5 years ago I took a completed online questionnaire with a list of symptoms to our NHS GP when I was asking for a diagnosis for my son, at the time I was sceptical as I’d also completed it & I’d got similar results to him (basically almost 100% as ADD as you can get - primarily inattentive type) & thought it’s probably not that...
The GP talked through it with us, referred my son, I asked him about the fact that I’d also answered it and it said I was ADD too, but that couldn’t be right? I was 44. He then asked me a few questions & said ‘I can refer you too if you like, it sounds like a diagnosis might help?’.
Turns out all the things I’ve always struggled with are a result of having tried to cope with my differently wired brain my whole life & I’m not scatty/lazy/stupid/useless after all!
I’m very academically able (although a last minute crammer - love exams but the information doesn’t stick in my head for long!) & have been successful in work & have lots of friends etc. However, I would procrastinate endlessly, get distracted easily, forget stuff, never finish anything, lose things, drift off in conversations that were boring me & changed careers frequently. I’m also messy, disorganised, easily overwhelmed, reckless, impulsive, terrible with money....but, if I am engaged in a task can do it brilliantly to the tiniest detail to the exclusion of everything else with no sense of time, (which turns out is hyperfocus!). I’d also unwittingly self medicated for years (caffeine mainly..).
So, the NHS referral was straightforward, the appointment took a year to come through though as the adult ADD service is unfortunately so underfunded. I’ve now been medicated for years & it was life changing.
Also the relief of knowing why you are like this and the clarity you get to be able to take control of it once medicated is incredible (it doesn’t go away of course, I’m still scatty! However - for the first time in my adult life I’ve kept all my bank cards until they expired, I can sit in a meeting with someone tedious and focus on what they are saying, my bedroom is more or less tidy and organised rather than either a bomb site or clinically clean and tidy after a manic session of sorting & I haven’t let a bath run over & flood the house or burnt a pan in years. I no longer have a wardrobe full of unreturned clothes I bought impulsively online. I still buy things impulsively on occasion - but they get returned if they were a mistake. I still make lists - but they get ticked off & I don’t lose them!
I take dexamphetamine, I did lose 2 stone within 6 months of starting it - partly because it does mildly affect appetite, partly because I wasn’t grazing whilst distracted or overwhelmed & partly because I could focus on healthy eating/see a plan through. I’ve kept the weight off for four years now - sadly don’t notice any appetite affects now from the medication (obviously a good thing, but I wouldn’t mind!!).
Sorry - a very long and slightly evangelical post, I bang on about it as it’s something I wish I’d known 20 years earlier and if you read this thread and it resonates & I’d love to think it could help someone else like me...basically, go for it OP!