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How do you deal with ADD?

LogicSoDeveloped

LogicSoDeveloped

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
3,429
I've had what I believe to be attention deficit disorder for a long, long time. A few symptoms I notice are: laziness, impulsivity, depression, inability to focus on things for a long period of time if they are interesting but none at all if they are not. No matter how hard I try, I can't focus on my precalculus work and I'm just worried about it. I have other factors in my life that don't help my anxiety or depression either. I've been prescribed 5 different meds over the last few years and none worked more than a few months-stims-and some didn't at all-ssri's.

What I'm asking is, even with all of these setbacks, I'd still like to do well in math, so how do you fellow ADD bluelighters keep up academically?

Btw, I have no problem writing for hours on end, I love it. I also have little trouble focusing/working on chemistry, which I also like. Precal, and the rest, however, I believe will be very difficult for me. :/ It just gets me down which makes me lose even more hope and I don't know what to do.
 
Adderall

If not then keep a regular schedule, healthy eating pattern and exercise consistently, it works
 
Amphs gave me horrible anxiety. Not even abused. They just mess with my mood really bad and ime, they caused a rebound of the effects. I will definitely get on the exercising though, I was thinking of that.
 
How many times do you jack off every week? Seriously, that can effect add/adhd symptoms
 
I know this sounds weird, but I find that smoking pot drastically increases my attention span and that's one of the main reasons I continue to smoke it. That being said, most people find that pot makes them lazier; I'm the exact opposite in that it gives me motivation to to do schoolwork.
 
Got busted a couple months ago...with quite a bit of that. I overused it and I think it worsened my ADD. At first, it worked pretty good but now, I stand to lose a lot if I smoke. Good advice though, I know if I use it properly, it probably would've helped. It did make me lazy but I definitely smoked too much, too often. -within 15 minutes of waking up, I'd get stoned and stay stoned until right until I went to sleep...every day. I didn't really have a life either but I shouldn't go into detail as that is besides the point, I think.
 
Yeah, it doesn't sound like you would really benefit from pot then.

I personally also use amps from time to time for ADHD, and they're useful for some situations but can also be counterproductive in others. The only other drug that I've felt has helped my ADHD is aniracetam, which I used a for a period of about 7 months in 2008 and it was a very effective nootropic. It had really cool anxiolytic & stimulant effects that helped me concentrate better than I do on adderall or other stimulants. You might want to give that a try, the only problem I had with aniracetam was that its pretty expensive.

I found aniracetam very different from piracetam (which I didn't find useful), probably because its very lipophilic while piracetam is hydrophobic so they have very different tissue distributions.
 
I don't deal.
I dropped out of high school in the 10th grade. I'm in my 20's now.
It wasn't that I was dumb or anything, I'm not. I just could never focus on things. I understood things very quickly but all the bullshit of writing papers or taking tests was just too long and drawn out and monotonous that I couldn't focus...or finish anything. I took my GED test instead, and passed with high scores, without even studying anything.
I know college isn't for me and never will be. I just accepted that and moved on..besides, I don't believe in college doign jack shit for someone's life.
Just my .02

Now, I'm prescribed adderall. They only diagnosed me after I left school. It helps tremendously at work with staying on task and remembering things and not jumping up and walking around every 20 min....but as far as focusing on paperwork and shit in a school setting -- I think I'd need a different drug other than adderall.
 
I'm in my fifties and have had ADD all my life but back when I was a kid there was no diagnosis--you were just called a dreamer. When my son was diagnosed in the 90's we didn't want to put him on a stimulant (at 13) but finally did for a few months when he asked for it. I told the doctor that if he was going to be on it that I wanted to try it for a week so that I would really know what it was doing. Wow! Suddenly I could concentrate, finish tasks and I was on fire with my work (I'm a painter). I thought it was a miracle drug until about 3pm every day when it wore off and I got depressed. Then I stayed in this flat state of numbness for the rest of the evening, couldn't sleep at night, chewed the insides of my cheeks and had anxiety return into my life with a vengeance. My son still wanted to try it so he did. I watched the same thing happen to him everyday when it wore off and finally he was so depressed he was suicidal. Even then it was me that had to insist that he stop--not his doctor.
My son was a stimulant addict for the last two years of his short life. I still feel guilty that we introduced stimulants into his system and brain when he was so young. I have also come to feel that it was ironically better back in the dark ages before everything was considered a disorder. Yeah, ADD is real and it affects our lives in very real ways. But I prefer to think of my son and myself as dreamers. The world needs dreamers and dreaming necessitates freedom from focus---messy and wild mindrambling! Growing up I had to find my way to work that was compatible with my mind. Now I am an artist and art teacher. It is a struggle in the teaching realm to stay organized but I never lack for fresh, outrageous ideas for my students!
When our son was diagnosed we read a book by a psychiatrist that had ADD himself and that was his treatment specialty. He recommended celebrating the mind that shoots all over the place and developing strategies and adaptations where one must; but the key is not staying too long in settings that are incompatible for this kind of mind. (Your precal class :) Traditional school is just very hard for those of us with this kind of mind.
 
I just feel guilty because I feel like a letdown to my grandmother all of the time. She expected me to do very, very well in life and getting caught as well as graduating semi-late kinda embarrassed her-did summer school and started college on time but still, had to do summer school. I know I would have to explain a lot but I just feel like this condition is making me let down a lot of people that want to see me do well and I just wish they could understand. :/ No matter how hard I try, I just feel like I can't do good enough for her and other people that measure part of success being education. I wish I could be happy with myself but they remind me constantly to try in school and it just frustrates me more. I have no trouble in the stuff I like but precal is already kicking my ass and I've only been in classes for a couple weeks.

I'm glad btw (though it ended badly) that you took an interest, I wish my grandmother as well as the person that is helping me work court and college stuff out could understand. I just feel like I'll never be good enough cause I know no matter how hard I try, math will always be an immense struggle.
 
I'm an artist married to an engineer who does calculus for fun--talk about an inferiority complex when it comes to math! But you know the truth is, we all have different brains--my husband can't understand a poem to save his life and he can't spell worth shit. You would definitely want to be on a bridge that he designed but you wouldn't want to buy one of his paintings to hang on your wall. :) Maybe you could get a tutor just to help you through this one class?

As far as your Grandmother and other family members (and the person that is helping you work out court and college stuff) it sounds like they need a bit of education on what it means to live with ADD. For your part, you have to make sure that you are being honest about what you can and can't control. The more you honestly know yourself the better. Go to a counselor at school and ask what resources they have for people with ADD. They also may be able to recommend some reading material for your family so that they can support you better. I would hope that if they knew that their attitude (of disappointment) is hindering rather than helping that they would try to change that. (Sometimes people are trying to express concern and end up expressing disappointment without even being aware of what they are doing.) If not, you have to accept their ignorance without thinking less of yourself! In other words don't buy into their attitude about success--define it for yourself. You sound smart and motivated and self-aware so you already have a lot going for you. Ignore the negative voices in your own head and from the outside especially. Good luck with the math. Mind if I ask what your major is?
 
My major is chemistry, I'm doing my first year of college at a local community college then hoping to transfer to a larger state school on the other side of my state. I was thinking that there, I'd be away from negative voices and really just focus and stuff. For me, chemistry would allow me to be both creative and analytical. For math, it is very hard for me to understand real world application and so that is another reason I have trouble motivating myself to do it. Another reason-I use to be great at math when I was in elementary school but was forced into tutoring when I was in 1st grade, in 5th, they had me doing Prealgebra until I cried and still pushed me. When I struggle with it, it just makes me feel worse because I don't see an end to it whereas with chemistry, when I struggle, I think about my end goals and potential jobs and stuff like that, not to mention how much it fascinates me.

I will definitely try to give them both some information, that seems like a good idea.

I was thinking about a tutor, I will just have to get over my feelings of feeling less for using one. I know it makes no sense but my grandmother is japanese and so I was raised by someone with a lot of pride and some of that transferred to me. I'm not as full of pride as I use to be and I'm still working on it but I believe it will still take time for me to conquer it.
 
Hey. I am currently not in school. I had my full-time status moved to 9 hrs because of ADD. I have failed a lot in college. I am 28 and have been going since I was 19.

What helped me academically was
1. setting a time frame (I'll work for 30 minutes/Do 4 equations/etc.)
2. having a ritual (Big ones for me are coffee and same time of day)

This one isn't for you, but
3. The times I had good self-control habits I smoked weed for great concentration benefits (like R&Me). When I smoked all day every day, it wasn't as useful for academics.

I came to abuse Adderall- didn't help me. I'd pull "all nighters". Goofy. Not recommended.
It made my ADD worse, and I failed a semester (partly) because of it.
 
LogicSoDeveloped said:
I was thinking about a tutor, I will just have to get over my feelings of feeling less for using one. I know it makes no sense but my grandmother is japanese and so I was raised by someone with a lot of pride and some of that transferred to me. I'm not as full of pride as I use to be and I'm still working on it but I believe it will still take time for me to conquer it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my son's best buddy was Japanese---lots of expectations! But you are right to try to let it go. My Dad used to say, "Don't act stupid trying to prove you're not." Love that little bit of Iowa wisdom from him.

Chemistry seems like a really good fit for you--you're passionate about it. Not everyone is lucky enough to be passionate about something they can actually make a decent living at...ahem, for instance painters....
 
i am here to tell you it is possible to have a 4.0 in college and be ADD. i'm in phi theta kappa, honors society for people with 3.8 GPA and above, and i dropped out of highschool to be homeschooled at 14. i never thought i'd see myself going to college, never alone have a 4.0. my classes are medical terminology, psychology, english and algebra, full time. the ONLY reason, and i mean THE ONLY reason i can maintain this GPA, is because two of my classes are online. god KNOWS i could not last 4 hours at a college campus, i had to switch my 3 hour night class lecture to online because i just couldn't pay attention. i wanted to break down crying right there in class. now, i take two classes two days a week, an hour and 45 minutes each with a 15 minute break in between.

i'm telling you i couldn't do it any other way.. when they say "don't bite off more than you can chew" it's vital for one with ADHD, because you will fall and you will fall hard. having such short classes and doing work online allows me to set my own learning schedule, which is what psychologists try to do for students with ADHD anyway (develop individual learning plans), and pass all of my classes with grades i never thought i'd get in a million years.

and it's easy for me to say no to medications like adderall because when you actually read about the neurological part of the situation, you don't ever want that stuff to enter your brain ever again, no matter how much work you get done or how much more ambition you have. i also was addicted to adderall for 3 months, would stay up for 3-4 days at a time, not eat, then sleep for about one day and do it all again. ended up in the hospital numerous times, lost my friends, my health deteriorated etc. i told myself if i ever get to the point where i can't do my school work anymore because of my ADD i will pay someone to do my work before i get back on that shit again. the repercussions and adverse effects like depression/suicidal tendencies/addictiveness is NOT worth it once you experience it
 
i have add did heroin and no adhd any more but pLEASE dont take that route what helps me is pot it slows me down enough to focus on just one thing
 
Molly, taking classes online is a great strategy for people with ADD/ADHD. You know how to strategize and it is great to hear how well it is working for you.
 
Molly, what you say is true about the chemical action of Adderall. I abused it, too, and stayed up at night. I still have cravings. I have 3 solid months off it. (2 months off Klonopin, which for me seemed necessary to offset the amp-induced anxiety.)

It's great that you found (and are DOING) a process that works for you! I failed my semester because of it (fall '10) and I'm still not ready to try again.
 
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