Act your age! I think my body needs to take this advice. I've been diagnosed with common illnesses, only they are atypical for the age I was diagnosed. At age 20 I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. Thanks to having an eating disorder since the age of 15, I had the bones of a woman more than three times my age. I was devastated when my doctor explained this meant no more snowmobile racing or galloping on my horse. Being 20, I didn't really listen. I continued to drink loads of diet soda, smoke my occasional cigar, diet and purge. It took me a few years to finally cut back on my unhealthy behaviors (for my bones and my whole health). Luckily, being young, I still have a chance to build my bones back up. Seven years from my diagnosis date, the bone density in my hips is almost normal and my back is getting there. I sometimes wonder if I could see the damage to my bones on the outside, if it would have changed anything.
Now, at the age of 27, I am being treated for ADD. I started taking Adderall to treat my inability to concentrate. This is something usually treated in childhood or adolescence. It finally took being very behind with paperwork at my job and my supervisor's recommendations to seek help. It's still boggling to me. All through school I received B's or higher; I don't recall struggling in school. The only thing I remember is my mom didn't allow the T.V. to be on in the mornings because it would steal my attention away from getting ready for school. College is when I really started noticing my struggles. It took me much longer than my classmates to type out a paper. I would sit at a computer for hours, screening through several fleeting thoughts to catch ones that were relevant to my assignment. This was especially noticeable in graduate school. Despite my struggles, I graduated with honors (not meaning to brag). I guess since I worked through my attention problems, I shrugged them off as being related to depression, anxiety and/or stress. Now those are handled for the most part. ADD finally interfered with my life enough for me to seek treatment. I've tried Adderall for a few days now. It's like my brain's reception is clearer. I can track my thoughts. I feel partially relieved that maybe my struggles with concentration are biochemical and not my own "fault." However, I'm slightly angry that I didn't seek treatment sooner. Maybe less of my college experience would have been sitting in front of a computer.(Maybe sitting in front of my computer kept me out of trouble.) I'm eager to see if medical treatment of will make a significant difference over a longer period of time. We'll see...