Thread for those with adult ADHD or who think they might have ADHD

[Borntobedifferent]

So I've put this into mental health as although it isn't really a mental health issue it tends to be discovered (in adults) when there is other mental health issues.

I've written a few times elsewhere on here about my ADHD but thought it might be nice to have an ongoing thread.

All that i ask is that we focus on adult ADHD as I'm sure there is other threads for those with children with ADHD.

I am nearly a year diagnosed now (I'm 37) and am on Elvanse 40mg and amfexa 5mg first thing in the morning.

I am so on 200mg sertraline and diazepam as by the time I was diagnosed I was just totally broken.

I have a therapist and today I started with an ADHD coach, I have to learn to accept my past and to embrace the positives of ADHD but it's not an easy thing to do.

But mine was circumstantial. It is possible to have both. You need to treat both if that's the case.

Thanks Bertie, that’s great that things got so much better for you. I think I probably need to step back, calm down and be sensible and remember that even if I do get an ADHD dx, and I definitely feel it would explain a great deal, it’s not going to magically fix many years of mental health issues. It’s tricky, all the times i’ve started a new antidepressant and thought ‘this could be the one’ and it hasn’t helped. I’m very wary now of getting my hopes up and I need to remember not to do that.

I went to the doctor today and mentioned seeing a psychiatrist for an ADHD assessment. She asked who it was with and why I was going to see one privately, I said that I didn't know how long the local lists were and I didn't know what to say to the GP. She asked how they worked with the GP and I mentioned Share Care. She said the NHS is changing and it's good if someone finds the right thing for them and it works. Can't help thinking there was something there about saving money!

DP has filled in my form, I am tempted to ask him if he has ADHD as he has only written three things. A friend also did one and she said yes to everything inattentive but was sparse on specific examples. My school reports corroborate - paid little attention aged 9 - 12 then I was quiet and daydreaming in class aged 12+.

Have a look at ADHD Care cooper. I emailed them about coaching. It is not cheap (90) but sounds like it will be really beneficial.

I am being treated for anxiety and depression. I have had anxiety since 17 as I can't relax. Depression is new and because of various things that have overwhelmed me.

What I relate to today:

All the women.
In me.
Are tired.

"We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always moving… We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitamins… We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. ...We are the daughters of the feminists who said, “You can be anything,” and we heard, “You have to be everything." Courtney Martin

Apart from being on time. And my diary would be full if I could find it.

@ADHDme pretty much sums it up.

That’s a great passage ADHDme, thank you for sharing.

I have also been treated for anxiety for about 10 years but it has been around much longer. Depression is quite a new thing for me too, it appeared properly when I was off on mat leave with DS (now 19 months old). The sameness of every day just wore me down and I couldn’t see anything to look forward to, ever. My meds haven’t been changed as i’m still breastfeeding.

Am going to tentatively raise the issue of ADHD with my psychologist on Wednesday but am not getting my hopes up that she’ll think there’s anything in it. Thinking out loud, I’ll bring up:

• My inability to stick to anything (numerous different degrees and jobs)
• my failure to reach my potential
• my difficulty concentrating: one of the reasons I didn’t continue into academia post-PhD, shamefully, is that I knew that to sustain that focus I had always needed to smoke like a chimney and I didn’t want that in my life anymore
• the impulsive behaviour as an older teen/young adult, taking much bigger risks with drugs, drink and sex than my friends
• the inability to stand competing noise, make decisions, notice mess, follow recipes
• non-stop chattering brain, always with about 5 ‘windows’ open
• all the stupid admin mistakes, despite lots of checking

So we’ll see.

Sounds like a good plan cooper

I've just been diagnosed with ADD (inattentive type). I found the assessment hard as I hadn't prepared and waffled a lot. I've been recommended methylphenidate. I feel a bit blank about it - kind of relief, kind of puzzlement that it could be so easy a. to get a diagnosis b. I wonder if it's true as I've got this far in life. But on balance I think it is right. I am going to find a coach.

Replying to myself, but I don't want to be flippant that it was easy to get a diagnosis- just the actual one to one went quickly. I've decided to make dietary changes and try a supplement called Zenphorol. I've read good things about Neurofeedback but its expensive so I am taking up mindfulness again. Also being more active, yoga etc and coaching. Thanks for the advice, you all rock, I hope things improve soon.

I'm interested in your dietary changes @ADHDme what are you thinking?

The psychiatrist I saw recommended a Mediterranean diet. He said that had been shown to have some benefits.

Thanks for this thread. I have just been diagnosed at nearly 28. Awaiting treatment. It feels like such a long time coming!

I’ve just made a GP appointment.

What do I say? So worried they just palm me off as lazy and tell me to use a mindfulness app.

The meds aren't a miracle cure.

They work to an extent, but organisational skills, the ability to prioritize and avoid hyperfocus don't come into the picture.

Is there such a thing as organisational 'life coaching'?

Cuz I need that.

I need a full staff

There are ADHD coaches. Mainly based in the US but some work over Skype. I have no idea how expensive they are but I seem to remember looking up someone's prices and going noooope and closing the page.

I had a wee chat with my psychologist today and she thinks I have some ADD traits (along with OCD traits but not the full shebang, lovely big list of traits) but that the anxiety and depression are the real problem. I am disorganised, have been dangerously impulsive (less so now), was a smoker (and felt like my life depended on it), struggle with concentration, zone out, shit at life admin, never reached my potential etc but these things are in many ways in addition to the anx/dep, which seem more endogenous.

I still think there may be something in it relating to ADD, given my constantly pleasure seeking (often destructively) brain and the dopamine connection but in any case there’s nothing that can be done meds-wise as i’m still breastfeeding and I don’t really think that therapy aimed at being better organised/focused would have much benefit for my mental health (unless it was teaching me to focus away from the intrusive thoughts, perhaps). So she’s given me some handouts on radical acceptance to have a look at and recommended more meditation. My antidepressants can’t be changed either because of the breastfeeding but i’m just not ready to stop. At least there’s the possibility of different meds in future. So we shall see.

cooper. Fish oil and increased nuts/seeds, avocados (healthy fats) helped with my negative thought patterns.

...I found this article interesting which suggests seven (!) types of ADHD:

www.smartkidswithld.org/getting-help/adhd/7-types-adhd/

Thanks ADHDme How have you been feeling since your diagnosis?

Hi all
I've been reading through and identify a lot with these experiences. I've had depression and anxiety for the last 8 years or so, high achieving but procrastinating until the last minute, daydreaming, impossible to focus and settle, often overwhelmed and abysmally low self esteem and sensitivity to criticism, suicidal on several occasions over the years. Depression seems to stem from the discrepency between what I know I am intellectually capable of and interested in and what I am actually able to do. I have a hard time regulating my emotions during stressful situations. Anti depressants and therapy have so far not had much of an effect.
How have people gone about seeking a diagnosis via the NHS? I can't imagine a GP taking me seriously if I asked for a referral.

I’ve just come off my Concerta as I was finding it made my anxiety worse. Bloody bloody anxiety...and specifically health anxiety is a nightmare.

This time it’s a bruise which has appeared on the underside of my lovely attractive belly apron. So it’s actually on a layer of fat....it’s black and a fair size. The fact that it appeared after I had done a load of moving furniture around and that I am also fairly numb there...ever since my Caesarean 16 years ago is cutting no ice with me. Naturally it’s due to cancer even though logically I know it’s due to moving furniture or just a blood vessel which has leaked under the skin because I’ve knocked it when moving said furniture,

So as Concerta has anxiety as a side effect I’ve ceased taking it for the moment.

Will talk it over with my GP next week but am thinking of trying non pharma methods of managing my difficulties.

@isitjustme I went private in the end as trying to get an NHS referral seems high on impossible.

If you go private do you then need to pay for any medication you get for it forevermore? I don’t fancy that