[neverregret]

Originally Posted by Mylittlpwn13

I know the feeling! My to-do list is staring at me, and anything that requires sustained mental effort is left undone. Surprised? Me neither. I also have to do a TON of reading for school, and it takes an act of Congress to get me started. The good news is, if I DO get started, I'll usually keep going for a while. Just opening the book, or writing a title at the top of a page, helps overcome the inertia.

One thing I've started doing is the Pomodoro Method. Basically, you set a timer for 25 minutes, work as hard as you can until it goes off, then take a 5-minute break and come back. I use a phone app (Pomodoro Lite) to help me.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works.

Your post almost describes me to a tee. I'm sitting here right now on my laptop staring at my closed books. Finding every reason in the world to start some other task when I have a final in a few days. I'm 37 and returning to school. I have not been clinically diagnosed, but after the semester that I am having it just seems so clear now. I guess that I have always had ADD possibly ADHD to some extent, but stress and my responsibilities have made it obvious. It had gotten to the point where I was sitting in a calculus class 2 years ago and started feeling dizzy and felt as though there was something physically wrong with me. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I knew that I felt different.

I went to the ER and over a course of months saw my general practitioner, neurologists and was prescribed medications for trigeminal neuralgia, migraines, tension headaches, had mri's, ct scans, blood tests, and other diagnostic test that i can't recall right now. I honestly feared that they might find some type of brain tumor because I could not think of any other reason to explain the things that I was feeling along with what I felt was my performance and inability to focus.

My ability to function in school now is far different now than the teenager that i was 20yrs ago. I guess that I had some crutch that allowed me to cope with it then. The one thing that has not changed since my early childhood is something that I had repeated after I reached some goal or made some deadline by the skin of my teeth is hearing myself say "imagine if I hadn't waited until the last minute to get started on this...!" Even in the shortened amount of time that I gave and continue to give myself it seems that I had a knack for outperforming some who had put more time and effort into the task.

I dropped out of school when I was 19 because I lacked the ability to structure my life and time in a way that guaranteed success. Oddly enough, I enlisted as a Marine for that very same reason, desiring structure. I took classes off and on from then, but never really got that far along, not that I lack intelligence, mind you. The military seemed like a good fit, but I found myself eventually falling back on the same patterns, with procrastination being the major fault.

I finally broke down this week and went to see my doctor again because things were getting very difficult to deal with. I asked my doctor if there was anything that I could do for my lack of focus, he mentioned that I should take an online self-test for ADD and that he would prescribe something for me. Looking at the self assessments, I began to think someone had been spying on me. The questions asked about things that I had dealt with my entire life. I hate taking medication or pills for that matter, but this problem had also began to affect my performance at work and made me willing to experiment. I work in a technology field and equipment and networking is always changing and for the first time in my life I feel like I am underperforming on the job. While I never obtained my degree, my ability to learn and adapt to new technology didn't make a degree necessary for anything more than my own sense of accomplishment. This week I got to the point where I felt that I wasn't capable of furthering my education or doing my job. My doctor prescribed Vyvanse for me. I think it's helping, but I have only taken it for a few days and the dosage might have to be adjusted a bit.

I found this forum because as the day progressed the drug loses its effect and I find myself in the same predicament now as I was in before. If I had to describe it I would compare it to a fog slowly rolling in towards the shore. I feel like I'm in a fog with an aura of something that I can't find the words to describe right now. What can I do differently? For a person that needs to work during the day and go to school at night I need to maintain my focus for most of my waking hours. Do I have any other alternatives?

Two things that I have learned in the last several minutes of trolling google is the fact that my guilty pleasure, coffee, reduces the effect of the drug and thanks to you the Pomodoro method. I'll be experimenting with that tonight.

Is my experience common?

Sorry for the long post, this is my first post and I'm just venting my frustrations. Reading that person's post just got me thinking.

[Rand.]

Hello there, neverregret! I'm an adult and just got diagnosed with the inattentive type of ADHD (or ADD). Interestingly, I never related with any of the descriptions of ADD because things like "lack of focus" or something, I focus the way I always have and that just feels normal! So I'm normal! lol if that makes sense. I think most people can recognize this in themselves though, like you have. It's great you're trying things out, I know medications can really make such a big difference for people. Anyways, maybe go back and talk with your Dr. about it. It's possible that you may need some other type of release form or something like that. Now, I'm not sure, is it the caffeine in coffee that's the problem or something about the coffee itself? If it's just the caffeine, maybe you can opt for decaf or something and see if that helps.

[neverregret]

Originally Posted by Adespota

Hello there, neverregret! I'm an adult and just got diagnosed with the inattentive type of ADHD (or ADD). Interestingly, I never related with any of the descriptions of ADD because things like "lack of focus" or something, I focus the way I always have and that just feels normal! So I'm normal! lol if that makes sense. I think most people can recognize this in themselves though, like you have. It's great you're trying things out, I know medications can really make such a big difference for people. Anyways, maybe go back and talk with your Dr. about it. It's possible that you may need some other type of release form or something like that. Now, I'm not sure, is it the caffeine in coffee that's the problem or something about the coffee itself? If it's just the caffeine, maybe you can opt for decaf or something and see if that helps.

I never thought of myself as having any problems, just considered myself as being quirky. Everyone has faults and things that they would like to change about themselves. I accepted them as just being apart of who I am. I attend school part-time at night it was only about a year and a half ago that I started feeling really different. I was sitting a class and just started inexplicably start feeling dizzy. I could hear the professors voice but was not absorbing anything. My head just felt heavy like someone place an invisible weight on my head. I went to the ER that night because it was out of the ordinary and never felt like that. I noticed that when it came to school and work that I just wasn't operating and capable of functioning as I did in the past. I never had to compare myself to anyone. I just realized that there was a turning point where i just didn't feel the same and it scared me a little bit. Who doesn't like to succeed? I was and am afraid of being a failure. Up to that point I could do anything that I put my mind to. Now the voice in my head keeps saying... " You know that you're better than this!" I got to the point where i was tired of going to specialist because they couldn't tell me what was wrong after taking all those tests.

Looking at these self assessments though, I see in hindsight that I may have always had a mild problem. These qualities and then some, have always been a part of who I am. Recently, my state of mind has gotten worse where I feel that I can't function and complete tasks. This brings about my worse fear of being or becoming a failure.

I may wait a few weeks so I can see how this medication works, but I need to start looking for a psychiatrist to help me get back to a point where i feel normal again.

As far as the coffee goes, I think I just like the flavor and I drink a stronger coffee or even espresso and that tends to have more caffeine. I just prefer not to drink a watered down coffee. I think I will try switching to decaf though.

[Rand.]

Wow that sounds like it must have been frightening. I hope things settle down for you and you start feeling better soon. Hopefully the psychiatrist will be able to help you out. I definitely understand being afraid of failing. Just do the best you can, which I know you do, that's all anyone could ever ask of anyone.

[psychmajortwenty2]

I have adult ADD! And it's weird because most of the information you find is geared towards children and you're like.. nope... I'm 23

[sukothefox]

I am an adult with ADHD, possibly with Asperger's syndrome. I can relate to your experience with regards to knowing that you could complete a task but didn't. It's so sad and frustrating to see so much unfinished projects. I also hate medications, since they don't work for everyone, and in my case they made me depressive.
Strangely, I am a fast reader and a fast learner, but when in comes to everyday life I can be very inattentive, mainly because I don't find it as interesting as college and the subject I study.

[avlady]

i think i have some type of learning disorder, i am also schitzophrenic and bipolar and depression. i was assaulted and my head was thrown into the cement by an old boyfriend. i was also in 2 car accidents too. i think that that may have had something to do with my mental problems. did you ever have a head injury?

[HeroScaper]

Greetings and salutations! I was diagnosed around age 9 and now I'm 38. I have learned a few things in my search for information on ADHD. One with ADD/ADHD can get addicted to caffeine. Heck, most of the medications for it are stimulants! And I found out that stress 'feeds' the condition, making the symptoms pronounced under the situation. So, as it probably has come to your notice, you are not alone! Your descriptons of yourself fit me and others all too well.