Noises bother me. ADD or OCD?

Hi all.
My entire life I have had issues with focusing and has gotten worse as I have gotten older. It's hard for me to hold a conversation at all. It is also very hard for me to read or grasp a concept sometimes because my mind gets so distracted. I have a BS is Electrical Engineer, so it has not hindered me so much that I wouldn't get good grades, but I do have to try hard than others. I do not take any medications and don't really plan on it because I'm afraid the symptoms would be worse. I was diagnosed in high school with mild ADD, but it just doesn't seem like mild is the correct word. lol I was also diagnosed with OCD because I have motor ticks like blinking my eyes, especially when I'm stressed. I also used to count things quite a bit as a child. Apparently it's genetic because my 9 year old son has an audible tick of doing a blowing thing with his nose, mainly when he is congested. That seems to be all the time since he has allergies.

One of the things that may stem from my ADD is background noise. I cannot stand most background noises. Whether it be someone talking, something clicking, etc. It's really bad whenever I'm concentrating or watching TV and trying to grasp whats going on. The reason I bring this up is because my sons tick of blowing out of his nose drives me insane. I can't even be near him when his does it and sometimes he does it everyone 10 seconds. Is this something that stems from ADD or OCD...or is this something completely different? Any advice on how to fix this issue or improve it? I do have noise cancelling headphones, but I hate to wear them because then I cannot interact with my son. Any meds that may help with both my ADD and anxiety from noises? Meds would be the last resort.

A neuroligist would be your best bet for a correct diagnosis for you & your son.

I still have problems getting distracted when I have sound & I am trying to read....it all mixes together. I got my BS in Accounting & computer science (in 1978)....I also had to work harder & had to study in a quiet environment.

My dad used to do that blowing out his nose. It drove me insane too. He also had a stomach tick & he continually rubbed his fingers together. He died in 1989....I was in my late 30's. .I can still hear that sound in my head if I think about it.

My dad was 70 in 1989 so obviously his life was long before diagnosing those things.....but reading about those things when I was researching what I had dealt with for 33 years in my own marriage before I left indicated that it was definitely my dad was on the autistic spectrum & also possibly had some form of tourette's. Had indications that the husband I left was probably on the autistic spectrum too though he did get his BS in computer science where my dad might have had other learning disabiluties because he barely graduated high school.

Who knows....maybe my sensitivity to sound is an inherited piece of the autistic spectrum since it is a spectrum condition. My dad didn't seem OCD or ADD while my ex-husband was actually diagnosed with adult ADD.....then never took that farther in 2003 to check out ASD (then known as Asperhers....high functioning autism)

You can only really know these things by getting a formal professional diagnosis....everything else is guessing.

My other half is really bothered by sound and smell. It affects his own ability to concentrate. Sometimes we are unable to hold a conversation as he will invariably interrupt and ask, "What's that?" I barely register a sound but he has to march around the home looking for the source of it. The conversation is put on hold until he discovers it. I have begun to start using the excuse that it must be the tenant downstairs or someone walking by on the street or a neighbour. He however jumps to the conclusion that something is wrong. He is really bad at this when in the car. Any creak, tap, whine, tick, thunk, etc sends him off thinking the car is falling apart. He even reacts to the sounds made by other vehicles.

Smell - he reacts to this too. He reacts to odours. Something must be wrong. He is terrified about the smell of smoke no matter how lightly it wafts through the air. On more than one occasion I have had to call the gas company as he has smelled a sour smell. They don't even bother coming out anymore. We have cried wolf too many times I guess. The response is always the same - the nearby oil upgrader must have released some sour gas.