ADD@40?

[timemarcheson]

I am wondering if i havent been misdiagnosed for 20 years? I have been on and tried many antidepressants. They do seem to be helping with my mood swings (bitchyness) and crying for no reason spells. But i still have no desire to do anything or for anything. Im going on 43 so drs just checked me for pre-menopause. And i am at the mid point of it. But i am concerned now because i cannot concentrate on anything. I feel lost and dumb founded most the time. I have always felt i was the normal "smart" . Always A & B student. but now i will run across different things that  i used to do- examples...independant, was able to learn new things, remember things and now i cant get out and go to the store. I feel as if i am locked in my own house. I have quit fixing my hair, quit wearing make-up, don't really even get dressed everyday. Just stay in my gown cause i'll end up back in bed soon,...if i ever really get out. I don't know what is wrong with me. My mother is the same way, so maybe its hereditary.? I just want this to stop and get back to the real ME.
okay, now its confession time...why is it if we take adderall we feel normal? I feel like im too old to become adhd. Does ADHD and/or adderall sometimes go hand in hand with major depression?

[specialmom]

Oh, and I know you have very little energy or desire to leave your house but it would be worth it.  You do not have to look good to go to the doctor.  Sweatpants work fine!  Good luck.

[specialmom]

hello,  I was just thinking about your post and feel concerned for you.  I just know that there is a doctor out there that can help you.  Perhaps the diagnosis is ADD but maybe it is something you haven't even thought of yet.  A psychiatrist would be able to help you and it is always best to do talk therapy with it.  I do think you describe symptoms that a psychiatrist can help you with.  If you are currently seeing one and don't feel like they are helping, try again.  There are many doctors out there.  There is no cure for such lack of energy unless the underlying cause is found.  It is good you care enough to ask the questions.  But you need a professional to help you solve it.  You do NOT have to feel this way.  That is all I wanted to say and I wish you the best of luck.

[specialmom]

Hm,  I would have to read that article to discuss this with you.   But the problem with depression medications in my opinion after a decade and a half or so as a psychologist is that it became very easy to prescribe and all sorts of people that aren't clinically depressed were given it.  So it didn't work because their expectation was that the drug would fix their perceived problems.  Taking an antidepressent does not make you happy.  It helps you cope.  There are all kinds of links and cross overs to those that suffer depression but brain images of those DSM IV classified depression have an imbalance that we know can be treated.  Just my thoughts . . . but again, I have not read this article.  I'm interested in the new era of antidepressents that are coming down the pike.  One last note,  we usually treated our patients as a whole-----  they might or might not have been prescribed meds, but we did talk therapy (my end of things), encouraged healthy lifestyle, spiritual awareness, volunteering, taking responsibility when able.  I've been out of the biz for a few years now (kiddos, you know) but wow, have things changed that much?!

To the poster, I do agree that I would seek the help of a psychiatrist and counselor.  Pronto.  

[Sandman2]

By the way, I just read a major research article on   depression that may explain why the meds you have been taking haven't helped.  The study said that,    "More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief. Why? Because the cause of depression has been oversimplified and drugs designed to treat it aim at the wrong target, according to new research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "

  This is the link.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163346.htm

[Sandman2]

   Geez, isn't it nice to know that you "just lonely".   Well, I guess I would be lonely too if I were very depressed.   However, the problem is what is causing the depression, not the end result.
   You certainly could of had ADHD (or ADD) as a child, but because you were a girl and intelligent (and maybe because your mom also had the same problem and never dealt with it), it never got diagnosed.  Now its catching up with you.  It happens.  Read the posts by CR-ST-NA AND 1CENTWIZ and you will understand more.
   ADHD does go hand in hand with depression.  Some of our adult posters have been able to deal with their ADHD and their depression got a lot better.  You are certainly not too old to get ADHD because you probably have had it your whole life.  And yes, it is very hereditary. I really think its time for you to get some good professional help. It doesn't help to do a little research in the field of ADHD.  If you read some of my posts, you will find books I have mentioned and maybe also pick up on the fact that you certainly are not the only one bothered by this.
  The important thing is that it is time to do something.  You know it.  That is why you are asking for help.  If you have any other questions, please post.  Good Luck  !!

[allmymarbles]

Now I get it. You are lonely.

[specialmom]

Have you ever had your thyroid checked?  Hypothyroidism (too slow) can cause low energy as well and is directly linked to clinical depression.  It can cause many female issues as well that could look like the premenapause that your doctor's are checking you for.  

You are clearly depressed and i don't know about ADD.  Usually to be diagnosed with ADD as an adult you would tell tales of all kinds of difficulty as a child.  It sounds like this is a problem that has been brewing in your adult years and hitting a peak (I hope).  It does not go unnoticed that your mother is "the same way" and you are now caring for her.  

Good luck.

[timemarcheson]

Yes, i know adderall is actually speed. What is wrong with me? I have no get up and go left. I worked for 25 years and now i stay at home to watch my grandbaby and take care of my mother. I have a wonderful husband and he is only home for 4 or 5 days out of a month. I do much better when he is home but he has to work. I couldn't work now if i had to, it'd be just like another appt., i would soon find an excuse to avoid having to be around people and would not care if i  were fired. I know this sounds awful, but its how i really feel. I just want to be able to feel my normal and not procrastinate about everything. I wish it could be as simple as...well just don't be that way or just change. If it were that simple i wouldn't have let it get to this point.

[allmymarbles]

I hope you realize that Adderall is speed. Just because you get by prescription and not off the street doesn't change that. I wonder what kind of life you have that you can stay in bed, or at least in your nightgown, all day. Maybe you don't have enough to do. Do you have a husband? Children? Why don't you have a job? Then you would have to dress, fix your hair, etc., whether you felt like it or not. Maybe your cure is in removing the symptoms.

[CR_ST_NA]

i am 33 and was just diagnosed with ADHD. i am on adderall now and a very low dose of anti-depressant i feel normal for the first time in my life. i have always self medicated, and for the very first time in my adult life i am not so impulsive, im calm and rational and not so irritable. i thought i had major depression too, but it turns out its adult ADHD and the depression was just a symptom of it. Central Nervous System Disorders (which ADHD is) run in my family, so it makes perfect sense. its a miracle. for the first time i don't feel good=bad=or indifferent......JUST NORMAL.... im so greatful to God for giving my life back. just tell God how you are felling and ask him to bring the answer to you, i know it sounds so simple, thats because it is. you will be in my prayers. i hope you fell better soon. god bless... christina