13 signs of adhd I ignored (that I Wish I didn’t)
Hello gorgeous!
I'm so excited because today I'm going to talk about some of the things that led me to getting diagnosed with ADHD.
This has been a huge trend on social media with a lot of women coming out and saying that they got diagnosed with ADHD at 30 and 40 and 50.
It's so amazing to and so inspiring to see women advocating for their health because for so long, ADHD was not for us.
So here are 13 signs I overlooked
1.Problems around my period
I decided to go and seek help because I was having a lot of problems around the luteal phase of my cycle (which is the phase that's like before your period). I would get clumsy, unfocused, and have brain fog to the point that I was unable to function. My friends would get mad at me because I would not retain information.
The doctor diagnosed me with depression and put me on an antidepressant that didn’t work. I got off of it and decided to continue managing as well as I could.
It wasn’t until I was in my mid 20’s looking at reels on social media about ADHD that I realized that I related to many of the symptoms that people were discussing.
2.Accidentally taking ADHD Medication
I have a sibling who has ADHD, and I spent most of my school years watching them grow up. Anyway, at the time, I was on medication for an unrelated issue and my sibling and I’s medication looked similar. So, one day when I was moving fast, I accidentally took their medication. That was the most focus I have been in a long time. And that was when I realized that maybe something was not normal.
3.Not Understanding Jokes (Because I wasn’t listening)
If you talk to any of my friends in college, they will tell you that they got a little bit annoyed with me because often times I would just not pick up on jokes. We would be in a conversation, and somebody would say something and because I was so mentally far away, I wouldn't know what they were talking about. I didn’t know that it was my ADHD kicking in real strong.
4.Struggles with School
There was something about college that exacerbated all of the symptoms that I had in a way that I've never seen before. I did really well for the first 12 years of their life because of the external pressure and external structure that kept me well-rounded. Deadlines also gave me enough dopamine to get the task done that I needed to get done. But in college, when I no longer had those strict deadlines, or nobody pushed me, or this structure, I fell apart.
5.I started hearing voices
So. I didn't want you guys to think that I was like crazy or anything , let me clarify what I mean about voices. What I mean is that I would have a lot of overlapping thoughts.
My brain at any part of time would be a mix of
· Many thoughts
· random pieces and parts with songs
· A random dialogue of tasks
· and the thing that I was trying to focus on
This made it so hard to focus when anybody was talking especially if they said any song lyric- “I-n-d-e-p-e-d-e-n-t do you know what that means”.
6.Losing Things
I still lose things to this day, but I've gotten a lot better at putting things away. Before I got diagnosed, I would lose my phone, my keys and my glasses multiple times per day.
At one point I lost my phone, and I spent a good two hours looking. Do you know where I ended up finding it? In the refrigerator!
The funny thing was whenever I find my stuff I would always remember exactly what I was doing when I lost that thing. On the refrigerator day, I was taking in groceries, and I had a lot of stuff in my hands and so when I put the food away, I think I accidentally took my phone into the refrigerator.
7.Horrible procrastination
I had horrible procrastination. But this procrastination was different because I didn't know what I needed to focus on or what was important. Because I couldn't figure out how to prioritize my items, I just ended up doing nothing at all. This caused me to be stressed.
I had to learn how to actually prioritize my items and when I did, my life changed.
8.Lots of unfinished projects
I published my first book back in 2022 but when I had an idea that I was going to be a writer all the way back when I was 7 years old. Between the time of 2007 and 2022 I had over 150 unfinished projects.
One of the things about ADHD is that we tend to be very big picture thinkers and so I would have all these ideas, but as soon as it came time to narrow down like the small details like the character developments and their back stories I would get overwhelmed and then I would quit.
Then, in 2022 I decided that I was actually going to settle down and get serious about what God wanted me to do and that when I finally published my book.
9.Car Accidents
I read a statistic that said that people with ADHD are 35% more likely to get in car accidents than their non-adhd counterparts and for me this was definitely the case. I found the whole process of learning how to drive to be very difficult.
I couldn't understand how I was supposed to check my blind spot while also keeping a good distance between the person in front of me while also trying to keep my focus on the road.
In 2022 I had my first car accident with an 18-wheeler. The officers cited me for an improper lane change and then only a few years later I ended up getting the exact same improper lane change ticket because I had slipped into an ADHD brain fog while driving due to tiredness.
After those two accidents, I took lessons on driving and now I have improved so much. Comment below if you would like a post on ADHD driving tips.
10. Constant Job Switching
I remember looking back at my resume, and in a 2-year time period, I had switched jobs about six times. It always happened around nine -month Mark where I would be in a job and then I would just get bored of it and realize that it wasn't for me. Looking back, I realized that I was chasing that dopamine hit.
Once I learned how to find dopamine in other productive ways, my need to change jobs stopped.
11. Promiscuity
I remember watching a video of a girl whose dad had given her a promise ring. She made the decision to stay abstinent until marriage, and after seeing that, I thought to myself, “I’m going to do that too.” So when I went off to college, I had every intention of staying abstinent. That lasted about three weeks. Looking back now, I wish I could give that younger version of myself a big hug. I didn’t realize at the time that I was struggling with a dopamine addiction, and I had no idea how much that was influencing my choices. But even in that season, I thank God for His protection—He truly kept me from things that could have caused lasting harm. Eventually, I did lose my virginity, and while it was a tough experience, it also became one of the biggest learning moments of my life.
12. Falling asleep when bored
Sometimes if I'm doing something and I get bored my nervous system immediately detaches from that thing and I fall asleep.
In college there were many times where I fell asleep in class and woke up realizing that everyone had moved on to the next class. It didn't matter how much sleep I got the night before or how interested I was in this subject .
Soon, I realized that in order to beat this, I had to STIM.
13. Odd school behaviors
Growing up, I was one of those kids who was always carrying a book. I got into trouble a couple times in middle school because I would put a novel inside of my textbook and I would be reading my fiction novel while the teacher was teaching.
I also would come home from school with riding all over my arms and all over my pants because doodling was the only way that I could stay focused for that period of time.
To this day I really think that the school system is not meant for people who have ADHD and autism because I can barely sit still for 8 hours and focus on something so to expect a kid to do that is just asinine and insane.
Bonus: Intense Hyperfocus
I tend to get focused on what I was doing and whenever that happened, I would forget about everything else. During elementary school, this would lead to behaviors like dropping food on myself.
I specifically remember I was part of this group, and they had this special time where they wanted us to talk to each other.
They brought food for us to enjoy. I didn’t want to talk to nobody I was a very much a lone wolf at that point. So I decided that I was going to sit in the corner and read my book and eat and well I guess while I was reading I was dropping crumbs everywhere and I didn't notice it and the people pull me aside and had a very serious conversation with me about how it was unattractive that as a girl I was sitting there and dropping crumbs all over the floor and not paying attention and it was kind of one of the low lights of my life at that time.
Getting Diagnosed as a Women
so all of these symptoms came together and they were what made me decide that maybe I should go get checked out.
The first time I went to a doctor for ADHD, they gave me an SSRI so I already knew the second time around that going through my General Health Doctor was probably not going to be the best option.
Many of the people who get diagnosed with ADHD get diagnosed as kids and even with getting diagnosed as a kid the waiting list can be anywhere from 6 months to 3 years long and it's a very expensive process. As an adult, it is still expensive and the waiting list is still long.
o I did a lot of research I saw this website that said that you could pay $150 and go to a diagnosis appointment with somebody who was a licensed psychiatrist and get a diagnosis.
so I took my $150 and I put it down and I waited and during that time I made up my whole list of symptoms of what I have been facing over the past like whole lifespan really
The Appointment
The day of the diagnosis appointment comes and this site was all online so they didn't have any offices to go through which I think is one of the reasons why their prices were so affordable
logged on and I waited and I was kind of having a little bit of anxiety because for my whole life I have been told that basically I was like perfect I was a smart girl like there was nothing wrong with me and I was so afraid that this person was going to tell me that it was my generalized anxiety disorder coming back again to like kick me
what I faced instead was one of the best experiences I've had in healthcare. The person was so kind and so nice and as I told them everything that I was experiencing they were like wow and then at the end of that appointment I got diagnosed with inattentive ADHD
The After
It has been 3 years almost since I have been diagnosed, and I have so much peace. Even though some days are difficult, I have found strategies that work for me. And I share these tips on this blog and on my YouTube channel to help those of you who felt so lost, like I did.
A Prayer For You💬
Dear Lord,
Thank you for this reader. And for them taking the time to listen to my story. I pray Lord that if they are struggling with any or many of these symptoms that you would show them which way to go and what they can do to get the assistance they need.
Amen
If this blog resonated with you, please share it with someone else walking through this season. And if you want more encouragement on standing, prayer, and relationships, let me know in the comments—I’ve got so much more to say.
Until next time, stay faithful, stay focused, and remember to share the love of Jesus with at least one person this week.
For more Singleness advice, Buy your copy of Since When did Single Mean Sad :)
For more ADHD advice, download the free eBook: 5 Ways to REALLY get things done with ADHD.
With love,
💛 Author Gabrielle Denise