Have you taken your medication??

Well there's a question that is beginning to burn my hide!
It's ranking right up there with " um, is it your time of the month or something?"
Wanna make a PMSer mad? Ask her THAT question!

Wanna make an ADHDer mad? Ask 'em if he or she has taken their meds.

Just because I have an ADHD moment, doesn't mean that I have skipped my meds. Conversely, just because I have had a GREAT day, doesn't mean that I have had a change in meds either! Just like anyone else, ADHDers have good days and bad days. Sometimes we seem to have it together ( at least on the outside) and sometimes we cant get a darn thing going well --- meds or not.

So Please, if you know or love an ADHDer.. Don't ask that person if they have taken his or her medication when he or she messes up. We might just only be having a bad day...

The Extraordinary found in the Ordinary

Ok, yep, I have definitely been accused of thinking too much. ( which is really funny for an ADD mind.. The converse is I have been accused of not thinking at all!! -- Hey, have I typed that one before? I need to check my other posts!!)
well, ahem, back to topic:
I was listening to the Duran Duran song, "Ordinary World" and even though it has absolutely nothing to do with ADHD, I found myself thinking how the song might apply.
Especially the chorus:

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

When I was first diagnosed, there were many yesterdays that I "cried for". The poor grades, the misunderstandings, lost friendships, failures, all the what ifs that occur to an adult ADHDer, " If only I had been treated sooner." Would I have graduated high school in the top 10% of my class? Would I have made better friends? Would I have been so lonely? Would there have been a place that I truly felt like I fit in? What did I miss out on personally, professionally, spiritually?? All of these things came flooding into my mind.

Funny how a song can touch you in a way that the author never intended. Its about a girl, a relationship, not a disorder. But you know? A lot of the lyrics fit.

No, I won't cry for yesterday any longer.. I'm looking for my ordinary world. There are those that would completely disagree with me. Who wants to be ordinary? That's boring!! I'll take my ADDledness over boring ol ordinary any day!

People forget that its really in the ordinary that the truly EXTRAORDINARY can be found.

Examples?

How about an ordinary field --- but with extraordinary secrets ready to be discovered? Wildflowers blooming in Springtime, ladybugs, butterflies adding beauty to the landscape. Is that really so ordinary?

Treating my ADD, I am, for the most part, an ordinary woman: I have no special rank or status, but under the ordinary, commonplace perception of me: There is something extraordinary. I know it's there, its hidden under all the mess ups, failures, and "foot in the mouth moments" that have represented my life.

The underlying extraordinary qualities: the creativity, the zest for knowledge, the inquisitive nature.. These things have come closer to the surface since becoming more "ordinary".

I am learning to survive in this ordinary world. I may never fit in, but I will make my way. In doing so, I will find those extraordinary things that make each of us a special part of God's creation.

Brain Tumors and medication?

Got your attention didn't I ?? Actually this is not about ADHD meds. But allergy meds.

Antihistamine use tied to Brain Tumors

http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/120/113896.htm

given the correct spin, Alarmists could make this a horrible dangerous drug.

I am being a bit sarcastic here.. My post for today is simply another rant and musing of medical treatment. All medicines have risks. The trick is measuring the risk against the benefits. I am a healthy ADDult. I have allergies, I take medication for them.. I now have possible risk for a brain tumor.. The likelihood that I get one is pretty nil.

At the same time, I am a healthy Adult, I have ADD. I take medication for it... I now have a possible risk to my heart.. But I have the best blood pressure and heart Rate for a woman of my age... The likelihood that I have a heart attack or stroke is pretty nil.

I choose the risks for the quality of life benefit. Without my allergy medication, I have been known to sneeze up to 36 times in a row! I am NOT kidding!! My family has actually counted!! Being tired all the time, feeling like I have a constant cold.. ewww.. its terrible. My day to day life is much better taking that Claritin.
Without my ADD medication, I am depressed, think I"m stupid, disconnect my self from others, get bombarded with too much at the same time.. I get so overwhelmed. I live life more fully with the aid of the metadate.
Do I need it all the time? Well, no.. not when I have no responsibilities.. but can you find a full time working mom with no responsibilities lately? We go 24/7 !
There are days when I skip just to make sure I'm not dependent.. I can usually accommodate my rightbrained style for a while.. but after a bit, it just gets too blasted difficult, and I slip back into all my ADD behaviors..
One day maybe they will find a cure for the negative traits of ADD.. till then, I'll eat healthy, watch my BP and stay under my Dr's supervision to minimize the risks of any prescribed medications that I have found necessary to put in my body.

My rant for the day ;)

Positive aspects of ADHD?

I had posted this to an email list and thought I would share it here also. Maybe for me to refer back to when i've had a bad ADD day, or maybe even to help someone else see that its not ALL negative to have this disorder!
BTW, I have heard so many tell me that the positive aspects of ADD also get dulled with medication. I have not found that to be the case. I am just as energetic, bubbily and silly on or off meds. The difference is that I have the ability to "turn it off" if I so choose.
Here is what I have learned about the positive side of ADHD through my on experience along with observing some of my students with the disorder:

Creative
Funny
Full of energy and enthusiasm about something they are interested in.
Thinking "outside of the box"
Kids are attracted to the ADDults ( maybe cause we act like them?)
Spiritual emotional conection to God
Intuitive
Some are Spontanious
Creative trip planners
Problem solvers
Deep thinkers ( I have never met an ADDer that didnt like to talk about either philosophy or religion!)
Passionate about thier beliefs
Loyal
Emotional therefore we can be very empathetic

and yes, I know there are many negatives also. But you know? If we always focus on the negatives, sometimes we forget about our strengths. One way to help our ADHD symptoms and not feel so overwhelmed is to focus on those strengths.. and once again, learn to laugh at ourselves when needed , and learn to accept ourselves as we are. Warts and all.
This is where I am in my journey.. I mess up, I feel a bit of shame, but, with medical help, I am learning to shake it off, to laugh, and go on..
its not easy, but if I continue to build on my strengths and connect to others..maybe the negative aspects won't seem quite so bad.