I've been doing some light online research and I'm beginning to think I may have one of these as an adult as i was never diagnosed with it as a child.
Some of these symptoms make sense to me while others are N/A. I'm curious if any TKPers have been diagnosed with it as an adult (or as a child) and what you guys are doing from a management process of it - presumably medication? Have you noticed any remarkable difference after treating it?
TIA
EDIT: Thank you all for your insights! Incredible to hear. We all struggle, so I appreciate the advice!
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I was diagnosed with ADHD at some point when I was quite young. I took Ritalin when I was really little everyday, and then later around middle school/late elementary school I was switched to D-Amphetamine. It didn't really have any adverse side effects on me other than taking away my appetite. I would get really hungry late at night so I snacked a lot but, again, didn't have any adverse effects on my health.
During my sophomore year of high school I just decided I wasn't going to take it anymore so I stopped. I didn't want it to be viewed as a crutch, and also I just hated having to go to the nurse everyday to take a pill. I also hated growing up when one of my friends' parents would say something like "did you take your medicine today?" if I was excited about something/being loud/having a good time. I'm sure for some people it really helps, but my life hasn't changed in any negative way since I stopped.
A funny anecdote though is that (and I'm just guessing this is the case) I think because I actually have ADHD, that taking adderall/similar medications which were extremely popular in college didn't have whatever effect on me everyone would always talk about happening to them when they took it.
Diagnosed with ADD in probably 5th or 6th grade, prescribed Adderall and took it daily with an additional smaller dose to get me through practice/studying all of high school. I realized it made me feel like crap and I couldn't eat as much as I needed to when I went off to college and then only took it as needed. Now, 13+ years post-diagnosis, I dislike the days I feel like I need to take it. I've just kind of learned to task-hop and internally motivate myself.
Probably not the answer you're looking for, and the side effects are different for each person, but I've found I'm better off just coping with the methods I've devised up to this point than being a hungry, disgruntled productivity-bot.
Diagnosed when I was 11 (1982). Took Ritalin then, both time-release and twice-a-day kind. Switched to Cylert (?) through HS because I was rail-thin and Ritalin suppresses appetite, tolerances required increasing doseages (5mg as a freshman, 25mg as a senior). Tried to go off medication when I went to Tech. That lasted 2.5 years when I was asked to take a semester off (grades), so that didn't work. Can't remember what I took off and on through the rest of undergrad and grad school (probably Ritalin).
There are two types of medicines to treat ADD nowadays, as I understand it: Ritalin (dextroamphetamine?) and Adderall (amphetamine salts); everything else is some sort of formulation or derivative of those two. Since they have slightly different mechanisms, they can be alternated to offset the effects of increased tolerance. I'm usually taking Adderall, but at times I will either go off of meds completely, or take Ritalin, for about a year to bring my tolerance to Adderall back down. Right now I'm above the highest time-release doseage (25mg), which sucks, because I really like being able to take one pill in the morning. These days I'm on Adderall 10mg, 3 times a day, which I take two at the start of the work day (for a more immediate effect) and one around lunch (for sustainment). I frequently forget to take one or the other, despite the fact that the pill bottle is sitting on my desk under my monitor. I don't take any in the late afternoon/evening (I have a hard time going to sleep as it is), or on the weekend, unless there is something that requires intense concentration.
As far as any remarkable difference after treatment, yes. I can usually realize that I've forgotten to take my meds as my productivity is noticably lower when I forget. I can always focus on a good book or sites like TKP no problem, it's the ability to focus on something that's not as fun (e.g. work) that is moderately improved by medication. I try various organization techniques to assist (e.g. to-do lists, pocket calendar, etc.) but I'm not very good at them, and it doesn't help when I forget to look at them. I might not get the HUGE AWESOME effect that non-ADD people get when taking Adderall, but it's enough to create a noticable difference in my productivity, so that's enough for me.
Good luck.
Don't have ADD, but do suffer from bouts of near-clinical depression. When it is bad, the ability to focus on anything is one of the things that I lose nearly completely. Since you mention that some of the signs of ADD you are reading about don't apply to you, I'd recommend taking an online depression survey as well, just to rule that out. Good luck, fellow hokie!
Was never tested for ADD but always wondered if I had it. My biggest issue is reading something I am not 100% interested in. I would (and still do) read books for english class or history class and my mind would wander onto something else not related. My eyes would continue to read every word and then 2 or 3 pages into it i would realize that I had no idea what I read and would have to start over which many times just restarted the cycle. I got a 400 something and 2-500 somethings in english on my SAT scores in high school. I would get destroyed by the reading comprehension because I would read an article multiple times and realize that I didn't know what I read and then I would just try to go through the questions and find my answers. This usually resulted in eventually running out of time. On the other side, I missed a total of 1 problem in math for the 3 times I took the SAT. I still wonder if I have ADD or not.
I was in the mid 500s in reading and near 800 in math too. Like you, reading comprehension was probably the issue. Now in my late 30s, I think it was because I didn't like/try reading for fun. I read for fun a lot more now than I ever did while I was in school. I think if I read more for fun as a kid, I would have been better off. Now I like to lazily sit around a read my Kindle, but 6 year old kids make that difficult.
I have the same issue with books, I've read chapters and didn't know what I've read. But for me it's really just reading books. I read a fair amount of things, but books put me to sleep.
Same issue when it comes to reading, but I think it's not ADHD; I think it's a disinterest in what I'm reading. If I'm reading a book/article I really enjoy, it doesn't happen (unless I'm very tired, but I digress). I also have the same lack of focus with TV shows, conversations, or meetings that bore me.
I think it's kind of benefited me in some ways at work. I noticed early in my career that as soon as things got off track, I'd zone out terribly. Now, in an effort to stay focused, I run really tight meetings - I push people to make decisions, and I have no problem telling people that we've wondered off topic and that they need to return to the agenda.
Some very early symptoms of ALZ can be similar to ADHD/ADD. (disorganization, lack of focus, etc.) Don't know how old you are, but symptoms of ALZ can start to show up in late 30s, blossom into the 40s. Would recommend ensuring A1C is tight as you get older. Numbers that doctors accept are too high. Ultimately as we hit our 60s - 90s it is probably a complex genetic thing that you can't control, but the diabesity we've accepted as a society doesn't just apply to the body. When it is difficult to get nutrients in your cells, and you have to pump up your blood sugars to get it done, probably need to find a different path. JMHO, I am not a physician, this does not constitute doctor patient advice, no doctor patient relationship is formed on the basis of this web posting.
Can you elaborate a bit on what you're trying to get across here?
ALZ = Alzheimers?
A1C = ?
diabesity = what?
'difficulty getting nutrients into cells' = what does that have to do with Alzheimers or ADHD?
Alz is Alzheimer's.
A1C is a 3 month "average" of your blood sugars, it is used in diagnosis of diabetes.
I assume diabesity is him saying we accept obesity and diabetes as a normal process in the US when they're both serious health problems.
Having diabetes (insulin resistance, meaning sugar in the blood does not go into the cells like it should) MAY put you at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's. Studies are mixed at this point.
I have not seen any studies about Alzheimer's and ADHD being associated but I know they both share a few characteristics (though different processes completely)
the person answering you is pretty much spot on... I was well intentioned but probably blundered into this topic a bit... so I'll confuse it some more ; )
A1C is an imperfect estimate of how often you have high blood sugars over a span of time estimated to be three months prior to the test... the correlation of high blood sugars and the A1C test are shocking....acceptable A1C tests often times hide the development of impaired glucose / insulin systems... put another way by the time your A1C is too high, you have traveled far down the path to diabetes....good news is more and more people are getting the continuous blood glucose monitors and monitoring what happens to blood glucose when you eat various foods... as this becomes more common knowledge, people have the info they need to change
person answering you had the diabesity definition spot on
I don't know if it is theory or hypothesis but there is an idea that as the cells of the body become insulin resistant, the blood sugar levels must become elevated in order to help the sugars get into the insulin resistant cells....
There is the second notion that the brain is just like the body cells and can become insulin resistant and that as the cells of the brain have difficulty obtaining nutrients (sugar), they struggle and they begin to perform suboptimally. The linkage here (impaired glucose in the brain) to ALZ is not proven and probably no consensus.
But there have been books written by researchers who believe the linkage is emerging / will emerge. Dale Bredesen has done a lot of work and developed a very difficult to implement system, and it has never been assessed in a double blind trial. Bredesen believes in many causes besides just the sugar linkage. Amy Berger has written a more accessible book focusing more on the glucose connection, again none of the ideas tested in double blind fashion.
I didn't mean to imply there is a proven linkage to what I believe is a very widespread glucose control problem in the US and to Alzheimers. I do believe it will be proven, but shouldn't have implied it was. Like Bredesen I think there are many causes besides glucose. I think some of the most promising research is on epigenetic control changes that happens amongst some groups susceptible to ALZheimers. Reversing these epigenetic control changes is a pretty hot field now, although in its infancy with all the hopes and dreams of youth. These epigenetic control changes are loosely genes that have become turned on due to our lifestyle environment etc. Some of these are likely good some are bad changes... reversing or resetting these back to our youth could help reverse diseases of old age. Just my humble guess these epigenetic resets are going to be a big deal.
But in terms of the Alzheiimers linkage, perhaps the most important thing is to try and get the blood sugars under control and see how the brain and body feel. Noone can or should tell you that by lowering blood sugars you won't get Alzheimers. There are plenty of low carb alternatives to try. Personally I get more exercise these days and try to ensure I don't have high carb meals unless I am sure my glycogen stores are not full. When I do have a carby meal I try to walk run or exercise to get rid of the excess blood sugars faster. But you just have to try some things see if they pay off for you or not. Sorry didn't thoughtfully intend to link Alzheimers fear into dietary motivations. No science says that I should. Amy Berger (tuitnutrition) is an easy twitter feed if you want a biased viewpoint on sugar linkage to Alzheimers.
Please correct me where wrong... 2 tired to correct. My personal #1risk factor for ALZ lack of sleep.
thanks for the additional background.. facinating stuff
Blood sugar is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. I'm a firm believer.
As a kid I never wanted to take my Concerta because my friends said I was more fun when I didn't. Starting in 11th grade I started taking it every day like I was supposed to, got in great shape, made a bunch of friends, started getting A's and B's, felt more confident, even got accepted to a fairly prestigious polytechnic institute and state university. Then, because I'm an idiot, I stopped taking it in college and little by little things kind of deteriorated. But it was so gradual that I barely noticed.
Fast forward a decade, I'm struggling hard at work, feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, can't follow through on tasks, so I talked to my doctor and she put me back on an amphetamine (brand name Evekeo) that I take twice a day at a low dose (10mg.) It's been almost a complete 180 improvement with no real adverse effects. I am efficient, I can multitask, but I never feel jittery or "speedy." Appetite is fine, no headaches, no changes in mood other than the fact that I'm much happier and less stressed since I can function at a normal level at work and in my personal life.
Your mileage may - and probably will - vary greatly, and I'm not saying amphetamines or stimulants in general are a miracle cure. But for me they have made an enormous, observable difference.
Thank you all for the wonderful insight!
I was diagnosed with it at 30 years old. The doctor I went to said that my case was pretty typical of undiagnosed females: intelligent enough that primary school was easy and I didn't have to make much of an effort, so undergrad was a shock to the system. It wasn't until I was studying for my CFP that I started to realize that this wasn't normal, went and got tested and since starting Vyvanse 50mg, and a low dose of Adderall in the afternoon if needed, my work performance has been a complete 180. Before, I had piles of stuff on my desk all the time, missed deadlines constantly, no focus, daydreaming, and this was a big one: executive dysfunction. Meaning, I knew all of the steps to complete a task, but I couldn't make myself start the task. Two years later, I'm now interviewing for VP positions within my company.
If you think you might have it, have a conversation with your PCP and get a recommendation as to where to go for testing. And just be aware that medication isn't a panacea for ADHD. It has helped me tremendously, but knowing that I have it, and having tools to deal with it have been just as helpful. Setting reminders for myself, keeping my work area organized, etc. Personally, I get easily distracted by a lot of clutter, so when I have piles of stuff that needs my attention, I start to get anxious and my executive dysfunction gets really bad. So I have force myself to finish one task before beginning a new one. Good luck!
holy shit you just described me at work...maybe I have it too
My GF got diagnosed a year or two into undergrad. It's quite fascinating how different ADHD behaves in boys vs girls. If you put her in a well structured situation (like grade school), no one (including my GF) would know anything wrong. When she's in an unstructured situation (like undergrad) the level of disorganization is insane. Like you, she's found success with a combination of meds and behavior tweaks.
It's amazing how much a routine can make a difference, in addition to self-awareness. I still have days that I call "Bad ADHD Days" that I'm positive drive my BF nuts. I'm a notorious procrastinator and he mostly isn't, so it's amazing that we've been able to live in harmony without him getting stabby over me starting projects and not finishing them. I also had to learn how to study, which is no easy task as an adult. My best friend is a 3 foot by 4 foot whiteboard that I use to copy charts and definitions etc until I have them memorized. Anything that involves active learning is my friend and I'm far less likely to get bored.