Interferon Induced Attention Deficit Disorder

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

While on tx I've started to suffer with I.I.A.D.D. This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

[epiphiny]

the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm totally exhausted.

I realise this is Brain Fog and I'll try to get some help for it, for now I need to go back to bed!

[Marcia2202]

thanks for sharing that. wow... that's a tough one! I haven't had it anywhere near that bad ... wow... I'm so sorry that you are having such bad brain fog.

It sounds unbelievable and any one not having felt brain fog, will think you are telling a joke, especially since you wrote it so well.

I hope it will get better soon!

Hugs,

Marcia

[Myown]

:o) How true! I have it too.

[Isobella]

That is funny...because it is a joke :-)

I have gotten it as an e-mail before.

But now I am livin it!!

Isobella

[epiphiny]

Hehehe, yes, i found it on another website but it so perfectly outlined my life on tx I had to share it.  It is exactly what I go through every weekend!  

Fortunately my job has a set protocol that I have to follow which doesn't leave much room for my ADD to get in the way.  But of course there are moments when I really can't remember what to say or do next!

I gave this to my husband to read and he laughed himself silly as it is exactly his experience of me on tx....

[comeagain]

Thats me when normal.

[Marcia2202]

You naughty girl! You really got me there!

1 to 0 for you! Good one!!!

[medicmommy]

OMG! Been there, done that!!! I ACTUALLY forgot I was doing the driving one day when I was on the freeway! FREAKED ME OUT!!! LOL  -The good news? I am 8 weeks post txing now, -and NO BRAIN FOG!!!! I can remember numbers, what I need to get done without writing everything down, I don't do one task (like taking a measurement of something) 10 times because i couldn't hold it in my head for 30 seconds!!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Hang in there!  (((((((((((((((((((((((HUGZ))))))))))))) ~Melinda

[Kristina538]

OMG - I couldn't stop laughing;  

This happens to me SO OFTEN lol!!!;  I'm soooooo proud of myself when I complete something!!!  And God forbid if a family member talks to me when I'm on my way to do something;  I TOTALLY forget.  

Thank you so much - I'll share with my family :-)

[meki]

JUST FYI --- I was totally ADHD prior to TX --- but no one knew it...

LMAO!

I knew it... but I kept it way under control...

But somewhere after the second shot - I lost the capability of keeping it under control ---- ROFLMAO ---- and EVERYONE knew I was ADHD --- I couldn't hide it for nada!

Anyhow --- This is hilarious.

I'm so there...

It's how I clean the house... always have -- and the ex-hubby used to get so upset --- that I quit cleaning.... until he got over it.

I will pick up an item - take it to a room - and then see something else in that room that needs to go in the other room - and when I get to the kitchen - I'll notice the floor needs to be swept - so when I go to the broom closet to get the broom - I'll notice the smudge on the door --- so I will wipe the door down - then I'll take the paper towel to the trash - and the trash needs to be emptied - so I empty the trash - but have to put the bathroom trash in the big trash can - before I take the trash out --- so I go into the bathroom - and put the little trash bag into the big trash bag and notice the tub needs scrubbing - so I go under the sink to get the comet - and notice that the cabinet needs to be organized....

And so on --- and so on.

But that's how I've always done it - so it's normal for me... Takes a bit longer than just picking one project ---- BUT everything --- every room gets done if you just leave me alone long enough... LMAO!

[scratchinghead]

whoa, from your descriptions of ADD I know I am ADD and I'm not even on treatment.

[can-do-man]

Do i dare ask how you go shopping? Makes me dizzy just thinking about that.:)

cando

[meki]

ROFLMAO --- uhmmm... I used to follow the list precisely --- Now... I just walk up each aisle one by one... Otherwise I'm in the damn store for way tooooooooooooo long.  

[CanaryParker]

I always end up laughing after talking to friends about it....they and some docs say it's menopause...I don't think so...didn't have these problems since the hcv chemo....but it's disturbing.
On tx, it was a horror....I forgot my name, address, how to drive...I have a stick and had it all messed up....had to go step by step..to get going....couldn't introduce people because I forgot their names too! Long time friends!
The worst is that memory still is not the greatest....short term...and why did I go into the kitchen? bathroom? and sometimes, all dressed nice with makeup too and get in the car and forgot why I was going for a drive..to where?! Then suddenly, recall.
I keep a spiral calendar and always fill it as soon as I get an idea, appointmnents, meetings with friends or others.....bills to be paid,.....jsut have to remeber to keep it on me..near me...and to write in it!
I don't know what happened and docs aren't sure but know that the tx messed me up  bad...2 have known me for near 30 years...they think it 'fried' the nervous system and still doing tests on me...nerve sheaths, etc....i sometimes get 'intermittent ataxia'
..a multi-tasker...great memory....and then some....
And have some dyslexia too!
I have to spellcheck everything. Vowels are the worst. Besides art, I wrote articles and stories for publications. Vocabulary ***** now.
And then that...what was I writing about? or talking about? thinking about?
It's been 4years since the end of tx...most of which is not remembered.
Well....I can still do art..once I know exactly what I'm doing with a rough sketch and have all supplies at hand.
And can watch movies more than once since I cna't recall all the details anymore.
Movies I like much are copied and watched again on and off....
Still gets scary sometimes driving....

This may give my 'anonymity' away...but I worked with 'troubled' and disabled kids...and horses who also have a 'history', part time, which means when I can.
Can't work full time with anything anymore. Not reliable.
I ended up working with some Mustangs and noticed the sun was going down...and i was real tired. Loaded up all the gear and headed home which should have been an easy thing to do...nope..ended up on some lone dark 2 way nearing the next state..and this and the next are big states! .i had driven for hours, thinking..ha...I'd see something familiar
Now I avoid driving at night.
Don't get me started about food shopping! List or no list...

[meki]

LMAO -- Hugs...

But - I keep my sense of humor...

And that helps tremendously!

[ilene341]

It is comforting that I'm not the only one. Sounds just like me all the time. I keep thinking  that it will pass. Than if I have a good day I pat myself on the back all the rest of the day and encourage my family and friends to do the same. We have to celebrate all our little victories, because to us they are tremendous! Bless you all. We will get through this.

[alagirl]

I have ADHD too, not just ADD.  Basically, that means you can't remember what the h*ll you're doing, but you do it really fast anyway.

That said, if you are currently tx'ing, some of the nuttiness could be due to the tx drugs.  My brain is still not back totally from tx, but its doing a lot better.  For instance, I can spell again most of the time now, and if you dial back in archives about nine months, you'll see that I couldn't even spell basic words sometimes.  (Of course, that could have also been the general hypoxia from my low blood count, since I DID always talk to that lady in my head - only out loud and in front of people - whenever I went down close to an 8 hgb).  I also wasn't allowed to take my adderall (adderrall) on tx because my hgb was so low they wanted to spare my heart.