tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7242031562910794955.post6316160161629768211..comments2023-05-08T07:38:26.610-07:00Comments on 18 Channels - my ADHD colored life...: Then the Concerta wore off...18 Channelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16841490256076600058noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7242031562910794955.post-70332074728439776782010-02-20T11:37:49.830-08:002010-02-20T11:37:49.830-08:00When I told my neighbor - who is also a close busi...When I told my neighbor - who is also a close business associate - that I had ADHD, she said, "No way! Look at how much you've accomplished." I replied by telling her that I have to sit at the computer 16 hours a day to accomplish what others can do in half that time. So...yeah...the outside world doesn't see what hoops you need to jump through to get things done...even if the hoop jumping is all in your head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7242031562910794955.post-24767935239002216672010-02-19T10:09:39.622-08:002010-02-19T10:09:39.622-08:00Ah YES, a closed mouth, indeed, gathers no foot :)...Ah YES, a closed mouth, indeed, gathers no foot :)<br /><br />Now see...this is an interesting issue for me. I have a lot of people say "but YOU don't have ADHD". And I say "that's because you have no idea how hard I'm working to not say the stuff that's popping into my head constantly". I don't actually just pop off all the time...I just can't shut my brain off, and can hardly sit still and fidget like mad...and sometimes let a wisecrack fly because I can't stand it anymore. This is what makes me understand that a lot of people, just don't understand ADHD.<br /><br />The medication is awesome though, because it makes it possible for me to work less hard at that. However, after spending a day not having to work at it, the meds wear off and I'm like "oh shit, the cat's out of the bag" and I have to go back into "work" mode to reign it in...or not...haha. It takes a few wisecracks, or bursts into song though, before I go "OHHHHH...my meds wore off...STFU!"<br /><br />The bigger problem for me though, I think, is monologuing and as a result oversharing. OOPS. Sometimes when I'm monologuing I can even hear myself and I can't even stand the sound of it but I can't shut up. That's the worst...my mouth just GOES. Or...I start thinking out loud...holy cannoli's...like I am right now in fact...time to go and thus self-edit....BWAHAHAHA....<br /><br />I may have written about before...once, when I was a child and I kept interrupting my mother she said "you know you don't have to say everything that pops into your head" or something like that. But if the popping is relentless and that's what you spend a large amount of your energy focusing on-NOT talking, or being consumed by your busybusybusy thoughts-this is still a problem in my mind. People don't get that. It bugs me that they don't get that. This is often when my hyperactivity manifests itself. My brain is so busy that I can't contain the physical energy generated. Fidgeting, gesturing, trying not to be pulled too far ahead of the conversation at hand by my thoughts, getting up to leave classes and walk around, my thoughts just tug me into action and I have to work to re-anchor...<br /><br />Whether or not that looks like what most people would call ADHD isn't the issue. The issue is that it is an impairment because it is EXHAUSTING.18 Channelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16841490256076600058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7242031562910794955.post-74866197373145050252010-02-18T11:07:42.815-08:002010-02-18T11:07:42.815-08:00Boy...I have had WAY TOO MANY of those moments whe...Boy...I have had WAY TOO MANY of those moments when I should have kept my mouth shut. (Remember: A closed mouth gathers no foot.) <br />Pre-diagnosis, when my mouth would go off before my brain was in gear, I spent a lot of time by myself. It was a way to make sure that I didn't say anything inappropriate. The biggest change I noticed when I started medication was that I could sense when my mouth was about to go and I could actually stop it *before* the words came out. That's when I knew that my medication was working.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com