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Permalink Reply by Notalone on February 10, 2012 at 11:22am

Hi Kari, 

Thanks for sharing.  Yes, a blessing and a curse I can identify with that.  You got an earlier start than some, than I did.   I didn't find out till I was 36. What was it like finding this out while you were trying to study?  It took me a long time to come to grips with it.    Even after I knew it I avoided it like the plague.  I would read anything but a book on ADD. I still have trouble reading about it. 

Being on this sight has helped me feel and make progress with the pain.  Maybe I can start doing something about my ADD .  So glad  to have some company.   

Notalone

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Permalink Reply by Kari on February 13, 2012 at 11:17am

Notalone said:

Hi Kari, 

Thanks for sharing.  Yes, a blessing and a curse I can identify with that.  You got an earlier start than some, than I did.   I didn't find out till I was 36. What was it like finding this out while you were trying to study?  It took me a long time to come to grips with it.    Even after I knew it I avoided it like the plague.  I would read anything but a book on ADD. I still have trouble reading about it. 

Being on this sight has helped me feel and make progress with the pain.  Maybe I can start doing something about my ADD .  So glad  to have some company.   

Notalone

Thanks for reading "about me".  When I was diagnosed I read everything I could on the subject.  Most books on ADD are great, I'd read a page and laugh then read a page and cry.  I just wanted to learn about how to help myself and other people "get me".  The saddest part was that when I told people that I had ADHD most of them said, "yeah, we knew that!"  Well, why didn't anybody ever tell me!  I learned to study by watching a great video "Where there's A Will, There's An A"  I finally made it through Medical Assistant training,(the 6 month program took me a year) but due to the severity of my ADD, I cannot hold a job. I'm a stay at home mom.  But don't get me wrong, Ive never read a whole book on ADD, I just skip around from chapter to chapter.  A good quote- the most consistant thing about us ADDers is our inconsistancy!

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Permalink Reply by Kari on February 13, 2012 at 11:31am

Danielle said:

For the most part I have the belief that ADD is kinda neat.  On the other side of that I call myself a terrible housekeeper and just don't know how to keep a neat and orderly home.  I end up calling myself lazy because I see myself as that.  I  have a fear of how it will be for me when I go back to college.  I worked full-time when my husband was laid off and I could barely manage.  In fact I couldn't manage the home and work.  I went into a depression.  I just get so overwhelmed with daily life sometimes.  So many dishes to wash, laundry all the time.  I clean and then I have to clean again because I let it pile up for me.  Some tasks just don't come easy for me.  I'm a mom of 3 girls who needs to be on top of things.  My calendar saves me.  I have started doing lists again to get information out of my head so I don't lose it.  The professional organizer I hired helped set up a system which helps me alot.  And my therapist and psychiatrist are the most caring people I could have found.  I hide and don't let my friends know I am in therapy it's so easy to be judged unless they are longtime "real" friends.  So even though I am for the most part, pretty happy with myself, I have had help in that department.  As you can see.  Do you or have you seen a therapist?     

You are NOT alone!  I get overwhelmed by daily household tasks too.  Everything piles up then you feel overcome and just sit and stare at the mess! I understand completely, you start the dishes, then you get an overwhelming urge to put in a load of laundry, then something else grabs your attention, so by the end of the day you have a bunch of unfinished chores!  Trust me, I get it.  I have 6 sons, 2 young ones at home with me all day. It is like you have channels changing in your head but you have no control of the remote!  I do not see a therapist but I am on medication and it helps alot. Try to read books on ADD they have alot of tips, or at least skim through some chapters. Kari

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Permalink Reply by Notalone on February 13, 2012 at 2:52pm

Oh Yea Kari!

          That discribes it. I get an urge to do one thing and then I  an going in another direction.  As you said" Its like you have channels changing in your head but you have no control of the remote."  I finally laughed! Love the way you put it.  I am so focused on trying to find a solution that I forget to laugh and that is part of the solution.  

Notalone

Kari said:

Danielle said:

For the most part I have the belief that ADD is kinda neat.  On the other side of that I call myself a terrible housekeeper and just don't know how to keep a neat and orderly home.  I end up calling myself lazy because I see myself as that.  I  have a fear of how it will be for me when I go back to college.  I worked full-time when my husband was laid off and I could barely manage.  In fact I couldn't manage the home and work.  I went into a depression.  I just get so overwhelmed with daily life sometimes.  So many dishes to wash, laundry all the time.  I clean and then I have to clean again because I let it pile up for me.  Some tasks just don't come easy for me.  I'm a mom of 3 girls who needs to be on top of things.  My calendar saves me.  I have started doing lists again to get information out of my head so I don't lose it.  The professional organizer I hired helped set up a system which helps me alot.  And my therapist and psychiatrist are the most caring people I could have found.  I hide and don't let my friends know I am in therapy it's so easy to be judged unless they are longtime "real" friends.  So even though I am for the most part, pretty happy with myself, I have had help in that department.  As you can see.  Do you or have you seen a therapist?     

You are NOT alone!  I get overwhelmed by daily household tasks too.  Everything piles up then you feel overcome and just sit and stare at the mess! I understand completely, you start the dishes, then you get an overwhelming urge to put in a load of laundry, then something else grabs your attention, so by the end of the day you have a bunch of unfinished chores!  Trust me, I get it.  I have 6 sons, 2 young ones at home with me all day. It is like you have channels changing in your head but you have no control of the remote!  I do not see a therapist but I am on medication and it helps alot. Try to read books on ADD they have alot of tips, or at least skim through some chapters. Kari

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Permalink Reply by Torrence on February 29, 2012 at 4:22pm

Hi this is my first time here and I understand the blessing and the curse scenario.  I also know about the changing channels in my head routine also.  A big thing for me is loosing time. Nothing takes as long as I think it should.  A 15 minute job ends up taking 2 hours or more.  

Danielle said:

I can also relate to the "changing channels."  I've told people that I have ADD and they say no you don't have it and that's because I hide.  I try so hard to fit in but at home and with my family I have to be myself and it's such a relief to just be me for most of the time.  Right now my living room looks like a person with ADD lives there but the rest of the house is really organized thanks to my plan to organize and hire the cleaning lady for 3 hours.  Ha ha ha.  No I couldn't have done it myself.  I know me too well.  I begin a bunch of projects and never finish not one of them!

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Permalink Reply by Notalone on March 6, 2012 at 7:55pm

Hi Danielle,

        I was reading one of your post a while back and relaized that I was having a hard time finding anything positive to say about ADD.  Well,  today I was at work and something made me think about how much I had learned and developed trying to compensate for ADD.  I realized that there is something good about it.

Notalone

Danielle said:

For the most part I have the belief that ADD is kinda neat.  On the other side of that I call myself a terrible housekeeper and just don't know how to keep a neat and orderly home.  I end up calling myself lazy because I see myself as that.  I  have a fear of how it will be for me when I go back to college.  I worked full-time when my husband was laid off and I could barely manage.  In fact I couldn't manage the home and work.  I went into a depression.  I just get so overwhelmed with daily life sometimes.  So many dishes to wash, laundry all the time.  I clean and then I have to clean again because I let it pile up for me.  Some tasks just don't come easy for me.  I'm a mom of 3 girls who needs to be on top of things.  My calendar saves me.  I have started doing lists again to get information out of my head so I don't lose it.  The professional organizer I hired helped set up a system which helps me alot.  And my therapist and psychiatrist are the most caring people I could have found.  I hide and don't let my friends know I am in therapy it's so easy to be judged unless they are longtime "real" friends.  So even though I am for the most part, pretty happy with myself, I have had help in that department.  As you can see.  Do you or have you seen a therapist?     

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