Help With Adult Add - Success Stories Please? - ADD / ADHD Message Board

LIVINGWITHHOPE · 02-03-2008, 06:05 AM

HI I AM A NEWBIE!! DESPERATE
I AM INTERESTED IN HEARING SUCCESS STORIES!
THANKS

Sansy11 · 03-19-2008, 09:30 PM

Dear Livingwithhope,

I also am new to the ADD Board, and I am rather shocked that no one has made an attempt to answer you. Unless you were answered later, and I missed it. Anyway, I think what has happened with my case is quite positive. I was put on Ritalin back in October or November. It took just a little while to get the correct dosage. I am on the maximum dose of 40 mg per day. I take one 20 mg tablet at 0900 and one at noon. For the first time in my 60 years on this planet, I can finally concentrate on one thing at a time. I am even able to stop trying to do 6 or 7 jobs around my house and getting really nothing accomplished. I have to admit I catch myself still trying to do 2 or 3 things at the same time--doesn't work very well when I do this. Although I am finally able to start something and finish it! That in itself is a miracle for me.

My mind doesn't race from one topic to another as much, and I can read a page in a book without having to keep rereading to understand what was just read. That's been a problem for me since I first learned to read. It has quieted my mind and slowed me down physically. That sounds weird to me since I hear my friends call the Ritalin speed. I'm a child of the 60s, so I know what speed means.

I have a disease called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). The medicine has allowed me to do breathing exercises and meditation, and I have cut my pain meds in half as well as eliminate one of them. The pain of the RSD has been so severe that I have seriously considered suicide. So, the ADD/HD has made my life better instead of just another disorder that I have to deal with.

I do sometimes briefly get on the pity pot, especially when my emphysema makes it difficult just to go from the back of my house to the front without having to sit and recover before I go back.

It could be worse. At least I have 2 arms, 2 legs and a brain that works fairly well considering. Hopefully, you consider this a success story. I do.

Best wishes for positive things to happen for you. As I said, it could be worse.

Sansy

janewhite1 · 03-20-2008, 06:09 AM

Always good to hear success stories. Thanks, Sansy.

Sansy11 · 03-20-2008, 06:41 AM

Dear Jane,

You are very, very welcome. If I can say just one thing that will help someone else, it makes me feel so much better.

Sansy

addprogrammer · 03-20-2008, 01:37 PM

LivingWithHope,

You can do just that, "live with hope" that in time you'll be able to manage your ADHD symptoms.

I'll give you my short story: I was dxed at age 53. I'm now 56 and 1/2 years old. Gads, haven't said that since 7.5. When I look at my progress over the three and a half years, it has been nothing short of miraculous. And that is the absolutely true good news.

Not the bad news, but the "reality" news is that my gains graph look much like a good mutual fund multiple year chart where the graph has a few points lower than investment value. There will be times when you want to throw in the towel. Don't. Hang in there for the long haul. It's worth it.

This board is in my opinion the best board for peer support and advice for ADHD life in the real world. I want to debug my brain. The folks here help me do that.

We should write a book, "Brain Debugging for Nerds" and make ourselves a few bucks while we are at it. Yes, I did forget my meds this AM

Bob