Living with ADHD

Hi, my name is Ashley,I am 16 and I have ADHD I was first diagnosed when I was about nine or ten. Shortly after, I noticed that my teachers treated me different than the other kids, always asking if I was doing ok or if I needed any help.I thought that they thought that I was stupid, and I eventually began to believe it myself. After several months of trying out different drugs to see if they would help, we finally found one that worked.

Unfortunately, about a month later, my teachers noticed that I stopped raising my hand in class, and they noticed that I usually didn’t eat lunch. After a while, they notified my parents. It turned out that the drug I was taking, while technically subduing my ADHD it was also making me depressed, and had caused me to lose more than fifteen pounds.

I was almost eleven, and I only weighed fifty four pounds. My parents immediately took me off of the medication. I had a hard time adjusting to life with out the drugs to help me control my actions. Though it had only been a year, I had actually grown a dependency on them. Though my teachers understood why I would squirm around in my seat, forget to bring my homework, and have sudden outbursts, the other kids did not.

But, after years of focusing on my self-control, and discovering ways to help me remember things, I have succeeded in turning my life around. Except for the occasional lapses in memory, I am a happy teenager in the tenth grade, who has lots of friends and is currently getting all A’s (yay!) If anyone who reads this currently has ADHD or has a child who suffers from it, you don’t have to worry. It will get better. Although it may help to cover up the symptoms of ADHD, medications can not be used to cure it. Just remember to be patient and have hope.

I hope that anyone who reads this knows that my prayers are with them, and that my story hopefully encouraged you.

Thanks,
Ashley