Diagnosis
What's yours?

He gets a little hungry at the end of the school day because it suppresses his appetite while he's at school. Otherwise he's 100% still himself, just able to focus when he needs to. It's been like night and day.

He and I are both experimenting with medication. Both of us don't like being medicated but are sincerely giving it a try to see if it can be helpfully used as a tool in certain circumstances.

My son's challenges are less around things like academic progress and learning, and more around social differences and not fitting well with kids his age.

There's a lot of help available. Information, education - don't just let doctors steer everything. Become informed and show them you're not depending on them to tell you what to do but using them to get the care you want.

That doctor advice goes for other conditions too. I'm what you call triple-diagnosis: Recovered from substance abuse, history of major depression, and now the ADHD.

Secondly, I've had symptoms of ADHD for most of my life, which got a lot worse in the past five years. I have a job that requires a lot of focus and concentration, which was slowly becoming impossible to do. The symptoms I have are brain fog and forgetfulness, which lead to a lot of anxiety.

After a break down last summer, I went to talk to my doctor. It was painful. I'm the type of person who believes that willpower can solve most, if not all, of life's problems and I was convinced I could will my way through this. I didn't want to be medicated, because I thought medication meant, "broken."

What she said to me was pretty fantastic: "There is nothing wrong with medication. There is nothing wrong with the way your mind works. It just works differently and all this medication is going to do is help it catch up when a lot of your focus is required." That really spoke to me, so I tell people I have it as it comes up, especially if I bounce from topic to topic or get a little forgetful as the medication wears off, usually late in the evening.

I would actually like to thank my RP partners, because during this time (around September and October), I was adjusting to the dosage, which caused some interesting moodiness. Sindome became a place of refuge during that time. It provided a bit of escape until everything situated itself. My character is very different from me, and honestly, playing that character was so helpful to not focus too much on it. It was beyond therapeutic, which seems weird to say considering our theme. Due to certain plotlines, I was able to adjust the personality a bit, since the character was created before I started the medication, so as far as that is concerned, take any IC event you can to make adjustments as you need.

Overall, I feel profoundly more like myself than I have in years. It's become apparent at my job, my personal relationships, and my friends. I've even made some new ones on the way! It's allowed me to be creative again, which I've pushed back into Sindome. Overall, it's been worth it.

Drop the stigma and take care of yourself first, through whatever path that may be.

I was diagnosed with ADD in high school. I adamantly refused to be medicated for it and then spent over twenty years trying to deal with it myself. I did biofeedback. Worked on my diet. Got heavily into meditation, then qi gong and tai chi. Finally kung fu. I experimented with practically every illegal drug out there short of heroin and crack.

The whole time I thought that there was something wrong with me due to life choices that I had made. It was not until I got into therapy after spending 15 years in a bad relationship that I finally was willing to try medication. These days I'm on duloxetine for the anxiety. I'm also on guanfacine (daily) and adderall as needed for the ADD.

I am going to be coming off of the duloxetine soon. It turns out that most of my anxiety is related to childhood PTSD involving sexual assault and some other things. That has all come out through therapy. Becoming aware of it and working through it has really changed who I am because I now understand why I've spent the last 30+ years acting the way I do.

If I had not had a child I probably would not have gotten into therapy. It was the constant arguing with my ex in front of our kid that made me want to change. I did not want her to grow up in an environment where her parents are fighting all the time.

My daughter is moderately autistic. Seeing that in her has allowed me to see some of my own autistic tendencies. It's totally true what people say about children forcing us to face our own challenges.

@Diamond, I would encourage you to consider medication. In my case, it made a world of difference. It almost feels like I'm cheating at life now given how easy it is to concentrate.

For your kid the answer is not so simple. I am not sure what things are like there in Europe. I'm fortunate in that where I live, we get great services for my daughter. By services I mean things like educational support for her, and training for my ex and I on how to parent an autistic child.

I found a great supplement that made a huge difference for my daughter. I was totally skeptical that vitamins would make a noticeable difference, but I am so glad that I tried it out. Now that she has been on it for a while, I can tell the difference in her focus when she goes a few days without it. I started taking it too because it is the most potent multi-vitamin I have ever come across.

http://https://simplespectrumsupplement.com/?ls=en

Best of luck to you and your kid. Being a parent can be challenge even on the best days. It's a good thing it's so darn rewarding. =)

Who doesn't like an NPD friend who tells them that they're amazing while the whole time scheming how to use them? 😜

Without my meds, I'd be a nervous wreck. Some people can live without meds, some can not. Simple as that.