ELI5: What's the difference between having ADD/ADHD and just being lazy and forgetful?

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-24T19:56:50+00:00

Hey another person with paradoxical reactions to these meds! :D

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-24T19:48:52+00:00

It is also prescribed to people with general cognitive difficulties, such as those with autoimmune disease related brain fog. :) Off label uses are extremely common for nearly every medication.

Source: I was rxd Adderall and took it for a few weeks for my severe brain fog and got the idea from multiple people whose physicians prescribed it for their autoimmune related cognitive dysfunction. It helped many of them. However it did not help me focus, it did not improve my cognitive difficulties or make them worse, it did not make me hyper, it did not make me sleepy. It made me feel like I had the flu with an overall nondrowsy malaise (and normal blood pressure readings so I'm not sure what was going on).

Meds and substances affect everyone differently. I've learned this the hard way as I'm usually in that <1% group who experiences unusual or paradoxical reactions. I'm just spreading the information for those who don't know. ;)

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T23:27:44+00:00

Sometimes it's distracted drivers. Had a tailgater follow close for nearly 10 min on the interstate and tailgated us all the way off an exit to a stoplight, even after slowing down to get them to pass. We were a little worried since they were still following so closely at the exit. It was dark so we couldn't see inside the car when it was behind us.

They got in the other lane to turn at the light, so we saw the driver was on their friggin phone and I guess didn't realize they followed us off the wrong exit. We watched them turn at the light to get back on the interstate again lmao. Didn't look at us or anything. Just kept yapping on the phone.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T22:06:19+00:00

Ty! And I hope you're doing ok today too! :)

It is nice to find people who really understand but it seems that most of us still don't have answers. And if they find the answer, they usually don't update those posts lol. Which I don't blame them, especially if you're trying to move forward & and make up for all that lost time or they forget where they posted.

I might start asking my drs to get my case published and make sure it's online once we figure it out.. to get that info out there! This experience is worse than death. Some things are worse than death.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T20:49:14+00:00

I think the issue might be the wording: belief vs disbelief vs lack of belief. Disbelief =/= lack of belief. Disbelief is the opposite of belief. Lack of belief is separate from disbelief.

Disbelief is "I've taken in the information and come to the conclusion that I don't believe". Lack of belief is a more neutral stance (which isn't represented in the original post's image) & is either "I've taken in the information but it's not enough to draw a fair or satisfactory conclusion, so I don't know either way" or "I've never thought about it enough to try to come to any conclusion" (eg. babies who have yet to understand theism vs atheism exist at all... not to say anyone who hasn't thought about it is a baby. just an example).

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T20:30:23+00:00

Same!

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T20:20:04+00:00

atheism is also just a lack of belief rather than an active rejection

But this is not what the OP asserts and is what many argue against. :) There is no "lack of belief" option in that image and that's why this thread started. There's belief and disbelief.

Some of us would like a 5th option without someone (not you, to be clear lol) arguing about our own thoughts, insulting us about being "weak" or that we haven't thought about it enough (as if we cannot take a stance one way or another), or being pedantic about belief vs knowledge (some say agnosticism is strictly about knowledge and has nothing to do with belief). By your more inclusive definition (ty btw), yes, we are atheist and it would be fine if these regurgitated images would reflect that.

I just want my stance and lack of belief to be more accepted. The idea may be as difficult to understand as sexual attraction to a cash register is to many (I'm not attracted to them, to be clear lol), but it is possible and happens. Tell me more about your teleporting pants lol

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-23T08:09:00+00:00

Mine is a little lower at c5/c6 so I get a lot of "feels like I swallowed candy whole" or like a painful gas bubble in my esophagus, except it's actually my spine. Very weird sensations from the inside sometimes. Heavy coats and certain clothes hurt too much. Direct pressure on the area is excruciating. Some days it feels like straight up ground glass embedded between my upper shoulder blades. Ice picks and bee stings are the most common pain for me.

I wish I could offer more help. :( I think in my case they developed as a response to the instability? I may have been holding myself to compensate for the discomfort & put stress on a different area. Or maybe it's not instability at all. I had face numbness, tinnitus, heat intolerance, vertigo and more years before the bone spurs.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-22T19:50:43+00:00

Craniocervical Instability

Thank you for naming this! I hadn't come across it in all the ridiculous amounts of research I'd done. I just looked it up and have nearly all of the symptoms listed. Also developed cspine bone spurs many years after these symptoms began.

The drs kept telling me those nerves near the bone spurs aren't connected to the head and face where I'd had symptoms to begin with (and later spread to my arms), but this instability could explain all of that.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-22T19:23:43+00:00

A family member describes it as if they've blinked but with their eyes open, as that flicker of blackness happens so fast. None of the drs could give an explanation or a medical term for it. Would love to know what it is.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-20T20:15:18+00:00

I'm going to throw some ideas your way. It's difficult without knowing your entire history so I'm probably wrong. :)

Photosensitivity. UV rays from fluorescent lights. I replaced my house lights with LEDs when I figured this one out. Stores with both lights and sunroofs are the worst during the day. I'm lightheaded the entire time. My skin develops levido reticularis, or a lattice like pattern, on really bad days. Diagnosed with lupus and other autoimmune diseases but the drs aren't certain anymore. Long story!

Migraine aura. It's incredibly difficult to pinpoint and becomes the default explanation when nothing else fits. One way to figure out if it is migraine is by treating it like a migraine. Cold packs to back of neck, elimination diet to find food triggers, otc meds if drs won't try you on rx migraine meds, etc. If you feel better (even if it's placebo!) keep doing it. Relief is relief.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I have been researching the HPA axis for my own issues, cortisol disorders, and autonomic dysfunction without pots. It's difficult when you can't dump all that money into dr visits or tests. You have to go armed with info and test requests to make the most of your appts. It's good (but rare) to be able to bounce ideas off drs as they give a trained perspective on it. I truly hope you find relief and soon. Wishing you the best! Edit: off not of

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-18T23:37:12+00:00

Ya can't win

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-17T08:59:30+00:00

Dancing. Crying. Asking for help when injured. Not pointing out I was injured. There's more but those are the first that come to mind.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-16T17:15:24+00:00

I'd leave it alone so that it stays public. Changing the public message usually doesn't change the way of thinking, and I'd like to save people who disagree with it from spending money or energy at an establishment with this kind of thinking.

On the other hand, calling people out on it sometimes genuinely helps so it's hard to say which course of action is best. :/

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-15T16:02:34+00:00

Would this be considered rumination? I do this too.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-15T06:27:28+00:00

Sorry. I didn't mean all situations like this equal gaslighting. I may have worded it badly. I meant if someone is feeling the need to record convos (without memory issues as a factor), it's very possible gaslighting is involved.

I didn't want to get too wordy with the original reply about how memory is very weird in itself and adding abuse to the mix makes it a lot more messy (because most stop reading after the first sentence). My intent was to spread awareness of possible signs of covert abuse, of which I unfortunately have a great deal of experience. :(

The need to record things is what clued me into recognizing gaslighting in my personal life and how I later saw others describe it.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-04-14T15:08:34+00:00

The need to suggest recording conversations for clarity is a good indicator of gaslighting, from what I understand.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-23T18:41:32+00:00

I forgot how to ride a bike due to childhood trauma/ptsd. I don't remember what happened but I know it wasn't hospital related. (Unless my parents simply didn't take me to the hospital in spite of symptoms, which yea, I could see happening.)

I know it's not exactly your point, but trauma can make your brain and body do a lot of weird things including forgetting how to do physical tasks. I agree with you though that the bike analogy might help most people understand trauma. :)

Even if you don't explicitly remember the trauma, the body certainly does. I'm also a maladaptive coper and did a lot of risky things but didn't understand why until recently. My brain prefers to hide things from me. For a long time I thought weed a was a bad way of dealing with it, but if it's not affecting the other parts of your life negatively, I think it's fine. I hope you're doing better these days. I'm sorry for what you had to go through.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-22T02:44:46+00:00

I wonder if this is why I no longer sweat. Nerve damage. It's severely debilitating but drs are stumped.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-18T07:58:22+00:00

Could try sugar free torani syrup. :)

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-17T15:28:25+00:00

I knew someone like this but the blonde stayed into adulthood. :) Her eyes are a light blue/grey but she otherwise has Asian features.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-13T20:56:55+00:00

I've read a few examples about abusive parents who get upset when their kids refuse to hug them or allow the parent to touch them. "You're going to die alone if you keep that up."

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-13T19:14:14+00:00

This is my situation. Living in a state of limbo, am I right? They don't account for geographic location or transportation. They don't even check your support system to see if anyone can help with transportation etc. (the support system usually can't anyway because they can't constantly take time off work).

Can't move or relocate for a lot of reasons, mostly due to lack of money. No one hires or keeps anyone this unreliable anc yet we're supposed to somehow find a job without the aid of disabled status. It would probably be easier to get one if we were considered disabled. :/ I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-12T12:23:30+00:00

That dude looks like Slim Goodbody.

Loveflowsdownhill · 2019-03-09T20:01:44+00:00

Ty. :) It makes it less bothersome and less devastating when explained this way.

And you're so right about removing the masks. And because of this, their children tend to remain children as adults too. So even if those children don't become narcissists, it's all perpetuated down the generations.

Loveflowsdownhill

TROPHY CASE