[Sleeping Beauty]

Hi all,

I have finally found out the cause of my concentration problems I have been having!!!

Apparently I have had ADD all my life! Has anyone else had ADD or ADHD before their concussion and had issues with it getting worse after their injury?

Thanks

[Theta Z]

The tbi-pcs led to what what my physician spoke of as an 'acquired-ADD-like' set of symptoms, that definitely were *not* part of my lifetime experience.

I was helped for about a year by Rx'd provigil (generic = modafinil), or Nuvigil.
Note: I *did not* take daily as prescribed. I took it only on the days that I truly needed to be 'doing' as proficiently, effectively as possible; not everyday of my life requires that now of me, fortunately or unfortunately as that may be.

I formerly, pre-auto collision/tbi, my life was lived working two jobs which I loved. Both of which were highly time-driven, time-sensitive, time-critical, right down to the minute/second! --- public radio studio operations manager, live-on-air 4 hrs. ea. morning 6 days a week; and was computer operations assistant & live-narrator of a 3D health sciences medical theatre. Life is in no way 'professional' any longer for me in that way. As I am nowadays, I cannot fathom ever being able to work under such time-driven stress ... although all those years, it was highly enjoyable, satisfying, 'easy' for me, and was not 'stress' at all for me.
Funny that; how things do change over the decades of our lives.

Glad to know that you are getting help with this now at this point, Beauty --- being in school, having to focus on studies, deadlines, etc.

[jinga]

Did the neuropsycologist tell you that you have add or did they say your scores on the testing show deficits with divided attention?

Maybe Mark can shed more light on this but I am not sure the initial test dertect for ADD. What test did they administer that showed this?

ADD as a cause could cause problems with settlement as the IC will say this was pre-exisitng and is the cause of your current condition

[Sleeping Beauty]

Jinga

I was told that I have ADD.
I honestly don't remember any of the tests or the diagnosis.
I was actually diagnosed about 10 years ago, but it was mild enough that I was able to go without medication. My parents parents didnt tell me until now because they didnt want me to go through school feeling like I was different from everyone else.

The ADD diagnosis came long before any PCS diagnosis. The my ADD symptoms just recently got worse when I got my concussions.

[Mark in Idaho]

Sleeping,

I bet your borderline ADD diagnosis was just that. Mild ADD does not mean much. Many people have a variety of the symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of ADD. 10 years ago, it was the classic diagnosis for anybody who was not succeeding academically as expected.

The divided attention, easy distractability and other ADD like symptoms have different causes when caused by concussion. There are a myriad of work-arounds and other accommodations for dealing with focus and distractability. Stimulant medications can be counter to recovery. I would try many other things before ADD meds.

Besides, many with ADD/ADHD just have lazy brains that have not learned proper functioning. Our culture no longer allows brains to learn how to maintain focus because of media that over-rewards short attention and under-rewards developing good attention skills. The same techniques work with PCS and development caused ADD. Volitional qEEG based biofeedback can be helpful.

Either way, the question is, Where do you go from here?