Adult ADD

The conditions listed below may cause some symptoms that are seen in ADD, most commonly inattention and memory problems, but only rarely cause the full set of symptoms that are required for the diagnosis of ADD.

• Thyroid Disease.  An underactive thyroid can make a person lethargic or too sleepy to pay attention.
• Anemia.  Low hemoglobin can cause fatigue, irritability, mood swings, and poor attention span.
• Hypoglycemia. May cause symptoms of fatigue, lethargy and poor concentration.
• Post- concussion syndrome.
• Some prescription medicines, over the counter medicines, and illegal drugs can cause symptoms that mimic ADHD.
• Too much caffeine may lead to symptoms that look like hyperactivity.
• Depression.
• Manic depression/bipolar disorder.
• Anxiety.
• Chronic sleepiness.  This is often caused by sleep apnea, a condition where a person stops breathing as many as six times a minute throughout the night but is usually unaware that this is happening.  Often a sleeping partner will be the one who sees this.  The lack of oxygen to the brain as well as the tiredness caused by this can make concentrating and focusing very difficult.  There are other causes of chronic tiredness, including narcolepsy, shift work, insomnia and others.
• Malnutrition including multiple vitamin deficiencies.
• Impaired vision, hearing or speech and language problems, other learning disabilities.
• Visual-tactile-auditory integration problems.