Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Adult ADHD
Posting under WCIB because of potential lurkers not because I don't want you all to know who it is. I have a counselor who believes that I have ADHD. It makes a lot of sense and once she pointed it out I have noticed a lot to support the theory. She said I have well established coping strategies and it isn't affecting me terribly. She thinks I don't need medication, but she said I may want to think about it and talk with a psychiatrist because it may help with some things that have been causing other issues.
On one hand, I do think it would make things easier and I feel like I struggle a lot with regular life. On the other, I've lived all this time without medication and it kind of feels like the easy way out. Anyone else have ADHD or close to an adult who does? Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
Re: Adult ADHD
What does your H ( or other close family members) think?
ADHD can be a huge stressor within a marriage- the NYT had an interesting article onit a few years ago. I would talk to your H and any close family members/friends to get their take on if your behavior - just to get a bigger picture and a different opinion.
My experience- H has ADHD and it is one of the biggest strains on our marriage. Once he was (re) diagnosed we ( especially me) learned how to cope with some of the issues that it caused. H has been on and off the medicane so I don't have a experience with that. One of my close friends ( we used to joke about starting a support group), H also has it and the medicane has worked wonders for him. My H couldn't deal with the some of the side effects and the fact that it can take a while to find the "right" dose.
I'm not sure what type of help he has had, if any, on a more social/personal front, but I think just knowing where his strengths and weaknesses lie, as well as being able to identify situations and triggers that are apt to cause problems, has helped him a lot. He's always been a social butterfly, and has an extremely free-spirited personality, but there has been a noticeable change in his general mood in recent years (i.e. shortness of temper, irritability, frustration, etc.).
All that aside, I think this is an instance of what works for one person may or not work for another. If it were me, and after hearing my brother's complaints about the medication he was taking, I would definitely attempt the unmedicated route first. I'm certain the key to success with that, however, lies in finding the right fit with a doctor who will be able to understand your specific situation and advocate for you.
In any instance, good luck with whatever treatment routes you chose to take. Perhaps just having a greater depth of understanding of how your brain is wired and how you can more effectively handle and work through your specific symptoms because of it might help greatly.
BFP 11/25/2009 ~ Blighted Ovum Discovered 12/10/2009 ~ Natural M/C 12/24/2009
BFP 3/29/2010 ~ EDD 11/25/2010
Sawyer Marshall ~ November 16, 2010
H has ADHD and uses medication at work to help focus. It is a struggle at home sometimes because of it and I have learned to cope with it and what to expect.
I do know that exercise helps. He is more focused when he works out regularly. I wanted him to try some herbal stuff and vitamins but he said that hippie stuff was not for him. I am all about trying the natural stuff first before medication, and it seems like this could be a good place to start. We have discussed that if any kids have it, that we would make sure they are eating healthy, exercising, and try some herbal stuff before going to medication.
For DH the medicine (ritalin) it makes him anti social. He hates how it makes him act so he only takes it when he is having isssues focusing.
My Blog Picture A Day Blog
My DH has ADD, and while that's different from ADHD, I think it is similar in a few ways. If he's not on his medication he becomes easily tired and it's harder for him to focus on tasks. On his medication, he's much more focused and driven, but it also causes a loss of appetite (he really only eats dinner and maybe a small lunch).
I know he had other symptoms when his doctor was messing with his doses. One medication actually gave him high blood pressure for awhile and it was really not good. He also had trouble sleeping and really lost his appetite. The key for him was finding a doctor that was experienced with ADD/ADHD and got his dosage correct. Since then he's been functioning pretty normally, and the only thing I notice is that he still doesn't eat breakfast.
The killer for him is going off his medication. He likes to go off of it when he's not in school to give his body a break (so, on breaks) and it takes a week or so for his body to adjust. He'll have a hard time getting up, is starving all the time and can be kind of irritable.
I am glad he's treated for it though. It helps him academically, professionally, and he's just generally happier to have a handle on things. I wouldn't say it's ever been a stressor in our marriage, but the fact that he has the correct medication to help him when he needs it has helped it from ever becoming a stress factor to start with
.
I would say give it a shot. If you feel you're struggling a bit without any help, see how you do with some help. If it doesn't work or you don't like it, you'll at least know you tried. Getting help is definitely not the easy way out...there's no shame in that. Don't struggle just to avoid taking medication if it really will help you!
H has ADD (I don't think it's ADHD, though). He takes medication for it - Concerta and ritalin (His dose of concerta lasts 8 hours, and the ritalin only lasts 4, so he'll base what he takes on how much longer he's going to stay up to work, etc). It took some tweaking to get the dosage right, and he said he likes Concerta better because it has a much more gradual up and down, where as he feels like the ritalin elevates him very quickly to hyper-focused (almost too much), and has an equally sharp wear-off.
The medication has been great for him, especially as he's working on his PhD, and especially because he can't have caffeine (he discovered caffeine was a migraine trigger for him and went cold turkey. Now he can't even have a small amount without giving himself a migraine the next day). It keeps him up and focused, and he found a medication that works for him.
It is kind of funny, because I can totally tell when his medication starts wearing off (he isn't usually on it at night or on the weekends) - he becomes majorly goofy.
I hope you find what works for you!