I was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 13 in the 7th Grade. My Dr prescribed me a low does of Ritilan and suggested I was only mildly ADHD. School became much easier and my grades began to go from C's & D's to B's with the occasional A... depending if I liked the course enough. While my grades faired better, the drugs really began to affect my personality. I was already a somewhat shy kid, but social none the less. Taking rittilan had a serious impact on my behavior making me pretty anti social.

While in college, I did not take any meds. For this reason I thought I was cured. My grades where all A's & B's and I worked well with my class mates and teachers. Entering the work place proved to be an entirely different animal.

For the last 6 years I have worked my tail off to try and adjust to the corporate world. Each year gets better, but by in large it has been a hard struggle. I went on Adderal for about 7 months, and quickly went off. I became paranoid, completely anixous and for the most part unlikeable.. I got the point where I didn't even like myself. I geniunely wanted to preform my best at work, Adderall helped me speed through some task but it completely flanked overall priorities.

I made the decision to stop taking Adderal and to work things naturally. I would wake every morning between 5-6 am and work out for an hour 1/2 before work. This seemed to help some, but I still felt fairly unfocused through out the day.

About 4 months ago I was rushed to the hospital after suffering an anxiety attack. I passed out and knocked my head on concrete, requiring 12 staples to the back of my head. A week later I saw my family physician to have the staples removed. I explained to her that I had an anxiety attack and fainted from it. I also shared with her that I had been on Adderal and felt this may have contributed to the incident. She recommend I take Lexapro for my aniexty and see a therapist. I was pretty stand offish to the idea of taking meds again, but thought there may be something to gain sense it's not a stimulant.

I have been taking Lexapro for the past 3 months, I have to say its has really helped. Since I feel more relaxed, I can focus much easier and prioritize better than I had before. I feel comfortable around others and with some coffee am able to focus well enough.

So thats a little about me... That said i wanted to share a few things that have helped me while on the job. Here are my Top 5

1) Tell myself every morning I love my job - This is importatnt, I get bored pretty easily and will begin to get negative if I am not feeling good about something. Sounds weird... but its been helping.

2) Be quick to respond - Being ADD does allow ideas to shoot fast... I always have a TON of ideas :)

3) Make list - So obvious, and I hate making them... but they are very helpful.

4) Staying humble and eager to learn

5) Becoming very energetic about my work ( this is where telling myself I love my job helps).

I have learned I can only do what really interest me. The hard part is I have tons of interest, and I tend to cycle through them like a change of clothes. The more I remind myself how much I enjoy it is that I am doing, the more likely I am to stick with it and do well at my pursuits.

I would love to know some of things that are working for you in your careers. There is a lot to be inspired by from ADD'ers, please share some of your tips.

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