Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

Hello I wanted to ask about ADHD. How can it be cured without medication at the age of 15?

When a person says that only your doctor has the knowledge to diagnose you, that is a dangerous statement. I studied for years to figure out how to live with my disordered husband, and even though my doctor was interested, we were never able to get my husband any help. I resorted to pills at bedtime to get me through a traumatic life until I read on the web one night about Narcissism. I read until morning, shaking all over, and discovered that I could diagnose since I had lived with the problem for my entire marriage. No one in the family believed my stories that happened in private. My husband was a highly admired apparent success and even one son criticized me and said I wasn't demanding enough to get cooperation.. I lived in this traumatic stress for 50 years and can't tell my story to anyone or I will be called a crazy liar. My husband lied daily about everything in the end. I felt relief at times that he lived in a dream world because it brought comfort to his insecurity and misery at not being an automatic millionaire. He was economically illiterate most of the time and believed that money automatically comes in the door when a business achieves a certain level, without any effort or management. I survived with prayer.
Added to this, he was an alcoholic, showed signs of obsessive compulsive disorder, developed dementia, and showed signs of Parkinson's with his trembling. Oh, I forgot to add the untreated diabetes and the obesity and his denial of having any health problems at all until he died of metastatic cancer of the spine. I can say I never quit on the marriage because I knew there would be no one to care for him. I couldn't dump his care on my son. And I learned to stay safe. That is why I come to these help sites. I get satisfaction out of relating to the need of those seeking help. I can be on the team. Dorisena

Hi, @ina123, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I moved your post to this existing discussion on ADHD so that you can see what others have said about it. Simply click VIEW AND REPLY in your email notification to get to your post and read past posts.

Is ADHD your diagnosis, @ina123, or one given to someone close to you? Sounds like you are hoping to avoid medication. Have you looked into the medications and found something that concerned you?

When a person says that only your doctor has the knowledge to diagnose you, that is a dangerous statement. I studied for years to figure out how to live with my disordered husband, and even though my doctor was interested, we were never able to get my husband any help. I resorted to pills at bedtime to get me through a traumatic life until I read on the web one night about Narcissism. I read until morning, shaking all over, and discovered that I could diagnose since I had lived with the problem for my entire marriage. No one in the family believed my stories that happened in private. My husband was a highly admired apparent success and even one son criticized me and said I wasn't demanding enough to get cooperation.. I lived in this traumatic stress for 50 years and can't tell my story to anyone or I will be called a crazy liar. My husband lied daily about everything in the end. I felt relief at times that he lived in a dream world because it brought comfort to his insecurity and misery at not being an automatic millionaire. He was economically illiterate most of the time and believed that money automatically comes in the door when a business achieves a certain level, without any effort or management. I survived with prayer.
Added to this, he was an alcoholic, showed signs of obsessive compulsive disorder, developed dementia, and showed signs of Parkinson's with his trembling. Oh, I forgot to add the untreated diabetes and the obesity and his denial of having any health problems at all until he died of metastatic cancer of the spine. I can say I never quit on the marriage because I knew there would be no one to care for him. I couldn't dump his care on my son. And I learned to stay safe. That is why I come to these help sites. I get satisfaction out of relating to the need of those seeking help. I can be on the team. Dorisena

Hi, @dorisena - since this particular discussion thread is about ADHD, I wanted to inquire whether you, your husband or son have/had ADHD?

@dorisena I am sorry for all you went through with your husband, I know too well how difficult that can be.

I agree that patients can diagnose. When I was a migraine sufferer, prior to having the Internet, I scoured books and magazines for information on migraines. I once read that patients who suffer from migraines generally know more than most physicians about them, unless the physician is a migraine specialist. I found that to be true. I think it can be true of many conditions, not just migraines. When you have a personal interest, you really tend to research.
JK

My granddaughter, other relatives. Since my husband was never officially diagnosed with disorders, perhaps I should avoid mentioning my experiences with him on this site. My only point is that living with disorders and studying how to cope with it can make a person quite knowledgeable about caring for difficult circumstances. That is how I survived 50 years of the stress. I will avoid certain replies in the future. My sister's family had genetic problems with ADHD so I was supportive of her efforts to live with the problems. Dorisena

@dorisena None of us here are medical professionals, we just relay our own experiences. Your experiences with your husband were real and it sounds as if you did do some research on them yourself. My son and daughter both had ADD, my son ADHD, but it was never diagnosed until they were in late HS. My husband was opposed to admitting it, but I did a lot of reading and knew they did. My daughter coped fairly well in the school setting but less well in daily living, whereas my son is just the opposite. My point is, do not feel you can't speak of your own experiences since they were not officially diagnosed. This is a very understanding group of people.
JK