Are these symptoms of ADD??

[cinfid12]

I often have my doubts of having ADD but a psychologist tested me and a psychiatrist told me I had it so I guess I do. I am 20 and got diagnosed about 5 months ago. I have problems concentrating/focusing etc in school thats why I went to seek treatment. Is it a symptom to:
Get board VERY easily?
Sounds dumb but when walking in a group I always walk faster?
I don't have much patience especially while waiting in restaurants etc
Are these ADD symptoms?

[pADDyjay]

welcome aboard...neighbor...

your post sure sounds familiar to me...

I was wondering..how are you and your doctor treating your adhd?


keep us posted

[NekoGirl]

Getting bored easily seems to be pretty common. Many ADDers have a need for a high level of stimulation.

Have you done much reading on the subject? I had my doubts at first, but the more I read, and the more I talked to others, the more I realized I'm a pretty classic case. Having the experience of being on medication also helped validate the diagnosis to myself.

[cinfid12]

thats cool you are from NH too. Its weird though I dont remember having these problems as much when i was younger and I know you are supposed to be born with it. I am not taking any meds right now but when I go back to school my doctor will give me 10mg IR adderall 3x a day. Sometimes I wont take the 3rd pill and I try to only take it during school. Adderall is the only thing I've tried and it works well. I've tried XR but it either didnt work or just made my heart rate fly without helping me concentrate. I'm just really worried about the affects of these meds long term.
How are you treating your ADHD?

Edit:
Yea the more I read about the more I notice the symptoms getting bored so easily is a pain in the **** if you ask me. I just don't know why I dont remember having these symptoms when I was younger. Also, I took one of my friends adderall when I had to study for a test and found that I was able to sit down without getting up and study efficiently-then i went to my doctor

[pADDyjay]

Originally Posted by cinfid12

thats cool you are from NH too. Its weird though I dont remember having these problems as much when i was younger and I know you are supposed to be born with it. I am not taking any meds right now but when I go back to school my doctor will give me 10mg IR adderall 3x a day. Sometimes I wont take the 3rd pill and I try to only take it during school. Adderall is the only thing I've tried and it works well. I've tried XR but it either didnt work or just made my heart rate fly without helping me concentrate. I'm just really worried about the affects of these meds long term.
How are you treating your ADHD?

Edit:
Yea the more I read about the more I notice the symptoms getting bored so easily is a pain in the **** if you ask me. I just don't know why I dont remember having these symptoms when I was younger. Also, I took one of my friends adderall when I had to study for a test and found that I was able to sit down without getting up and study efficiently-then i went to my doctor

I take Ritalin 20mg x4....Lexapro 10mg...

good move...stay away from other peoples meds stay smart and safe and

hope you enjoy your stay on the forums...take care

[Melvin]

Originally Posted by cinfid12

I often have my doubts of having ADD but a psychologist tested me and a psychiatrist told me I had it so I guess I do. I am 20 and got diagnosed about 5 months ago. I have problems concentrating/focusing etc in school thats why I went to seek treatment. Is it a symptom to:
Get board VERY easily?
Sounds dumb but when walking in a group I always walk faster?
I don't have much patience especially while waiting in restaurants etc
Are these ADD symptoms?

Hey, welcome to the forum!

I'm new myself, but this is the info I have gleamed over the past year or so.

• Concrentation/focus is affected by many factors but the root cause is often ADHD. Ie, you may have trouble concentrating because you are anxious, but if you did not have ADHD, your attention might not be diverted to anxiety so much, so you'd be able to focus on what matters and therefore be less anxious!

• Getting bored easily is not caused by ADHD. People with ADHD do not 'feel' boredom (hard to describe unless you experience it yourself). **Brief un-scientific explanation: A normal brain lets the user focus on many things. An ADHD brain has a limited range of focus, however, which has to be allocated to a myriad of other daily activities and anxiety also.

Increases in dopamine, caused by interesting activities/events/fun etc. allow the ADHD brain to focus more, on whatever the user chooses. ** End

So, activities that are not interesting, such as your most hated maths homework, are very difficult for ADHD sufferers to achieve because the attention, regulated by dopamine, required to concentrate, is not there.

Now back to your original point ADHD brains can't feel boredom because their inability to regulate their attention means they are constantly thinking or doing something. Usually this means doing whatever they enjoy most, or in the case of a boring lecture, focusing on the thoughts moving rapidly through their head, completely unaware of the lecturer.

Of course it varies from personality to personality, but my point is, boredom in the 'normal' brain is not a debilitating condition and pretty meaningless, but boredom in the ADHD brain is actually physical or mental hyperactivity.

• Do you always walk fast or just in a group? If you always walk fast for no apparent reason, then yes this could be a sign of ADHD.

• Please elaborate a bit more when you say "you don't have patience when waiting in lines". I'm sure you've noticed nobody likes waiting in lines. The question is, does it make you angry, irritable, and frustrated, and how much so? Do you find yourself looking all over the place constantly, moving your body around? Do you remain focused on the anger/irritation or are you able to calm yourself down? How frequently does you focus shift during this time?

Hope this helps a little bit, please, any other forumers review my opinion and confirm or criticise anything I've written

[Melvin]

Also, I would suggest taking the time (I know it is a bit of a contradiction haha ) to research the neurogical basis of ADHD, because the effects are far reaching and affect every aspect of your life, not just the well-publicised focus/concentration/hyperactivity.

I believe looking for 'symptoms' is pointless, since there's a vast array of neurological characteristics that could indicate stimulant treatment could help. My suggestion is to forget about how you perform in school, since school is temporary, and start thinking about what else in your life might indicate you have ADHD.

ADHD is not a 'disorder', we are totally normal as people. Today 'normal' brains are more suitable for the world we live in because those brains have still have ancient primitive, 'kill or be killed', survival instincts wired into them which, in a very evolved form, is still the type of world we live in. However, the world will continue to evolve, where energy and effort is costless, survival is guranteed, communities will be seamless, the future can be accurately measured, and so much more... ADHD brains will be perfectly suitable to adapt to this sort of world, and beyond. Just imagine what the world would be like if everyone had an ADHD brain.... I think it would be fantastic