I'm on here studying today , along with calling all the hospitals and doctors i have been to, gathering paper work for SSID ,which i have been trying for the last two years. Now with the diagnosis that may go better... and I am arranging and getting things ready to move back to my house, which needs alot of work before i can move back. Always been a good carpenter / plumber / electrician... a large two story 1920 Victorian... really well built , all full cut hardwood,for the most part but some really botched add ons and "Improvements" need to completely redo the plumbing... i bought with the last of my savings...three years ago this was very doable for me ... but that was when the PsA really started t kick me in the #$$... any rate...
I have dealt with ADD,developed fairly well coping skills the one thing i could always concentrate on was music...Adderall is like a miracle drug for me , just cant afford it right now... I am having one heck of a time focusing on one thing... i was just trying to do four different things, and getting very confused about it... and it's slowing me down right now when i need to be most efficient .
I know the PsA as really amplified the affect .. anyone got anything on this ?
I also suffer from ADD a bit - not treated for it though (when I realized what it probably was, I was afraid to go in for fear they would think I was “drug-seeking” because I was in college - now it’s just what it is). I have noticed that for me, more than anything, the fatigue seems to make it worse in that I find it more difficult to focus on any one thing well (I also get bored easily). Sometimes, if it’s something I can work on while listening to music, that helps as it distracts the distractable part of my brain so I can work on something else.
But I really do have to occasionally force myself to only take on one task at a time, especially at work. No other windows open, no distractions (other than music if able). Trying to multi-task really isn’t helpful because I’ll just keep adding things until I forget what I was originally doing!
How are you doing Knightsong? All I know about ADD is from teaching, there are so many kids with this diagnosis, some who shouldn’t have that dx I’m sure. It is something that gets easier with age, is that right?
I do tend to have a short attention span / low boredom threshold, though I realise that’s not the same. In a way, PsA helped with that probably because not being able to go out to work meant I could spend all day doing painting, which is what I always wanted to do but never did before. Is restoration and repair something you enjoy nearly as much as music? Because if so, once you get into the flow perhaps you will find your mind is more focused.
I am very interested in your house! I have also just moved into a 1920s house that is much as it was in the beginning plus botch jobs. We’ve had the hot water supply / heating done for us now, but there’s a plethora of jobs that we’ll do ourselves over time. We’re sleeping on the floor … bits of wall fall off, rain comes in … My head could easily explode! Ten years ago I could keep pace with most men in terms of heavy labour but that’s not quite how it is anymore. Given the PsA factor, planning and organisation are a great way for me to contribute … yet they’re not my strong suit. I find there’s a pain barrier to go through … the mental anguish of focusing on problem solving whether I feel like it or not, forcing myself to memorise details & think through the ‘what ifs?’
So basically I’m saying that with a disease like PsA there’s an element of becoming a different person and I think it’s doable as long as we don’t beat ourselves up about unavoidable limitations.
I never realized I had ADD till at 51 I went back to the farm to care for my mom who had become quit ill… I isolation out there , I noticed i was having trouble getting anything done. enough so i could see it was the way my mind was working, always before that I was surrounded with so many people that naturally caused structure hadnt noticed it , so when i was diagnosed… Alot of things started making more sense about, my wild ramble’n …lol
I have noticed that the ADD seems to be a much greater problem … as the PsA acts up. Right when you need to conserve the most , it becomes hard not to waste precious energy… The Med
has really worke ell for me , like night and day on concentration and focus. Makes things much easier to accomplish. I work alone mostly now since I been so ill… I think i will work towards getting back on the med. Thanks for the reply . Hope you are Sooo well today !
OH yes , getting a good restoration going is good therapy… The one i have now has plenty of challenges . But she is a beautiful solid gem underneath. Yup i let that work flow… I set up a nice stereo put o my Long Hair Classical music , and time different task to movements … works quite well getting things done.
I am so terribly missing the energy ,thats been sapped from me so badly this last 4 years… I keep thinking i may do more and it.s just not there… very frustrating towards the depressing way. I Plan to live at this one this winter… it needs a new furnace . so this next month i plan to get that in . but with some ducting changes i have already planned a couple years ago. SO I am operating now just with Prednisone… the MTX was just too much sickness along with this move, so my Rhuemy allowed me one more course of prednisone .which does help with movement . I I am too used to being an unstoppable force… I dont like any of this PsA . S*^& …
I look forward to a time i am stable on a doable treatment plan. THank you Sybil … I will tak about the Houses anytime , I am also ore interested in yours … Stay Well my Friend
“A beautiful solid gem” - what a great way to describe these old houses. Ours too, the craftmanship that went into it is a joy to behold. I thought neighbours and family who don’t share our tastes would think we were mad to want to restore rather than gut & modernise but it charms everyone & they’re all for it, though nobody’s offered to help as yet lol!
Yep, you kind of grieve for energy I think. Years ago, probably in a hippy dippy work by some ‘guru’, I read the phrase: ‘lust of result’, it was meant to be something to avoid. As it happens, that stayed with me and it’s true I’m happiest when I’m immersed in what I’m doing rather than desperate to get things over with but of course when work is taking longer and is harder than would previously have been the case then cultivating that mindset is an ongoing challenge. Especially when winter’s knocking at the door and you need to get the furnace sorted and so on!
I think I too had about 4 years of proper exhaustion before getting diagnosed. I thought I’d had it. Sometimes these days I feel a thrill just walking down the street with a normal gait or when I last a long day with a little spare energy, it’s wonderful. There’s every reason to hope that it’ll be the same for you once you get your treatment plan up & running.
What the hell did people in the 1920s stick wallpaper on with? I thought super-glue hadn’t been invented then! 5 layers … some with gloss on for an extra element of challenge … oh my!
