Predominantly inattentive ADHD....

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After attending two assessments, I was diagnosed with predominantly inattentive ADHD approxiamately six weeks ago. To be honest, it's the condition that most closely mirrors the struggles I have had in life. I have always been extremely placid, very compliant and quiet in most environments, yet disorganised, 'foggy', spacy and slow to learn new things.

I am now taking an IR form of Ritalin and I have to say it's the only medication I have ever tried that has given me a glimmer of hope for a normal life. Though I only take 10mg on three occasions each day and the benefits are only mild at the moment, it has really opened my eyes to what my main problem has been for the past 27 years......distractions! Every sound I am subjected to ostensibly takes on the same level of importance. I am always tuned into too many 'stations' at once.. Thus, it's almost impossible for me to follow verbal instructions and severely impacts how I relate to other people; I never remember anything they say because there's always too much going on!

I've noticed that on the Ritalin I can sometimes manage to tune into what is relevant (someone speaking to me etc.) without being distracted by other external sounds. Hopefully it won't be short-lived.

Does anyone experience similar sensory abnormalities?

My cat just deleted my response.
Do you have difficulties with other sense too?
What did your assessment involve.
I might have inattentive ADHD too. I'm meant to try Ritalin but haven't started yet.

It's only really sound that bothers me, but the irregularity is quite severe.

The assessment was fairly straightforward. They just asked me questions about my childhood, education and life as an adult.

How can they seperate autistic traits similar to ADHD?

I suspect I have comorbid Inattentive ADHD, though I was only diagnosed aspie. The symptom list of Inattentive type fits me to a T (though my social problems are most definitely ASD).

As for sound issues, verbal instructions are really difficult if there are either other sounds or visual things going on. The voice just turns to a barely audible and unintelligible mumble. I do also have this rarer thing where in certain situations like in a coffee shop or restaurant voices merge into one cacophony which makes me extremely irritable and have to leave.

JakeASD - I'm glad you received your diagnosis. I've read some of your earlier posts about your problems and I suspected that you were having issues with ADHD. What level of severity did you receive with the diagnosis?

I'm also ASD + Inattentive ADHD but don't take medication. I'm able to function well enough and have a good set of coping skills to manage but I probably don't achieve anywhere near my full potential.

Did you become more aware of the distractions once on medication? If that's the case, there can be no way of knowing how serious the general distractions of the environment around me can be unless I take medication. So in answer to your question, no I don't really experience any abnormalities because to me its normal.
I am aware that I am more easily distracted compared to most people I know, so I'm not totally blind to whats going on in my head. I do agree that everything carries an equal demand for attention and it can be hard to prioritize on the most relevant input.