Hi all,
Long story short. I'm 40 years old. Have always struggled with wanting to do 100 things at once. I finish tasks, but am always switching back and forth between them. My real issue is memory. It flat out stinks. My wife has never met anyone with such poor memory. I work in a very stressful job with 5 people who do the same thing. And I can honestly say that my performance is the worst because of my poor memory. Went to my doctor and I filled out the generic ADD/ADHD checklist. "Appears" that I am ADD. I'm now on Adderall (2 weeks now, 20mg) and it's starting to wear off. Hasn't done much for me but give me energy. Still not focusing and my mind wanders in meetings etc. I feel like I'm going to lose my job because of the memory problem. My diet is good, I'm healthy, but memory has always been an issue. Am I really ADD or is there such thing as a normal guy with very very poor memory? I'm very frustrated with my life because of this and I'm desperately looking for answers.

Hi allenb:

Nobody can diagnose you online. That said, have you "always" been this way, since childhood? That's a pretty important one. I know that at 40, it's hard to dig up those old report cards, but if you have them, the comments could be revealing. If you don't have them, can you think back to your childhood and see patterns?

Another thing is, just because a given medicine doesn't seem to help at a given dose does not mean you do not have ADHD. Medicine doesn't help everyone, and sometimes it can take a while to sort out the right meds for the people who are helped.

It's interesting that you are in a stressful job. Do you feel that the stress helps you to focus? Do you feel like you perform well under stress?

It's also very common for ADHDers to feel a sense of impending doom -- like they can't keep this up, that they are going to screw up one too many times and everything will come crashing down...

As far back as I can remember, I've always been this way. I don't do well under stress and it snowballs on me. I'm so shell shocked with forgetting things that yes, I always feel impending doom...as if I'm going to get blind sided with something I've forgotten and consequently screws things up. Which builds more stress and I forget more things...you get the cycle. I've always thought of myself as a mentally strong person. I have no hang ups, don't give in to pressure, grew up in a near perfect family etc. But for whatever reason, with this new job of three years now, the stress (from forgetfulness and inability to stay focused) I feel it's catching up to me. Before this job, I was always capable of "managing" the stress and compensating so my mistakes didn't show as much. Thanks for the reply.

Anxiety can worsen the symptoms of ADHD, and especially the areas of memory and attention.

I too have that "impending doom" feeling. It's hard to shake, because I really am always on the verge of the next big screwup. Like they say, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you... :)

I am like that when i'm under a little pressure but if its too much stress then the impending doom comes to mind, and it can become really difficult where my mind is non stop thinking bad things will happen and nothing has really happened yet and sometimes it hard to begin to work out how to fix whatever is the issue. Sleeping can be a real issue when I have the impending doom feeling. Its very hard to shake.

Yes, it IS possible for a "normal guy" to have memory problems, but I'm sure your doctor has other reasons for the diagnosis.

If you are misdiagnosed, you'll discover it. In the meantime, trust your dx and your doc. He'll probably want you to try higher dosages before another med; 20mg isn't a lot.

Hang in there!