I can't figure if I am ADHD because I took Concerta but only felt wired like a druggie. However when I was a kid I was picked on throughout school and put on Ritalin at one point only to go into convulsions from it... So I will try as best I can to point out some short examples of things that signal there is a problem here:
I am currently unemployed because I could not handle staying on a single project vs when I first started doing many smaller tasks. I am pretty much unable to complete a project at work without some very very good discipline or kicks in the butt.
I am doing Ebay right now but find I am buying far more than I sell. I tell myself I will do it but it seems I can't stick to something I don't like. But when I do focus I can do ok.
I have always been labeled as weird or dork etc. I feel like I am thinking intelligent ideas and thoughts but when I speak nobody follows me or think I am wacked because I can't speak technical as I am in a technical field. I am good at solving problems in fact I love solving problems and playing fantasy games. But when it comes to talking or communication I sound like I don't know anything.
My marriage has been a very rocky one in which for years I have felt like my wife doesn't like intimacy but she says she does. I just like it more say daily or every other day where she is good once a week or two. I find myself unable to not want to turn to other things and feel like I am alone and that she is not right for me. But when I met someone once and only once and we were alike in desire I figured that it wouldn't work as we would both burn out. I have stayed with the marriage but feel like I am missing something but I should be more worried about my kids??? I am trying but this topic is tough...
I am always in a state of unhappiness and can't find many reasons to smile and wake up many times at 3-5 am and can't go to sleep again until I watch a movie or do something on the internet to occupy my mind for a while, then I sleep until 9 am like a baby. I also find it very difficult to go to sleep before 10-12 at night. I have always worked best at night. My best work occurs at night or early am if I do a late night project. At work I found I was most productive on weekends at work when nobody was around or doing an all nighter.
In high school I nearly failed and college was a joke. When I read I find it so very difficult to last more than 10 minutes if not interested in the subject. I fall asleep when I read. I can't even help it. I also fall asleep while driving without help of a dvd or something to keep my interest. I can't remember how to get anywhere!! I have lived in Utah for over 13 years and I still can't remember directions to just about anywhere. Memory sucks.
Sometimes or more often than I like I am driving down the road and have to turn back around to go home and get something. I walk in & out of the house about 3 times minimum for any trip. I take 5x the things needed for a trip or not enough. My wife has treated me like I am stupid because I don't remember how to get anywhere. Sense of direction is rediculous.
Once before I quit my most long term job in my life (7 years compared to average of 1-2 years). I woke up on Friday and thought it was Saturday until my boss called wondering if I was coming in and I said what do you mean its Saturday. That didn't go over well.
I find I cannot work without a movie or I just can't cope. I have a movie on right now in fact.
Sometimes I find I just can't comprehend what I am doing currently and say I walk up stairs to get something I can't remember what I went to get. I seem caught on something else that I saw and completely lost what I was going to find or get. I have to go back down stairs to try and recall what I was doing when I decided I needed to get xxx then I go ohhh I was going to get the tape. Duhhh
Anyway if someobody managed to read this and it was not to hard to follow I would hope someone could suggest on a scale of 1-10 whether I sound ADHD or bi-polar?
I am by no means any kind of expert but a lot of that sounded ADD to me. Esp the inability to complete tasks, always needing a movie on to concentrate or just to have it on, forgetting what you were going to go get, etc. That all sounds like a common theme to me.
I don't know about the bipolar thing, though but the rest of it......you sound like a lot of us.
I hope someone else can shed more light on it as well.
Sorry, I could only skim the post, the caffeine is out of my system right now. Everyone respond differently to the different meds. What kind of doc are you seeing? You really need a psychiatrist that is experienced in adult ADHD and the comorbids and mimicers of ADD. You may also need to start seeing a counselor, because it sounds like you are dealing with alot. If you are dealing with depression, that may be a good place to start. Anti depressants can be effective for ADHD and underlying depression can make ADHD symptoms worse and make the stimulant meds not work so well.
Relationship issues can be stressed when one partner feels like the other is not contributing enough to the success of the family and marraige. These stresses can cause symptoms to be worse and in turn make the relationship worse (viscous cycle).
Good luck with this. Keep looking for good treatment.