Ritalin-fueled social skills | ADHD Information
Thanks for affirming the possiblity of having both adhd and a photographic memory. I thought perhaps I was the only one and had begun to doubt it was possible after reading about everyone's lack of memory. I can remember everything that comes in through my eyes, or experiences that happened to me., even childhood dreams. But hardly anything that comes in my ears, except music or songs.In 8th grade, I took an extra speed reading class and was tested for comprehension and my parents were told I was so far above the 100th percentile that it was ungraphable(I can only imagine the test was geared for college students). The instructor was amazed, even more so because I was a year younger than all the other kids in my grade. it. At the same time, my report cards were horrible, homework and assingments never done, and I was often told to sit outside the classroom , instead of in it. I've only just found out I have adhd.
[QUOTE=ArtBabe] [quote=GlenW]Has anyone (to play the other side) found that they are subdued while taking meds? I hear how we get perky and outgoing but do people react the other way sometimes? Maybe a outgoing chatterbox with ADHD could turn into a wallflower?? Interesting curiosity for me.[/Quote]Yes----We just went to a get together of my husbands high scoll friends----about 30 of us at a local bar----any how I am ussaully a major social butterfly in these type of situations---running my mouth to who ever will pretent to listen----but this time I was on my meds---and I was so laid back----it was odd---I was completly aware of the differance but I did not care---Iwas just relaxed and watching---If someone came to talk to me a could carry on a normal conversation---and actually listen to the other person---not just myself talk-----my husband loved it----I was not loud and out of control----I was not seeking any attention---It was weird[/QUOTE]
Never, ever, had social phobia, and I'd think I would after being shunned as a child. But I always kept plugging, not understanding why no one liked me. So, when not on meds (most of my life) I would never shut my loud mouth. I was nicknamed a 'yo yo' or 'humming bird'... never sitting for more than a moment, flittering from here to there. When I've tried meds (now Ritalin), I've definitely calmed down. I also sit and listen to others. Or step back and think before opening my mouth...usually.
Although I, also, still never find a person who's not a 'stranger.' I'll start conversations in line or isles at the grocery, bank, etc. Make people laugh. I've made long-time friends of people I've met at bus stops. So it seems on meds now, although I still have that outgoing personality, I may just think a little bit before actually opening my mouth and inserting foot. LOL] I don't mind calming down, but never want to lose that part of my personality.
And hello Davidornado! I've been a busy lady!GypsyWomyn38573.5409375[QUOTE=falcoeur]
Thanks for affirming the possiblity of having both adhd and a photographic memory. [/QUOTE]
I thought it had to be the meds! I was happily surprised when things popped up I thought had been actually not recorded into memory. I had assumed all my life that whatever didn't totally engross my attention was irretrievably lost. Glad it wasn't as it was nice to see my childhood as a total work instead of that nightmare I had thought it was.
I love it how every time I visit my parents now I can correct them on the past - instead of just shaking my head not remembering it at all like it was.
I still have days where it gets a bit foggy - but now I chalk it up to being tired or just the meds not firing the way they should. It always comes back now.
I'm glad on this thread we're seeing the positive and negative of the ADD experience. It's always nice to hear the stories from all aspects. We're all different as we are the same. I like to embrace the balance of it all.
Falcoeur, I have pretty much the same problem as you. Visually, I can remember all kinds of things and I never had trouble reading. When it comes to listening, though, I can't remember what someone said two seconds ago and verbal directions are a nightmare (I wish they'd just write them down).
Another thing - I never could study the "proper" way (going over and over things slowly and methodically- I never had the patience). So I would always flash memorize all of my vocab words 2 minutes before the vocab test. And I got a score of 100% every time. I'm sure it made the people who studied the night before and actually paid attention in class very frustrated.
It isn't a bad memory per se, or a lack of attention usually going on, but more an excess of attention directed in a non-mundane way.
In my circle I am always the one asked, What does this mean? Is this really true? How do we do this? But no one would trust me to take care of their mundane tasks like paying bills etc.
I'm not even sure this is intelligence, which it appears to be to many people. It is what I pay attention to - like I am a specialized mental athlete, highly trained because it is what I do. Just don't ask me to compete in an event I'm not interested in.
weird post.
I get it---I am very close to the same----poeple always ask me about everything---what I think or do I know----I almost always have an answer for them---but I am not the doer in the bunch---I am not often asked tp join in am activity----more so if it something that takes an on going commitment---forget it---
Has anyone (to play the other side) found that they are subdued while taking meds? I hear how we get perky and outgoing but do people react the other way sometimes? Maybe a outgoing chatterbox with ADHD could turn into a wallflower?? Interesting curiosity for me.
Yes----We just went to a get together of my husbands high scoll friends----about 30 of us at a local bar----any how I am ussaully a major social butterfly in these type of situations---running my mouth to who ever will pretent to listen----but this time I was on my meds---and I was so laid back----it was odd---I was completly aware of the differance but I did not care---Iwas just relaxed and watching---If someone came to talk to me a could carry on a normal conversation---and actually listen to the other person---not just myself talk-----my husband loved it----I was not loud and out of control----I was not seeking any attention---It was weird
Me too. It makes me much calmer and sometimes a bit sleepy. Sometimes I also feel kind of fuzzy or drugged.Normally I am very talkative to strangers in public and not shy at all. Ritalin makes me much quieter and better behaved, but I don't like the less alert feeling.
[QUOTE=falcoeur] Me too. It makes me much calmer and sometimes a bit sleepy.Sometimes I also feel kind of fuzzy or drugged. Normally I am very talkative to
strangers in public and not shy at all. Ritalin makes me much quieter and better
behaved, but I don't like the less alert feeling.[/QUOTE]
Have you or anyone else who gets sleepy or feels like you do, falcoeur, while taking
Ritalin ... have you tried a lower dosage of Ritalin? I found a lower dosage than what I was
originally Rxd has helped tremendously. Don't get sleepy, and found I can focus much better.
(Orig. Rxd 10mg 2x/day...now taking 5mg 3x/day). I know meds affect everyone differently, and
I'm ADHHHHHD, yet a lower dosage works best for me.
And I find I'm still an extrovert
and will strike up conversations with people just about
everywhere I go ... even in the ladies room
at a restaurant.
GypsyWomyn38582.3023263889i can take ritalin and fall asleep. for some reason i can get very sleepy from it.
[QUOTE=falcoeur sort of did and Davidornado sort of didn't]Thanks for affirming the possiblity of having both adhd and
a photographic memory. Yes, I hear that's common in ad'rs. My intriguement is is yours in black and white, color, or concepts? In my mind I see the positional relationships of ideas in a spacial way, not necessarily the actual picture of the moment, certainly not the written or spoken word. I was told this a pm, but I'm still not sure, b/c I don't see photographs.
If I'm trying to recall something out of the book, I mentally turn the pages until I'm at the right one, and then look in the direction of where the item was described upon the page.
I "see", perhaps better said recall, the concept, or at least my understanding of what was being discussed, I do not see the page, which was why for so long I didn't think I had a pm, just pms... I guess what I do is I recreate the moment I want to remember by recreating the moments leading up to the moment. I now wonder if one has a photographic memory, if they have a videographic one as well?
I have a photographic memory of photographs, on the other hand, so if they were
black and white, so's my pm, and if they were color, so's my pm. No joke.
I thought perhaps I was the only one and had begun to doubt it was
possible after reading about everyone's lack of memory.
I think the lack of memory they are talking about is a lack
of nOrmal memory, which is like the way and timing of how other people
remember. So they expect ADrs to rememorize the same way, which of course some
can't, so, of course we'll be considered memory challenged.
I can remember everything that comes in through my eyes, or experiences that happened to me., even childhood dreams. Sort of, but I cna't remember everything I've seen. But maybe I could if I concentrated hard enough, or long enough, but what would be the point? I've enough distractions to deal with now.
But hardly anything that comes in my ears, except music or songs.[/QUOTE]
Yes, like we all remember the alphabet because it was sung to us.
But we can't remember the Declaration of Indepence, except that it happened on July 4.
Disclaimer: not all ADrs think alike, so these statements were not intended to be all inclusive of us.
[QUOTE=I]Hyy, GypsyWymyn,
Byn bysy, yh? My tyy.
Wylcym Byck!
Dyvydyrnydy...
[/QUOTE]
I too have a photographic memory, and that's the only way I made it through school so well. In college now (at the age of 30) It's been harder to manage. In every job I've ever had I'd take a notebook and it would become my "bible" and I'd write down everything I was told. And I mean everything. People think it's strange, but I can't remember otherwise. I keep a little fat notebook in my purse, and that is my lifeline, I write everything in it, but still manage to forget 75% of what I'm supposed to do.Hi Guys!
i'm so happy to have found this forum! Where there are people
who can relate to what i;'ve gone through with ADD.
Since i have started taking medication(concerta), as well as
since i have been diagnosed with inattentive-type ADD, my
ability to socialize has changed dramatically. I remember so
many years of not quite understanding what people where
saying to me until minutes later, when the moment had passed
and i had already given an inappropriate response, thereby
making an ass out of my self. i didn't really realize this shift until
i stopped taking medication for a few months, thinking it wasn't
doing anything. when i am taking it, generally i'm more able to
immediatly process what people are saying and enjoy talking
to people so much more.
[QUOTE=coastal]In every job I've ever had I'd take a notebook and it would become my "bible" and I'd write down everything I was told. And I mean everything. People think it's strange, but I can't remember otherwise. I keep a little fat notebook in my purse, and that is my lifeline, I write everything in it, but still manage to forget 75% of what I'm supposed to do.[/QUOTE]
I write everything down, too. On sticky notes, I keep two large notebooks, and one in my pocket, and keep a laptop, and a handthing, but I forget where I put the note I want to refer to...
thanks, i'll try less. I started with 10mg 2x/day,but it hardly had any effect ,so the Dr. told me to go to 20mg2x/day+10mg evening. I metabolize drugs quickly.Today I feel better. I got stuff done and went for a bike ride. Maybe I'm getting more used to it. I was thinking it might work better for me if Instead of 20mg at once, I took 10mg every 2 hours. I get really snappy when it wears off .
I was told I'm the best networking person they've ever seen; that I've never met a stranger. But, I've also been fired quite a few times, and went through quite a few relationships.
I think it's not so much the Ritalin, but the ADDitude. On the mxRxs I"m more focused on getting the job done at hand, so even though I'll socialize, its for a purpose that gets accomplished.
Off the meds I'm a party animal without the party. i.e. I don't need drugs or alcohol to have a good time, just people that'll listen and laugh... That's why I do fun fourms at night, and serious ones during the day... I was on a roll last night, and didn't even have people around me! It was 03:00!...
You know your ADHD is really bad when...
...you're off your meds and the police reports they've got a YODA on the loose (yuppie on drugs or alcohol)...
Is it just me or do y'all find your social skills at a weird level while doing Ritalin?I mean sometimes I just go into a fast food joint and everyone knows me before I leave. You should see me work a gathering/party/reunion etc. Everyone hears from me.
I've never had any social phobias - it just got to where it wasn't worth the trouble. But I'm finding people very interesting now, hell I could run for office as long as someone else did the paperwork if I won :-)
On Ritalin, I'll talk more to people I don't know (this is a good thing, though). I'll say Hi to people passing by or ask how they're doing instead of going out of my way to avoid them. Off meds, I am more socially insecure, and it takes a while before I fell comfortable around people I don't know. Of course, once I become comfortable with the situation, I turn from social recluse to talkative idiot as the "real me" comes out and starts acting like a moron.
I found it kind of interesting that Ritalin helped a lot of my social phobias, and leveled out the extremes in my behavior (AKA - I'm more pleasant to be around).
Same here on dexedrine. I find myself outgoing to the point that the nonRX'ed me would pop me in the nose if I met me!
I open the door to women/kids/elderly, talk to the counter person until they are looking like "please go - I have other people here!". At least now I can see that plainly and don't have to get the brushoff like I used to.
I think it's maybe 50 percent meds and 50 percent what we always had in a suppressed place we kept underwater because of fear of rejection.
Either way - I think it's awesome! When I go on my Rx free times to clean my system out - it's never as fun or happy. Nice part is I can still feel the coasting effect for weeks - it's changed my chemistry fundamentally and it's good.
Has anyone (to play the other side) found that they are subdued while taking meds? I hear how we get perky and outgoing but do people react the other way sometimes? Maybe a outgoing chatterbox with ADHD could turn into a wallflower?? Interesting curiosity for me.
I just cleaned my mouse ball. smoooth. [QUOTE=GlenW]
I think it's maybe 50 percent meds and 50 percent what we always had in a suppressed place we kept underwater because of fear of rejection.
[/QUOTE]Fear of rejection isn't it for me I think. People just seemed so boring and pointless and not worth the effort. But maybe not.
I always WANTED to be liked and to belong in groups around me. Personally, being the outsider sucks big time.
When I was growing up it was like some surreal film when getting laughs and people paying attention to me. Like a movie where someone is making the point of feeling like being laughed AT rather than WITH - I saw the fish-eye lens, people with garish giant phoney smiles pointing and mocking me. It tended to take away the positives of the experience.
Now I can honestly tell if it's laugh WITH or AT. Haven't seen any AT so I chalk my past up to paranoia. Glad to be rid of it personally.
[QUOTE=The Resistance!]I just cleaned my mouse ball. smoooth. [/QUOTE]
I don't use a mouse... so,
I just cleaned my finger. smooooth....
[QUOTE=Davidornado][QUOTE=The Resistance!]I just cleaned my mouse ball. smoooth. [/QUOTE]
I don't use a mouse... so,
I just cleaned my finger. smooooth....
[/QUOTE]
I just cleaned my mouse's ball and innards (always keep the rubbing alcohol and Q-tips nearby), so now mine's smoooth AND fast!
[QUOTE=GypsyWomyn] [QUOTE=Davidornado]
[QUOTE=The Resistance!]I just cleaned my mouse ball. smoooth. [/QUOTE]
I don't use a mouse... so,
I just cleaned my finger. smooooth....
[/QUOTE]
I just cleaned my mouse's ball and innards (always keep the rubbing alcohol and Q-tips nearby), so now mine's smoooth AND fast! [/QUOTE]
Hey, Gyp!
Long time no SEE!
Has anyone (to play the other side) found that they are subdued while taking meds? I hear how we get perky and outgoing but do people react the other way sometimes? Maybe a outgoing chatterbox with ADHD could turn into a wallflower?? Interesting curiosity for me.
[/QUOTE]
On a serious note, (I promise), I often fall asleep on my meds on weekends, cuz I take them at a lower dose... cuz I'm in a critical career (EMT / plant pathologist), so I take higher doses during the week...
On a call, though, I've got a game face... If I know it's going to be a rough one, I'll dose a 10mg Ritalin or split a 200 mg Provigil, if I haven't taken my normal dose recently... I can tell in 20 minutes, specially if the adrenalin's flowing...
In debriefings, it's amazing reviewing my behavior, it's like I was a robot clicking out a bulleted outline... You'd NEVER know I was distractable and impulsive... extremely focused and by the book... the letter of the book... that's one gift the ADHD has given me, a photographic memory... (is that possible??? I just realized that...)
Ok. Back to seriouslessness.
Thank God they wear off at night, cuz I'm too serious for me sometimes...