I have some weird symptoms sometimes that are usually chalked up to being quirky or lazy, but I'm unsure. Sometimes certain noises can literally drive me crazy like I can't sleep without the fan, but if I turn it higher than the low setting, it makes a light clicking sound that I fixate on and can't sleep. Also, if I try to study, sometimes some of the songs my kid listens to on YouTube aggravates me to the point that I get nothing done because I'm fixated on how much it annoys me.
I also can't read for more than 5 minutes at a time, whereas I used to read 1000 page novels constantly. I can't even manage to finish reading something I'm interested in. I can't finish a video game if it's complicated because I lose interest, but I wish I didn't because I actually like it.
Some days are better than others and I have bursts of focus and I start things and do extremely well, but then a few days later, it seems like the most boring thing in the world and I just can't. Are any of these symptoms familiar to anyone else? I've managed to cope so far and be fairly successful in life, but I'm tired of it. I'm about to go back to my doctor.
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fanglorious
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Sure! You almost described me.lol! I'm 67, male, married 27 years 4 young kids, plus 3 older kids from a dumb youth big mistake, didn't listen to my Mother! And I'm sure the ADHD has a big influence on my ability to see or separated the between true love and lost, I was 16, first girl friend and it was very intensive relationship, sexually wise.I married at 18.
I was diagnosed with ADHD& PTSD, after my wife asked me to go see a council, age of 64. Took Paxil for two years, didn't like the side effects, made me too letargic, I felt that it wasn't me. Stoping was rough, bad side effects. Now I'm on Wellbutrin xl 300mg. I noticed two side effects, keep me wake, and make me urinate too many times during the night. The council told me, after 4 questions; "How did you make this far?" I said "Lots of faith in God and prayers". Here's some of the monsters that I've battling with, since I became adult, that I noticed any way: I can't do any work, with music on the background. I can't do any work with someone watching me. I can't read a book specialty if does not have pictures, for more than 20 minutes. I can't sit and relax for more than 10 minutes, without thinking about what I can do or need to be done in the house or outside. I come home from work, but bring the work with me, in my brain, hate to be this way . I can't disconnected from it. I have 0 patience, and I'm very impulsive, the latter cause me big troubles, financially. I started trading stocks and crypto corrency, levarage trading. I did very well on the biggining, made lots of money, very quickly, bein very impulsive, plus greedy( devil ) I decided to doubled it, end up losing all and plus. I'm good around others, every body sees me as a calm guy, I'm very good at work, can fix almost anything, but me. At home? Not good at all, with my wife and my kids. Never hit any one, but sometimes I get very angry at them, due to no patience, and selfishness, on strange way, which is triggered by the PTSD, due to my youth up bring. I lost my father when I was 14, my mother had a massive stroke year after, siting in the car next to me. My older brother was very irresponsible. He was in charge of our farm, after my father pass way, I had to quit school at age of 16 to take care of the farm, and my mother, young sister 9, and my other brother, 20, both in school. Than the troubled marriage. I'm very luck, God gave me a wonderful wife, she's a angel, my kids also, are great kids. Sorry for all this long reply. Hope it may help you or some one. I hate to take any medis, this is the only medication that am on, wording about it affect my prostrade, Dr. days that it could, but it the best one for my case. Thank God, I'm very healthy, at 67.
It could be! Many people with ADHD are more sensitive to things around them, like the fan noises (for me it's ticking clocks). The bursts of focus and inactivity are also pretty typical. Executive dysfunction (that's the main guy behind the focus/attention/discipline issues) is really sneaky; even if you are really interested in an activity, it's almost like something is blocking you from paying attention to it. Another note on executive dysfunction - some people confuse it with being lazy, which is not the case at all. If you're genuinely lazy, you probably don't feel any guilt or distress about missing out on activities or not focusing. with executive dysfunction, you want to do something, you're interested in something, but the brain doesn't kick into gear and do it. ADHD can also have similar symptoms with a lot of other causes, so definitely ask a professional about it. It's also good that you're looking for info here and self-educating!
One question comes to mind from reading your query. You say that you used to read 1000 page novels? How old were you, and what type of environment were you in at the time? Such as a quite study hall, a noisy dorm?
Because if you used to be able to do something, you should still be able to do so. I'm just wondering what might be different now?
Hope these questions jog your memory about this type of behavior. ADHD does often have bursts of energy, super hyper-focus, and then periods of nothing.
When I used to read at that level I was in my early teens and that was incidentally around the time my mother took me to a doctor and had me on Adderall. I can't remember if I started reading so much just before or after the medicine. My doctor started chasing depression down a rabbit hole with a lot of heavily sedating medicine on top of the Adderall which I no longer take and my memory of that time is fuzzy.
I'm 19 and was diagnosed with ADHD about a month ago. I decided to get tested because I have had immense struggle reading in the past few years. As an kid, I would read long chapter books, and now I can't even focus for more than a few sentences. GatsbyCat mentioned that a change of environment might have caused your change in ability to focus, as well as a change in the type of reading you do (such as leisure versus work/school). That's what happened to me! I got to high school and couldn't focus on reading anymore. It was a different place, different workload, and instead of for pleasure I was reading for homework. It made me lose interest, and as and ADHD person, I can say that disinterest is a major deterrent in my ability to focus on something. I just got started on Adderall and have found that it's really helped me read and stay attentive now that I'm in college, even with more work than I had in high school. I'm still experimenting with it, but I can say that I saw immediate results in my ability to focus after starting my meds.
The fact that U can't read for more than 5 minutes at a time, is a little concerning. There is hyperfocusing in ADHD wherein U can have the great ability to focus especially if its something U like or a project at work that U can successful complete the task at hand. But with ADHD, there can be a tendency to go off on tangents. Even with my ADH meds, I find that the cognitive therapy that I am doing with social worker is reining me in and stopping me from catastrophizing and rather break issues into small components. It might be a good idea for U to go see your doctor and discuss with him or her the issues that U have mentioned to us here. The doctor might want to refer you to a therapist. There is no stigma in this. It is great that your life has been going great so far. But sometimes a little tweaking can be very helpful. Good luck and we're here for U.
I actually see a therapist and he's the one who has reawakened my interest in ADHD. I was previously diagnosed with predominantly inattentive ADHD, but my doctor was more interested in treating depression and anxiety. Long story short, I was severely overmedicated at one point with antidepressants and anxiolytics that I tried to hurt myself in a period of confusion. I no longer take any psychoactive medicine for over a year and I've been managing with on and off therapy, but have kind of been in denial for a bit. My new therapist told me that the depression and anxiety might be part of an inferiority complex secondary to ADHD, so I'm trying again.
into therapy. The most important thing is that your that your therapist balance the
ADHD meds and your other pills
The Healing ADD book by Dr Amen explains a lot! You’ll like it! It is helping me come to grips with the changes in my symptoms. It goes into being over sensitive to sounds and stimulation. I have to sleep with ear plugs most of the time. When I study I either need total silence or loud music depending on my symptoms that day. ❤️
Ok so usually people with ADHD don’t want to quit because it’s hard, they do trail focus or quit if possible if things are boring. If you are interested in things, then you hyper focus google it and you’ll see what it is. But yeah I get distracted even by the sounds my computer makes, even in my meds so yeah you could have it for sure. It wouldn’t hurt to get tested once Covid gets if you’re interested. If not just read up on ADHD and maybe try tips for studying because even if you don’t have ADHD it can still be helpful for you. Just choose what you want to do and spend time exploring what works for you.
Hi! My partner is 62 years old and he is super sensitive to sound . He can't tolerate two sources of sound at the same time (Tv and a conversation or music and a short video I play on my phone), scratching of a pencil , my tapping on the computer keys, my whispering voice a floor away if he is trying to sleep, my quiet movements in the kitchen when he is upstairs behind a closed door. He reacts with anger and frustration to loud voices outside and will stomp over to strangers/truck drivers/leaf blowers, to please be quiet . He has called the police on people for being loud before work hours, etc. He is newly diagnosed and I hope that treatment will be able to address this. You are not alone in this, it sounds like the hyperfocus component kicking in. Take care.
ugh. This “can’t tolerate two sources of sound at the same time” is so me. Outside noises don’t bother me to the same degree as your husband, but a tv on when someone is trying to talk, is a perfect example for me of something gets my inner rage going quick. I also have misophonia, so ironically, I have to have background noise and will turn a tv on low at meal times just to have a distraction from the sound of people I’m close to chewing. It’s frustrating to be affected by noise in weird but such intense ways.
I too, am particularly sensitive to noise when trying to concentrate which can be difficult as I work in a busy healthcare setting. One thing that helps me a lot is noise canceling headphones when I am doing charting. Oftentimes I am not playing any music but just using them to dim the background noise. I also at times use a great app called “focus at will”. My headphones of choice are apple AirPods Pro. They now have AirPods Pro 2 which in reviews are said to have even better noise cancellation.
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