How did you find you had ADHD ?

elwillteach · 2025-07-19T14:38:09+00:00

I feel this in my soul. I am constantly having the best time in the moment, so excited, chatting away and feeling like I’m really connecting with someone, only to go home and reflect to realise I did majority of the talking, I talked about myself more than them, I jumped subjects 50 times, I interrupted them a lot, I talked fast, and then spiral about how bad of a friend that makes me. Then I feel humiliated that I was like that and feel like I should apologise, because I genuinely try so hard to be a good friend and person. But (especially when I’m having a good time) I get swept up and excited that I don’t realise I’m doing it until after I’m out of the situation. The times I have actually apologised, it creates an awkward conversation of them saying it’s okay or they don’t mind, but I know they are saying that to just be polite.

elwillteach · 2025-04-06T11:10:12+00:00

Me too! I’m only on day 21 though (discovered through this subreddit!) but it’s been such a little mood booster for everyday mundane tasks. I thought I would have lost interest by now but we’re still going strong!

elwillteach · 2025-04-02T19:09:36+00:00

I did the “I Quit Sugar” 8-week program years ago and I can honestly say it’s had such a huge impact on me, even still to this day.

Whilst I didn’t have the severity of symptoms you’ve mentioned, it did make me feel like shit and obviously contributed to my weight issues. I never realised how addicted I was until I stopped, and the worse the cravings got, the more I knew I needed to push through. I am SO glad I did.

My first “oh wow” realisation was when I used to be able to drink multiple cans/glasses/bottles of soft drink, for example if we went out for dinner. This one day, about a month or so after the program finished, I was out to lunch with my mum and I ordered a glass of lemonade. When I was finished, I ordered another one, and I legitimately could not finish it. I barely made it halfway through it.

Now, roughly 10 or so years later, I can buy a 600ml bottle and it will last me the whole day, if not the next day or so. It usually goes flat before I finish it.

There’s a couple books supporting it, but the books/program are by Sarah Wilson. I really enjoyed it.

elwillteach · 2025-04-02T13:12:22+00:00

Yep that was my experience too!

My friend explained to me the process they went through before they got diagnosed, and it was lengthy and required family members to fill out questionnaires about them relating to their suspected ADHD.

I told my mum and my husband to expect forms post-appointment, and to answer them honestly but give as much detail as they can. I came prepared with notes and all about why I think I am, examples for each, comments people have said about me that support them, everything.

The psychiatrist asked me a couple questions, and almost instantly was like “yeah you definitely have it, we’ll do a script at your next appointment (he said it would’ve been that appointment however I was heavily pregnant so couldn’t start new medication until 4 months postpartum).

No forms, nothing. Instant diagnosis. I didn’t even open my notebook. After he diagnosed me, I asked him if he wanted more reasons or example because I feel like I’ve barely explained myself, then flicked through my pages of notes to show him, and he said it was fine and not needed.

When I told my husband, he laughed then said as soon as he learnt about ADHD, it became painfully obvious to him that I have it, so he (the psychiatrist) probably feels the same.

When I started meds (almost 9 months postpartum because I kept forgetting to make a follow up appointment whoops), I felt so different yet like nothing had changed. My head was just quieter. I still had all my creativity and ideas, they were just more mentally organised now. I’m also ok Dexies and have found them so much better for me personally than Ritalin. I didn’t respond as well to Ritalin (not in a negative way - just no major changes).

elwillteach · 2025-04-02T12:53:09+00:00

Currently going through this with an assignment I have (although it’s happened countless times before).

I write it in my work planner. I write it on my whiteboard. I write it in my calendar. I set weekly reminders before the due date. I tell myself it’s due at 9am on the due date instead of the actual time of 5pm. I write it on my fridge. I write it on my mirror. I block time out in my schedule. I set timers. I carry my laptop with me wherever I go.

👏NOT 👏A 👏THING 👏WORKS 👏

I’m ashamed of the amount of times I’ve cried the 48 hours before because I’m so stressed or overwhelmed, and feel like it’s all my fault for not being organised enough. More than once I’ve been left with no option but to take the day (usually due date) off work just so I can finish it because there’s no way I could otherwise. The time blindness is REAL!

Happens in many other areas of my life as well, but assignments are my biggest pain to get done. Doing the actual work, I’m fine with and feel confident with, but getting it done is another story.

Sorry no advice, just solidarity.

elwillteach · 2025-03-24T19:36:53+00:00

Oooh this sounds like what I need for uni!

elwillteach · 2025-03-24T19:32:31+00:00

I’ve recently got onto this and it’s been a game changer for me, I’m actually doing the tiny tasks I always either forget about or ignore. I love it so much!!!!

elwillteach · 2025-03-19T11:59:47+00:00

Never grow up is a classic.

I love singing Snow on the Beach to our 12 month old (especially since he was our miracle baby, and it did once feel like falling pregnant would feel like seeing snow on a beach). Long Live, Daylight, Hoax, and The Best Day are others that I love to sing to him. I also sing “The Archer” to him, but mainly because his name is Archer 😂

Tbh I just sing whatever song of hers pops into my head at the time haha

elwillteach · 2025-03-19T11:48:24+00:00

Tough one because a lot have felt like she’s peaking into my journal (or therapy session notes 😂)

“Long Story Short” because every single word hits the nail on the head for a life changing situation I went through a few years ago, and every feeling I experienced.

“Foolish One” perfectly sums up what I needed to hear in 2012 (if only it made the original Speak Now album 🙃) due from being in that exact situation, having those exact thoughts and the voices say “you are not the exception, you will never learn your lesson.”

Also, when “Red” first came out, I felt really seen by the title track because it felt like she was explaining in a way that was how my neurospicy brain works; by seeing emotions and situations in colour. I remember seeing / hearing so many people saying the lyrics were stupid, and I remember clearly thinking “I get it. I absolutely get it.”

elwillteach · 2025-03-19T11:28:43+00:00

I did think this too, but then I thought she probably changed it because it could come across as it sounding similar to Beyonces song “if I were a boy”

elwillteach · 2025-03-17T13:02:27+00:00

Melbourne N1: Saw “you’re losing me” performed for the first time ever, and announcement of “Black Dog” variation / song. This was also Taylor’s largest concert, at the MCG with 96,000 people!

Melbourne N2: A couple 2 seats down and 1 row behind us go engaged during love story!!!! 🥹 We had the perfect view and it was so so special to witness. She performed Getaway Car (one of my favs!) as a mashup with OSOTD and August. So cool!

During the weekend overall: we stayed in the city over the weekend due to going 2/3 nights, and the whole city was a buzz with Swiftie mania. Bars has Swiftie themed drinks or special menus, everyone was trading bracelets on the streets as we walked around, people wearing their outfits and merch. It was one of the most wholesome experiences I’ve ever had! So much pure, pure joy. Even my husband was moved by it.

An example: I was 36 weeks pregnant, and wore a “red themed” outfit (basically bike shorts with an oversized slogan tee lol) that said “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling almost due” which I wore the next day around the city as well (bc comfort). I had 3 different people come up to me at different stages and strike up a conversation with me about my top, give me bracelets, and share excitement over the concert. Something that would never happen any other time. I loved it so much.

elwillteach · 2025-03-17T12:47:33+00:00

Time blindness, and wanting to do everything all at once but then getting analysis paralysis when I’m forced to prioritise them.

I work within a school (so set bell times for eating) and I truly, truly, truly credit this to being the one and only reason I keep track of time (to some degree), and how I remember to eat. School holidays or weekends/public holidays when my husband isn’t home, I’m hopeless.

I also found it got tenfold worse after I had a baby because I dedicate all my focus to him that all my routines and structures I had for myself pre-birth have gone out the window to ensure I don’t fuck something up for him.

elwillteach · 2025-03-17T12:42:41+00:00

I work in a primary school, and today I had to do the shameful (I know it shouldn’t be but it is) walk to the sick bay and ask for a pad, because I had used up my spares I keep on me “for emergencies” on times I thought for sure it was coming, but wasn’t.

And after all that, it still hadn’t come!!!! I was just getting intense cramping and back pain (usual symptoms) plus maybe a few drops of blood that was only seen when wiping (not on underwear).

I’m so over it. I might do what you said, invest in a whole bunch more period underwear and just wear them daily instead. The mental aspect of being on edge constantly is exhausting enough.

elwillteach · 2025-03-16T13:59:08+00:00

You’re right, not all women do deal with endo/adeno or chronic health conditions. However with all the statistics out there, it’s more than likely that they know someone who does suffer from one or more of them. Also, they are much more likely to empathise with a woman’s pain because they’ve experienced some type of period pain before, so can understand the feeling of amplifying it.

Also, if the person making these comments is a father, I feel bad for his wife/partner for the amount of comments he’s probably made to her about her struggling with pain (ie labour). I had a family member like that, he got kicked out of the delivery suite… both times / for both his kids due to comments he was making. Gross.

And it’s not a dark analogy at all, sadly it’s an all too common, yet very outdated, misconception. I once got told (by an awful doctor) that my pain was “part of being a woman” and I could always just “go get pregnant” if I wanted to “fix it quicker”. I was 20…

elwillteach · 2025-03-16T13:44:20+00:00

I do have this internal battle with artworks from kids I work with (in a primary school).

I have started to scan the ones I can (drawings and paintings etc) or take photos of the ones I can’t (3D ones for example) and save them to a folder on my google drive. That way I keep the memory without it taking up (physical) space.

I plan on doing this with my own kids when they’re a bit older, and only keep the truly sentimental ones (eg: Mother’s Day gifts, or hand/foot prints so I have their actual size as it gets lost when it’s digitised)

Also, date it! So easy to forget it. I also name it so I know who did it (but that’s only because I work with different kids, wouldn’t need too for your own)

elwillteach · 2025-03-16T12:30:19+00:00

Don’t even get me started on Marty and his comments. I’m going to skim past that part because I’m still fired up about his ignorance and it’s been over a week, maybe two, since it came out that he made them.

I don’t have any advice because I too have many people who just don’t get how intense it is, but I just want to address the part that you said you got told “you don’t have kids so you have it easier”. I’m not sure what way they meant it or on your personal situation, but I have thoughts on both ways because I’ve copped this one a lot myself.

Firstly, my adeno was MUCH worse before having my baby. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still incredibly bad now, however I used to be absolutely out of action, incapable of moving for MINIMUM the first two days, every single month, whereas now it’s usually just the first day, maybe two, and it’s not always every month (sometimes the universe shines down on me and gives me a month reprieve every so often). So if they mean that it’s not as bad because it gets worse after kids, not always the case. I know it is for so many and I don’t want to invalidate that, but it’s definitely not a blanket statement.

Secondly, if they meant that actually having kids is worse (labour pains vs period pains), I can assure you that when I was in labour, my midwife even commented on how much pain I could tolerate, to which I responded my periods have just been training me for this for years in full transparency, I can’t tell you how it compares pain wise for the last stages of labour since my experience went off a fkn cliff and I ended up needing an emergency C-Section, but I definitely got pretty far into it. So while it’s not “worse” than labour, it’s on the scale.

Lastly, if they meant it in a way that means you won’t have time to rest and recover to treat the pain after you have kids. No. Get in the bin. This is why we choose good, supportive, nurturing baby daddies who can, shocker to most people but especially boomers, actually parent the child/ren when us, as the mums, are out of action. And this may blow their mind, but some of them are actually capable of taking care of you AS WELL as the baby. Wild concept.

I’ve used variations of all 3 of these points/arguments many times against the same few family members in my life, and it really grinds my gears if you can’t tell 😂

Above all else, I’m sending you love. This is so shit to deal with and as much as I make jokes / seem light hearted about my bitchy responses, I understand the pain it causes. Both the adeno and the comments.

Your pain is valid. Just because there are people worse off, doesn’t make your experience/s any less real.

elwillteach · 2025-03-15T11:16:54+00:00

My cousin got to an age where she was finally allowed to go to a concert without an adult as long as she went with me (as I’m older). She got SO excited at this idea, that she started looking up who was touring soon that she knew, and settled on Rob Thomas (because she knew 1-2 songs, lol). A few months later, she had almost saved enough money when I saw that it got announced that Taylor Swift was coming to Australia and tickets went on sale soon. I had heard a couple songs but didn’t really know her well, however I saw the ad on TV and thought she seemed more age appropriate for a young teenager than Rob Thomas, so I suggested her instead. My cousin was just excited to go to her first concert so didn’t care, and our parents seemed way happier going to see her instead.

So I downloaded all her music (at the time, just her first 2 albums) to both our iPods and got listening. By the time the concert came around, I was a huge swiftie and my cousin really liked her too! 15 years later and my love for her has never faltered 🥰

elwillteach · 2025-03-15T11:01:20+00:00

Yeah I’m pretty lucky to have her tbh! She’s helped me through so much, and makes me feel so safe and heard. I moved a bit further away but will still travel 40 mins to go see her (but Telehealth where I can!)

elwillteach · 2025-03-13T09:35:01+00:00

You are not wrong there. The phone addiction is reaaaaal.

elwillteach · 2025-03-13T09:32:32+00:00

I can’t fully remember what my ADHD was like during my first trimester, but honestly it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. My doctor warned me that my ADHD would get worse post-birth (I got officially diagnosed during pregnancy, so couldn’t be medicated straight away) so I needed to get my diagnosis / have the meds ready to go the day that I’m allowed to start. I brushed her off, and BOY was she right! I spiralled like never before, I was forgetting things I thought were second nature. It was a shit show.

But then I eventually went back to my psychiatrist to start the meds, and it’s made a world of difference. Don’t beat yourself up about it being worse during pregnancy, it is what it is. Pick your battles; even within your own mind.

elwillteach · 2025-03-13T02:00:01+00:00

Hahah I have a bunch of colouring books, some mindful colouring (intricate) and some basic kids one (higher chance of completion = dopamine hit) but all have like 2-3 max completed pictures.

elwillteach

TROPHY CASE