First of all sorry if my post is too long....
Ever since my Highschool years I've always been hesitating wether to consult my doctor about having ADD. I have many symptoms that seem to be directly linked to this. I've always been ignoring the problem and just going abouts with my daily life. I'm now 21 years old and I'm realizing that everything is becoming a struggle now that life is becoming much more challenging.

Friday this all became a wakeup call for me as my boss fired me from my job. I was shocked and I'm now really concerned that this will have a huge impact on my life. I'm now asking myself "If I can't manage to keep this simple co-op job for over 3 weeks, how the hell am I gonna be able to deal with a career for the next 40years of my life??" It all ended with my boss telling me that I constantly fail to follow his instructions. He then told me that he can't afford to have me screw up anymore.

After I got fired the first call I made was to my College Student Help department. They informed me that it will cost 800$ to go through a series of learning disabilities test. I was surprised that it's this expensive especially considering I don't have a job anymore.

Now I've got two questions:
First of all am I better off going to this private learning disability center for
800$?? or is there a better way of doing this?

Has your medication really helped you focus/payAttention??
other words if I am giving medication should I expect a drastic change be able to perform much better at school and at work.?

Any form of advice and input would be greatly appreciated

I don't know price-wise if there is a better way of going about it. You'd think since it is a STUDENT help center, they would be cheaper. Perhaps you could call around to local mental health clinics and see if they offer testing for cheaper.

Medication doesn't help everybody, but it has helped me a lot. For example, you stated that your boss was upset that you never followed instructions. I'm kinda the same way. I can follow them if they are written down for me, but if they are given to me orally, there's no guarantee I will get the whole message. The same goes for any conversation I have. On meds, I find I can actually engage and participate in conversations like I never have been able to before, as I don't drift off in the middle of the other person/s speaking. It's much easier to pay attention on meds, also, and they keep me much calmer.

The way I describe it, is that off medication it's like my mind is scattered all over the place in countless tiny pieces. Thoughts and actions are all over the place, and nothing seems to make much sense. On medication, it's like the majority of those pieces come together and the world makes more sense. Hopefully I made some sense. :p

Good luck with the whole process and welcome to the board!!!

I don't know about testing. If you have insurance, you might try your primary care physician first.

Regarding treatment, both my 8yo son and I have been taking Adderall since we were diagnosed a few months ago. While I'm still working on an optimal dose, it's completely turned things around for me. My son has seen even better results.

I don't want to get your hopes up because it isn't that easy for everyone, but the improvements for us have been dramatic. (not perfect)

BTW, I was fired once for making too many mistakes. I was about your age, too. It's not fun. But, it didn't ruin my life.

Good luck!!

I can't say that any of my treatments, including medication and/or counseling, have helped much. There have been some short-term benefits from medication but nothing lasting. This has made me less likely to seek treatment in the future because of the cost/benefit factor.

ADD is such an ambiguous condition that no doctor or specialist (ar *anyone* for that matter) I've known seems to have a grasp on exactly what it is and what to do about it. Most of the time I feel like I'm just wasting my money. They can't figure it out any more than I can. Is it ADD? Depression? Some physical condition? Just bad habits that have never been dealt with?

We seem to have a set of common symptoms identified, but it's a shot in the dark as far as how to treat it. Whenever I've been prescribed medications, it always seems like a trial-and-error thing rather than a tested, tried-and-true, targeted solution.

The only advancement I've made that has been of real help is the simple realization that there is something wrong beyond my control. I cope with it the best I can, aided with the knowledge that it's not entirely my fault that I am the way I am.

Medication helps the ADD a lot. It may take a while to get the right medication suite for you, so be as patient as you can. Therapy can help with many of the other issues that pop up like anxiety, depression ,etc.


ME :D


First of all sorry if my post is too long....
Ever since my Highschool years I've always been hesitating wether to consult my doctor about having ADD. I have many symptoms that seem to be directly linked to this. I've always been ignoring the problem and just going abouts with my daily life. I'm now 21 years old and I'm realizing that everything is becoming a struggle now that life is becoming much more challenging.

Friday this all became a wakeup call for me as my boss fired me from my job. I was shocked and I'm now really concerned that this will have a huge impact on my life. I'm now asking myself "If I can't manage to keep this simple co-op job for over 3 weeks, how the hell am I gonna be able to deal with a career for the next 40years of my life??" It all ended with my boss telling me that I constantly fail to follow his instructions. He then told me that he can't afford to have me screw up anymore.

After I got fired the first call I made was to my College Student Help department. They informed me that it will cost 800$ to go through a series of learning disabilities test. I was surprised that it's this expensive especially considering I don't have a job anymore.

Now I've got two questions:
First of all am I better off going to this private learning disability center for
800$?? or is there a better way of doing this?

Has your medication really helped you focus/payAttention??
other words if I am giving medication should I expect a drastic change be able to perform much better at school and at work.?

Any form of advice and input would be greatly appreciated

ADD is such an ambiguous condition that no doctor or specialist (ar *anyone* for that matter) I've known seems to have a grasp on exactly what it is and what to do about it. Most of the time I feel like I'm just wasting my money. They can't figure it out any more than I can. Is it ADD? Depression? Some physical condition? Just bad habits that have never been dealt with? We seem to have a set of common symptoms identified, but it's a shot in the dark as far as how to treat it. Whenever I've been prescribed medications, it always seems like a trial-and-error thing rather than a tested, tried-and-true, targeted solution...Not to make you feel worse, Kansas, but there are few things about health and medicine that are a slam-dunk even, say, aspirin for headache, although for things with which we have much more experience, you have better odds that the first pill you try will be the right dose at the right time. We simply don't have aspirin-level understanding of how to fine tune our brains yet, so you are left with the trial and error thing in which individual mileage can and will vary widely while you pay for the privelege of trying. It can be a frustrating pain, I agree, but the pain of not trying can certainly be just as great I think.

I think where we get in trouble around ADD (and most things mental?) is forgetting that it's almost never as simple as taking a pill anyway, even when the med works as intended.

Someone once used the old "3 legged stool" cliche to describe a more complete perspective. For the best outcomes you need to address biology (diet, meds, exercise), behavior (learning/unlearning habits) and belief (i.e. attitudes). The pills help with that first part, when and if they work as hoped, but that's only one leg of the stool. People with ADD still need to work to repattern the habits and attitudes too. The Catch-22 on those last two legs, of course, is that they take two things that ADDers may have the least: patience and persistence. If you were able to patiently persist consistently, you wouldn't be ADD {wry g}

That's why it's especially rough to go it alll alone, and it's great to come to places like this where you can learn about specific steps that seem to help others (or don't), then start forming a sense of what's more and less likely to work for you. Talking to others with ADD also keeps reminding you that you are far from the only one sharing this struggle, and even knowing just that much helps a lot of folks. Plus, it offers you hope that the persistence, even if inch by inch, really can lead to a meaningful difference.

So understand it's a process that will take time to develop, give yourself permission to tackle it step by step, then let one bit of progress build to the next, and consider it a victory each time you do!

SpaceCadet,

My ADHD therapy has positively, absolutely unequvocally helped.

All of the posts you got so far are pointing you in the right direction. But let me underscore a few points.

1. It took months to tweak my meds to optimal even though I experienced their efficacy from the get-go.

2. STUDY Carla's post. No. MEMORIZE it. She has embodied in a few words what every ADHD book and every ADHD expert and everyone who got the beast managed says too.

3. I got my best leads from the members of this board. Is it any wonder? Who got the bear my the tail? Who knows how to wrestle the critter to the ground? At least for a while, and without going overboard (in case you haven't noticed us ADHDers get interested in a new field every day :), read the posts and post your successes, failures, idiosyncracies (90% have the same) and you'll make progress.

You'll be tearing up the pavement in no time.

Bob

A quick quip: Went into a liquor store yesterday. At the checkout the gal asked me credit or debit? Just out of nowhere, no conscious decision on my part, I blurt out, "Credit. I was going to get a debit card then I found out you have to have money in the bank. Why the heck would anyone get a debit card?" The clerk and everyone in line cracked up laughing. Hopefully it was WITH and not AT me. I really can't help things like that from happening.

Canada is sorta different. We don't mostly have private insurance.

SpaceCadet, if you can email/PMsg me, i can give you info on how to get subsidized testing in Ontario, Canada.

(I see you are in north bay.)

-Emma

Kansas,

I would respectfully submit to you ( or anyone for that matter) that I do "get it."