I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and am currently on Effexor XR. While it has helped me A LOT, I still notice that I experience some mood swings, up and down (but not manic like bipolar). I find it difficult to concentrate, and forget things all the time (short term stuff), and if too much is going on, I get really stressed. It feels like it's all in my head at once and it really stresses me out. I am slightly dyslexic (with numbers mostly) and have recently looked into ADHD and ADD, wonering if this is why I can't concentrate, etc. I just didn't know if anyone has it and could tell me if this is similar to what you experience. I don't want my doctor to think I am a nut, if it's not even close!
2007-11-23 09:48:44 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Mental Health
Talk to your doctor. Tell him/her what is going on. Also look at your past, especially your school years. If you have some of the same symptoms when you were a kid odds are you have it now. BTW, I have ADHD and you sound a lot like me. I was not diagnosed till I was 26 but they say I probably had it all my life. I put a link below. They have a great ADD test.
2007-11-25 08:17:19 · answer #1 · answered by Dawn S 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Neurological concentration difficulties are often linked to ADHD - Inattentive - or some type of the many epilepsies such as petit mal/absence, etc.
Historically, a person with classic ADHD will most likely respond to a central nervous system stimulant - alerting agent.
Other kinds of medicines such as mood medicines or the epilepsy medicines do not work for those with classic ADHD.
ADHD symptoms include the ideas of involuntary distractibility (often auditory) as well as thought continuity (short attention span, medium attention span, long attention span - and ability to use the human memory system).
It's the CNS stimulants - alerting agents (simplified) which work to temporarily improve the ability to pay attention, focus, concentrate, and use the memory.
A med for ADHD does not work for everyone, only some.
In some cases all a person can do is to recognize the symptoms when a med simply will not work for the person.
Good luck.
2007-11-23 10:12:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have adult ADHD and have never noticed memory problems. I do, however, have concentration problems. For me, my brain when not medicated feels like I have several ideas and thoughts and sensory things (sights, smells, etc) all going on at once. My concentration suffers because I feel so scatter-brained that its hard to focus on one thing. I also have problems with filtering what goes through my head. Typically, I say something before I'm even aware I think of it, and this results in what my stepmom calls "verbal diarrehea." This has never bothered me, but I have said things that were inappropriate for the context I was in. I don't have a mood problem. I am on the manic/hyperactive side most of the time.
Don't know if this helps or not. One of the things my doctor told me is that if the medication works effectively, then you most likely have ADD/ADHD. For me, the medicine helped to streamline my thoughts and helped me to focus on one thing to completion before going off on another tangent. It also helped me think things through better before speaking and helped slow racing thoughts.
2007-11-23 10:04:38 · answer #3 · answered by splurge_munki 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your doctor won't think you are a nut!!! They're trained to deal with this stuff--and trust me, they have seen MUCH worse. Talk to him or her--they're the only ones who can really figure out if you have ADD/ADHD.
2007-11-23 10:08:52 · answer #4 · answered by xo379 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
difficulty concentrating is a symptom of depression, thats all.
2007-11-23 15:23:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋