Well, ADD (without the hyperactivity) = lack of attention plus things such as procrastinating, I found out the other day.
ADHD (Is with hyperactivity) = lack of sleep (can be up to all hours of the night, early hours of the morning in most, not all), constantly on the go, unable to complete tasks, huge lack of short-term memory, but long-term memory fine, very strong lack of concentration, unpredictable in actions, lack of sense of fear and more. This all = my son.
For me, it took a few months before I decided to have my son take medication, after he was diagnosed. Then he stopped it for a long while and the difference without was unbelievable. He was all over the show again and as he had got older, the condition (not a mental health condition), was a lot worse. He went back on meds after a while off them and the difference again has been a relief. I barely coped with things (although pushed myself every day for the time he wasn't on it, cos no choice) when he wasn't on meds.
It's not the solution I wanted, but it helps in his case. We live with it and go with it most of the time. It can't be fought against. When they are 'on one' with ADHD (don't know much about ADD) they cannot see reason, or be rational and they have to be left alone to get through their rages themselves - then they tend to carry on as though nothing happened just before. That's how it is and is very hard to live with, but in a strange way you can get some routine and go with it more often than not - this however does take a very long time to get into doing.
We have a strange system/routine, but it works somehow. It's all trial & error til you find what works best. It's usually things you could never think would help too. A person looking in on our routine though, wouldn't think we have one.
Apart from all this and other things, he and I are a team and we are very close and happy. It does take time though and tons of perserverance!
It is never easy, but to 'get there' is so rewarding.
