Hi All. I just got diagnosed with adult ADD. I'm 25 and actually had to quit my job because there was too much down time, and for ADD people that just doesn't work! I have to have something to do at all moments of the day or else I go nuts. I managed to get through, I guess you can say, a "prestigious" New England college with a 3.2 GPA business degree. While my roomates and I would borrow Adderall (I know its not legal but it definitely goes on) from our other roomates with prescriptions for big exams, I never thought I would ACTUALLY develop ADD myself. One of my roomates abused it and she ended up failing out. I think that is why I am too scared to tell people that I'm taking meds. I dont want anyone to associate me with her. I havent even told my boyfriend I'm taking it and I live with him! I briefly mentioned it to my mom that my doc thought I had developed it and she just "oh really" and that was it. My dad is ADD even though he doesn't take anything for it ,so its not surprising that I have it.Does anyone else hide their ADD from people? I feel like its something I just want to keep to myself, take the meds, and go on with my life without people knowing. Also, the Adderall is helping my Generalized Anxiety so much! So much so that I went off my zoloft no problem and I'm now beginning to lose the weight I gained on it! Sorry to go on and on but I got my story over with. ha.

Welcome to ADDForums, mainer5. I usually don't tell just anyone I have ADHD anymore, I have heard the question "Do you take Adderall (sometimes Ritalin)?" too many times to say anything about it. Around other ADHDer's I tend to tell them but not with non-adder's.

It helps at work and if you are in school still you can ask the counselor behind closed doors for accommodations you may need.

I was under the impression you didn't develop ADD. It was something you're born with and some outgrow it, or some just hide it well during adolescence, and it can make a comeback in adulthood.

You said your doctor thought you had developed it.. ?? I guess I'm just curious about your doctors view since I had heard otherwise.

Anywho, it is your business and not anyone elses. You're an adult. You don't have to explain anything to anyone unless you want to. I personally tell people simply for the entertainment value. I live around a lot of close minded folks, so I get a kick out of stuff like that. :D

well I guess I put words in my doctors mouth. He didnt say developed, he said the ADD is breaking through as I get further into adulthood. I also believe I was born with it and that its genetic, ie my dad. His ADD affected him more in elementary school where he had to repeat the fourth grade. His medication now is his business in my opinion.

re: 3

The original poster writes "I did not think I would develop ADD".

ADD doesn't develop in college.

It has to be present by "age 6" (iirc) to qualify for a DSM-IV diagnosis, yup.

re: #1
You sound like an anxious person. If anxiety were your primary problem, ADDERALL should make your anxiety worse, most likely.
e.g. Most people with primary anxiety will get worse on Stimulants, as they stimulate the fight/flight/freeze (sympathetic) nervous system responses.

I'd suggest to you that if ADDERALL is making your 'anxiety' improve, then your anxiety is secondary from the ADD, probably.
e.g. ADD causes problems (say with planning, organization, working memory, tasks, performance) and then your anxiety SHOOTS UP.

Please don't believe in drug myths about addiction (e.g. 'if i take Adderall legitimately i will become a problem user like my old schoolmate'). I

f you were addiction prone and abusing it, you would not be here _telling us_ you take Adderall. You'd be out trying to SCORE.

True Addicts generally don't -=BROADCAST=- their dependency, ok? (Neither do most people with eating disorders!) These problems are shameful and usually kept secret.

You'd be hiding in your room shooting it up/snorting it/smoking it -- and selling everything/stealing/prostituting (even possibly) to buy more.

If you did tell us anything at all: You would be here telling us how you live to get HIGH and get RUSHES, not how you take Adderall to pass school.

I really do not think you need to worry about addiction!!

PS don't share your meds. carry only a days worth with you at a time. drop friends who try to get you to give them meds too. there are serious BOUNDARY issues for anyone who is trying to take your medicine.

...Does anyone else hide their ADD from people? I feel like its something I just want to keep to myself, take the meds, and go on with my life without people knowing. ..
Smart idea, wish I had tried it, but then I'm still not diagnosed. I'm glad for your degree and the success of your treatment now.

The more I learned about ADHD, the more I felt like the main character in a Hollywood musical, ready to burst into song, figuring I had found the explanation for 50 years of falling short in everything I did. "Tra-la-la, I'm not lazy, tra-la-la, I'm not careless...", accompanied by a dancing chorus of street vendors with their carts festooned in flags...

Ah well. No dx yet, maybe the street vendors will appear when that comes through.

Meanwhile, good for you, privacy is a good idea, and thanks for indulging my flight of fancy.

Yes, the Adderall is great. I actually got my prescription filled 4 days later than the prescription date so I can take a few than prescribed each day.

I don't know why it is so tightly regulated.

Maybe I am way overstimulated but I also take 5HTP, drinks lots of caffeine and other supplements plus Prozac.

The problem is that it wears off about 8 hours after taking it. Luckily, I am also prescribed Prozac so I take that in the evening -- 80MG a night.

The doctor I saw wrote three Adderall prescriptions thru the end of January. I can only fill one per 30 days.

thanks for the responses. The fact that the adderall is making me feel SO much better makes me think my previous doctor misdaignosed my having an anxiety disorder. I have been on Lexapro and Zoloft since I was 21 and I never felt any different at all. I stopped both cold turkey with no side effects too which made me wonder. If two differnet medications weren't doing anything then it made me think, then it is trying to treat something that isnt even there?! The adderall greatly reduces my anxiety, which was probably caused by me not being able to concentrate on any one such thing at a time. Thats what prompted me to see the doc I am with now. I feel like myself again. As for sharing medication, that is why I am not telling anyone I am taking the meds. Adderall sharing is rampant in college and a lot of my friends aren't out of the "collge mode" yet. On a side note, does anyone find they have cold clammy hands and feet from the adderall?

thanks for the responses. The fact that the adderall is making me feel SO much better makes me think my previous doctor misdaignosed my having an anxiety disorder. I have been on Lexapro and Zoloft since I was 21 and I never felt any different at all. I stopped both cold turkey with no side effects too which made me wonder. If two differnet medications weren't doing anything then it made me think, then it is trying to treat something that isnt even there?! The adderall greatly reduces my anxiety, which was probably caused by me not being able to concentrate on any one such thing at a time. Thats what prompted me to see the doc I am with now. I feel like myself again. As for sharing medication, that is why I am not telling anyone I am taking the meds. Adderall sharing is rampant in college and a lot of my friends aren't out of the "collge mode" yet. On a side note, does anyone find they have cold clammy hands and feet from the adderall?I think so many of us are misdaignosed early on that we go thru many years of struggles. I am glad to hear you are doing better. as far as cold clamy hands I dont find that. I do get tremmers once in a while but not much.