ADD/ADHD related problems | ADHD Information

Hi Alaska,

Me too with the eating thing. You would NOT believe what an issue this is for me. My mother lives close and is constantly coming over and asking if I have eaten anything healthy lately. I KNOW better. I WANT to eat well. I just cannot stand shopping or cooking...or heating things up. I have terrible hypoglycemia and I will faint without food. I have to eat something hearty every 2 hours or I just get really weak and tired.

Doing well in the eating dept. takes dedication. Shopping and menu planning need to become part of your weekly routine to stay on top of it. I'm still trying...that's all I can say. I keep "health" bars in my purse and try to chop up an apple and put in a plastic baggie too when I'm on the run.

A crock pot has become a minor blessing. I can chop up a bunch of vegetables, add broth, canned tomatoes, and cooked chicken, set the timer, and Voi La! In 6 hours, I have a perfect pot of chicken soup that will last a week.

Depression is my middle name. Without any triggering events, I do pretty well on Omega 3 Fish Oil. I had a breakup though and needed to go back onto the real meds for awhile.  So...<shrug?>

Just have to keep working with it and finding solutions.

Glad we have this board though.

bb

LOL I'm horrible on the eating end too. Don't really know how to cook and don't feel like wasting time to learn. I used have the worst eating habits, pretty much all my food came from vending machines or take out (fast food and real restaurants).

My main problem is I never realise I'm hungry until I am starving and then I need something quickly don't have the time or patience to prepare and cook a meal. When I try to plan ahead of time it feels like a major chore, because I have way too many other things that I could be getting done instead of preparing food.

I have found two ways so far to eat more healthy. The first is I will (try) to cook something big once a week like lasagna, pot roast anything that I could eat for a couple of meals. Since I'm only eating for one I could easily eat whatever I prepared in advance 3-4 times that week. I just pop it in the microwave or oven for a few minutes and have a real dinner.

The other thing I do is make sure I have plenty of small, healthy snacks that I can access instantly. I'm not a big eater in general. 3 meals a day is almost unheard of but I usually can get 2 meals in. I buy lots of fruit, granola bars, and salad. The salad takes a bit longer to prepare than the other quick meals but it's really not that long and you don't have to wait for it to cook (obviously) just chop up the ingrediants and eat. My current favorite to grab as a quick meal is a can of fruit cocktail for lunch. Half a can usually fills me up. Sure it's not as healthy as chopping a variety of fresh fruit yourself, but if I had to take the time to do that I wouldn't eat any fruit at all.

Can anyone give advice to solving these problems I have relating to ADD/ADHD.

I'm a 37 y/o male, looking to get diagnosed for the first time in a couple of weeks and hopefully starting meds next month.  I would like to gather as much info as possible prior to seeing me doctor. 

Reading?  I have never been able to read for more than a few minutes?  I can read just can't focus.

Eating? I have struggled to eat right, living off of snacks unless I have a girlfriend that cooks.  I need to solve this problem ASAP.

Depression?  For the past couple of years I have struggled to keep on track, mostly due to a career change and divorce. 

I'm not sure any meds will help but maybe they will in a indirect way?

I have yet to decide on a med and will leave it up to the doctor.  I do know my life has been text book ADD/ADHD, but it took me 37 years to see it.

Thanks.

You should leave the med choice to your doctor.  If you go to your doctor and say "I have ADD, I need ritalin".  He may feel your just making things up to get med's.

You need to work with your doctor on finding what will work best for you. (Help the most with your ADD, with the least amount of side effects) Just taking a pill is not going fix things alone, counseling and learning new life skills can be a big help managing your ADD.