I've been diagnosed with ADD

Post Reply New Topic

Well then, ok.

So in short, I never really thought I had ADHD - Inattentive Type (ADD) till today - out of no where my therapist said she was diagnosing me with it, and no she wasn't being hasty, she knows me quite well and has seen a lot of behavior, plus I live in Ireland where it's very underdiagnosed and quite ridgid.

I just had no idea really, I chocked a lot of it up to my flawed personality and such, but only gleaming over the symptoms now (of which I only looked briefly at before today) I see so much of myself all my life.

The endless daydreaming in class, the inability to complete long homework assignments, the difficulty in sitting through whole films without constant breaks, the need for constant musical stimulation, the forgetfullness, constantly losing things, forgetting why I went to do something, my anxiety over things that require organizational skills, my failing of subjects in school due to constant procrastination - which just compounded into more and more stress causing severe school refusal in middle school.

I guess I never really considered having it because I'm not hyperactive - I'm definitly a sensory seeker, but I was never hyper as a id, I was pretty laid back actually, I didn't really know about ADD

Sp, where do I go from here? What should I bring up with my therapist next time I'm with her? We barely talked about it today when she diagnosed me and I don't really know what to say or what treatments exist - and I really do need treatment, these memory issues are getting quite bothersome.

Phonic.

The primary treatment for ADHD is stimulant medication (Ritalin, Adderall, etc) although other conditions may be a contraindication for that.

Beyond that my mind is blank.

I don't understand this, why would hyperactive people be given meds that stimulate them? Wouldn't it make more sense to give them muscle relaxers like benzos or something?

I think I'm missing something, but I know adderall can totally wire people and cause severe insomnia.

Well, your brain works differently because of asperger, right? The brain also works differently because of AD(H)D. So if you have ADD and you're given stimulants, they actually help you focus. But if I've understood correctly, it works better for kids with ADD than for adults. Personally, I have stimulants but I only use them when I absolutely have to. Other than that, I don't think having ADD is such a big deal. Asperger and ADD often come together, if you have one you'll have a higher probability to at least have traits of the other. If you're unsure about this, a good idea would be to do some research or go to an AD(H)D support group. Then you'd find out if your therapists thoughts are right or not

Amphetamines (like adderall) always made me focus and afaik I'm not even ADD. I'd recommend trying them.

It's basically the reason I dropped out of school.

But I wont give you the depressing statistics to show you that ADD and ADHD are serious.

For the record, I don't have Aspergers.

If you let it reign on you, your Avatar captures the universal essence of ADD.

Low doses of stimulants are effective for nearly anyone to focus. ADD or not. It's perhaps a myth that stimulants hype up your body, it's more about the focusing and stimulating the mind as anything.

Jason

When my aunt was at school in the '50s my granny gave her benzedrine to help her study.

Stimulants actually control ADHD symptoms. The hyperactivity is mitigated to some extent. Meds help people with ADHD sit still and focus.

Benzos don't help with ADHD, or at least they don't help with my ADHD.

I've also read about parents treating their ADD / ADHD children with coffee. A Google search for ADHD and coffee brought up this article:
http://www.add-adhd-treatments.com/Caffeine.html


Nicotine is also known to improve memory and focusing problems:
http://adam.about.net/reports/000030_1.htm

http://www.addadhdblog.com/adhd-medicat ... ext/#35235

If nicotine is administered in a relatively safe way (patches, nasal spray, electronic cigarettes), it might have less side effects than amphetamine-based drugs like Adderall. The addictiveness could be an issue though.

Adderall is one of the safest drugs on the market. Tylenol's much more dangerous than Adderall or Ritalin will ever be.

The nicotine research has found that nicotine is as effective as any stimulant medication, and removing the addictiveness also tends to remove the effectiveness.

Really? I've read that Adderall can cause pychosis. But I guess people with ADHD / ADD would be at a lesser risk, since their dopamine levels are unnaturally low.

It can. The side effects can suck. I just mean...my understanding is that they're not as common.

Yes, very uncommon.

At least if it's any similar to methylphenidate. According to statistic, less than 1 in 10.000 displays symptoms of a substance-induced psychosis when on methylphenidate.

I checked the prescribing information of Adderall on the internet and it says:



Basically, what that means is to utilise common sense and not to gobble up a random amount of pills or the entire pack of pills at once for fun.



And finally this:

I would never take any amphetamines daily, that would really mess you up. Just when you need to concentrate.