I can't afford to buy much medication, and I don't like it anyway, AND I forget to take it half the time. I can't even remember to take vitamins regularly.

The one naturopathic remedy that I've taken that seems to help me focus is DMAE from a health food/supplements store, dimethylaminoethanol, from fish. From the label: "DMAE is present in small amounts in all living organisms. DMAE has been found to increase choline levels. Choline serves a a precursor of acetylcholine, which is one of the neurotransmiiters responsible for memory function."

MDinana: It isn't just lack of organization from lack of time, it's

* Not paying bills when you have the time, the bill, the money, the checkbook, the addressed envelope and the stamp.
* Having to call your carry-around landline phone or cell phone to find out where you left it.
* Having to leave your cell phone, purse, keys, shovels, etc, in designated places or you'll never find them.
* Having to live by lists because you don't usually concentrate on anything, or what you have to do, long enough to retain it in your memory, because you're instantly thinking of something else.
* Struggling to learn something that doesn't interest you, and focusing intently (obsessing) on the stuff that does.
* Being so easily distracted that you don't remember what someone just said to you because something he said made you think of something else.
* Having a mind that won't shut off, that is constantly jumping from one idea to another.
* Doing or saying something before you think it out, and getting yourself in trouble.
* Having to write directions down because you can't keep them in your head long enough to do any good.
* Being chronically late for EVERYTHING.
* Having every flat surface with stuff stacked on it.
* Chronic procrastination.
* Starting a new project and then not finishing... ALL THE TIME.
* Reversing letters and numbers, and turning words around when you're talking. (not dyslexia)
* Poor coordination, lousy at sports.
* Insomnia because you can't shut off all the thoughts running through your mind.

I wasn't diagnosed until I was 56, but once I was, I could track the problem right back through my life to when I was a child.

It also appears to be genetic. I can see it in my sister and my half-brother.

It is said to affect about 5% of the population. Many children are diagnosed by the SCHOOLS rather than a professional. A school with "learning disabled" children gets more money, even though many of the learning problems are caused by the teaching methods more than the kids' problems.

Sue