ADHD / ADD Support Group

I have adhd/add. I'm more add. then anything.As i kid i wish there was meds for me because i really struggled as a kid academically and socially. Maybe if i would have taken meds i would have been able to concentrate and do alot better in school. I did not graduate. As an adult i don't take meds for that. The doc won't give me any meds for a.d.d because i have bipolar.

I to have a.d.h.d, but I'm definatly more a.d.d. As a child, I don't think anyone even knew what it was! Boys seemed to be always in trouble, while us girls daydreamed. I did well in everything but math and phys ed. I'm dyslexic and not to coordinated! It always took me longer to complete my homework. I guess that was good b/c socially, I was a joke waiting to be laughed at. DX'ed 3 yrs ago, I'm now on adderll 20mg 4 times a day and kolonipin.1mg 3 times a day. Even though that helps me, its hard if not impossible to forget about my "un DX'ed and unmedicated childhood. I'm always second guessing myself-like "did I respond properly" and I can still hear the laughs in my head from childhood. This may sound crule, but I wish everyone could have the add expierience for a week. A good wake up call!

I was diagnosed first with Bi-polar disorder as a teen. They had me on Wellbutrin which made me just MEAN. Then they decided I was ADHD and put me on Adderall. I struggled in school and my PhD said it was because I was just BORED. He gave me an IQ test and I tested at genius levels. A lot of people with ADD/ADHD are extremely smart. I was on meds all through college. Went off my meds for a long time when I was pregnant and after I had my son. Now I'm back on them and seem to be struggling with it a lot more as a working Mom. I've also been having an MD monitor my meds as opposed to a PhD who did before. I have an appt. with a PhD on Wednesday so we'll see what he says. I think I may have a slight anxiety disorder as well because of how frustrated I get. If I don't take my meds I literally cannot function at work anymore.

I sm an adult with Adhd / add. I believe that I have the combo type. I am 49 didn't figure it out until I was 40 that that's what it most likely was. My parents never saw anything unusual because they probably both had it themselves. I was a horrible student without ever taking meds although I was in the classes for bright children. I do wish I had taken meds because I think that my other issues would have been addressed more as well. I also have learning issues, my motor skills are seriously underdeveloped. I really cannot properly function and be productive without meds and without an adequate dosage. I fought that idea for a long time unfortunately. I chose my outward personality which is far friendler unmedicated over my inner person which is far more productive when medicated properly. I realized that I like myself far better when I am effective and can produce and accomplish things. I absolutely cannot work without medication everything takes far too long, and I am less likely to pick the right battles and things to be paying attention to in general. I also found that I cannot take non stimulant medication. It makes me too lethargic, and I don't care about anything. I also get into a comfort zone very easily and can't get out of it. On stimulants which is concerta 54 mg right now. (was up to 30 mg of adderall xr but it stopped being effective). I will move ahead and think of my next step and plan it out, and think about goals that I have and want to have. I have to support myself, and meds let me be an adult and want to be responsible.

Socially, I am quieter with meds. I don't have a problem with interacting with people. My friends are not ADHD, and I get along with people easier. If I have a drink my own personality starts to come through more. I think as I gain more confidence in what I can accomplish on medication I will start to be friendlier and more outgoing again.

I took no meds as a child..was prescribed ritalin in high shcool but never took it because of stigma. I have recently tried focalin and concerta but faild because I am also bipolar and the adhd meds were bringing on mania. I did quite well in school before junior high.. with the exception of the hyperactivity I have "blessed" the world with since birth... zooming around my parents bed on my own the day I was brought home from the hospital, walking early without trying to crawl,the pastor interupting his sermon to tell mom to make me sit still, being taped to my chair in front of my first grade class, etc. etc..... I believe that the teachers I was fortunate to have in elementary (well just a couple of bad teachers who negatively affected my abilities to learn) but the good ones were key to my learning abilities, I never lacked personal attention and patience from the good ones and it made all the difference in the world. By the time I got into jr high I lost that attention and turned into 'just another' student slipping backwards while nobody noticed. I don't blame my parents for not noticing my learning problem because they also had a son with a rapidly debilitating disease and I can't begin to imagine how their lives were filling with grief being so helpless for their children. I blame my teachers who should have noticed me and my problems, I had every right to learn and nobody would help me. In high school I actually had teachers turn me away while I BEGGED for help. By this time my parents were certain that my horrible marks at school were not due to my lack of trying. My mom went to the school counselor who actually told my mom to "back off she's a teenager" my mom was pissed and finally got the recomendation to test for adhd. Mom, of course, was right. And when we went to a different school counselor to see how I could get the help I need to graduate. This counselor told me that "I'm not smart enough to finish and it would be much too difficult to finish, just leave school now it's not for everyone" and then said if I finished the semester I would get failing grades and if I left now then they could be just incompletes. Naturally, in the state of mind I was in, I believed him, believed I am stupid and quit. I would not have my GED now if I hadn't been forced by the law after getting into trouble. I battled myself through the next 5 years with horrible, horrible highs and lows until breaking point. I was reevaluated for adhd at about age 23 and focus shifted to bipolar. About 2 years ago, I started taking Lithium and Lamictal and Seroquel and have been on the road to recovering to the point of looking ahead. It finally became time to address my adhd since I hit that roadblock pretty hard once again. Unfortunately like I said, the meds I have tried are not ok for me. I am hoping there will be something but my psychiatrist didn't sound very promising. We're not trying adderall because of my chest pains while on foc & concrta. I'm not sure what next if I can't find meds.

Does anyone know of a drug or drugs that works for people who are drug resistent? I've tried adderall, ritalin and strattera (maybe the strattera worked a litte.) I was diagnosed late in life, and I'm much more add. I always had friends but struggled with academics and really just gave up rather that fight the fight. High IQ, called an underachiever, bed wetter. I did graduate from college at age 45 after very hard work.

I am ADHD, was diagnosed at the age of 45 I am know 49 soon to be 50. I always felt different than others. I am taking Stratta at 60mg 1x a day, with other medication for major depression and God know what else. I didn't care much for school growing up but found College to be inlightning. College is where I found myself and wanted to actually be some body. I am not so stupid after all, I did feel that way when I was younger. I also have Dyslixic can't spell either. I am studing for my Master Degree and it has been a struggle all the way though but have had God and some great friends who have encouraged me. The medication helps me focus and I have to focus to complete what I want to complete. The University I attend helps me with there disablity program. I have to take a class two times to get it but it is costing me a pretty penny. I think I have a student loan that i could of had a nice home by now. But I have and still learn a lot from my studies, so I continue. I am getting tired and want to go to work helping others people who have been abused. I think I always want to learn. My main purpose to goint to college was to complete something in my life and hopefully it would show my children that they will need an education and so far my daugther is going to become a nurse and she doesn't have the ADHD thank God. My son has it and he has stuggle so so much in his 27yrs. He is a recovering Addicit and has been clean for 6yrs or more. He is great with his hands and does a lot of remodeling jobs which my brother have taught him. This is a great stuggle disorder and wish for a magic pill but I know there isn't one. But I can wish any how.

Hi, I am new to the dx of ADD, but of course it has been present for quite some time.

As a child (I am 48 yrs old) I don't think we even knew what it was then. Also, I am not hyperactive, had good social skills, did fine in school (but I studied very hard, who knows how i would have done if things had been different), and did not appear to be the typical "ADDer". I did always need much quiet space to take tests, read, study, etc. Very distractible.

As an adult, I was always able to manage it to a certain degree without meds, or anything,UNTIL I got in my mid 40s, and my hormones started to go wacko. Additionally, at that time, I changed jobs to a position that required a lot of detail work. I had to spend so much extra time compensating for my lack of attention to detail that over the following years I sort of became a "workaholic". Those two things led me to seek treatment, and I am still working on medication adjustments. I think Concerta works pretty good, but it keeps me up at night.

I think the way it has affected me as an adult is a couple ways: if treatment hd been available when I was a child, maybe I would have done exceptionally well in school, and been able to pursue a higher level career (medicine, for example). Also, the continued frustrations and challenges of just trying to maintain and manage life, and deal with the "failures" has gotten into my psyche, and held me back too.

Although I don't look like the typical ADHD person, I am "crippled" by the effects of inattention. I personally believe the sooner you can get dx and tx, the better off you will be in the long term.(sorry for the long post!)

To be diagnosed with ADD according to the DSMV you have to have had symtoms since childhood. I had symptoms. I was Dx with ADHD when I was 25. Sort of when I was 21 but I never took it seriously with meds and everything til 25. I am 30 now. Academically: no study skills, passed school on my wits and hyperfocused on tests for the 20-50 minutes that they take. I was 'bad'. I think I was definately labeled and expected to behave a certain way. It was cool to find out that I really was smart after all. This affected me in college because I have no study skills and it's not about staying out of trouble and detention in college it's about learning the stuff, which actually interested me.
If I had a kid, I would hold off the longest I could on meds. Adult too. I had many car accidents and it was affecting many aspects of my life. But mild ADHD, just a rowdier type person, why change?
In all the lit it explains low self esteem that goes along with ADD and I agree; think it's a lifelong struggle. Delivered From Distraction was a very good book for me. Came after Driven to Distraction.
I cannot say that I wish I took meds. 'Cause I survived, I didn't fail any grades, I had friends, I didn't to drugs heavily, and I escaped being beat to a pulp by my 'rents. All this made me who I am today. Wouldn't change it.

i have adhd/add.my doc(reg gp)gave me strattera.my fiancee noticed mood changes and behavioral changes.for the most part i feel like i just dont care about anything anymore.i just feel blah.plus im having truoble sleeping or staying asleep.if anyone could give me some advice it would be appreciated.thx