ADHD and Aspergers and Medication

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i relate very much to this dilemma Jingo8.
I am in a similar situation. I do use caffeine to calm me and help me focus and I can hyperfocus like any singular AS person can! But the mild ADHD means I get scattered even within the hyperfocus process. I leave things half done etc.

All in all, it is a hard place to be -
and listening to others' views, I am not sure about ADHD meds as they scare me a little.

I'll keep on with mega doses of flaxseed (omega 3, 6 and 9's all in the one capsule) and use that.

I notice sublingual B12 helps me too. I don't know if there's a relation to ADD. My nurse practitioner SIL tells me it offsets the damage I've done to my brain from alcoholism.

Thanks Aimless. I might supplement with the B Group also.
sorry to hear you have killed off a few precious brain cells courtesy of the dreaded drink!

Well, the good news is I've been sober for ten years. I've seen 2 neighbors die from alcoholism since. It's a nasty way to go, so I'm thankful and I intend to stay sober.

hey - I am 11 years sober and clean. it's good. I am glad you are sober.

Millie I am on Arapax, and I use IM B12 far better than sub lingual

I have been on the SSRI (aropax) now for at least 15 years, I tried going without them and really could not cope.

Regarding Omega 3. Using flax seed to get your DHA and EPA it is vital that you have a very good diet, with all the precursors present to convert the linolenic acid into DHA and EPA, there are several stages involved in this process each requiring specific nutrients. The more effective way is to take fish oil (not cod liver oil) as the process is much shorter and the percentage of absorption far higher.

I studied nutrition some time ago and have some notes on the subject if you would like them, PM me

thanks DenArthurDent

I am very grateful for this.
I have a fairly good diet. I eat mainly vegetable and fruits and lean meat, soy milk, no dairy and no wheat and I use rice based products instead of wheat. I do not drink alcohol or smoke or take any drugs except for my SSRI meds (cital opram - and a dose that is in keeping with temple grandin's view to keep the dosage down because of heightened sensitivities due to ASD's. My dose is 5 mg which is half the starter dose for NT people (who might go up to 40 and even 50 mg and higher. ) I have an amazing result with 5 mgs in terms of anxiety reduction and depression alleviation.
I also exercise daily, drink water and keep my stressors low.

I shall pm you about more info re flaxseed absorption.

^
Q. Why no dairy or wheat, intolerance?

Like you I have discovered that half the normal SSRI dose works really well for me

I have Asperger's diagnosed. I have been wondering about what kinds of meds there are for ADHD. I have had problems all my life with my attention span and can't stay focused for long if something doesn't interest me. I do hyper focus on things that interest me. What concerns me is bad side effects!!

Ok,

Probably I mentioned somewhere else, but here it goes:

Pro zac - Small improvement. Switched soon to Bupro pion XR. I would strongly recommend people to not take SS RI's unless they really have a problem other than just ADHD-like symptoms. They can cause horrible sexual dysfunctions, that persist long after you stop, potentially being permanent. And, as hyper-sensitives, we are more prone to those side effects.

Bupro pion extended release - Works fine, but not allways - If you have something causing you depression, the releaf from the med will not last for ever, so it is important to identify what is the problem, maybe with the help of cognitive therapy.

I am trying to swich from that med to sports! Some 40 minutes of aerobic (cardio) excercise in the morning. Like sleep deprivation, it is also anti-depressant, but with good side effects instead of bad ones. The problem is that I still cannot wake up early enough to go to the gym before work.

Another still to try is to either switch or complement bupro pion with edro nax.

I take SSRI's not for ADHD but for co-morbid clinical depression and also anxiety.
There is a small group of autistic people who seem to do well on SSRI's. This may be because their chronic co-morbids - anxiety and depression - are alleviated by the seratonin reuptake inhibitors, thus enabling them to focus more clearly on a solutions based approach to those of their ASD traits that may be difficult and problematic for them.

I fit into that group.

Not all individuals on SSRI's experience sexual dysfunction. Some do and some do not. And the severity of this seems to depend on the individual and the dose they are on.

My main focus is eating well, exercising, living healthily, trying to maintain good self-esteem and living a life that has a spiritual dimension to it. All humans and animals - NT and ASD can benefit from this.

Without the minuscule dose of SSRI's that I take, I revert to the extremes of selective mutism/monologuing, and I am completely housebound and routined and rigid to a debilitating extent. it gets hard and it gets horrible. It gets scary and it gets unbearable.

On a small dose of SSRI's i function better. I still have the same issues, but because the depression and anxiety is alleviated I am able to focus more clearly on my life and a positive approach to how I want to live as a woman with AS.

On a too high dose of SSRI's (which would be the normal starter for the usual depression sufferer) I am thrown into state of constant faux-pas, extreme loudness, inappropriate attempts at social dynamics and conversation. It magnifies certain aspects of my ASD and makes me more social BUT WITHOUT ANY OF THE NT subtlety that is required of human beings as they make their way through the world. In short, I end up making enemies everywhere, eventually.


So, to date, it's a case of AS with me, with mild ADHD, along with the co-morbids of depression and anxiety.
I'm lucky to have gotten this far. and 5mg of SSRI's just does me fine. At least it alleviates my tendency for suicidal ideation, roofbeams and ropes.

A girl has to do what a girl has to do......

and in fact I am starting to do really well.
it's nice to enjoy my life, my animals, my special interests, a few one on one friends, and nature and who i am.

I take Ritalin and Paxil, both are godsends. Ritalin helps my executive dysfunction while the Paxil helps with my anxiety.

I have major ADHD and minor AS.

Abilify: It brought me down. I felt like crap. I felt better when I stopped taking it.
Prozac: I made my personality worse, and my impulsivity 250% worse as well.
Ritalin: Instant release medication. It gave me the jitters and I was building Legos for like 14 hours straight. (I was like 13 back then, 22 now)


So after much trial and error, I take:

Concerta: I have fatigue syndrome. It's a time-released vesion of Ritalin. It balances me out.
Buproprion: Well-butrin. It make me not have those "I feel down for no reason" moments.

I have a diagnosis of ADHD (more inatentive now than hyperactive) and strongly suspect i have AS.

ADHD meds definately help me. I focus better, am calmer, am much more organized. It even helps with social things too. it feels like someone switched a light on in my brain.

I have had the best results with adderall (short acting) and have also had success with adderall xr, concerta, and ritalin.

You know, the same for me. My therapist wants to top me up with 30 mg a day, I tell her, no way, I have been on citalopram for 12 weeks (and prozac for 18 weeks before that. . .ugh! nasty stuff) and cut down to only 20 mg and I still am queezy . . .

^ You may need to follow the "temple grandin approach' to SSRI's. Most GP's try to bump us up, assuming we are on par with the usual population. BUt often we need less, not more. Try having the starter dose. I do this. Many get max results without our extreme hypersensitivity reactions to the normal dose that others can cope with. I learned about this from a paper on SSRI's written by Grandin and it has revolutionised my life.