living ADHD 1

I screamed (not cried) for the first 6 months of my life. I don't remember but anyone who new my parents in 1950, 1951 will attest to the fact that I screamed for the first 6 months of my life. My mother would correct anyone if they said the crying baby, to the screaming baby. They said it was colic and they treated me with paregoric ( it is a opiate).
Don't know if it worked, I would say not to good, since I screamed for 6 months.
When I was in my 20's and experimenting with recreational drugs (like everyone else in the 60's and 70's) she blamed it on the fact that they treated me with paregoric. I don't think she ever admitted to herself that I was and am hyper-active.
I don't have any memories of being younger than 5 years old. Don't know if that has anything to do with ADHD or not. I believe it has to do with the fact that my brain jumps around so much that I probably was just on auto-pilot during those years.
When I was in elementary school and jumping around from seat to seat and singing songs and pretty much creating havoc in any ones classroom I found it easiest to only remember what I needed to pass a test or make it thru the day. It made my mom happy and my teachers happy. I never tried to learn anything just for me, just to please the important people in my life. Also to keep myself out of trouble. Even people with ADHD, will go the extra mile to stay out of the hot seat.
Moving and making noise was my highest priority. I remember just wanting to run , skip, jump, hop, sing, you name it, if it had to do with movement or noise I was there.
I still don't know how I was able to learn anything. But somehow I retained what was taught to me. That is why I call it auto-pilot. My mind screamed from one place to another. The hardest thing to do was listen to someone who was talking about something for more than a couple of minutes.
Somehow I figured out a way to disconnect part of my brain to listen to what was being said and retain it. The major part of my brain I used for what was important to me. I would say by 3rd or 4th grade I had learned to sit still quit singing and talking out loud...