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I think ADD is fake. Well I thought it was fake. Now I'm not sure. People have always suggested that I have ADD because of how little I can focus, but I have always laughed it off. At my previous jobs as a research scientist I never had much issue with my forgetfulness or lack of focus. It is easy for me to focus get lost in solving a problem. However, I am 28 now and at my new job doing business development and engineering I am having a very hard time when it comes to communication and reading emails. I can never focus on a single thing for very long and so I am always behind. Before that I thought I was just being lazy and If I worked harder I could fix myself. After a year and a half of trying it hasn't got better and it's greatly affecting my job. I'm going to see a psychiatrist, but I'm worried about a lot of things. If I do take drugs, will it change my personality? It's expensive to get this treatments, is it really going to help? Do I really need to rely on drugs to get me through this. It makes me feel weak and helpless to rely on something like this. Google searches about ADD gives mixed results. Please share with me your personal experiences regarding ADD. Thank you.
It's real enough to be included as a diagnosis by a body of expert medical professionals, so based on that I would say that yes, it is pretty darn real.
All of your questions will be much better addressed by a professional rather than a bunch of goofy people on an Interweb forum about work and employment. Don't take anything anoyone says here about your question as anything more than nothing.
I think ADD is fake. Well I thought it was fake. Now I'm not sure. People have always suggested that I have ADD because of how little I can focus, but I have always laughed it off. At my previous jobs as a research scientist I never had much issue with my forgetfulness or lack of focus. It is easy for me to focus get lost in solving a problem. However, I am 28 now and at my new job doing business development and engineering I am having a very hard time when it comes to communication and reading emails. I can never focus on a single thing for very long and so I am always behind. Before that I thought I was just being lazy and If I worked harder I could fix myself. After a year and a half of trying it hasn't got better and it's greatly affecting my job. I'm going to see a psychiatrist, but I'm worried about a lot of things. If I do take drugs, will it change my personality? It's expensive to get this treatments, is it really going to help? Do I really need to rely on drugs to get me through this. It makes me feel weak and helpless to rely on something like this. Google searches about ADD gives mixed results. Please share with me your personal experiences regarding ADD. Thank you.
Adderal is seriously the best invention ever. The times I have taken it it hasn't changed my personality. I just became very productive, I was able to get things done, I felt focused.
Granted I have a job where it's totally acceptable to be myself in the way of not being able to focus on one thing and doing multiple things at work.
I have to be able to break away from a task to help a customer or another employee.
Go talk to them, tell them how you feel.
If you get a prescription it will make your world so much better. It works wonders for me when I take it.
Addt: If you had cancer you'd rely on chemo and radiation, a fever you rely on Advil, if you have an illness it's antibiotics.
Don't go into it thinking the medicine does all the work.
Think of it as helping you make it easier to work at making yourself more productive.
Again, like I said it's an awesome medicine.
When I was taking it I went into work, I started working, I knocked out all my required tasks and then was able to start on my individual work and sales.
ADD is real enough - trust me! I had a problem focusing and taking things in, especially in the morning. I couldn't seem to wake up fully and coffee probably made it worse in the long run. Cut out the coffee and especially the sugar. All sugar! I was eventually put onto the then new Strattera. It worked and has a long lasting effect. It did make me sensitive to allergies among other things so it may not be the best choice. Not to be used long term!
Perhaps you should look into supplements, particularly omega 3, B3 and B12 with all the other micro-nutrients that make us function better. B12 has a therapeutic dose (quite large) and a maintenance dose. These might help some, particularly in the long term like as you get older.
Keep us posted on what you get put onto and how it works for you.
Ask anyone who has had to work with me if it is fake. I could convert even the most stubborn ADD deniers because of my lack of attention and listening skills.
I think ADD is fake. Well I thought it was fake. Now I'm not sure. People have always suggested that I have ADD because of how little I can focus, but I have always laughed it off. At my previous jobs as a research scientist I never had much issue with my forgetfulness or lack of focus. It is easy for me to focus get lost in solving a problem. However, I am 28 now and at my new job doing business development and engineering I am having a very hard time when it comes to communication and reading emails. I can never focus on a single thing for very long and so I am always behind. Before that I thought I was just being lazy and If I worked harder I could fix myself. After a year and a half of trying it hasn't got better and it's greatly affecting my job. I'm going to see a psychiatrist, but I'm worried about a lot of things. If I do take drugs, will it change my personality? It's expensive to get this treatments, is it really going to help? Do I really need to rely on drugs to get me through this. It makes me feel weak and helpless to rely on something like this. Google searches about ADD gives mixed results. Please share with me your personal experiences regarding ADD. Thank you.
I have ADD, and I'm unmedicated. I only have problems focusing when I'm distracted. Unfortunately I'm very easily distracted, because my brain is unable to filter those distractions out. It processes ALL data, and doesn't ignore ANY of it. This makes me very good with live, in-person customer service, because I'm very good at paying attention to a whole lot of things at the same time. I've taught myself how to do this, because that was my coping mechanism. Most people can't do that. Most people won't even notice someone in their peripheral vision rolling their eyes at your customer because your customer is asking a lot of stupid questions and they're very impatient. Me, I notice, I turn to tell that other person I'll be with them in a moment, I acknowledge their presence, give them a winning smile, and go back to what I was doing. This makes the other person stop rolling their eyes and be damned glad I was there to notice them. I can even do that when there's a kid puking in shopping cart being rolled by the frazzled single mom who's third in line, and I can notice all of it, while reaching for a paper towel with one hand, ringing up customer #1's sale with the other hand, smiling at customer #2, and giving customer #4 a wink to let him know I didn't forget about him too.
People without ADD can't do all that at the same time. People with ADD don't have any choice BUT to do all that at the same time. If they resist against it, they go into data overload and lose focus.
I did take meds for a very short period of time, and I didn't like it, so I stopped. It made me shakey and physically nervous, but my mind felt kind of numb and flat. I decided that for me, personally, it'd be more liveable to just deal with having ADD. Other people respond better to the medication, and some people respond worse. It's a crapshoot no matter what you do, but the upside is that - with the meds, you can always just not take it anymore if you've only taken it a short period of time and don't like it.
If you take it long-term, you'd have to have the doctor help you wean off it gradually.
I have ADD, and I'm unmedicated. I only have problems focusing when I'm distracted. Unfortunately I'm very easily distracted, because my brain is unable to filter those distractions out. It processes ALL data, and doesn't ignore ANY of it. This makes me very good with live, in-person customer service, because I'm very good at paying attention to a whole lot of things at the same time. I've taught myself how to do this, because that was my coping mechanism. Most people can't do that. Most people won't even notice someone in their peripheral vision rolling their eyes at your customer because your customer is asking a lot of stupid questions and they're very impatient. Me, I notice, I turn to tell that other person I'll be with them in a moment, I acknowledge their presence, give them a winning smile, and go back to what I was doing. This makes the other person stop rolling their eyes and be damned glad I was there to notice them. I can even do that when there's a kid puking in shopping cart being rolled by the frazzled single mom who's third in line, and I can notice all of it, while reaching for a paper towel with one hand, ringing up customer #1's sale with the other hand, smiling at customer #2, and giving customer #4 a wink to let him know I didn't forget about him too.
People without ADD can't do all that at the same time. People with ADD don't have any choice BUT to do all that at the same time. If they resist against it, they go into data overload and lose focus.
I did take meds for a very short period of time, and I didn't like it, so I stopped. It made me shakey and physically nervous, but my mind felt kind of numb and flat. I decided that for me, personally, it'd be more liveable to just deal with having ADD. Other people respond better to the medication, and some people respond worse. It's a crapshoot no matter what you do, but the upside is that - with the meds, you can always just not take it anymore if you've only taken it a short period of time and don't like it.
If you take it long-term, you'd have to have the doctor help you wean off it gradually.
That pretty much sums up my ADD. Perfect description.
My husband is my polar opposite. Hates distractions and can tune everything out to focus on just one thing for HOURS. He tries to give me very long explanations of complex tasks and I'm just like "give me the overview and lead me while I do it myself"... I cannot deal with very long explanations of things that aren't tangible yet.
My eldest son is ADHD. He has taken a variety of meds over the years and they really helped him, but he quit them in high school and when he tried again at age 21, they made him feel terrible. So, now he just tries to cope without.
My daughter, I'm pretty sure, is ADD. She's a dreamer. She loses focus easily. I was like that as a kid, so I recognize the hallmarks.
The only kid I have that can ignore everything and focus on one thing for long periods of time is my younger son. How it skipped him, I'll never know, but even he has trouble paying attention to things he's not interested in... then again, doesn't everyone do that?
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I get the feeling that meds are more useful to people with ADHD, than to people with just ADD. Maybe that's why I felt so out of it all the time when I was taking the Prozac. It made me feel like - I was standing inside of me, looking out of a shell that wasn't really me. Like my body was just a puppet going through the motions of living while I observed in the background, not really part of it.
It was mostly just a disturbing sensation, plus the shakiness - you know when you put your legs down, feet on the floor when you're sitting in a chair, and lift up just your heel, so the thigh muscles are tensed - and the knee just starts bouncing up and down and you can't stop it? Yeah. That's what kept happening to me. Except I didn't have to lift my heel for it to keep happening.
They switched me to Anafronil when I asked to get off the Prozac, but that was a pretty unpleasant experience. I felt really out of it, like a zombie, but I had palpitations. So I just tossed the prescription after the first day and decided I lived for 30 years without meds, I can live the rest of my life without them just fine.
As I said though - everyone responds to meds differently when it comes to this stuff. Brain chemistry is a fascinating thing, and the trial/error method of finding what works really is the only way to go with ADD and ADHD.
If I do take drugs, will it change my personality?
It might, b/c it did for me, but in a very positive way. I used to have weird social skills but now I make a new friend everywhere I go and I think that it's b/c I make better eye contact and b/c I'm more able to fully tune in to what's being said in conversation. Also, I'm less sensitive and more confident and that has helped me a lot. I have taken adderall for years now and have gone off of it on several occasions and never needed to wean. I would be tired for a few days maybe but that's all. Over time, like months, I would feel the old symptoms of oversensitivity and being "weird" returning. Got back on the meds and was fine. One thing I have done is ask for a half dose of the meds to see how I'd do first b/c 20 mg/day--the starter dose-- is still too much for me.
I'm pretty sure my dh has ADHD, undiagnosed at age 70+. I'm not a big believer in ADD/ADHD, thinking it's over diagnosed, but the day I met dh I thought to myself: hmmmm. Perfect example of ADD in an adult. LOL.
OMG. First day we met he would be talking about something, then all of a sudden, something else, then something else. Jumping around so much that I couldn't keep up with him. He has a sweet personality and is nice in most other ways so I figured I could just overlook it.
To this day it's difficult to hold a conversation with him as he is looking around, hears an airplane overhead, a dog bark, a car go by, etc. I've had other people mention this to me--that they start to answer him but he is already on to the next subject.
So I did some reading about ADD/ADHD and on my own, I guess that he has ADHD. The difference is that he CAN concentrate on things that he is truly interested in and can concentrate on those things longer and better than most people. If he is fixing a car (which he loves) he will work for hours and not be able to stop until the job is done. He gets really hyper and cannot be easily stopped. It has to be done NOW!
That made him an excellent employee--as a foreign car mechanic or a baker in his parents' shop. It made him a terrible student though and in the days when he was in school there was no diagnosis, no help. He's a very smart man but he did not go to college and is self educated in the things HE was interested in because he would read and study them on his own.
I've taken him to doctors in this country (he's from the UK) and they don't do much. They've put him on anti depressant type meds but they just make him sick. I think at his age taking him to a shrink is not going to help; I don't think they can be bothered, but if the doctors could just give him something to calm down the hyperactive phase it would help. They keep thinking he's bi-polar but I don't think that's it at all. Not even uni-polar. I think it's ADHD. My hat goes out to people who can live with those who have this condition when it's in the extreme like this. (I guess my hat goes out to myself but at times I don't know how I stand it.)
Now *I* am easily distracted and I learned to multi task by having 30 first graders in a class. I can juggle stuff like that BUT I can also concentrate on a conversation and mostly stick to the topic. Not him though. So, yes ADD and ADHD are real. I think there is an entire spectrum of intensity from mild to extreme.
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