History Lesson

I was initially diagnosed at age seven - at that time, it was still called Hyperactivity. From what I've been told, I basically, jumped off the doctor's table and proceeded to pace the room, talking rapidly without stopping. This, along with a noticeable lack of attention, led to my diagnosis.

It also led to having to take 10mg Ritalin 2x a day for the next six years. Wait, no, that's not completely true: my doctor was concerned that my body may develop a tolerance to the Ritalin, I would a) spend three months out of the year taking Dexedrine, and b) not take anything during the summer.

When I hit thirteen, the doctor told me and my parents that he had to take me off the meds, since they would not longer have an effect on me. His solution to this was to have me start drinking coffee.

Yeah, I know. My psychiatrist couldn't believe that, either.

So I started drinking coffee. And I did so for the next, oh...26 years.

During that time, I knew things weren't working out right. I failed two courses my first semester of high school (and almost got kicked out because of it) and really found myself unable to focus on anything.

Oh, and did I mention that my condition also came with a temper? No> Well, yeah - it did. A very bad temper, one which led to holes being put into walls, among other things. And every time I had an outbreak like that, I would try to tell my parents that I needed to go back to the meds, because I needed the help.

See, I could tell, even then - I should've grown up to be a doctor or something.

Unfortunately, my parents insisted on following my doctor's advice, and so I kept taking coffee.
As the years progressed, I worked on building up some coping skills to help me get through things like school, etc. Of course, researching ADD now, those coping skills I put together for myself on my own are exactly the same things a lot of ADD websites are advocating.

Anyway, a little less than two years ago, things started to, well, slip. I could feel myself losing focus, both at work and at home. See, I was under a lot of stress: not only did I have my 45+ hour/week job, but I also had responsibilities as a husband and father (still do, btw), a commitment to working on my bachelor's degree with two to three classes a semester and a side job.

So, all of those stressors, working together, resulted in my coping skills eroding before my very eyes. I was unable to concentrate on anything, I was snippy, I found myself yelling at my kids - and that was what bothered me more than anything else.

So I started looking, reading what I could about my symptoms. That's when I found out about ADD, and how it can continue well into adulthood.

What happened next is a whole other post.