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Gustoferson · 08-16-2004, 09:41 AM

I am 20 and I was diagnosed with ADHD predominantly Inattentive about 5 months ago. I coasted through high school because I didn't need to pay attention to get great grades, and to be honest it was almost something I was proud of, not paying one bit of attention and still doing great. College, however, can be a different story, depending on how hard of one you go to. I realized I wasn't doing near as well as I should've been capable of about halfway through freshman year. So for the end of freshman year and beginning of sophomore, I worked hard at getting a better work ethic down, setting aside and using time to read and study and the like, thinking that would help. After finally getting that worked out and getting better work and study habits, I realized that still didn't help at all. I would be studying or in general doing anything and I simply could not focus on one task, there were always at least 3 or 4 thoughts roaming through my head and I would end up thinking on some tangets. It was frustrating to study for an hour and at the end of it, have no recollection of any of it because my mind was elsewhere despite my best efforts to the contrary.

There was more than that to the diagnosis, of course, including stuff going back to my childhood that I had to ask my parents about and make a self-history of the problem for the psychiatrist, but that gives a basic outline of what sent me looking in the direction of ADD. I have since started on some medications, all various forms of Ritalin, and they have made a huge difference. Its rather hard to describe to someone how it feels different, but the best simple description is before if I was trying to do something and another thought came into my head, a potention distraction, I was unable to resist being distracted by it, as instead it was like the choice had already been made. Now with some Ritalin, and also with general knowledge about the problem and knowing the tendencies it causes, its like I have more of a choice of whether to be distracted or whether to say "nah, i'll keep focusing on this instead." Vague description, but I think others who have been diagnosed or such will probably recognize what I'm trying to say.

One downside of medication, like you said, is cost. Even with decent insurance, the federal government considers most of the medications (other than Strattera, which I tried first and didn't notice much difference with) as stimulants and only allows one month no refills prescriptions. For me this means each month a specialist (psychiatrist) copay and a prescription copay, though getting generics has helped somewhat.

All in all, just go with what the doctors say, as no one thing works for everyone and they seem good about trying out different things until something finally sticks and you realize improvement.

08-16-2004, 09:41 AM	#6 (permalink)
Gustoferson Crazy Location: Chapel Hill, NC	I am 20 and I was diagnosed with ADHD predominantly Inattentive about 5 months ago. I coasted through high school because I didn't need to pay attention to get great grades, and to be honest it was almost something I was proud of, not paying one bit of attention and still doing great. College, however, can be a different story, depending on how hard of one you go to. I realized I wasn't doing near as well as I should've been capable of about halfway through freshman year. So for the end of freshman year and beginning of sophomore, I worked hard at getting a better work ethic down, setting aside and using time to read and study and the like, thinking that would help. After finally getting that worked out and getting better work and study habits, I realized that still didn't help at all. I would be studying or in general doing anything and I simply could not focus on one task, there were always at least 3 or 4 thoughts roaming through my head and I would end up thinking on some tangets. It was frustrating to study for an hour and at the end of it, have no recollection of any of it because my mind was elsewhere despite my best efforts to the contrary. There was more than that to the diagnosis, of course, including stuff going back to my childhood that I had to ask my parents about and make a self-history of the problem for the psychiatrist, but that gives a basic outline of what sent me looking in the direction of ADD. I have since started on some medications, all various forms of Ritalin, and they have made a huge difference. Its rather hard to describe to someone how it feels different, but the best simple description is before if I was trying to do something and another thought came into my head, a potention distraction, I was unable to resist being distracted by it, as instead it was like the choice had already been made. Now with some Ritalin, and also with general knowledge about the problem and knowing the tendencies it causes, its like I have more of a choice of whether to be distracted or whether to say "nah, i'll keep focusing on this instead." Vague description, but I think others who have been diagnosed or such will probably recognize what I'm trying to say. One downside of medication, like you said, is cost. Even with decent insurance, the federal government considers most of the medications (other than Strattera, which I tried first and didn't notice much difference with) as stimulants and only allows one month no refills prescriptions. For me this means each month a specialist (psychiatrist) copay and a prescription copay, though getting generics has helped somewhat. All in all, just go with what the doctors say, as no one thing works for everyone and they seem good about trying out different things until something finally sticks and you realize improvement. __________________ ...And then I found $5!