This is not political diary , I just want to chronicle some personal stuff and see if anyone has similar issues.
I am 32 years old, I have been working in IT for 11 years now, my chosen career has given me quite a bit of challenge, interspersed with periods of boredom. I have a lot of hobbies I snowboard quite a bit, I hike, I camp, I travel, I internet and quite a good amount of other things. Throughout my life I have suffered from rather regretful conversations, personal feelings of inadequacy, lost career opportunities, and at times ironic successes due to my struggle with ADD.
I was diagnosed with ADD in 1978 at the age of 3. At the time this diagnosis was getting a lot of popularity within psychiatric circles as "the next big thing" , my mother was a single parent trying to raise a very "difficult busy boy". When I was taken the the psychiatrist, and the diagnosis was made, they decided the correct course of action for me was to begin Ritalin.
It helped.
The difference in school was great , both for teachers and for me (except for the part where I wasnt real responsive to bodily threats from other kids). The problem was I was on it for approximately 10 years.
At age 13 I was taking 1400+mgs total per day.
Still it wasnt working the way it used to work. In addition to the fact that I had an economic disadvantage to most of my classmates in the higher level classes I was assigned. Computers were an unsaid "expectation" at home. If you could not type a paper and print it, you automatically were going to spend twice as much time as everyone else. This did not play well with my home situation (which will remain out of this discussion) being unstable.
It was decided that I could stop Ritalin.
My grades and my interest in school almost immediately evaporated, I became interested in music almost fanatically (as most angry teenagers often do) which lasted well until my years right out of high school. I barely graduated and immediately began pursuing career interests that were both dangerous and non-lucrative all things considered. Awhile went by and I settled into a manual labor sort of senditary lifestyle. Luckily for me with the involvement of a close friend I landed a job doing technical work with PCs, and turned it into a highly lucrative career.
My career now some would say is hard, its easy for me, I understand abstract concepts and have a very decent memory (even from all those years on Ritalin) but I know it remains held back by inability to completely focus on my tasks.
This next week I have finally decided to return the doctor and being taking medication for ADD. I do not know if this will solve my issues, but I am definitely ready for a change in things. I am hopeful it will provide me with a higher quality of work output as well as social interaction. I also would like to perhaps gain a better ability to write without being so all over the place. I realize there is little substitution for formal education but perhaps this will begin that process.
I would like to hear from anyone who has Adult ADD and what your experiences are, Ive read about medication as well as Dietary treatments I am rather open to anything.