Childhood history of ADD? | ADHD Information
Do most of you have a childhood history? Can it stay dormant??
I just realized that I did have a trade I liked, but it was when I was younger and I lost interest years ago, I had plenty of energy...and wasn't always in limbo. I lost interest my job(the only one I excelled at) AND strarted having these troubles around the same time. I just wonder if there is a connection.
Also, do any of you have a keen interest in art of any kind?
One thing that should enter a discussion of ADHD is its cousins - dyslexia and dyspraxia. Often, an ADHD person has a cocktail of conditions.
Let me address your comments about drugs. I can understand taking drugs to provide some kind of high for the low that one feels with ADHD. That is why many people consume a lot of caffeine. Of course, I would not take drugs and have not done so. I have consumed a lot of caffeine before, but now I hardly consume it.
Now as far as dormancy. It depends on what is causing ADHD. I think you can be less symptomatic with certain treatments. I actually I am certain of it. As far as dyspraxia, I can tell you that when I was a child, I could not catch a ball properly for some reason. But today, I can do so with no problem. Also, after some homeopathic treatment my ability on the basketball increased.... I guess I am saying I am optimistic, but I must combine that with patience and giving my body what it needs...I also try to emphasize stretching my mind rather than saying I am this way or that way because of my nature.
One of my favorite books is called Brain Builders by Richard Leviton. I got it off amazon.com used.
I like art, but I cannot draw well. You do know some people with ADHD also can have some forms of dyslexia/dysgraphia. I enjoy art museums and enjoy looking at objets d'art. As far as I know, every adult who has ADHD has had it as a child. Can it stay dormant? I suppose the closest thing you can get to that is to be taking certain things that seem to hit the spot and over time reduces your symptoms significantly. But look at this way if you can reduce much of the symptoms you don't want and the ones that are natural to your personality are maintained , you will be a better person for it.
Yes, my school told my mom I was "Hyperactive" when I was in second grade. That's what they called it back then. And they wanted to put me on Ritalin. But she wouldn't do it either.
She was very anti-drug of any kind. Kind of ironic in that all three of her kids got into illicit drugs later( I think to self medicate) and now she has to take dopamine because she has Parkinson's and even now won't take enough of her meds, or often enough because she doesn't want to get "addicted".
We try to explain that it's not drugging her, it's only replacing what her body doesn't make enough of.
Which is kind of like what we do with our meds. They help our body either replace the chemicals we should have more of, or helps use what we do make more efficiently. If I remember correctly, dopamine is one of the neuron chemicals we have trouble with. I have wondered if there is any relationship between diseases like Parkinson's and ADHD. I'm suspect my mother might have ADHD also.
Sorry for running on like that, going off on seemingly unrelated tangents is a sign of ADHD tool
I'm not sure it can stay dormant either, perhaps some people who had it mildly as a child, enough to cover it (especially the inattentive type) and then it only showed up later, when more stressful life situations arose. That might cause them to think maybe it was dormant. That's my theory, for now.
Also, every member of my family is very artistic, although no one has ever been able to make a living out of it, 'cause the muse is sporadic!
Barb
Childhood history?: Yes!
Can it stay dormant?: No!
In order to be diagnosed, one must have symptoms as a child, or else it is not AD/HD. There are many disorders and deficiencies that mimic AD/HD, however, and they do not necessarily need a childhood history.
Interest in art?: Yes! I've always enjoyed artsy things...not of a particular form/trade, it changes a lot.
My doctor told my mom I had ADD when I was 10, but he didn't want to put me on meds because he thought I'd turn into a zombie. 4 years later I was put on anti-depressants for about a year, but was taken off of that because I turned into a zombie! After that, I just kind of put up with it until now, 15 years later, I took the initiative to go see a doctor myself. I was on Strattera about a month ago, but stopped it because it made me short-fused and irritable. I told my boss to
, and quit. Now I'd like to try AdderallXR, because it has less side effects.
I do. My Friends/Family say I am very creative when it comes to art, such as designing scrapbook pages, etc. But it does come and go and when I was young, I had no interest in Art. I say to go with what you are interested in now..whatever drives you and you feel passionate about. A childhood
history is essential to diagnosis, and I do not believe it can stay
"dormant". If you start showing symptoms of forgetfullness,
innattention, and poor motivation, etc. later in life, then chances are
you have developed another condition such as a thyroid problem, an
autoimmune disease, or manic or clinical depression. It's not ADD.Stressful situations in adult life may seem to make symptoms more apparent, but if you have ADD, you will have had symptoms as a child. An adult with ADD who is constantly late for work likely had to be hounded relentlessly as a child to get his/her homework or chores done. An adult who cannot focus on a 30-page inventory report likely stared out the window continuously at school as a child. An adult who never finishes what they started probably got bored with new toys ridiculously fast as a child.
"Do most of you have a childhood history? Can it stay dormant??"
I was never diagnosed as having ADD although I had some symptoms indicating that I had it.
However, I do think "ADD" can set in at any age. Experts may say it cannot just set in adulthood but I disagree. Brains are plastic and change all the time and if you notice you're inattentive as you get older, you probably have ADD and guess what? Stimulants and certain antidepressants work as well.
But again guess what? Your brains may change after treatment with stimulants and you may no longer need them. There are millions of people who have used stimulants for their ADD and stopped using them because they find that they no longer needed them. Some find coffee is enough for their symptom relief. Some changed their lifestyle. People do change.
I'd like to say how I was into my teenage years and now. My teenage years I was still hyper almost just as much. It started to show off in some of my classes, it was only in art because it was my favorite class. I was loud and rambling and laughing a lot. Also, I was still taking meds, we were constantly switching from pill to pill to see which would work best, still no avail. There were still more problems at home due to hyperactivity, which caused even more problems in the family. My senior year I did terrible, that was the year my parents split up, and due to that I was severely depressed and looking down on my school life almost wanting to drop out. However, my parents made sure that my butt graduated from high school. Now into adulthood, I'm still hyper at times, another thing that happened during childhood is that my legs and hands get really restless and can't seem still for very long and this still happens today. Due to that I can't hold things that require a long amount of holding time such as babies, I'm hesistant to holding any kind because I'm afraid my hands will shake or drop them. And my legs shake alot when I sit down or I'm trying to fall asleep.
when i was researching various things to figure out what was wrong with me, i never imagined i might be add.
as a boy i was not one of those kids that was constantly bouncing off the wall, or constantly disrupting, like really hyper kids i had been around, so i didn't think that could be me.
but, my mom always commented on how hyper i was. my teachers always wrote 'not living up to potential'. my penmanship was always terrible. and i really tried. i always forgot to do my homework. and when i remembered, i was not able to make myself do it. i hated art only because i couldn't do it. i could never, ever, make it turn out even close to what i was trying to do.
i had a problem with a short fuse. i pretty much always had to make myself the center of what was going on. i irritated the s**t out of every adult that had to be around me. i was always saying something awkward.
into teen yrs., became depressed and somewhat angry. all those years of early school, being smart but doing so poorly, getting ostracized for my behaviour took it's toll. started some drugs.
as an adult, still short fused, still same inability to get things done, can't do the same thing for too long, some days can't focus on what i need to, when i need to. will forget to pay my electric bill until they are coming to turn it off. (it is in my thoughts every day, but turning thought into action is a hit and miss thing. somewhere between the the thought and action, other thoughts intrude and carry me in a new direction.)
i don't think it was ever inactive. i do think a combination of adaptation to the parts that caused me trouble, and having different aspects of it challenged as i grew from child to adult to parent, disguised what it was. the parts were all still there, but obscured enough that the big picture was incomplete for me.
i used to believe, as many do, that add is just another invention of the victim culture. but once i started reading about add, i saw so much of what i had always been like. i saw instance after instance of the counter-valent behaviours that i displayed, but could never get a handle on. i finally saw a thread leading back to the beginning of all my memory. it's amazing what a little maturity and retrospect can do for a person.
Definite history of ADD as a child.. just didnt know what it was.
I had teachers continuously writing "not working to full potential" on my report cards. I never did science fair projects in elementary school - I didnt know how to start. I constantly forgot to do homework.
High School - I would tell myself each year that I was going to turn it all around and work really hard to make fantastic grades! I would try, study, forget the books I needed to do my homework, try to do it during lunch, fail.
I felt stupid, yet somehow all my friends had this really high IQ, which made me feel even more stupid. sigh.. In my junior year, I had two teachers that actually realized that something wasn't right... they referred me to the counsiler at school .. My dad ended up getting a phone call.. they thought that I was on barbituates!!! Oh my goodness! I never touched the stuff and I was so angry that my teachers /counsiler would even think that of me!
I stared into space so much, that I guess they thought I was in some kind of drugged stupor... when in reality it was very severe inattentive ADD. 23 years later, I finally get medical help. Did it go dormant? no. I will admit, however, as an adult, that I"m not quite as bad as i was as a child and teenager.
Sherry
Pretty much to HAVE ADHD they have to be able to say you have a childhood history of it. Otherwise it's probably something else.
I certainly had it as a child. Just before 1st grade it hit full gear - and it never went away.
Some people with ADHD have it go away as adults. The used to think it always went away but now they estimate anywhere from 8 percent to up to 50 percent of childhood ADHD carries on to adulthood in some form. I would figure on the high side from what I hear and experience.
Also a lot of people have it where it only seems to manifest during high anxiety moments. I know mine goes terrible during those times. We all find anxiety to be our inner demon - and we tend to try almost anything to avoid it.
With meds it tends to go to sleep in me. I hear it sometimes - the urges and anxiety but I can say no to them while medicated. It's nice to have control - just like everyone else.
- Glen
As a child, I had many many problems in school. As the inattentive type, Igenerally fall asleep much too often or couldnt focus enough. Many
teachers thought I was a bit retarded. I really did not recieve any help
from any of them.
As I grew up, I learned more about how to cope with my problems. In
exchange, my academics improved immensely. I wish I could go back to
that school and rub it into some of my teachers faces. Both my mother
and I asked for their help and they turned their back on us. After I
graduated from that horrible school, I moved on to get into one of the top
academic highschools NYC. And imagine. One of my teachers even
wanted to send me off to a school for disabled students. I managed all of
what I did without treatment, but I admit that it would have helped.
About Art: yes, when I failed at academics in the past it was the
only thing I excelled at. I've had previous classmates (though they treated
me poorly) approach me 8 years later that they remember how well I
could draw. And now? I'm on my way to becoming a graphic/packaging
designer and I'm one of the top students in my class. It was the only
profession I could think of that I can handle and do well in.I'd have to say yes to that one. I have a childhood history. I was an extremely hyper child. So hyper that neither of my parents could take me out into public as a toddler until I was at a more decent age and learned more coping strategies of my ADD/ADHD. However when I went into grade school, I was calm and quiet, but had trouble focusing which to the teachers was rather obivious. Around third or fourth grade my mother started putting me into theraphy and ADD/ADHD medication, Ritilan at the time. It worked for only a short period of time, then it wore off so we took me off it. From then on, we tried pill after pill after pill. There were times that I rebelled taking those pills as I grew older, but everyone said that I needed to take it in order to function in life. I realize that this medicine or anykind of medicine doesn't take away all of any disorder or illness, it only helps reduce it only by a little.
I was definitely a ADD child. Once my aunt made a bet with me that if I keep quiet for 60 minutes she will do 60 squats just so she can keep me quiet for a while. I was quiet for 90 mins in order to punish her. She had to do 90! Another aunt refused to take me for a walk because she was going crazy listening to all my questions and trying to come up with answers. I wish I had known back then. Although most people where I come from consider ADD just a way for unfit American parents to drug their child in order not to have to spend too much energy on them. I do have to admit I used to think that too (forgive me!) and I was ADD myself. Definitely changed my mind since though.
In school I was lucky because I could distract myself, distract others and still somewhat pay attention (multi-talking anyone?) and on top of that get good grades. I used to write my homework in the breaks before clases (talk about hyper-focus!) In third grade I had the highest number of "black points" of all class (when you grow up in communism you get red points for being good and black ones for being bad). Somehow I was able to make it through 3 grad schools successfully but it is now finally catching up with me at work. 2nd day on 5mg ritalin and I can see a "little" bit of improvement but I think I'm going to have to up my dose soon...
I definitely had more energy when I was a kid but I think that comes with territorry - you're young, the whole world is ahead of you, you have no responsibilities, no boring job.... I'm sure I could get more excited for a more interesting less detail oriented job. So I'm not giving up hope. I applied for one today.
Personaly I almost failed art...in elementry school...where you fingerpaint. My stick figures look funny, but that's not the point. I have sunk so much money into "interests" over the years that I could afford my dream Mercedes. So as a child art was boring and lets say sports was fun, or whatever it was at that time. Now you've grown up and things have changed a bit and not art is what is interesting now.
For me (and alot of people I have read about here) this week or month it's cooking, then getting into shape, then scrapbooking the list goes on. Usualy I see someone else doing it either on t.v. or in real life, and I go out, (usualy right then if the store is open) by ALL the stuff involved, work on whatever it is for a day or two, and loose interest. Every now and then I tell myself " I need to get out _____ and do/work on it. But it almost never happens.