couldn't pay me to go to a Soccer game because of the drumming and constant singing they do in the crowd) My kids drive me up the wall with their repetitive annoying noises. I hate driving at night especially on two lane roads because lights bother my eyes and forget it if it's raining! We don't have many streetlights where we are and sometimes that helps and other times it hinders  like during rain.

Does anyone know if these may be ADD related or just me?
[QUOTE=ShawnB]I don't know if this is ADD related or not.. but my feet are generally always cold (no circulation issues) repetitive noises bother me (you couldn't pay me to go to a Soccer game because of the drumming and constant singing they do in the crowd) My kids drive me up the wall with their repetitive annoying noises. I hate driving at night especially on two lane roads because lights bother my eyes and forget it if it's raining! We don't have many streetlights where we are and sometimes that helps and other times it hinders  like during rain.

Does anyone know if these may be ADD related or just me?
[/QUOTE]

I bet it has something to do w/ the fact that adhd is a neurological disorder shawn ... i mean, i cannot handle looking at swarms of bees and butterflies or anything else that looks like it is swarming ... weird right?  we're like everyone that hates nails on a chalkboard times ten ... i also can stand touching towels when my hands aren't wet ... :)