Prepair yourself because here comes a long overdue rant :)

I am a 27 year old Icelander that is currently studying in a university in England. I came to England about 2 years ago because i knew i would get more help in my education here then i would get in Iceland (the Icelandic government has only recently acknowledge that there is something called adult adhd) but my biggest problem is that i do not know what kind of help i need. I was only diognosed 3 years ago so i went through my education without any assistance, and i would like to call it pure stubborness.

I hate that i cant explain what i have properly (not even to my closest friends and family), and because of that i feel that i have managed to isolate myself from people shielding myself from any possible pain or hurt that people could inflict. I don't feel that my medication is helping me at all when it comes to school and i have to say i feel very lost, and that no one can understand me properly. I've also been told that i should tell people that i have adhd because thats not who i am but i don't agree with that seeing that it affects so many parts of my life that it is who i am and i feel that it helps (maybe) explain why i do the things i do, if that makes any sense. I have this one friend that i dont meet that often that does notice when i do my adhd things and sweetly says to me "is your adhd going overboard" which i really appriciate cause then i feel that at least that one person can see through the shell.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me, at this point i am willing to try anything because i wont to be able to control my life not being controlled by the adhd.

Sorry about the massive rant, just had to get this out

Dia

Sometimes it's good to rant! What type of medication(s) are you taking?

I'm currently on ritalin uno 40mg a day, i've been on concerta to which did nothing for me unfortunatly

How long have you been taking Ritalin? And have you noticed any improvement since you started?

I started on regular ritalin when i was first diognosed, but i found it ridiculous to have a medication for people with memory problems that you need to remember to take three times a day so i managed to get concerta slow release about 1 1/2 ago then again on ritalin uno last august. The only improvement i see is i can control my outbursts, anger and i can actually go to shops without being furious and anoyed but otherwise not much more. It doesn't help with my emotion which is very anoying especially when you are so sensitive that you cry over commercials just because the dog was so cute and was all alone :)

It sounds like you might benefit from a mood stabilizer, such as Lamotrigine/Lamictal. Also, something like Effexor XR (beware of the potential withdrawl effects!) reduces ADD symptoms for some people and can also help with depression. Have you talked to a psychiatrist/psychologist about your symptoms?

Sometimes an SSRI (IE: Prozac, Zoloft, etc) or seratonin boosting supplement (IE: St John's Wort, 5-HTP) can be used with stimulent medication to held modulate the frequent mood problems that often accompany ADHD. It's the kind of thing you should run by your doctor. It may also be that you would do better with a different ADHD medication (Adderall, Wellbutrin, etc). You'd have to confer with a doctor. Unfortunately meds are not effective for everyone and not 100% effective for the ones they do help. Driven to Distraction or Delivered from Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey have good suggestions as does Healing ADD by Daniel Amen on non medical approach to help improve life functioning. A ADD coach is often a great blessing for a university student -- Hallowell and Ratey discuss this in their books -- it can be a relative, friend, or professional who helps you stay on track with you goals, helps you with scheduling and organizing priorities, etc. by checking in several times a week with you.

Exercise has also been show to improve focus and dopamine levels in the brain as well as serotonin to held calm overactive emotions.

Take care,
Scattered

Thank you for the suggestions, but i am hoping to skip the medication all togheter. I used to be on efexor when i was in my early twenties (before diogonsis) for depression (got very depressed about not feeling i could live up to my potential and that my life was kinda at a standstill) but i hadn't been on antidepressants for about two years before i knew about the adhd. Anyway moving on :D, i dont feel at all depressed i am a very happy person on the whole just get the normal lows around january as i suspect most people do.

I have a sort of coach complements of additional learning needs deprt. but the thing is she has never dealt with a person with adhd just dyslexia so the help i get seems to be catered for their needs. She tries to set me targets and makes list for me to follow but i absolutly hate them, having someone doing that for me makes me anxious and if i dont do all the things on the list and make my targets for the week i get extremly stress so its very counter productive. The main problem is that i dont know what works for me cause i am new to the whole education with help.

I understand that the Brits aren't big on recognizing ADD, either.

North Americans accept it more, i think. Perhaps it is getting thru to them via the strong media presence, that ADD is a neurological and "brain-based" disorder. It's in the wiring.

Maybe you should have come to school in Canada. Similar to the USA, but cheaper (due to the exchange rate). ;)

You can start by reading Driven to Distraction.

Emma

NB. If you are female, you many also want to read books by Patricia Quinn and Kathleen Nadeau. (eg. "women and girls with ADD")