I have never been diagnosed with ADD but here are my symthoms.
- I am always losing my keys
- I don't clean my house until it is so bad I can't find anything
- I go from one project to another without completing anything
- I am always starting a new class, meeting, club something only to drop out in a few weeks to a month.
- I can be talking about one thing and I before I know I have branched off on something totally unrelated and then I forget what I was talking about.


My biggest problem is I'm afraid of what people say behind my back, "She can't seem to finish anything she starts or carry through with anything she says she is going to do."

My family says, "Why can't you just stick with something?" I do not know what to tell them. They think illnesses are only physical.
And disorders are quackery.

What will medications do for me?


:confused:

I'm still waiting for the magical cleaning fairy to come to my house too..lol

I don't think medication will "make" you clean your house. It may help you to focus better to get things done.

Also, learning "ADD Friendly" ways to do things may also help.

I would definitely read up more on ADD, and/or consult a doctor, if I was you... sounds like you have enough symptoms to establish a reasonable probability...

Medications seem to help a lot of ADD people, but they aren't the final solution. I definitely wouldn't go looking for a medication "cure" at this stage in your knowledge of the condition.

And welcome to the forums! :D

The first impact of medication I noticed in myself was the ability to wash the dishes without feeling like I was going to die from boredom. Seriously. For the first time in my life, I have discovered that washing dishes is something you can "just do" while waiting for someone to arrive, or a tv show to start. And while doing it, you can just think about something else.

My house is still a mess, but at least I know if I suddenly get the urge to whip out the vacuum cleaner or throw away old magazines, I will be able to stay with the task until it's finished. And for the moment, that's plenty for me.

After my first week of being on medication (this was only in October), I stated to a friend: "You know, it's only when you can wash the dishes without constantly thinking of other things to do that you can wash the dishes and think about more interesting things!"

Anyone understands what I mean?

I was diagnosed late in life; but, did find way's before my diagnoses to keep myself on track and my mind focused.

1. Cleaning house; everyday I pick up; but, I clean one room a week from top to bottom.. I bought a basket to keep all my supplies that I will need with me (if you don't have to go look for something your most likely to finish). I start in the corner with my back to the room,,,I have found task's are easier to complete if I see only a small area at a time therefore I am not overwhelmed.

2. My washer and drier are in the bathroom so I have a big red check mark on the wall across from the door. This is a visual aide reminding me to make sure loads do not need switched over, etc.

3. Dishes-- lol dishes just suck any way you look at it,,,there is nothing to help there.

And I have an online buddy who at the beginning of every week we set goals for that week and if the goals are not met,,She holds me accountable for it. This being anything from housework to my volunteer work. If your held accountable your less likely to fail.

And yes I do misplace things at times,,,I have found the phone in the freezer, the remote in the dirty laundry hamper,,,the one I cannot deal with is my shoes, I lose them all the time and find it horribly upsetting. Which is strange because I find them to be irritating, commericalistic things anyways. lol

Just don't give up your system just may need a little tweeking and at least now you know there is a reason and that you are not crazy or alone. Hugs Good Luck and Welcome to the forum's

Originally posted by Justolme
I have never been diagnosed with ADD but here are my symthoms.
- I am always losing my keys
- I don't clean my house until it is so bad I can't find anything
- I go from one project to another without completing anything
- I am always starting a new class, meeting, club something only to drop out in a few weeks to a month.
- I can be talking about one thing and I before I know I have branched off on something totally unrelated and then I forget what I was talking about.


My biggest problem is I'm afraid of what people say behind my back, "She can't seem to finish anything she starts or carry through with anything she says she is going to do."

My family says, "Why can't you just stick with something?" I do not know what to tell them. They think illnesses are only physical.
And disorders are quackery.

What will medications do for me?


:confused:

OK.

What you do is get the medications, take them as prescribed. Store the bottle in the yellow pages.

When you hear yourself asking "when will these pills make me clean my house?" you go to your pills, hold them in your hand like a gun to your temple, and flip through the yellow pages to the "house cleaning" section. Only after calling house cleaners and setting the appointment can you take the bottle down from its menacing position at your temple.

Voila! Your pills have made you clean your house!

From the same people who brought you the fail safe cockroach killer... place cockroach HERE, hit with hammer!

The most important thing to realize is, if you have no legs, it is meaningless to be a long distance runner... no matter how you do it, if you do it without legs, it doesn't REALLY qualify. likewise, if you are not able to clean the house, get it done somehow, but never figure that it suddenly means that "now" you can clean the house." Just get it done by OTHERS and be happy it is clean.

good luck.

Honestly.

If you start things and don't finish them, start things others are reluctant to start, and be assured that someone else will

Civil Rights is a great area for that... an entire lifetime takes Starting stuff and rarely can anyone EXPECT to finish it!

I asked my husband the other day is he was becoming more disorganized around the house. He said no you are just noticing it more...lol

Justolme,

I do all the same this as you do, especially starting lots of things and never finishing them. (everything from classes to organizing to debates in my own head)

I am generally an optimistic person, which is USUALLY good... but often times I will overestimate my ability to do things. So I promise people I will do this or that, or say that I will be somewhere... then I forget or run out of time, or don't finish very well... I'm afraid that people I know won't trust me anymore if I keep this up!! Sometimes I'll even schedule two things overlapping and not realize it until after it's all over. I know for a fact that people think I'm not reliable - they have good reason to becuase i'm NOT!! in my opinion there are two ways to help this: 1) try to recognize your limits, and therefore not start or promise so many things, and 2) put forth as much effort as possible into finishing things you start!

It's very hard to do - I'm not doing a good job (lots of people are mad at me right now) but I do think it's possible. People on the forums are here to help you too!! :D

my family doens't believe in ADD either, so i understand where you're coming from. if you want to post another thread regarding that, i'll be happy to ramble on and on forever.... I have one of my own actually: http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4114

this is all a very tough thing to come to terms with, and you probalby have a lot of things running through your mind... (esp. since you're ADD!) but good luck!!

I *WANT* to clean.. but other things are so much more intruiging, like starting to reorganize my photo album, then getting through 3 pages and quitting.. Gave up on that thought and dropped them all in a box. If it gets so messy, that even I notice, I will at least pick up a bit. Otherwise someone else has to point it out to me.. I kind of like living in a dream world :P

I do the same thing. I start working on a project to organize my sock and underwear draw and my husband comes in and says do you realize there's three days worth of dishes in the sink and you are sitting there organizing your stupid sock drawer? I just get ****ed off and say the hell with it and stuff everything back in the drawers. But not without saying to him, "If the damn dishes are bothering you that badly then CLEAN THEM."

It is so nice meeting so many people just like me. I love it here. I have never felt so "at home".

Same here but when I take me dexadrine....I can do the most important cleaning under an hour and if I am feelign frisky take care of the not so important things and when I clean.....It is sooo thurough I even move furniture to get the unseen dirt.. Mom loves it! But take me off of dex the most I will clean is the clothes and the dishes but not right away..when I am d*** good and ready! I get real lazy and concentration goes to mush and it's hard to multitask.

Multitask-Is that even in an ADDers vocabulary without immediately feeling overwhelmed??? I wish I could multitask.

The closest I could get to multitasking is putting my lipstick on at a stop light :o (and I can't even do that well- the last time I tried I bumped that guys car at the light in front of me!!!!)

Mulitasking is easy when I am on meds cause I can focus better.

Melly,
Does your meds help you with any other symthoms?

I am a lot nicer and more understand and more tolerant of others who usually**** me off. If i think of anythign else I let ya know;)

Hey that's enough for me to try them. I would love to be a lot nicer and more understanding and more tolerant of others. I will look them up on the internet. What mg are you on and are you on anything else?

I've never been a multitasker either... for a while (when i first found out about ADD) I thought that peopel with ADD would be BETTER at multi-tasking becuase their brains do so much at once... so i thought there must be somthing wrong with me becuase I couldn't do it even though i think of so much.

now that i am seeing a little more it's making me feel better:D

I can't NOT multi-task. If I have to do one thing only, I feel like screaming and ripping off my skin. This has gotten so much better as I have gotten older, and medication helps. Mind you, if I *look* like I am doing only one thing, I am most likely working on several things in my mind. I much prefer to be doing only one thing (maybe two) in my mind and be working on one or two physical projects. What messes it up is when someone interrupts. That really throws a wrench into it.:mad:

naw, but if ya take the right ones, you just wont care at all!

Which ones make you not care? I'd love some of those.

hehehhee......well.....just try a few different ones...I like to go by colour.....which ever are most aesthetically pleasing I assume will give me the best feeling all over....

Your kidding right???

good god yes (I dont know whats funnier....my response or the fact that you were I afriad I was serious....).....

besides......never judge a book by its cover or a pill by its pretty colours....i found that out the hard way....the doctor said my breasts should start to look a little more masculine in a couple weeks....but in the meantime....I wont need a date for while...

I'm scared to ask what kind of pills made your breast look more masculine but her goes. What kind of pills made your breast look masculine?

sorry......Im a male.....uh....read it over again.....it'll sink in rather quickly....(I am only messing around...bored...wasting time....hoping to make a few people smile..)

I get it now. Sorry. I'm a little slow sometimes.

no probs....hope it brought a smile to your face

*giggles*

Originally posted by Justolme
Hey that's enough for me to try them. I would love to be a lot nicer and more understanding and more tolerant of others. I will look them up on the internet. What mg are you on and are you on anything else?

I am sorry I took so long to get back with ya hun....I take dexadrine 10 mg twice a day and lamitcal 100 mg once a day. Forgive me for taking so long plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I am one of those who is all over the place. I can be doing the dishes and see the mail needs sorting I do that and then go back to the dishs. It is a little beeter with my meds. I notice I do get the dishs done a lot quicker. I really struggle when I may be cleaning something like the bathroom and my wife will point out somethine else that needs doing. I will drop the cleaning and go do that. Then my wife will say I am not following through because I have not finished the bathroom. We once had a big fight about this. It was kind of a no win situation for me. She is a little better about pointing out stuff that needs doing when I am doing something else.

I had to laugh (and almost cry at the same time) reading about bumping into another car while putting on lipstick. I was looking at my "Curves" bucks that I earned while I was coming to a stop. I was suddenly distracted that one of the "bucks" was a l0 rather than a 1........and I ran right into a car with six adults in it. I was so embarrassed! A few years ago I ran a red light that I didn't even see, and a car crashed into me.....totalled the car and was taken to the hospital - along with the person in the other car. These types of distraction are the very reason I have persevered with the med..Strattera. Distractions like these can kill you or somebody else. However, now that I have been diagnosed I can see the humor (if I can sort through the frustration first!). Its so good to have these forums where we are all "kin" somehow. Here, the non-adder's are on the outside instead of vice-versa.

I with all of you insofar as the jumping from thing to thing and trying to successfully multitask. I was diagnosed 4 months ago at age 63. I had been making good progress with ritalin and counselling, and then I skipped making a week's appointment and felt like I could just "go on vacation" and not take my pills and not plan ahead. Oh, I did a few things, but as soon as I remembered that I didn't have to account to anybody but myself for two weeks, I reverted to going from project to project and whim to whim like a bee in a flower garden, never finishing anything.

One funny thing: My husband and I decided to treat ourselves to a new refrigerator to celebrate our upcoming 40th wedding anniversary. I had my doubts about the one we wanted making a tight turn in a hallway, and so (last week) had Sears send the mover who does their local delivery. When he came in, he looked around and said, "Getting ready to redecorate!?" I just said, "Yes, we're expecting the remodellers next week." I just couldn't confess that our house almost always looks like this: boxes and stacks of books, furniture not properly arranged, stuff dropped halfway between here and there, and wallpaper peeled off the dining room (well, that room has been like this for six years now).

Look into getting yourself some help, and get comfortable with being "One Of Us."

PS: The refrigerator we wanted can't clear our house's twists and turns, and so all my diagrams, measurements and my scrub-up around the old fridge leads to nothing. Bummer.

Ace,
You were 63 when you were diagnosed?
I am curious, What have you thought was wrong with you all these years?
I asked my dad (which doesn't believe in AD/HD) what I was like as a kid (I'm 37 and he is 71). He said I was the most scatterbrained person he had ever known.

I thought well that's a good definition of AD/HD).
What meds help you Ace?

Thanks for asking, Justolme!
ADD IS/was THIS FOR ME, too: scatterbrained. Uh-Huh!

I have always thought I was lazy and impudent, always questioning authority, wasting time and losing things. I was told at home that I worked harder at getting out of doing things than it would to just do them. I didn't know how to get from my HERE to their THERE. Mostly. as a kid, I was totally in awe of other kids who were able to keep their lives and their belongings so nice, how they behaved like angels, and how they finished things. I had parents who were teachers, and I misbehaved in school starting in the 4th grade. What I had was never called ADHD. Had they even named it in post WWII America?

Now, my mother taught for 50 years (elementary school kids). She was a great favorite and was well-paid and honored, and yet I am now sure she had (at least) HD. She was able to work miracles with what they called "hyperactive" students. She used very creative and flexible alternatives for letting kids discover their best learning strategies, but she couldn't help herself or me. This made both of us crazy.

When we reaached our 40's, my sister and would joke about having "adult-onset ADD." I am thankful for the internet for helping me diagnose myself. It was only within the past year that I found out that ADHD doesn't just go away when one "grows up."

I have never had a career, just some unusual short-term jobs; I have filled in the awkward times by going back to school for a while (total years in schools, about 28), where I can do quite well if I am allowed to do it all my way.

I hold the current record for being the oldest new ADD-er at our local community mental health clinic. I'm proud of that. I am seeing a PhD psychologist and an MD psychiatrist once a month ro so for additional talk and for my ritalin prescription. I get a huge kick out of completing things and meeting my step-by step goals, but I fall right off the wagon if I don't pop my 5 mgs of generic two times every day and then strictly follow the plan I've made earlier. (No bad drug side effects at all, but this methylphenidate is getting less and less effective at this dosage).

Recent "moment:" Last night I wasted a $35 chance to see Kansas beat Missouri in a sold-out basketball game just because I got all ADD-ish and forgot I had bought a ticket for this game in the fall. Stayed home and watched it on TV like a moron.

At the same time I enjoy doing better than I used to, I also love to do nothing at all while I solve my (and the world's) problems lying in bed next to a warm cat, watching tv, and sublimating my hyperactivity. This alternates with mild bouts of self-loathing and vows to get organized and to prevail over CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.)

How about you?

Hi Ace -- everytime you write about your experiences, I'm sitting here nodding my head and being glad you're here:)
You have a gentle and thoughtful way of expressing things.
Your mother sounds a bit like me -- able to help other people while not able to manage the most mundane personal details.
I work with a lady who is 76 yrs old and AD/HD. She amazes me all the time. She lives on jam and cheez whiz sandwiches, cookies and tea and stays in peak condition! She can "jump" in and out of the large van and goofs off with all comers. She forgives everyone and never holds a grudge. She is addicted to rug-hooking and has cranked out enough rugs to cover a football field. She has the luxury of wearing any combination of pink and red (her favourite colours) every day. She can be counted on to come up with the best one-liners and remember the missing line in an old song.
And isn't it lovely, finally getting to certain point in your life and finding you have much in common with a 10 yr old kid?
Aren't we supposed to be all-wise and beatific? Have throngs of friends and relatives over for holiday dinners (can you imagine?), and keep our perfectly decorated houses clean with all that extra time we have?
My place looks more like a bachelor pad! Does anyone have a dishwasher and does it help?
Thanks

I have a [Kenmore] dishwasher, and it is a big help and works great. I put anything in it that fits, turn that sucker on delayed start and go to bed. My husband believes most things should be washed right after dinner by hand, using the "Keep-The-Water-Streaming-And-Don't-Spare-The-Palmolive" method.

I'd better not get all of us too far off topic, so I'll say thanks for your comments, thanks for not mentioning my typos, and see you in another thread!

How interesting. I've never heard of someone having a computer and not a dishwasher.

NO dishwasher here either

Ace,
I would love to try Ritalin but I'm afraid. I don't understand how a stimulate can keep one focused without making you more hyper. I have anxiety disorder as well and caffeine makes me so nervous. Is it anything like caffeine? What's your thoughts on this?

Guess that shows where my priorities are :D
I wish there were "Dishomats" where I could take all the dirty dishes in my two sinks and on every available surface in the kitchen, load them in my trunk and and drive to a place where I could chuck them all in a machine.lol
Ah well...

No, I wish there was a little "dish fairy" that came up through the pipes every night after we all go to bed and tidy ups our kitchen and then quitely goes back down the drain.

(I must be wacked-only an ADDer would think of that);)

The med will help you focus & you won't feel so overwhelmed.
Sowwwwy..... no dishwasher fairy...lol

Actually, I think I have dish trolls that dirty up even more dishes while I'm sleeping....

Who needs a Support group when we have all of you great people!!!!!!,.I thank you all for brightening my morning,with all of
your inspiring replies!.I went to bed last night thinking,why me????,it's like no one in my life understands me,or my behaviors!.Reading all of your replies this am.has me now realizing that I'm not alone and I can't tell you how GREAT this is!!!!.I am just Speechless................, and well a bit overwhelmed
as of the moment with all my rambling thoughts(everything I need to do today,what I didn't do yesterday?,what was it I was doing anyway?,cleaning????,etc...................)

I think stimulants have what is called a paradoxical effect on the ADHD brain.....they slow it down and sort of "quiet" it.
http://www.addforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=18


Our dishwasher broke a few months ago, and that is one of the things under our lease that our landlord will not fix. I got myself a big dish drainer (and some industrial sized packages of paper plates). I think the old wash rinse dry method is actually easier because it eleminates the steps of loading and unloading. Every body is assigned a different colored cup and bowl to use and then rinse and dry for him/herself. The fewer you have, the fewer you have to wash.;) I keep a dishpan of soapy water to dump silverware into and I (or my assistant) will do it every other day or so.

LOL...dishomats...I had that idea before when we had 6 adolescent foster boys. I think that one belongs in the great ideas thread.
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=4300&highlight=ideas+that

Awww paper plates, cup, utensils

China for the working class,,,I've often thought of buying stock in styrofoam

I'm with your Krisp- It definiately seems like more dishes in the morning than it did the night before. I wonder if I have troll fairys???:D