Newly diagnosed + constantly surprised by my symptoms

[So_bored87]

I’m 34 and was diagnosed with mixed ADHD last year. At that point, I had quit drinking for about 1.5 years (now it’s a little over 2 years). I had noticed my ADHD’ness SO much since is had quit drinking. And now, I can’t stop learning about it; noticing how my quirks are actually adhd symptoms. It’s overwhelming sometimes. But I will say, knowing I have this has given me permission to do my “quirky” things. Like today, I cleaned my room in spurts. If I got overwhelmed, I stopped and played a computer game. Then when I got bored with that, I tackled a doom box. Etc.

However, today has been wild in that I feel extra scattered, hyperactive yet paralyzed, hungry but no idea what to eat, feeling self-conscious and add, etc. I’m going through a whirlwind of emotions. Is there something that usually triggers this intensity for you? How do you deal?

[coffeeandweed]

Yeah, I was diagnosed a couple years ago at 56 and now I'm learning things over again, figuring out quirks and symptoms.

I've done a load of personal research on neurotransmitters over the winter, drug interactions, things like that and I did my own adjusting on my anticonvulsant and antidepressant. Now that I'm feeling better, I have to convince my doctor to boost my Concerta for the adhd. That's gonna be my bottleneck because he's a bit (!) of a dick wrt mental health.

But anyways, yeah, noise overwhelms me, be it music or talk or whatever. Generally I just have to leave the area. If I can't, I withdraw into myself and find something to do with my hands. It all seems to go back to keeping my hands moving.

Now what I have trouble with bigtime is training people to communicate with me. No monologues, no unnecessary details, no multi-step procedures... the only person who automatically picked up on it was my father-in-law. He should hold a seminar for everyone I know.

When I look for something I have to fixate on the colour of it if I have any hopes of finding it at all. Looking for it by shape or name... nope.

Hopefully in my rant you may have found some useful information. Best of luck with relearning how to live.

Al.

[MCadhd in reply to coffeeandweed]

Hi. Thanks for sharing. I was diagnosed last year, at 60! I can relate to much of what you said.

[writer35]

HA! Yes! To all of it.

Congrats on the sobriety thing, I'm in the same boat almost exactly. Pretty sure that in my case, I was drinking to self-medicate my ADHD. Manufacturing dopamine or using it to numb the anxiety of rejection sensitivity or boredom of a must-do task. Ask me how well that went It was amazing how much I noticed about my brain, body, and spirit when I stopped that practice and started to do things the quirky way.

And I get the impulsive urge to tell my neurotypical friends and family about it, and then I'm disappointed by their confusion and judgment and pity. I think it's fascinating and want to offer information so they can know me better! So I'm learning to share this stuff with ADHDers instead. So - thank you for posting this here!

Quirks are pretty cool. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Amadeus1999]

Indeed, I had a very similar experience the first while after being diagnosed. Things make more sense, you feel validated (“I’m not just lazy!?”) and slowly but surely you can work on improving your situation. Just make sure you don’t overdo it in this period, as the very hyper focus you describe is of course also an ADHD thing. Go with the flow, try to manage your responsibilities to the best of your ability and make sure you use the extra (mental) energy you get from medication or treatment is spent on actual self-improvement. Doing this may seem self-explanatory at first but I think I echo the thoughts of many when I say “Okay, now I have the means, I just don’t have the ends yet”

Best wishes to you 😀