Yes it is possible to compensate and cope very well so that no one, including yourself, sees any problems with functioning. Then we can reach times in our life when we have many more stressors and our ability to cope gets overwhelmed, and voila, there is the ADHD! That's how it happened for me. My PNP says it is not uncommon for women in middle age (that's me) to reach their limit on coping with their underlying ADHD when they have all these other stressors going on, such as taking care of kids, taking care of parents, deaths in the family, divorce, declining female hormones, etc. It is a pattern she has seen a lot. I feel lucky she knows what she is doing and is experienced at distinguishing ADHD from other conditions. I can look back on my younger years and see signs of ADHD but I somehow just dealt with it. Now I'm older and can't deal with it as well, so meds are helping me.

I met someone recently who is a healthcare provider and he told me he never prescribes stimulant meds to adults for ADHD, unless they were diagnosed while still a child. Instead, he gives them Wellbutrin or Strattera. Wow, I am glad he is not my doc. I did start on Wellbutrin, but my PNP was not satisfied with the improvements we saw. She said, we can do better than this! And she added a stimulant for me. It makes me wonder what is with this other doctor and his rigidity: no stimulants for adults! He doesn't hesitate to prescribe stims for kids though.