Here is my rant....I'm now in my mid 30's and realizing that my life has spiraled out of control.

After reading about ad/hd...im thinking(hoping) that's my problem...or maybe i'm just a dick!

every year and a half i'm changing jobs, apartments, girlfriends...over the last several years things have gotten worse. I cant focus. Learning new things sucks. I'm trying so hard to remember everything, that I rush to do it..and make mistakes..or im trying so hard to listen to what i'm being told that I cant remember everything, like the first part of the instructions...then when i figure out my own way to do things...someone always throws a fit..."your not doin it right" well ****, if the end result is the same, what difference does it make?!

I get so frustrated about the mistakes that i make...i will repeatedly make the same mistake until i make a cheat sheet or something to remind me.
then people get upset with me, which makes me a bit confrontational...aaaarrrgg!

I'm not hyper at all...in fact now i'm so self conscience that i dont really speak to people often...so now i'm "that weird guy"

cant keep a relationship, appointments...my co-workers all like to talk behind my back...it's like high school...

I just went to the hospital to make an appointment with a psychiatrist..we have this thing called "wishard advantage" it's for people with no insurance and or people with low income...which is me...i make $14.65 and this is too much!!!! so now i have to find another doctor in Indianapolis....

Those traits are very common to ADD/ADHD people. If you think back into your childhood and grade school can you think of times when you were in patterns like this or this type of behavior?

you know, my childhood was fairly normal...I put off school projects not because i couldnt focus or didnt want to do them but because i had a nintindo...

My life really didnt take a turn until, maybe the last 8 years or so...things just keep getting worse. I can recognize the patterns, i just cant seem to shut off my brain in time....if that makes any since....

You sound like a smart guy... What kind of work do you do?

so, you haven't been diagnosed yet? I would do it, so at least you might have an idea about you're issues. Have you read any ADD books on adults? I'm a little older than you, and I have know about ADD since the mid 90s. I have always had problems with; Jobs, relationships, temper problems, and impulsitivity issues. But I'm LD(learning disability)as well. SInce the third grade!

Frustr8ted:

Here's the most widely recognized ADHD screener as well as the checklist. If you "pass" on the 6-question screener, there's an 80% chance that you will be diagnosed with ADHD. http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/asrs.php

Also, I would purchase the book "Delivered from Distraction" by Hallowell and Ratey (2005). It's the best $15 you'll ever spend if you do have ADHD.

Happy trails fellow traveler!

Thank you for all of your responses...I just (finally) got in to see a psyh...he put me on 10mg of lexapro...so this is day 2 of that....

lexapro? this isn't necessarily an "add drug". Anyone care to comment?

that's what I thought too...however, he wants to tackle my anxiety and depression first???...again, this was my first visit...

You sound like a smart guy... What kind of work do you do?

I used to be a news phototgrapher...I left to become a freelancer and then 911 came along...even now work is too few and far between...so I work at the Ford Plant....not as exciting, however, i do get to see mullets everyday :)

that's what I thought too...however, he wants to tackle my anxiety and depression first???...again, this was my first visit...

Keep in mind that the depression and anxiety can be exacerbated by ADD/ADHD. This is true in my case. Took Wellbutrin and Zoloft. That didn't really work, but the first time I took Adderall, I felt relaxed for the first time I can remember (that's a long time).

For the medication aspect of this discussion may I please direct your attention to ADD / ADHD Medications (http://www.addforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=18) area.


To keep from confusing the moderator can we please keep this discussion about


Here is my rant....I'm now in my mid 30's and realizing that my life has spiraled out of control.

After reading about ad/hd...im thinking(hoping) that's my problem...or maybe i'm just a dick!

every year and a half i'm changing jobs, apartments, girlfriends...over the last several years things have gotten worse. I cant focus. Learning new things sucks. I'm trying so hard to remember everything, that I rush to do it..and make mistakes..or im trying so hard to listen to what i'm being told that I cant remember everything, like the first part of the instructions...then when i figure out my own way to do things...someone always throws a fit..."your not doin it right" well ****, if the end result is the same, what difference does it make?!

I get so frustrated about the mistakes that i make...i will repeatedly make the same mistake until i make a cheat sheet or something to remind me.
then people get upset with me, which makes me a bit confrontational...aaaarrrgg!

I'm not hyper at all...in fact now i'm so self conscience that i dont really speak to people often...so now i'm "that weird guy"

cant keep a relationship, appointments...my co-workers all like to talk behind my back...it's like high school...




Some thing career or job related

Thanks

I get so frustrated about the mistakes that i make...i will repeatedly make the same mistake until i make a cheat sheet or something to remind me.
then people get upset with me, which makes me a bit confrontational...aaaarrrgg!


Oh I start out with a cheat sheet because I know I won't remember any thing with more than one step to it. . . I am pretty blunt about my need to have it written down.

I am not stupid and I do not pretend to be such - how I learn is my business. I learn the fastest possibly way for me and I don't waste a second worrying about weather or not my co-workers like it.

I am usually the weird one too but I don't really care at my age I have long sense given up on trying to pass for normal.

Indiana just started a new Healthy Indiana Program, I don't know the full details of it, but it offers low cost health insurance to most Indiana Residents. You can check it out at Indiana.gov.

Your life sounds VERY much like mine. I have changed jobs every year to two for the last ten years just stayed in the same field (don't ask me why I thought I would enjoy doing the same thing any better with a different company).

For the last ten years I went to so many different Pysch evaluations and they all continued to prescribe anxiety and depression meds for me which really just made my symptoms worse.

It wasn't until I finally found someone who believed in the MMPI? assesment that they were able to eliminate the BiPolor the PTSD, and the seasonal depression diag all the other doctors had tried to treat. It was a very long process for my diag, but well worth the wait.

My best advice is be patient and stay on the forums. We can all help each other!!!

Last but not least, Mead has a very good point, WHO cares if you are perceived as the wierd guy, you are getting things done

lexapro? this isn't necessarily an "add drug". Anyone care to comment?

Yeah I was on it for a while, but I also have bpmd. Foggy memory, but it seems Lexapro was right after my initial ADD dx.

OOPS... I just went back and read Meadd's request after posting this. Sorry, maybe I should quit skipping around or reading in reverse order. On the career aspect, I kept my last job before this one for 11 years because the pay was good and the routines were safe and predictable, and it worked around my studies. But boredom forced me to either make a change or die trying.

Cheat sheets- actually checklists- use them all the time. Sometimes I forget to use them, then I get in trouble. I even wrote some procs for a previous job to help me track things and everyone else ended up using them too. Short term memory/working memory is to me the worst symptom of ADD because of the costs it extracts from your life. Good luck to you, and pay attention to the meds. Don't be afraid to tell your doc if it isn't really working.