Anyone have ADD/adhd?

[slackerinabox]

Please, I am not looking for people that say that ADD/ADHD does not exist - you're welcome to have your own opinion and I respect that - just please respect my wishes as well.. If you have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD please let me know your experiences- did your class /job performance increase after you started treatment, did treatment have any side effects, etc. etc.. A big question I have is about diagnosing the disorder- how long did it take? I'm convinced that I have some form of adhd and will see a professional on monday - I just want to prep myself a bit..
Thanks..

*****************************************
PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A FLAME WAR.. IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ADHD IS A TRUE DISORDER, PLEASE SILENTLY LAUGH AT US AND DO NOT MAKE THAT OPINION KNOWN HERE.. THANKS FOR BEING RESPECTFUL OF MY FEELINGS AND THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS..
*****************************************

 

[TallBill]

how old are you?

 

[UglyCasanova]

My friend has adhd. He can get people who are hired by the school to take notes for him if he wants since he is technically disabled. He really does have the attention span of a 2 year old though.

 

[Yossarian]

This is the effect the treatment had I my ADD, let me tell you that... hey! look at that cool car that just drove by! wait when does the Matrix start? I gotta go!

 

[slackerinabox]

22.. I'm a senior in college.. I was diagnosed when I was in grade school but my parents didn't do anything about it.. Now the symptoms are returning with a vengence and I'm seeking help..

Originally posted by: TallBill
how old are you?

 

[TallBill]

Heh.. interesting... got a list of the symptoms off hand?

 

[slackerinabox]

I hope I don't have to resort to that, but it sounds helpful..Yeah, people tell me that I have the attention span of a 5 year old but I don't even notice it..

Originally posted by: dparker
My friend has adhd. He can get people who are hired by the school to take notes for him if he wants since he is technically disabled. He really does have the attention span of a 2 year old though.

 

[Nocturnal]

I'm currently 21 years old diagnosed with ADD. I take Ritalin when needed. I have tried Adderall and Concerta thus far. I felt that there were side effects with taking both.

But I recently narrowed my side effects down to either not eating or drinking too much water after intaking my medicine.

I can't really say whether its helped me or not. I guess in some ways it has but in some ways I can't tell a difference.

 

[slackerinabox]

Let me preface this a bit: everyone experiences some of these symptoms sometimes.. It's only a problem when it has a profound impact on your life - like my lack of attention caused me to have like 5 car accidents lately.. I've also been in college for 4.5 years now..

Taken from Yahoo! Health :
Attention deficit:

* does not pay close attention to details; may make careless mistakes at work, school, or other activities
* failure to complete tasks
* has difficulty maintaining attention in tasks or play activities
* does not listen when spoken to directly
* has difficulty organizing tasks
* is easily distracted
* unable to follow more than one instruction at a time

Originally posted by: TallBill
Heh.. interesting... got a list of the symptoms off hand?

 

[slackerinabox]

Interesting.. I noticed that you said that you take Ritalin "when needed" - does it help during those times? Has your grades improved at all?

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I'm currently 21 years old diagnosed with ADD. I take Ritalin when needed. I have tried Adderall and Concerta thus far. I felt that there were side effects with taking both.

But I recently narrowed my side effects down to either not eating or drinking too much water after intaking my medicine.

I can't really say whether its helped me or not. I guess in some ways it has but in some ways I can't tell a difference.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Interesting.. I noticed that you said that you take Ritalin "when needed" - does it help during those times? Has your grades improved at all?

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I'm currently 21 years old diagnosed with ADD. I take Ritalin when needed. I have tried Adderall and Concerta thus far. I felt that there were side effects with taking both.

But I recently narrowed my side effects down to either not eating or drinking too much water after intaking my medicine.

I can't really say whether its helped me or not. I guess in some ways it has but in some ways I can't tell a difference.

I can't really say whether it helped or not. I know I'm supposed to be taking it consistently everyday at the same time.

I've been in a community college for the past three years. Within that time period I've managed to drop out three times, and score fifteen college credits. I'm currently waiting on my grades. If I do get two Cs for this past semester, I can honestly say the medicine has helped, a lot.

 

[slackerinabox]

Yeah, I've had a similar college experience.. I haven't dropped out but I constantly take a full course load and then drop 75% of the classes.. I'm weird in that I sometimes get C's and D's and sometimes get A's.. Any class that required me to learn new skills (spanish, math,etc.) is painful for me while creative classes are a blast.. I know that sounds typical but, again, it's the debilitating factor that's troubling (I've taken intro to spanish four times)

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Interesting.. I noticed that you said that you take Ritalin "when needed" - does it help during those times? Has your grades improved at all?

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I'm currently 21 years old diagnosed with ADD. I take Ritalin when needed. I have tried Adderall and Concerta thus far. I felt that there were side effects with taking both.

But I recently narrowed my side effects down to either not eating or drinking too much water after intaking my medicine.

I can't really say whether its helped me or not. I guess in some ways it has but in some ways I can't tell a difference.

I can't really say whether it helped or not. I know I'm supposed to be taking it consistently everyday at the same time.

I've been in a community college for the past three years. Within that time period I've managed to drop out three times, and score fifteen college credits. I'm currently waiting on my grades. If I do get two Cs for this past semester, I can honestly say the medicine has helped, a lot.

 

I have read up on it, and done some self testing that sites and clinics provide.
No professional diagnosis has been made, but I have reason to believe that I'm hyperactive.

I may or may not seek help. The drugs they give you are all amphetamine type drugs, and no longer click with my body, for other extenuating circumstances.

 

[slackerinabox]

Not all of the drugs are stimulants- a new, stimulant free drug was just approved. (Strata or someting like that).. Worth looking into..

Originally posted by: SammySon
I have read up on it, and done some self testing that sites and clinics provide.
No professional diagnosis has been made, but I have reason to believe that I'm hyperactive.

I may or may not seek help. The drugs they give you are all amphetamine type drugs, and no longer click with my body, for other extenuating circumstances.

 

[50]

I knew a kid that ADD, and the stupid teachers acted like retards. The whole year they kept in the hallway and let him do whatever he wanted as if he was some kind of animal. Fortunately that teacher was FIRED.

 

Strata huh... I'll have to take a peek at it.

 

[Nocturnal]

Stattera sucks, I already tried it. It gives off a lot of side effects.

 

[Winchester]

Before you read; I am an Alpha, ADD/ADHD.

NEVER NEVER NEVER, I repeat NEVER go to a professional or seek counseling or treatment for ADD. It will take away from your natural creativity. You only need to take fing medication if you want to drop down 10,000,000 levels and become a normal person. ADD is not a disorder, it is a GIFT, that is what I am an Alpha.

Every parent who gives their children Ritalin or any other medication needs to be horse whipped. Just because they don?t take the time to discipline them they just fill them full of drugs and will never realize their full potential.

I?ve taken up to 25 hours in a single semester, didn?t drop any. It sounds like to me that you have not corralled your creativity into what you do best and consequently have no discipline. If you were to look at my notebooks throughout college you would find that I took very little notes, mainly drawings and sketches all throughout my notes, but I could still remember everything that came out of my professor?s mouth.

I?m not trying to start a flame war here, but I feel very strongly against any medication or therapy other than a nice leather belt. :Q Yes, you might actually have to spank your kids. I was VERY active as a child, any time I got to active my parents busted me, even ADD people learn after a while that hey if I don?t settle down and channel my energy into something creative im going to get my ass whipped. ADD/ADHD is genetic, my dad is, therefore he knew how to handle/discipline me and when to let my mind wonder.

The reason we are labled ADD is because people are jealous that they can not be as creative as we are and therefore they try to break us down by calling it a "disorder" when it fact it is not a disorder at all. Dont become a victim by going to a person who does not understand us at all and prescribe junk you dont need. Reach down and grab some balls and be happy that you are one of the few ELITES among the rest of the worlds dull minds.

Well Im bored of typing but I am currently writing a book on the subject. If you need some more research tips or website send me a PM and I can hook you up. I hope this helps in some way.

 

[lastig21]

One of my psycology profs told us about a new treatment for add/adhd. It doesn't involve any medication, but instead teaches instense focusing. The few results they have show an amazing increase in grades and retention of knowledge. If I remember right, it involved shifting focus to different stimuli in the room while paying attention to the lecture. I don't know if the treatment is available yet, but it might be worth checking into. With this treatment, students with add/adhd had a large advantage over other students for retaining material.

 

[slackerinabox]

My parents did whip me as a child - didn't help.. I agree, I feel like I'm more creative than most people.. But the fact is, I believe that I won't be able to get through college without some help (and I'm 22- my parents can't use their belts on me anymore).. Regardless- glad you've had luck with your case.. I'll be seeking help ASAP..

Originally posted by: Winchester
Before you read; I am an Alpha, ADD/ADHD.

NEVER NEVER NEVER, I repeat NEVER go to a professional or seek counseling or treatment for ADD. It will take away from your natural creativity. You only need to take fing medication if you want to drop down 10,000,000 levels and become a normal person. ADD is not a disorder, it is a GIFT, that is what I am an Alpha.

Every parent who gives their children Ritalin or any other medication needs to be horse whipped. Just because they don?t take the time to discipline them they just fill them full of drugs and will never realize their full potential.

I?ve taken up to 25 hours in a single semester, didn?t drop any. It sounds like to me that you have not corralled your creativity into what you do best and consequently have no discipline. If you were to look at my notebooks throughout college you would find that I took very little notes, mainly drawings and sketches all throughout my notes, but I could still remember everything that came out of my professor?s mouth.

I?m not trying to start a flame war here, but I feel very strongly against any medication or therapy other than a nice leather belt. :Q Yes, you might actually have to spank your kids. I was VERY active as a child, any time I got to active my parents busted me, even ADD people learn after a while that hey if I don?t settle down and channel my energy into something creative im going to get my ass whipped. ADD/ADHD is genetic, my dad is, therefore he knew how to handle/discipline me and when to let my mind wonder.

The reason we are labled ADD is because people are jealous that they can not be as creative as we are and therefore they try to break us down by calling it a "disorder" when it fact it is not a disorder at all. Dont become a victim by going to a person who does not understand us at all and prescribe junk you dont need. Reach down and grab some balls and be happy that you are one of the few ELITES among the rest of the worlds dull minds.

Well Im bored of typing but I am currently writing a book on the subject. If you need some more research tips or website send me a PM and I can hook you up. I hope this helps in some way.

 

[Cyberian]

^^ WOW ^^

 

[Winchester]

I am 21, got a dual BA in 2.5 years, yeah it was tough as hell; All I did was figured out the best way for me to study (took 1.5 years to learn that, then afterwards I got tons of As) and figured out the college game. I will email you some tips ect. on what worked best for me.

The hardest part was dealing with dyslexia, which also runs very strongly in alphas. Did you know that you can not speed read unless you are lesdyxic .

 

[lukatmyshu]

I was diagnosed with ADHD in High School .... I went on Ritalin and my grades did improve. Well enough so that I got into UC Berkeley. However once I got here I stopped ... 5 years later I have no major, and a pretty crappy gpa. I decided last year to get my act together and am declaring CS soon (hopefully) ... my grades are not consistent at all ... they can be As or Cs depending on nothing more than my focus that day. I've studied for midterms, and gone in and blanked out and failed them, or just been 'in the zone' and aced them. Now that I think about it, I probably should go back to my medication. It did quiet me down, and stifle my natural creativity but it's a hell of a lot better than being distracted by shiny things.

 

[zerocool1]

I was diagnosed w/ add in grade school. Took ritalin till 6th grade..Haven't taken any since

 

[slackerinabox]

You're experience sounds very similar to mine.. Looks like meds did help you.. I've heard that ritalin stifles your creativity but, as a writer, I figure that I could go on and off of it as necessary.. As a student, however, I agree- it's better to be a bit more mellow than easily distracted..

Originally posted by: lukatmyshu
I was diagnosed with ADHD in High School .... I went on Ritalin and my grades did improve. Well enough so that I got into UC Berkeley. However once I got here I stopped ... 5 years later I have no major, and a pretty crappy gpa. I decided last year to get my act together and am declaring CS soon (hopefully) ... my grades are not consistent at all ... they can be As or Cs depending on nothing more than my focus that day. I've studied for midterms, and gone in and blanked out and failed them, or just been 'in the zone' and aced them. Now that I think about it, I probably should go back to my medication. It did quiet me down, and stifle my natural creativity but it's a hell of a lot better than being distracted by shiny things.