What were/are your symptoms?

I'm considering that I may have Adult ADD. I don't think I ever had problems with it in high school or elementary school but now that I am older, I am showing more and more signs of it. Is it possible not to have it when you are young but then to have it when you are older? What were some of the symptoms that made you realize something was wrong?

Thanks!

Hi Amy - I can't speak for myself, but my husband wasn't diagnosed with ADD until he was 31. I think that the symptoms range widely; AlliKamikaze posted a comprehensive description of a model of the different ADD types - ADD Types

My husband's symptoms aren't the typical "I can't concentrate" variety. He gets frustrated and angry easily when trying to learn certain types of things. He procrastinates like hell if he isn't sure how to do something. He's been called an airhead by his friends and former coworkers, although I have to say that I don't see him as an airhead at all. He has absolutely NO ability to prioritize, and when faced with two equally important tasks, he will quiver and waffle out of indecision.

Out of the list that AlliKamikaze posted, my husband fits "Overfocused", "Ring of Fire", "Limbic", and "Temporal Lobe", to a T. He has no hyperactivity characteristics. He is also extremely avoidant.

He really suffers from anxiety and depression and once we got the depression under control, it was a lot easier to see the underlying causes. The lines are really blurred between ADD, Anxiety and Depression, not to mention just general personality traits. He is also very sensitive to sounds and textures.

I believe that it's worth mentioning that there is a lot of focus on the 'negative' aspects of ADD but there are positive factors as well. My husband has an uncanny ability to see EVERYTHING. Typical example is when we're driving in the car. He can drive and look straight ahead, and I can point out something small and obscure on the side of the road and he will have already seen it. He misses nothing. He's a still water that runs deep and is an excellent observer of human nature. When he's not depressed or irritable, I trust his judgement completely. He is an incredibly talented artist, photographer and craftsman. He's got a great eye for design and composition. We have always joked that he needs things to be 'just so' and named his ficticious company "Just So"... years before he was diagnosed with ADD. He sniffs out quality in a way I cannot comprehend - he can spot flaws a mile away. (I could go on for years about how great he is, but I'm trying to be specific to the seemingly ADD-related qualities)

Does that help?

my parents explained it like needing glasses to focus your eyes...only they were really kinda saying that i needed leg braces like on Forest Gump......or head gear. because all the sudden the teachers that thought i was a brat and was fighting them on purpose, were like "OOoooooooOOoooOh." and i'm like, "wtf? do you mean, oh? all the sudden? start accomodating me then if i'm frickin retarded!" but of course i couldn't say that to the powerful detention giver/parent calling trouble maker.

i can't focus on something unless i get into that hole of hyperfocusing and don't move for like literally 8 hours because i'm concentrating on a project...looking stuff up, drawing, cleaning, watching programs...sometimes thinking.

can't stand other kids or adults now, i guess. noise bugs the crap out of me. it's like, someone screaming for no reason...babies in echo-ey rooms type of painful noise. gah. the thought is almost fist clenching. but punk shows, punk music, deafening volume while driving...that's soothing for some reason.

trouble not asking why........yah. guess i was wrong so much as a kid i made it my rule to say nothing unless i know 100% and can cite a source. so unless it is strictly opinion, i promise everything i say or type is literally catalogued and saved on my computer, or highlighted in a book i've read twice...or more.

don't like to be touched anywhere but the hair. which is funny coz i do hair sometimes...went to school and got a diploma for cosmetology...in another state and california wont recognize it. sweeeeet. 10,500 bucks as TP for a bunghole. anyway. i can't stand anyone EVER touching my face. i have trouble returning physical affection. like hugs, snuggles and petting on the back or neck or you know...the bathing suit areas.....i just can't do it...i feels like someones scratching me with broken glass. tense up, close my eyes, kinda wimper. it's lame. coz i'm a kissy kind of girl, and for someone who can't even be lightly touched i'm COVERED with tattoos. but they felt good.

people ask you why you didn't do whatever or why you havent done something, and you try your darnedest to explain the brickwall that you come to after you get what you need ready to complete something, and cant even pull yourself up a knotted rope to victory on the opposite side. and you cant see the problem but are helpless to fix it. no matter how i explain....i'm "lazy" using "excuses" or taking "advantage" of something. which is total crap.

unless you are in the add/wtf? club there's just no possible way to show, explain, show proof that you are suffering and screaming.....but absolutely can't be heard.

all of them I have combined type.

I too didn't have a lot of "problems" as a child but sure do now as an adult.

I'm not officially dx'd yet but after doing a lot of research, self tests and reading on this subject, I'm getting myself to a Dr. fast for an evaluation.

My symptoms are:

1) Poor organizational skills
2) Difficulty completing tasks
3) Constantly losing things
4) Always interrupting people
5) Fidgety feet
6) low tolerance for petty annoyances
7)short temper
8)easily bored, especially in group situations- College /class type settings frequently put me to sleep.
9)I hear you but I'm not listening!

I have the same problem, sometimes I can't focus AT ALL.
I saw this video at my son's school. It was from www.connectwithkids.com. Very interesting stuff. Check it out . Hope this helps.