Recent forum posts (all topics)

  • on motivation by: kfrancist 15 years 7 months ago

    here's something i'm currently frustrated about: i have adhd.

    to make things worse, i have a girlfriend who thinks my problem is that i'm simply not "motivated".  and i can't can't figure out what the hell that means, because to me it seems obvious that i have plenty of motivation. 

    i have a daughter to support (from a previous relationship), i have a girfriend i love that i'd like to stay with, i have a nice apartment with this girlfriend that i would like to continue to live in, there are tons of things i want to do with my life that i won't be able to do unless i gain some level of financial stability...

    yet i keep wasting time--not looking for a job.  trying to focus on this is like trying to push the like poles of two magnets together--my mind just keeps sliding off to the side.

    maybe i don't understand what motivation is. 

    it seems like, in her mind, it's a fairly straightforward concept; motivation is what comes from motivators--those things (like daughters, girlfriends, nice apartments, and life-goals) that drive or inspire one to do constructive things. 

    but, for me, there's a disconnect in there between the motivators and the actual motivation.  for me, anxiety is what comes from motivators.  in fact, the very word "motivation" causes me a considerable amount of anxiety.  it's one of those words that tormented me throughout my childhood--flung back and forth across the offices of countless teachers in those meetings with my parents where i could never see any good reason for my being there unless the intent was to humiliate me.

    so i guess this is what i need to work on: connecting motivators to motivation rather than anxiety.  maybe i'll run that by my therapist.

    in any case, i let my girlfriend read this before posting it, and it turns out that she thought i was just splitting hairs over concepts and semantics.  she didn't realize what it all meant to me.  hence the fight.  so now we're not fighting--so at least there's that.

  • Where do you grab the octopus? by: Aspen 15 years 7 months ago

    I just found this resource though Dr Hallowell's books are the backbone of our ADD library.  Some of the feelings I'm reading sound SOO familiar, though I have to appreciate that my situation is not nearly so extreme as what many of you are facing.  My heart sincerely goes out to everyone in the ADD predicament.

    8 years ago I married THE ONE for me.  Awesome guy in every respect and focused on our relationship (even when it was only a friendship) to a very flattering degree.  As many of you have experienced, this focus changed a couple years into our marriage hurt my feelings quite a bit.  Other than that, which we dealt with through both healthy communication and some angry fights (which sometimes seem the only way to make him genuinely aware of a situation), things went pretty smoothly until about 3 years ago.  My husband describes the phases of our marriage as "Man this is a blast" to "A few things we could work on to be a more successful couple" to "things that NEED to be worked on now" to finally hitting "WHY AREN"T THESE THINGS WE'VE DISCUSSED OVER AND OVER EVER GETTING DONE?!!??!?" 

    His reason was always "I don't know" when I asked him why he wasn't following through with a plan we made together.  Man he was relieved to read that Dr Hallowell feels "I don't know" is a valid answer for an ADD person--he'd probably feel more relieved if I agreed with Dr Hallowell better :)  My anger & disappointment built steadily, and it vented at him loudly when he failed ONCE AGAIN to do what he had agreed to (possibly because he cheerfully agrees to everything asked by anyone).  No human could follow through on it all, but the idea of saying NO and disappointing someone seemed insurmountable to him.  To this day he can't explain why saying YES and disappointing ppl by not following through feels more acceptable to him....

    His only answer after the same discussions and arguments over and over was perhaps something was wrong with him.  Now I am married to a HIGHLY functioning ADD person, he has no hyperactivity so many ppl still don't believe him when he says he even has ADD, he is extremely intelligent, and I had taken mental health classes and he didn't fit the symptoms of anything I had read about; so I didn't put much stock in maybe he had "something wrong".  He just seemed to be a person who enjoyed fun things more than unfun things.  Welcome to the human race--suck it up.  I finally told him that I was sick of hearing the same old "maybe" thing and if he really thought something could be wrong, go to the doctor, figure it out, but for heaven's sake DO SOMETHING about it.  It seemed like he didn't understand the toll that his unreliability was taking on our marriage and my ability to count on him.  We took stock at the end of a difficult year of arguing, and he finally was motivated to try to figure out why he felt so stuck.  He did the research and suggested ADD.  I was shocked as he didn't fit my mental image of ADD at all, but boy howdy once you do the research he is sooo ADD.

    Long story not too much longer (LOL) he was diagnosed with ADD 2 years ago.  He was relieved to find out there was a reason for so many things that seemed inexplicable--he is practically a genius yet flunked out of college because he couldn't/wouldn't bother going to class.  No ability or desire to organize himself at all.  Naturally he married a woman who LOVES organization.  I devoured information on ADD and shared it with him as he didn't seem to want to read the books.  We both met with his doctor for the first visit, but afterwards the doctor has only wanted to see him.  He recommended a coach (we need a referral for insurance to pay) and he LOVES talking to his coach, but his stinking "coach" is JUST LIKE HIM!!  It sounds like an "Oh i do that too" fest every time he talks to him.  And though he really enjoys his coach and the validation he feels from meeting with him he actually went 8 months without meeting with him because he kept forgetting the appts and then once you are out of the rotation it's very difficult getting back in.  I'm irritated because I thought a coach was supposed to be helping him develop tricks and routines to cope with his ADD, but it sounds like he just sympathizes and maybe then tells him one thing to work on.  Which frequently he DOESN"T work on and when he sheepishly confesses this to the doctor, he tells him "yeah I'm not surprised.  Especially once you missed a couple appts I knew it wasn't going to happen"   Please tell me coaching is supposed to be more productive than this!!!

    I swear in the beginning no non-ADD spouse could have been more supportive than I was, but we are 2 year into this process and I feel like almost no change has taken place.  I think he wanted the pills to be majic bullet and that he wasn't going to have to put any work into it himself.  My patience is fast fading.  I do not expect this to ever not be part of our lives, and we honestly have ourselves some great laughs about it at times, but so often it feels like he isn't trying at all.  He genuinely thinks that THINKING about making a change counts as trying.  Ok fine in the beginning count thinking and organizing yourself as trying, but 2 years later is he still THINKING about it???  I mean I bring perfectionism to the table which I know is no picnic for him, and he seldom complains; but I feel the difference is that I am actively working on it. 

    His doctor isn't the greatest of communicators, but he makes suggestions that my husband agrees are good ideas but they are not implemented.  His "coach" has made some suggestions.  They are mostly not followed.  2 years later and we're still working on "write down your committments as you agree to them" and I bet a full 30-40% are not being written down.  Fortunately I have a great memory, and our schedules are not extremely different, so I'm mostly able to keep up with both our schedules, but IRL I am a secretary for an ADHD woman so I don't want to come home and continue the frustration.  He doesn't have to follow along behind me making sure my part gets done (and my part as all you nonADD family members know is FAR MORE than my fair share).  

    I didn't mind it so much when it felt like this was part of what I was doing to help our family function as a team, but at one point I was in full on Mommy mode which was affecting our intimacy.  I've let that attitude go for the most part, but the things I don't follow up on often fall by the wayside.  Yes I am a nag at times and yes I hate it.  But I feel forced into this position.  I feel like I have tried SOO many things.  When a project comes up, I let him set the due date and promise not to bring it up until that date has passed with the project still undone--just allows more projects to accumulate undone as far as I can see.  And I am that much angrier it is still undone.

    He had gotten to where he was hardly helping with housework at all, which was NOT AT ALL the deal he agreed to when we got married because we;re both gone a minimum of full time, but at least for a few months at a time I appeal to his competitve nature by assigning points to the FLY LADY missions and competing with my mother to see who can get more done at home.  He loves helping rack up the points, so it keeps our house in decent shape.

    He hates that i get so mad about these things, but i read in a book somewhere about how the ADD person at times will button-push his mate to cause the angry reaction which then provides him with the adrenaline rush to get things done.  Like he just can't get started on his own.  I believe 100% he does this to me, (once i start yelling he starts scurrying around doing all his unfinished projects but then he is resentful that I am harsh with him and i am exhausted).  It just flat out offends me.  We've discussed it and he can see that he likely does it, but since it's unconscious he doesn't seem to feel there is much he can do but say he is sorry when it happens.  And "try to remember" not to allow his subconscious to do it.  I can see how that feels overwhelming when you can't get past "write down your committments", but I can't tell you how tired I am of "I'm sorry".  What the heck good does that do without action to keep it from happening again?

    This thing has so many darned tentacles, where do you grab it to work the steps to a "good enough" routine.  He'll admit that he isn't there yet, but meanwhile he'll forget his doctor appts, double book our weekend evenings, and act paralyzed to get past square 1.  How how how do we move this forward???

  • New member here, just thought I would say hello... by: tornado_scott 15 years 7 months ago

    Hi.  My name is Scott and I am a new member of these forums.  I am 32 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD about 6 years ago.  

    I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and communicate that I am open to answering questions and actively participating with all of you.  I have the same or similiar struggles that others have and I have good days and bad days but I am determined not to let these challenges define a single aspect of who and what I can be.  I welcome your advice and opinions and hope that I can share some of my own.

    I look forward to sharing.

    Regards,

    Scott

  • link with restless leg and OCD? by: susi78 15 years 7 months ago

    hi.  I wanted some feedback on how to better handle dealing with The adhd person and his annoying habits.  My husband has restless leg syndrom, OCD, doesn't know he is singing and he sounds horrible(the kids yell for him to stop when he starts that moose mating call!!), he leaves his things all over the house, is financially irresponsible, yet tells me, "but I have a good heart and I'm trying!"  I feel like a monster b/c we can't even watch a movie together without me saying.."stop biting your nails, moving your legs...tapping on the couch and/or tapping your forehead!" I tell him it's making me nervous and distracting me from the movie. He is at first okay and tells me, "I didn't know i was doing it."  Then a minute later he is doing it again. I say something and he starts screaming for me to leave him alone!!! then we fight.

     His boss is highly annoyed with his constant leg shaking and kicked him at a meeting under the table b/c he was moving the table with all these buyers around!! 

    What annoys me the most is he has a 10yr old son who is so much like him and his boy works his nerves and is constantly getting yelled at by my husband.  He denies the two being at all alike.  The child and my husband are both medicated but still it is a challange.

    I don't know how to cope with all these annoying behaviors.  He knows their an issue but says he doesn't know he is doing them when he is. 

    He also was officailly diagnoses with Oppositioanl deviant and bipolar nos.  It is awful sometimes to just be in his prescense. 

    I'm so frustrated...

  • ADHD Wife with housewife issues by: Lmontgomery1984 15 years 7 months ago

    I'm a 25 year old woman who has been married for just about a year and a half to a wonderful man. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 6 years old, and tested many times over the years. I've been to see several doctors, tried multiple types of medications, treatments and therapy. Currently I take 30mg of Adderall twice a day, which I hope soon to bring down to 20mg twice a day.

    When my husband and I got together in 2007, we clicked in everyway. We both wanted a traditional family where he was head of the family and I was head of the home. He knew that I wanted to be a housewife and stay at home mom. Before and after we got engaged I tried to talk to him about my issue of having ADHD and that I do have problems with conflict, focus, and getting things done, that I've been having problems like that my whole life. He responded everytime that he doesn't believe that ADHD exists, that its something that doctors and drug companies came up with to make money, that I just need to focus and do what has to be done. 

    Well, we got married at the end of 2007 and have a loving marriage except for the fact that I have a problem with getting housework done. Let me go back and explain something first. When I got married I didn't have insurance to stay on my medication for adhd and I didn't get back on my meds for about 8 months into the marriage. And convincing my husband that I needed to get back on treatment didn't go well at all.  For those 8 months I felt like a child, no matter what I did I couldn't keep my mind focused on getting even something simple done. Putting dishes in the dishwasher, making the beds, etc...Now I'm back on my meds and its helping out a lot, but there is the problem with the hyperfocus thing, (anyone with add/hd know exactly what I mean). My husband would come home and see that not everything was done, that I wasn't doing what I said I would do when we got married. This would start huge fights that would last hours, that would leave me crying like a baby and hardly able to talk because I was overwhelmed with not knowing what to say. He would complain about how I can't communicate and when I do I go into a huge long winded detailed story. I don't know how to break things down like he can. I just wish he could understand that.

    My hardest problem is staying focused and not procrastinating. Its not fair to him or myself that I can go to work and work hard there because it's a job I enjoy, but when I'm home I can't do simple house chores. I hate feeling like a disappointment to him, I hate knowing that he thinks I'm being lazy and that I'm doing this because I don't love him. I hate that he feels like I'm not contributing to our marriage. He sees that I can read and play a game for hours, but I have a hard time being the housewife I said I wanted to be. He tells me everytime during a argument that ADHD is just an excuse, you just don't want to follow through, you can't be an adult and grow up and get over it. How can I get him to understand? I don't know what to do, I really try and I see why he's upset. I just don't know how to get over my complications and do what I need to do without giving up.

  • Telling the kids by: LeeAnonymou 15 years 7 months ago

    I have an elementary school child with ADD and a teenager who does not have it. He's doing well on medication and it's just a non-issue in our family. He's bright and funny and adored by his friends, and we're working on how to manage real life successfully.

    My new problem is that my husband is going through a crisis, and I've come to believe---he's even admitted it might be true---that he has ADD as well. It can be a beautiful thing when things are good, but the least amount of stress---and there's a lot of it now due to economy, job issues, and mid-life crisis of sorts---and I'm suddenly the enemy and the source of all his problems. It has faded in past episodes, but we have a new wrinkle now. The kids are old enough to understand this time that something's not right, that their father is being pretty mean to Mom right now, Mom's self-esteem is plummeting, and that Dad is starting to be mean to them, as well, with cutting remarks, unpredictable behavior, and yelling (NEVER physical abuse). My advice to them, particulary my older son, is to just ignore it, not to take it personally, Dad's having a rough time right now. 

    But it's not fair to them. And I worry about perpetuating this in their adult lives if they see that this is the way we handle conflict. My husband has no boundaries---we are his, he'll do with us what he likes, but his life is his business and we'd better stay out of it. This takes the form of reading personal materials (diaries, for instance--- I'm a writer, and I've stopped keeping diaries/journals because he reads them without permission and then gets angry at his interpretation of them), throwing out personal effects without permission, scheduling everyone for things without letting us know then being angry because we've got other plans (which we told him about but didn't register/don't matter), and comments about our character and "what's wrong with us." He shows up for things when it's convenient for him, and makes no bones about not wanting to attend "stupid school programs that he's had to suffer through before."  He won't understand this is hurtful and tells us to toughen up. Everything is about him--- kids are second, and I am absolutely last in line.

    They SEE this. They get it. They ask me about it.

    I'm coming to understand, mostly through this blog, what I'm dealing with, that I'm not the stupid, annoying person with "issues" that he makes me out to be. But how do I explain it to my sons without violating a boundary, and violating their trust as well as his?  I feel as though his behavior lately requires some explanation to them--- my eldest takes his father's critical outbursts and intolerance personally. He's a kid--he hasn't had time to develop skin thick enough to let this treatment from a loved one just go---but I can't slam their father to them either.

    What do I tell them? How do I help them understand they are good, sweet kids and that it's not about them? That they need to be compassionate towards their father, but still not let him run roughshod over their self-esteem? That their dad is a good man who needs and deserves their love no matter what, but, boy howdy, ain't he behaving like a jerk right now? And when will he be back to being their daddy?

    How, too, do I help my ADD child not perpetuate this in his own life?

     

  • Food intolerance for ADDers by: Jude 15 years 7 months ago

    I wanted to let everyone know of a food issue that may help those suffering with ADHD. My partner has been on this diet for just a week but it has already made a huge difference. He is much calmer (now I'm the stressful one waiting for him to flare up again!)

    Basically, some common chemicals in foods, including fruits and vegetables, can cause ADD/ADHDers to act up. Salicylates in particular have commonly been linked to ADHD symptoms, and the absence of them (and sometimes other food chemicals) have helped many people.

    People would need to do a pretty strict elimination diet to know for sure, but even just a trial of cutting out high salicylate fruits and vegetables, preservatives and colourings can help an awful lot.

    I can't encourage you enough to do some exploring of your own, you'll see the evidence is substantial.

    Here are some sites for further info:

    https://www.fedup.com.au/

    http://salicylatesensitivity.com/

    or actually even just google "salicylates adhd"

    Has anyone else tried eliminating salicylates and amines?

  • ADHD Wife Passive Agressive Husband at Wits End...REALLY REALLY NEED HELP! by: KAS 15 years 7 months ago

    I am not sure where to start.  I apologize ahead of time if this rambles a bit or gets long.  Please read though. I am at my wits end and really need some help and/or advice from people that understand the struggles with ADHD and marriage

    I am the one with ADHD.  My husband has always been an avoider and through recent marital counseling I have come to believe that he is extremely passive aggressive.  He of course denies this and feels it is unfair that I am putting a label on him.  He says that he has some of the traits, but doesn't feel he has enough to have a problem. We haven't had a lot of time to talk with the therapist about this, but she seems to agree. 

    I never felt so validated after reading something.  When I read about passive aggressive traits it made so much sense.  There has been a lot of blame put on my ADHD and our marriage problems.  I have worked hard to improve, but still things are poor in our marriage.  This seems to explain a lot of what I have seen and felt over the years.  Don't get me wrong I have contributed a great deal to the problems, but it takes two and he only is willing to take responsibility when it is vague.  It also makes  a lot of sense that when I have read ADHD articles a lot of the symptoms seemed connected to him as much as me.  He isn't ADHD, but there are some similarities between passive aggressive and ADHD. 

    He has always avoided.  He will say yes and not follow through. I have learned that I promise usually means no.  He avoids giving answers.  Hearing I don’t know triggers a bit of anger in me because I hear it so often.  He avoids responsibilities and is pretty helpless when it comes to doing a lot of stuff.  I usually do all the organizing stuff.  Thankfully I keep pretty organized.  I learn to do that as a coping skill.  However I get stressed out really easily by it.  He gets frustrated when I want him to do things.  He thinks I always want him to do things on my schedule.  He always has had an attitude of if he ignores it it will go away.  Many times it will because I deal with it.  I don’t want to get in trouble for not paying a bill or not having something else done because he didn’t know how.  He is trying to be better, but he is still often helpless.  We work together.  The other day he called me from the office and asked me which way to put the papers in the fax machine.  I don’t remember that sort of stuff.  I told him to look for the picture on the machine.  “What picture?  There isn’t any picture.  Oh wait…. never mind. Love you bye.” I end up doing a lot of this stuff, because it was easier than hand holding to get him through it.  At one point I was even filling out applications and writing cover letters for him. 

    Our marriage is a mess.  We have been married almost seven years and it has always been a struggle.  He shuts down and avoids and I nag and complain.  I realize now that I sort of learned that negative attention is better than no attention.  It feels that he learned to shut down and do his own thing until I just took care of things.

    He struggled with finding and keeping a job.  I don't know how many jobs he lost of quit because it didn't go right.  He did get some bad shakes, but he also didn't fight to fix things.  I have made so many excuses for him over the years for this, but the reality is he could have worked harder to do more.  Looking back I realize he always quits when it get hard. He feels that I wasn't there to see what happened at the jobs so I am judging unfairly.  He became very depressed over work and not being able to get a job.  He of course blamed everything else.  Either people or situations, but did little to change it.  At a point he quit trying to work.  For almost two years I was the bread winner.  When I say breadwinner I mean working full time with sometimes a second and third side job.  While doing this I often had to beg him to get up and work.  He is a teacher so he could always substitute, but sometimes he went over a month without a single sub job. He had a part time night job, but it wasn't much.  He often didn't feel up to working when he did get a day job and called in sick a lot.  That put a lot of stress on our marriage and I am still trying to forgive.

    I tried to get him to look at things besides teaching, but nothing interested him that is all he has ever wanted.  Finally at my wits end we looked into overseas teaching.  I am a teacher also.  I have worked hard to be successful as a teacher.  I actually hate teaching and have wanted to quit, but couldn't afford to go back to school and support my husband.  Anyhow....teaching overseas was a good option, because they like teaching couples. I didn't want to go overseas.  I had a good job (even if I didn’t like it it was a great teaching situation), we had a house, we had pets, we were settled.  However, I wanted my husband happy.  We needed money desperately.  I wanted to save our marriage.  If he wasn't working we would fall apart; we were. Teaching overseas could get him a job at least partially on my credentials.  Get him out of his depression, get us out of debt, and let us start living life. 

    That is what happened.  We got jobs together overseas. We later found out it was because of me.  That he didn't do that well in the interview.  We are out of debt, he loves his job, and he isn't depressed.  However, now our marriage was still a mess.  While trying to keep my head above water with finances and his depression we neglected everything else in our marriage.  We have been slowly working on that, but not doing well.  I was still nagging and he was shutting down and ignoring.  So now everything in his life was happy except his marriage.  I have made his life bad.

    Also, I hate being overseas, at least where we are at.  Don't get me wrong I have tried to make the best of it and have learned to love a lot of it, but there are major problems.  Mainly I can’t get my medication here.  Adderall is not allowed in this country. I take Concerta and Stratera together, but they don’t work as well.   I went from being a great teacher with many responsibilities at my old school to struggling to be on time and frustrating my new boss.  The only thing I was good at I now sucked at.  I have come to hate teaching even more now.  We had a two year contract.  I wanted to leave after a year and go back.  I had a one year leave of absence from my old job in case things didn’t work. I could have gone back.  However, he wouldn’t have got any references if he didn’t stay two years.  I stayed because I felt we shouldn’t be apart.  That it would be bad for our marriage. 

    When it came to decide to leave the second year he wanted to stay a third year.  I couldn’t. We agreed that matter what I needed to go.  I was now depressed and falling apart.  I thought he would decide to come to.  He decided to stay and told me that he needed another year.  He didn’t feel finished here.  He is so scared to deal with going home and being rejected for teaching jobs again. He is finally happy and unwilling to let that go even if it costs him his marriage.  He says it is perfect here and he doesn’t want to give that up.  It is perfect here without me.  He says he loves me and doesn’t want to lose the marriage, but he has to stay.  He wanted me to do long distance.  I didn’t feel our marriage was strong enough or that I was strong enough with the ADHD to have my life split in two in that way.  I asked him to go anywhere else international. It would be easier for me to go home and regroup.  I have gone back to school online now that we have the money. I want to change careers, but I would teach two more years somewhere else so he didn’t have to go home and we could still be together.  Still work on the marriage together.  At one point I even offered to stay without working since that would mean I didn’t need the meds.  He felt I still wouldn’t be healthy and that was too much pressure on him.

    I just needed to go somewhere we could be healthy.  He refused.  All I wanted was my husband to support me in being healthy and he couldn’t give up his fear of unhappiness for my health.  He had a good chance of being happy elsewhere if he was willing to try.


    This all happened in the beginning of February.  It has become so much worse.  I lost it over the rejection and what I believed was an irrational decision on his part.  I struggled to understand why he wouldn’t compromise and why I wasn’t worth it.  I cried almost daily and pushed him away even more.  Not that that takes much, but looking back I think I was doing it intentionally.  It is going to hurt so bad when he leaves me.  I was hurting already. If I distanced myself I wouldn’t have to drag the hurt out.  I did some really irrational things. I flopped my emotions all over the place.  I cried daily. I begged him to go elsewhere.  I told him I was going to divorce him.  I got drunk once and threw a shoe at his head and broke every picture in the house…glass everywhere.  Another time when drinking I shredded a blanket that he likes to use as a pillow. I have been trying to avoid drinking, but socially it is one of the few options here.  I am doing better in part, but mostly because I have managed to socially isolate myself.  I worked so hard to make new friends here.  I struggle with relationships with the ADHD.  I have a hard time focusing on conversations and interrupt sometimes. Also if you haven’t noticed I struggle big time with tangents and organizing my thoughts.  I am so hyperactive out the mouth it is ridiculous.   I get worried about those things and come across pretty socially awkward.  Anyhow…. I worked so hard to make friends then all of this happened and I couldn’t let go of the hurt.  I got so hyperfocussed on it, that I have pushed people way without realizing it. 

    At the end of the day I don’t believe in divorce.  I believe that I need to keep trying to work on my marriage.  At the same time I have always struggled with self worth issues and for a long time have felt worthless in this marriage.  It self esteem problems are not solely because of my poor marriage, but it has been a huge contribution. I have been flopping back and forth between trying to save my marriage or some bit of my self esteem.  I feel like I am going crazy

    My husband was trying to work on things for the first few months of all this.  We were going to marriage counselor.  He was being very patient with my break downs.  Trying to calm and comfort me.  He was trying to walk away less and trying to discuss more.  Even when it was hard for him and he would have shut down before He was really trying to work on our marriage.  I struggled with it being for his own agenda and too little too late. He finally wore out and started wondering if it was worth it.  That is when I started to feel that I needed to try. I at least needed to try to get past the hurt.  All I was doing was pushing him away.  That wasn’t going to help him make choices that were good for our marriage or choices that were part of a team.  Pushing him away wasn’t going to help me get him to go elsewhere (not that I believe he will, but it surely won’t help him realize how selfish he is being).  All it was doing was making him want space and making him think he made the right decision.  I didn’t want to regret not trying.  He was really happy here.  He is a great teacher and was finally given the chance to show that.  I still was hurt and resented that he wouldn’t try to go elsewhere, but if he was willing to help me work through that and help make some choices that helped myself esteem in the marriage I would try. 

    It seems it was too late.  He would say he would try to make decisions that were good for the team in the counselors, but then made poor choices at home.  I am his last choice for everything because I make him unhappy.  So much lately he wants nothing to do with me. 

    He has started going out dancing and partying.  He used to hate dancing, crowds, and loud music.  He refused to go with me over the years.  He wouldn’t even dance with me this summer at a friends wedding.  He started to go off and on this year.  He didn’t want me to come. It was a way for him to let loose and escape. I never liked it simply because he wouldn’t do it with me and wanted to go out with a bunch of girls and couple of single guys.  I TRUST HIM COMPLETELY.  He has never given me reason to doubt, but it was hurtful and seemed detrimental to the marriage.  He felt I was trying to keep him from making friends.  I felt he was making friends with women to replace parts of our marriage that were poor. He has always gotten along better with women, but they have always been my friends too.  I have tried to encourage him to hang out with guys and never complained about that.  I also tried to drop the girl thing, because it wasn’t worth it.  He never has had a lot of friends and I think he is just excited he was getting invited out, even if they never invited him to anything but clubbing.  I still really struggle with this.  I think largely because I have never been invited. I haven’t been really included with this group of people.  I think mostly because he never chooses me first anymore.  He chose the job over the marriage and now he chooses to go out to avoid me.  It was occasional at first, but it has become a problem again.  Since he started saying he was unsure about the marriage he has gone out dancing and drinking every weekend.  Once his phone was going to die so he shut it off and then stayed out until five in the morning.  I was so worried and couldn’t do anything. We talked at the counselors’ about that being detrimental behavior and he agreed not to do it again. He then got mad at me the next weekend and refused to come home.  I begged him to and he told me he was shutting his phone off.  He then stayed out until 5am.  The next day he told me I was making too big a deal out of it and refused to talk about it.  He decided to go golfing.  I told him that if he left I wouldn’t be there when he got back.  He left and I packed up.  

    I stayed in a hotel for two nights and then found a friend willing to let me stay.  I have been gone a week and he hasn’t initiated any of the contact.  He didn’t call that night when he got home and found me gone.  I finally broke down and called him.  I asked why he hadn’t.  He said I left and now we both have to deal.  He said he was too mad to talk to me.  He has since said that he is hurt and confused by everything and not sure if he wants to keep trying.  He loves me, but just feels pushed to the limit.  He feels having me gone is two sided.  He is sad that I am gone and doesn’t like that, but feels better without the stress of trying to please me.

    I left on a Saturday and we went to the counselors on Monday.  We agreed that we would give each other some space and see how things went, but that separation is only a means to sort things out.  We still should be trying to work towards reconciling and coming back together.  We agreed that we should be making healthy choices.  I am still the one making most of the contact and effort.  He just isn’t sure what he wants.  I told him I was going to try to leave him alone, but then realized that he would never decide anything and I would just end up hurting.  I instead came back and asked if we could do a few dates to spend some fun time together.  It will be hard work to make any improvements and a few nice dates won’t fix our marriage, but he will never want to try he doesn’t feel he can enjoy spending time with me. 

    He did go out again this weekend.  He had told me he was going to rest all weekend, because he was starting to get sick.  Then he got invited out.  He did call and told me and said he would go home by three like we agreed at the counselor. I don’t remember coming to an agreement, but didn’t feel I had a lot to go on since we were separated.  However it wasn’t much of a healthy decision for coming back together either. 


    Spending time together doing fun stuff has gone okay so far. We agreed to go back to the counselors tonight and make some rules for the team.  Things we both need to have right now that will help us work together.  If that goes well I am going to move back in and he will move to the spare room at least at first.   However he is now feeling really sick.  Possibly because he didn’t rest and he isn’t sure that he will go tonight. 

    Though I am learning a lot about myself and him through this I can’t help but regret how this is going. I am still not getting many of my needs met and feel I am sacrificing a lot.  Not to mention I really don’t see how long distance can work now.  Things are even worse now.  This has brought out so much we didn’t even realize was there.  It is so hard not to think that we only have three more sessions with the counselor here before summer break and less than three months until he leaves to come back here.  How can we make enough improvements to this mess.  

    Also, I have had a lot of pressure from all sides.  My parents want me to leave him because he will never grow up and be responsible.  His parents think I am trying to force him into what I want and that I should stay with him in the long distance.  It is not compromise to go elsewhere if that is giving me what I want.  I tried to explain that I don’t want that.  I want to go home, but will go elsewhere for him.  I think that is a compromise.  They feel that I always get my way and he is finally standing his ground for what he needs.  They think I use the ADHD as a bit of a crutch and that I am upset I am not getting my way.

    I think his parents feel this way because they have seen me nag over the years and heard Jack agree to do what I want, but they don’t realize that he doesn’t follow through later.  Also he does agree to small things if it fits his agenda.  If it is easier to do something to get me to stop nagging he will do it.  However I feel that when it comes to big things we have always done it for him.  Almost every job decision I have made is based on getting him a job.  I didn’t get to go back to school until recently because he couldn’t pull his weight financially. I moved to Dubai so we could meet his needs.  I took a teaching job in his home town so we could be close to his family and he could hopefully get a job at his old high school, where he also student taught.  He didn’t manage to. I didn’t want to work summers or weekends serving, but we needed the money.  I wanted to start saving, but we couldn’t even pay the bills. 

     

    I know I need to do what I need to and shouldn’t listen to people who are wrong or misguided, but I don’t know what I need to do.  I do value these peoples opinions overall.  I am actually as close or closer with his parents than mine.   Also, I am a huge people pleaser and I don’t want to disappoint.  I also don’t want to fail at my marriage.

    Oh one last thing.  My husband believes I have ADHD and sees the improvement with the medication. However, he also feels that I do use it as a crutch sometimes and hide behind it. I probably have some, but probably not as often as he thinks.  He doesn’t feel it is a real enough health problem to have to move to get better. He does support me in some ways, but doesn’t have much interest in learning about ADHD.  I have been hurt about this for years.  I feel that if he had a better understanding of the symptoms he would better understand me and why I do what I do.  Not that I should use it as an excuse.  I work everyday to be the best I can with ADHD. I am not perfect and sometimes I fail.  It would be nice if he understood when something goes wrong that is at least part of it. 

    So there it is ….thoughts, advice, anything.  I am at the end of my rope.  I feel lost and helpless.  Not much hope anymore.  In a few weeks I will have no job, no home, possibly no husband.  That still feels better than now.  Alone and away from my support system, in a job I hate, with few friends, and a husband that cares so little.  Man have I screwed my life up.

     

  • Progress and Happiness by: brooks30 15 years 7 months ago

    It is no secret that all ADHD cases/relationships are unique. My fiance and I are making some great progress and I though I would share some of our techniques with you all. I am in no way assuming we are doing everything correct or that our system will work for you or that even tomorrow everyting won't fall apart but maybe some of our techniques can help you as well. Additionally I would love to hear what techniques you all use that work in your relationship!

    1. Change in diet - this has caused a slight increase in our grocery bills but it is so worth it. We read the labels of EVERYTHING we buy. We stay away from food coloring (which we have noticed really does cause him to go super hyperactive), preservatives, anything in plasitc wrap and no soda plus drink tons of water, and eat foods that have omega-3 (wild salmon, grass fed beef, omega-3 eggs, even oatmeal). We also have stayed away from high fat and calorie meals which means we only go out for sushi anymore. It has been great eating healthy.

    2. Suplements - not only does Sam get his omega-3 from our foods, he also takes a supplement in the morning and one in the evening when he gets home. Additionally he has been taking Zinc but we noticed that if he takes it with his Adderal, his logic goes out the window so he has been taking it hours after his Adderal.

    3. Exercise - we both have started working out and not only does it increase my happiness and patience, it also get the good chemicals flowing through his brain as well. Plus, who doesn't feel great after losing weight week after week?

    3. Holding each other accountable - I grew up in a family where I was held accountable for all that I did...even my nail polish choices. Sam on the other hand was raised in a complete opposite environment. Hence, the excuses always piled up. I won't lie, we fought, a lot and I almost gave up a 100 times but after clearly explaining what will fly and won't fly (this required that I increase my patience) he finally got it and in return, I was able to be more patient and not as strict on the silly accountability things (like nail polish choices).

    4. Both have to want to make it work - making any relationship work takes both partners and it is not different when it comes to ADHD. After Sam realized (after many fights and me beating it into his head) that ADHD was controling his life and not him controling his own destiny, he has been amazing. Additionally, after I understood that I was cheating us out of possible success because I couldn't keep my patience, I changed my tune as well and have learned to let go of a lot of the small stuff.

    I think a lot of us get so used to taking care of everything we also assume we have to take care of the negative consequences of ADHD. This is insane. Plenty have people have gained control of their ADHD symptoms and need to be held accountable when they are destroying the lives of those around them. It is not impossible and I really find that since we have been keeping our bodies healthy, our brains have followed suit. Don't get me wrong, I am scared everyday that he will come home and completely forget his progress and goals and we will be back at square one. As for now, these things have made a huge difference and hopefully, we can continue to progress.

  • Starts but never finishes!! by: VandenPolaski 15 years 7 months ago

    My ADD husband and I purchased a "fixer-upper" a year ago.  Knowing that living in a house while remodeling would be horrible, we live a mile away in a condo.  The plans for the remodel included a complete overhaul of the kitchen (wiring & plumbing included), new windows, new exterior doors, fis plaster and paint throughout and refinishing the old hardwood floors.  Hubby is very handy and works in the construction/trades full time.  I also work full time and have two kids from my first marriage.

    My problem is that it has been a year and we are not even close to being done with the house.  Hubby religiously goes there every night to work on it but nothing is done!!  The kitchen is torn down to the studs, wiring has been looked at but not removed/updated, some of the windows are replaced but not trimmed out, one door has been replaced but no door knobs or locks put on it . . . everything is started but NOTHING is finished.  What the heck is he doing over there?!?!

    I have told hubby that I think it is time to hire some help to finish the work.  He tells me that I am being impatient and that we can't afford it.  Paying two house payments for another year seems more expensive than hiring help.

    Any advice on how I can either convince him that we need to hire help -OR- help him get organized and finish the twenty things he has started but not completed?

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