Confessions of an ADHD, Dyslexic girl with Acid Reflux...

Now one might be confused as to why I tie all these things together. I will definitely get to that. 

ADHD is an epidemic in today's America. Everyone has it or thinks they do and everyone has medicine for it even if they don't have it. I on the other hand actually do have it and it is a genetic thing that I struggle with and so do others in my family.  If you know me at all you know I can't sit still for longer than about 10 minutes maximum. Some days it's better than others depending on what I have eaten or how much sleep I have gotten. On the bad days or average days the world can be a cruel place for a girl like me. In high school I discovered that energy drinks actually helped calm me down instead of hype me up. The amount of caffeine in them actually does the opposite to my brain and helps me focus. I drank one every morning in high school so that I could pay attention everyday. I loved them and still do to this day. So I fixed one problem, but I was still left with my dyslexia. Now I do not have it as bad as some people, but everyday things like reading a clock or giving directions is rather hard for me. My brain LOVES to play tricks on me and try to get me to mess up. Then as I entered college I realized these things were easier to mask. I only had to sit in class for 50 minutes at a time. I usually could have my phone out and conversations were a big part of learning. All these elements helped me immensely. Tuesday/Thursday classes on the other hand I realized were pure torture. You want me to sit there and listen for an hour and fifteen minutes?! I would rather give you an organ! I started to get better at them, but still depending on the subject matter sometimes it is just not a successful class period. 

After a 5 week illness the doctor discovered I had severe acid reflux. She gave me some medicine and I thought I was fine. That was not the case though. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. I then discovered that I could no longer drink anything carbonated. Remember how caffeine mellowed me out? Yeah I am no longer able to drink that. I would have up to 3 Diet Dr. Peppers a day! So I then had a choice to make do I feel nauseous, like I am having a heart attack, or just in pain all the time or do I stop drinking pop and battle ADHD on my own? The choice was clear I was going to take on ADHD! I thought I was indestructible. I so had this under control. 

One night I did not get as much sleep as I should have. I woke up and was grumpy and just wanted to sleep! I went to class and survived the first one rather impressively. My next class was in the same building just one floor up. I went to the third floor and had to wait for the professor to unlock the door. I sat down on a couch in the building, next to the room. A girl in my class walks up and is standing against the wall. You could hear the music coming out of her earphones. My brain automatically zeroes in on this. Then of course you have the people walking through the hall way while the music is blasting. Then I realize another girl's headphones are also fairly loud. So I have two different musics,people passing, my phone buzzing, and then a girl starts to play with her jacket zipper. My brain is then trying to focus on all of these things at once. Then all of a sudden kind of like an explosion my brain just wants to make everyone stop doing all these things. I just want to grab each person and shake them until they too can see what is going on in my brain. These actions are not socially acceptable. Instead I have to sit there and try to not yell at someone just because I can hear their music or they keep playing with their zipper. 

People throw around the "I have ADHD" excuse for pretty much everything today. I am not saying I have never been guilty of this, but next time maybe take into consideration the fact it is a real struggle for some people daily.