Ok... ...so I'm twenty nine now and going for diagnosis next week (100% convinced its ADD inattentive).

I'm just interested to know if anyone else has been diagnosed at this time in their life, how its been since leaving school and difficulties faced getting a diagnosis or even just having people accept there is some problem.

Welcome,

Lots of us here are 30+ (and older).

How are you being diagnosed? Testing? Doctor's opinion?

Diagnosed a week befor 41st B-day....
Finished 10 years of med school....
BUT IT WAS HORRID!
x

Welcome!! Diagnosed at 32.
Finally!
Dont´know how I got through the work day before that.Pretty much spent the afternoon in bed every day from exhaustion.

Found out just a month before turning 31. I was at wits end before then, now I know what I'm fighting and why I am like I am. It has helped a lot.

Welcome,

Lots of us here are 30+ (and older).

How are you being diagnosed? Testing? Doctor's opinion?

Going to see a psychologist Monday 13th. I spoke with my doctor few month back when i plucked up the courage to talk to some one about it (havent been to the doctors in like 10 year). He reffered me to the NHS psychologist as he wasnt qualified to give a diagnosis, he was pleasant about it all though as i pretty much spilled my guts about how i was feeling about the past 15 year anyhoo!

Psychologist Monday - going in for a first appointment. I'm quite apprehensive and anxious about it all but i need to know what my problem is!

Any advice you can give on what they may be expecting. I have school reports, symptoms list. log of examples dating back to about 12 (seriously!)

thanks

I was diagnosed in high school but back then ADHD had a reputation as the excuse that all the yuppies were buying for their kids who were really just undisciplined a-holes. Unfortunately, that was true to some extent as Ritalin was being prescribed like some sort of behavioral aspirin back then.

Anyway, 17 or so years later at age 31, I've decided to admit that it really might exist and seek treatment for it, so you might say I've been "rediagnosed."

It's a bit easier now, because I can explain it to very close friends without them thinking that it's the same convenient "excuse" that everyone else is using. Instead, it offers real insight into why some things are more difficult for me. I am very careful never to justify actions with it, however, and try to always say "I have a hard time..." instead of "I can't..."

Since finishing school I have been much better off because the real world is so much less rigid. However, I believe many of the same issues I had in school have kept me from reaching personal and professional goals and I feel like I often do an amazing amount of work to reach little or no end result.

On acceptance, I don't really have a good answer. I don't like trying to keep up with a lot of people, so I'm fine only being accepted by one or two.

yup, turning 29 in a week. at first my doctor thought i was seeking drugs (which i was, because i had self diagnosed in college), and prescribed me straterra. a few years later, i went to a specialist and she gave me ritalin and zoloft. after taking 40mg a day and not having that work, i started 40mg of adderall a few days ago, which i used in college, and it is going well.

i wish i would have done something formally a while ago, but i was planning to be a pilot in the navy, and couldn't have something like that on my medical record.

when i finally went to a specialist, they were very receptive.

I was diagnosed shortly after my 36th birthday. I'd been struggling for several years in some pretty high-pressure jobs. The diagnosis was in some ways a relief but in other ways very difficult to accept, I had the attitude thomash describes about ADHD and so I had to work through that. It was weird in that I was not the "stereotypical" ADHD kid, I did well in elementary and high school and wasn't extremely hyperactive, but - after doing more reading it did and does make sense. I'm maybe a less severe case, but it's definitely there.

Reactions from others have been mixed. Some accept it (usually those with family/friends who have the condition), but I still get the old attitude sometimes that ADHD is a bullsh*t diagnosis for lazy people.

I was dx'd at 32. I found out when my son was dx'd w/it. I started researching it ALOT and found out that most of what I read was describing not only him but me too.

I was just diagnosed last month and I'll be 29 on November 1st.

Haven't started treatment yet but just being diagnosed helped a lot, specially with my anxiety...

dx at 31. I still question it though, I think it is b/c I have only had the dx for a few months and have not found the right med. Welcome!!!

I'm one of them - was diagnosed four days after my 31st birthday.

It was such a relief, though. . .I suspected I had it for several months before finally scheduling the appointment. Just knowing, once and for all, that there is a reason I am the way I am and that it isn't stupidity or laziness. . .it's made me feel much more positive about myself.

Best wishes!!

I'm one of them - was diagnosed four days after my 31st birthday.

It was such a relief, though. . .I suspected I had it for several months before finally scheduling the appointment. Just knowing, once and for all, that there is a reason I am the way I am and that it isn't stupidity or laziness. . .it's made me feel much more positive about myself.


Me too for the past year. I'm hoping for the same relief... ...I know its add, If the doc says its nothing and just depression and low self-esteem i dont know how i'll accept me being lazy and struggling. Its going to be hard to get on with things knowing i'm always anxious like this or hyper.

On the positive side i'm sure i'll get SOME diagnosis. Surely i cant be this way and for it to be normal or not obvious.

Diagnosed at 46!

My doctor was a pediatrician, now has a center specializing in ADD. He said he flunked out his first time in Med School and was diagnosed ADHD at age 50.

I'm hoping to get dxd while I'm still thirty (just turned sep 14th) but I have to get something else out of the way first. After that has happened (hopefully within the next six months, but no certainties) first thing I'm going to do is get that doctor's appointment. I know the doctor to call already and have known for about a year now.
Sometimes the waiting is unbearable.

I spent the first 44,4 years in less than blissful ignorance.

Diagnosed at 38 (.75 :P) as a result of testing for some short term/working memory issues.
ADD-PI was a complete shock to me but it explains so much about my behavior and personality.
I've been on 10mg Dexedrine spansules for a month now and I really like it. I've never been so productive in my life. The only downsides are appetite suppression (I tend to forget to eat more than once a day), dehydration (yeah, I forget to drink enough too) and sleep disturbances (now I'm up 'til 3 or 4 in the morning and then up at 6:30 to get the kids up, dressed, fed and off to school).

I was diagnosed when I was 32.

Overall, I'd say it's been fine since leaving school. I've had some bumps and bruises along the first year since I graduated, so it hasn't always been a picnic.

I have to say that I've been extremely fortune when it came to my diagnosis. Originally I went into my counselling center for depression, and bascially came out of it with a diagnosis for ADHD.

I was just diagnosed about 2 months ago, at 32. I'd been meaning to get to treatment for about 2 years before finally taking the time to do it.

It's a relief, but the struggle is still very much there. Obviously, having passed this much of life not knowing what my "problem" was, breaking old habits of coping will be difficult as will the letting go of my guilt and regrets over past failures. My underacheivment in life is, to me, very painful.

Being out of school has made things a little bit easier, but that experience really formed the lense by which I perceive everything. I mean, even though I'm not scored by numbers or letters on a report card, those days still haunt me and I'm still constantly afraid of being judged in the same manner as I was by teachers. Getting over these feelings in addition to dealing with the ADD itself will take a lot of time.

I'm sure you know what I mean!

I’m 35. My son is currently being diagnosed ADHD. Being that it is generally hereditary our pediatrician suggested that one of us (wife or me) most likely have ADHD.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Keep in mind I would have never looked into myself having it until they suggested that my son might have it. We can dismiss my wife mainly because she was an honor student and has never shown any characteristics of ADD/ADHD.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Out of all that I have read about ADD/ADHD the only thing that I can relate to in regards to signs of ADHD was when I was in school. I can remember being in class and when it was over saying “I don’t get it” and it seemed the rest of the class did. I was an average student all through high school. I hated school and only took the classes I needed to graduate. I went into the Air Force and was a Heavy Equipment Operator (cranes, dozers, excavators, etc.) No issues there. Did very well, passed all tests, etc. While in the AF I took College Classes and had a 3.90 grade point average. I remember a clear distinction in my ability to “get it” in college over High School. I believe that it was because I only took 1-2 classes at a time and I was able to focus much easier. Also I do remember being very “active” in grades 1-3 and it being noted on my progress reports. My mother did confirm this when I asked her recently. I remember calming down in 3<SUP>rd</SUP> grade. I was held back in 4<SUP>th</SUP> grade, which is still a mystery to me. The school said that I did better when I was moved to the front of the class. They said I needed glasses and could not read the board, hence not doing the assignments right. Looking back it could have been ADD. Back then it was never suggested that I had ADD/ADHD. And I have never been on any prescription drugs.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Today I am a salesman with a large territory and a lot of responsibility. I am very analytical, organized, motivated. I am very witty and quick in conversation. I have never lost anything, and if my cell phone would ever fall out of my pocket I can always trace back to where it fell out and find it. I can recall conversations in detailed in “photographic” fashion from 5min ago to 5 years ago or longer. I constantly think “out side of the box” and problem solve better than average. (Forgive me if it seems that I am boasting, I’m just trying to describe myself best for you to analyze my situation.)<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

With this being said…is it possible that I had ADHD and grew out of it? Or did I just develop methods to cope? I will say that when I have a cup of coffee or espresso I do sometimes have more clarity and feel like a genius :) but don’t we all feel that way after a cup of coffee? The more I read about ADHD the more questions I have because it is SOOOO subjective to opinion and conditions. I understand that there is the “classic” ADHD and then there is the grey area of ADHD.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Just to add, my son is acting and going through the same issues (he’s 8) now in school that I did at his age. I have been strongly against giving him the meds because I went through what he is and I turned out fantastic lol. I now recognize that the meds (if diagnosed) will give him the “edge” and have a better overall experience in school. I just don’t want him to be dependant on it. I’d rather give him coffee, ginseng, etc then a drug that is closely compared to cocaine. It may not last that long but it maybe all that he needs to concentrate. I have a cup or 2 of coffee everyday, maybe that keeps me afloat. Just my opinion.

:)Im 58 and was dx 14ys ago/ what a relief:)