Wasn't there a thread on ADD?

[Tuzenbach]

Was it just my imagination, or was there a thread on Attention Deficit Disorder? I'm thinking there used to be one, but it got lost in the site crash of early May.

Anyway, I've got the "Unquiet Mind" disorder. I'm currently taking a generic form of Ridilin called "Methylin". I've been doing so since February of 2005. It's very strange. When I'm on it, it's as if everything around me slams on the brakes and gets slower. I realize that this is only a perception/relativity thing and that I'm actually speeding up, but it doesn't feel that way.

To the point of the thread.......I HATE the medication! Sure, I get faster. However, I also get very irritated at really insignificant crap. Anger, for no apparent reason, just sort of happens.

What other medications are out there and how do they adversely affect you? I'd appreciate any and all feedback. I'd very much like to try a different med, but I haven't got a clue as to what's available.

Thanks!

 

[takyris]

I wish I could offer something to help. I sympathize on the anger issues, though. When I went on prednisone to deal with a sinus/allergy problem, I got what my wife described as massive PMS. I would come home, and my wife would say, "Hey, sweetie, how was your day?", and I'd just KNOW that what she actually meant was, "You're fat and lazy and lousy in bed and I can't believe that I'm putting up with you, you pathetic cretin." I am a big-time empathetic person, and it was like my sensors were just as sensitive but tuned in completely the wrong direction.

We had a few really uncomfortable days before we realized that it was the medication and not a major crisis in our marriage causing (her view) me to start acting crazy or (my view) her to start attacking me with thinly veiled verbal abuse.

Good luck finding something that helps you deal with stuff.

 

[Mark Chance]

No advice about the meds, but there is this: Get a second opinion. If you gotten a second opinion, get a third, et cetera. Ritalin is overprescribed and often unnecessary. The problems associated with ADD are largely behavioral, and behavior can often be modified without recourse to drugs that may not doing anything more than masking symptoms.

 

[Tuzenbach]

No advice about the meds, but there is this: Get a second opinion. If you gotten a second opinion, get a third, et cetera. Ritalin is overprescribed and often unnecessary. The problems associated with ADD are largely behavioral, and behavior can often be modified without recourse to drugs that may not doing anything more than masking symptoms.

Not really, but I appreciate your advice.

You see, I don't possess very good control over my brain. Without the meds, it's highly possible for me to spend a whole day in bed just starring up at the ceiling. It's not depression, lethary, apathy, boredom, or sleepiness. It's just that my imagination sometimes captivates me for hours on end. In truth, I've never been bored in my life, as my imagination is like an unpredictable movie running 24/7 keeping me constantly amused.

Interestingly, from a strictly "Behavioristic" point of view, they would classify the action described above as merely "lying in bed" and make no record whatsover of all the imagination stuff going on. Why? Because "thinking" doesn't qualify as a behavior, according to these genius people!

And I'm in the right to criticize them as I've actually held the title of "Behavior Therapist" while working with autistic children. I hold a BA in Psychology & acted as a course-coordinator for my university's class on Behavior Modification. I'll be the first to say that the technique is DEFINATELY NOT appropriate for all situations, though Behaviorists will say otherwise.

I could tell you horror stories about what sort of cruel, emotional tortures my immediate supervisors would inflict upon these kids in the name of science. And whatever obvious emotional misery the children suffered would nonchalantly be brushed aside with textbook references implying that "feelings aren't behavior, and thus should be ignored". But that is best spared for another thread.....

A second opinion? Well, perhaps just a different Doctor. The guy has ONLY prescribed Ritalin for persons with ADD, and is thus hesitant to change the prescription. I think it's mostly his inexperience with the adverse affects of other drugs. However, I've heard of a few alternative medications and wondered what they were like.

Hey, thanks again for the response. It's greatly appreciated!

 

[Merkuri]

On a slightly related topic, does anyone know any non-medication ways to treat ADD? While I've never been diagnosed I'm positive that I have it to some degree. My childhood had "ADD" stamped over it, and if my parents had recognized it and gotten me some type of treatment then maybe I could've had a life, rather than having to spend my entire night from the time I got home to the time I went to bed doing homework (no kidding, I used to do this). Only the stuff that required reading, mind you. Math I could do in 10 minutes. English took me three hours. My parents thought my younger sister was slacking when she'd be done with all of her homework in an hour or two, even though she got slightly better grades than me, because they thought I was normal and something was "different" about her, rather than the other way around.

It'd always been very hard for me to concentrate when something didn't naturally hold my attention, like a good book. This isn't as big of a deal now that I'm an adult with a job, which is why I've never mentioned it to a doctor. But sometimes I wish I could just force myself to concentrate harder, like if I'm in the middle of a meeting and my mind starts to wander. I'd rather not resort to drugs, and I was just wonderng if there was anyone out there who'd had some sort of non-drug therapy to treat their ADD and what it was like.

 

[ssampier]

Merkurl, you remind me of my polar opposite. I almost never did homework when I was in elementary school. I got "okay" grades, except in math. Junior high and high school was a frustrating, boring existance.

College was much better, though. When I did have to study, somedays I could study for hours without problems. Other days I'd have trouble concentrating and I'd get frustrated really easily. Most of the time I could eventually focus, but it'd take me several hours to "get into the zone" (basically wasting time doing other things).

Lately, I've noticed I've had trouble concentrating at work, my mind always seem to wander off somewhere. I thought about seeing a doctor, but I'm honestly not sure whom I'd talk to.

 

[BOZ]

When I went on prednisone to deal with a sinus/allergy problem, I got what my wife described as massive PMS.

heh. i was taking it for a skin allergy actually for a few weeks, and i got the same reaction. switching from weepy to insanely mad for no real reason.

unlike you, though, i got a warning from the nurse ahead of time that "it might make you a little cranky". when i told the doctor, he took me off of it about a week quicker than anticipated.

 

[Merkuri]

Merkurl, you remind me of my polar opposite. I almost never did homework when I was in elementary school. I got "okay" grades, except in math. Junior high and high school was a frustrating, boring existance.

Yeah, I think the reason nobody ever realized there was a problem was that I got excelent grades. As and Bs all around. The only grade I ever got lower than a B in high school was a C in Spanish one semester. I almost cried when I saw the report card.

But the price I paid for those good grades was a lack of any free time except on the weekends. I was seriously depressed all through high school. I used to cry while I got dressed in the morning for school. I never actually contemplated suicide, but I understood why some teens would do it.

College was a lot easier, mainly I think because I was taking classes I was interested in, and the topics held my interest, so it was easier to concentrate on them. I also had a lot more free time to work on the subjects I wasn't so interested in.

Much happier now, and the lack of concentration only comes into play maybe once a month at work. I work in tech support. I don't have meetings all that often, and that's usually when I start zoning. There have been one or two times when I've zoned out while talking to a customer, though, and I've had to ask them to repeat themselves. That's embarrassing, but not as bad as one sales guy at work. He's seriously overworked, and he's told me before that he's fallen asleep while on the phone with the customer. If he wakes up in the middle of the call and no one is talking, he just says, "Oh?" and the customer starts talking again.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

The previous conversation of ADD came up in my thread about my wife leaving me. (And was lost in the crash)

One of the (many) reasons she decided to leave is that she couldn't deal with me off the meds, or me on the meds (for different reasons).

I currently use Adderol extended release, which still has a peak efficiency of mid-day, then a "trough" in the late afternoon, but the XR version is not as "high & low" as taking multiple doses in a day.

You may want to look into the Dore program.

Acording to the Dore program, they have noticed that people with ADD have a less developed Cerebellum then the average person. (The Cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls balance, coordination, & motor control). Their research has found that practicing physical exercises which stimulate the Cerebellum will also lead to reduced symptoms of ADD or ADHD.

 

[Tuzenbach]

Acording to the Dore program, they have noticed that people with ADD have a less developed Cerebellum then the average person. (The Cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls balance, coordination, & motor control)

That's actually very interesting! I've always said that if I had to rank my own ability scores, my Dexterity would be the lowest with about a 4. At various random times throughout my life I've actually lost my balance WHILE WALKING!

I've not-too-fond memories of elementary school where I was always the very worst kid at catching, running, throwing, etc. I don't think I ever did manage to connect the softball with the bat.....always so fast with so many different spacial variables, it was impossible for me. I never figured out why everybody else hit the thing seemingly with ease.

And when it came time to pick teams? Forget it! I was never actually picked. I was always last and thus, by default, was forced upon the team who ordinarily was supposed to pick last. And they hated it, cuz it meant that they would lose. Oh well......

I guess I should get into a gym or something?

Thanks for the info, Mavrick!

The previous conversation of ADD came up in my thread about my wife leaving me. (And was lost in the crash)

I remember reading parts of that thread and am truly sorry that something so touching was lost forever. FWIW, the emotional out-pouring was very inspirational.