easy child wants medications for ADD? Please respond

[hearthope]

DDD ~ it is more than math and sports, those are just standing out more than the rest

Nancy~ That's my easy child! she doesn't want to be president, she just wants to comprehend what she reads and be able to remember it in an hour.

She wants to start a conversation and be able to finish it~ not jump from one thing to another.

Is it common for this to appear this strongly at this age? She is 17.
I would say in the past 6 mths I have caught myself reminding her when she jumps topics in conversation, it has become the norm.
example~ she comes in from a date, she wants to tell me everything they did. She starts at the beginning of the date and jumps around to the end then middle and then she will start on something that has nothing to do with the date. I will say you were telling me about your date and she will say oh yea, and go back to the date story. Sometimes she will forget all together what she was talking about before and I have to remind her.

I see it more now than before. Am I missing something else?

Last summer she worked at an upscale rest. as a hostess, She is the one they call in to train new girls.

She worked the three previous summers in my shop, very fast-paced watch the clock work, she is the best help I have ever had. It is a huge multi-task place and she has it all mastered.

Again, is there something I am missing? Is this ADD?

 

[hearthope]

MWM~ is strattera used for ADD as well?
I really thank you for your insight, I would never think easy child would do that, but I also didn't realize my difficult child was using cocaine either, so I have had the wool pulled over my eyes before.

Your post has left me wondering, she used the name adderall when she asked about seeing the dr. She spoke with my mom about it, knowing she would react.

Also in all my meetings with the police, they have told me the #1 drug problem in our school is prescription drugs.

 

[Nancy]

hearthope, you are descirbing my easy child exactly. She will talk nonstop going from one subject to another. We have to ask her if there is a new subject in there because she will just start talking about something else in the middle of her conversation and we have a hard time following her. We laughed about it for years but it's all making sense now. She loses things, misplaces them constantly. She was home a couple weeks ago and her Dad was driving her back to school and she was holding something in her hand that was important and I told her to put it in her purse. She sd ok and walked out the door with it in her hand. I told her to get her parking pass from her car before she left...she walked out the door and didn't take it. It's like she isn't hearing what you are saying but I know she is. I would watch her coach in gymnastics correct her on something and she would go right back and do it wrong, I'm not talking about a skill she couldn't do, I'm talking about something she should be able to coreect and just didn't. It happened over and over again.

One year in high school she lost/misplaced at least 6 sweatshirts. This isn't like her, she is very concientious. She asks a ton of questions, once her teacher sd she thinks she likes to hear herself talk. But she does it I believe because it's hard for her to focus and she wants to make sure she understands it. Other students get annoyed at her for that.

The thing is she is a sweetheart, very bright, cares very deeply about things, very friendly, teachers and employers love her. No one would think she struggles with things. It sounds like your daughter is very much like that.

Nancy

 

[hearthope]

Nancy they do sound alike!
My easy child is a pleaser, I always thought that was a coping skill from living with her difficult child brother.
I really saw her struggle yesterday in her tournament, her coach corrected where she was on the court and you could see in her face she was concentrating as hard as she could to get in the correct position. (they drill this at practice!!)

She has a wonderful outgoing personality, she makes you laugh.She is everyone's friend and everyone confides in her.

She will start to go in a room and forget what she went in the room for. We always have a laugh when she is telling a story too, it is just known that you have to remind her of her starting topic.

Was there a time with your daughter that this stood out more?
Maybe a certain age or event? or a stressful schedule?

I have noticed easy child's in the last several mths. She is looking at colleges, she started her traveling v-ball schedule which has 3 hrs of practice 3 times a wk and we get in late from practice. She has to unwind and is getting to bed at 11:00 or 11:30 instead of 10 during the week. We are also up early on the weekend to travel to the tourney sites and they play v-ball all day. The prom is next mth, She got a car for her 17 b-day and will be allowed to drive alone at the end of this mth
She seems to be at her best when she has a day or two of nothing going on.
Just wondering if you see this in your easy child?

 

[Sara PA]

Sudden onset of those symptoms in a high school student? You have to question whether she's already using drugs.

 

[hearthope]

Sara it is not a sudden onset. As the other posters acknowledged I too have been in a whirlwind dealing with my difficult child, and my easy child has suffered from all my attention being on difficult child.
We always just thought it was her personality, but now with the extra pressures she is under she is having a difficult time and she has voiced her own concern for her lack of ability to stay on task.

 

[Nancy]

I noticed the gymastics thing very early on. I would sit in the balcony and watch for hours, she was young maybe 10. She has always talked constantly and asked zillions of questions ever since she could talk. The schoolwork thing became more noticeable in high school when the subject matter became harder. It became a big enough problem in college where she wanted to try medications.

She is a pleaser too and I always thought it was from living in all the turmoil in the house from her sister. I think that's probably what caused a lot of her anxiety, although she says she knew she was anxious and had fears very early on before difficult child's problems.

Picking a college was difficult. She would decide within 10 minutes if she liked it or not, and then change her mind several times. First she wanted to go no further than 2 hours, then no further than an hour, then she decided on a college 20 minutes away. She lasted one week on campus and came back home for the first sememster, wasn't ready to leave home. She went back on campus the second semester and has been there since and now loves it. But change is very difficult for her and just last week dropped a course because she said she could not concentrate on it.

I think the only time easy child was truly happy and focused was when she was in gymnastics. Her schedule was like your daughter's. She practiced 24 hours a week, often eating and studying on car rides and not gettign enough sleep, but she was better able to get everything done when her time constraints were very limited, it forced her to focus.

Frankly I was worried about her driving alone. She got lost a lot and has no sense of direction. This Christmas we got her a navigation system for her car and I am much relieved. She has slept through dr appointments and often has to be reminded of things she has to do, people to call. One of the reasons we thought it wpould be such a good idea for her to live on campus was to force her to be more responsible...and yet she is terribly responsible, almost to a fault...do you know what I mean? Maybe we thought it would get her to focus better on what she had to do.

Nancy

 

[Nancy]

Sara, I don;t get that this is sudden onset at all. I am quite certain drug use is not the problem.

Nancy

 

[Nancy]

hearthope I should say that NONE if this hit us until three weeks ago when easy child asked to check into ADD medications. She sd she has thought for years she had ADD. It just never occurred to us because she got wonderful grades and was very accomplished. It all fits together now.

Nancy

 

[hearthope]

Nancy I am laughing now, cause there is someone else with a easy child like mine!!!I thought we were special and had the only one LOL!!

My parents live in the same town as her practice, we have gone the same route a zillion times. When easy child started driving we showed her many times the way, she will still forget a turn every now and then. When she is out with her friends she will call for directions somewhere, and I always have to get her to some familar place for her to understand the directions.

She hates to be grounded. To try to make her more responsible and to keep up with her grades, I asked for wkly progress reports. She would forget to get them, so I eventually told her she would be grounded for the next wk if she didn't bring it home fri. I started putting it together when I found notes she had posted herself, everywhere. She would be crushed if she got home without one, I think she was more mad at herself for not remembering than for being grounded.

I, like you, are saying am just connecting all the dots together.

She is such a joy to be around and will make you smile and laugh on your worst day, I just thought she was always thinking of something else instead of paying attention

 

[Nancy]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">She is such a joy to be around and will make you smile and laugh on your worst day, I just thought she was always thinking of something else instead of paying attention </div></div>

AMEN!!!!

easy child bought herself one of those wipe-off monthly planners you put on the wall. She writes all her appointments, everything she needs to remember on it. It's helped a lot.

Does easy child have a cell? Can you text her during the day to remind her of things? I don't want to encourage phone use during school but after school when she turns it on maybe she can be reminded. I've even done that with difficult child to remind her to bring home certain homework assignments.

I can remember easy child crying herself to sleep when she was young because she was afraid she would forget something the next day. I never understood that. easy child often said it was hard being her, that broke my heart.

Nancy

 

[Sara PA]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nancy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sara, I don;t get that this is sudden onset at all. I am quite certain drug use is not the problem.

Nancy </div></div>

In the OP she mentioned that her daughter was a good student until sometime last year and then later said "Is it common for this to appear this strongly at this age? She is 17.
I would say in the past 6 mths I have caught myself reminding her when she jumps topics in conversation, it has become the norm."

I interpretted that to mean it was new behavior since she was a junior in high school. Add that to wanting a presription for a specific amphetamine, I'd at least be wondering. Changes in behavior, dropping grades, seeking drugs are on all the lists of red flags.