Hello Everyone,

I was diagnosed with ADD 4 mths ago. I thought I’d be relieved at the diagnosis. Thought life would finally get better. It didn’t.

I’ve had 4 jobs since I graduated from college 11 yrs ago. I’ve been fired from each of them. The first 2 times was because I could never stay focused, organized, and motivated enough to produce. When I finally did get a job I was passionate about , my awful time mgmt and organization skills sent me to the unemployment line at lightning speed. In addition, I’ve always found myself taking jobs that were void of my interest, talent and skills. Jobs that were math & science heavy - 2 fields I have NEVER been skilled at nor interested in. This only accentuated my professional problems.

Surely I could not be this big a failure by nature. I knew something HAD to be wrong w/me. I suppressed the inklings after being hired at an oil & gas company shortly after the 3rd ax fell. I was miserable there too but my addiction to direct deposit, shelter and food caused me to remain there 9 yrs. After being in over my head with papers, emails and complex technical data to the point of cracking, I couldn’t fake it anymore. I needed to find out what was wrong with me.

When I was diagnosed a few mths ago, I was prescribed Adderall XR. I began taking it and was feeling good about my improved productivity at work. I couldn’t believe I was FINALLY starting become more aware & organized and could focus beyond the length of a commercial break. While I still loathed the work, I could at least get better at it and keep my job until my career change efforts came to fruition, right? Wrong!

A month after taking Adderall I was fired a 4th time. This company did random drug tests. When my name came up, I informed them that I was using prescription Adderall XR, even provided my doctor's info. Apparently, the test came back positive for amphetamine AND methamphetamine. I was fired because of the methamphetamine reading. Imagine my outrage. I have NEVER used meth a day in my life. I had just had a baby 4 mths prior and had stopped breastfeeding to take Adderall. But I'm suddenly a meth user? I was dazed, confused and downright pissed. I later learned from Shire (maker of Adderall) and various pharmacists that Adderall can cause a false positive for meth on certain drug tests. So, ADD has stuck it to me again. I've since stopped taking the meds. I can't afford it w/o insurance and I can't risk not being hired by another employer because of another faulty drug test.

So this is my life with ADD. I’m just praying my little girl doesn’t inherit this disorder from me. I’m currently trying to figure out how to manage the problem without meds but it’s very difficult. But I’m going to keep at it.

By the way, does anyone know of any support groups in the Houston area?

Quote