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The worst part is that there are a lot of so-called medical and mental health professionals who aren't much more well-informed than all of these well-meaning laypersons who say poo poo like "you just need to snap out of it" or "everyone's all like that" in a misguided effort to comfort you. My own therapist seemed like he wanted to convince himself that he could help me with my issues using good old-fashioned old-school platitudes like "oh, it all has to do with how your parents treated you as a child," without having to bother himself with silly newfangled labels like ADHD.
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Jul 27, 2010 00:50
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drumwolf posted:The worst part is that there are a lot of so-called medical and mental health professionals who aren't much more well-informed than all of these well-meaning laypersons who say poo poo like "you just need to snap out of it" or "everyone's all like that" in a misguided effort to comfort you. Maybe the way my parents treated me as a child partly has to do with my mental illness? No way, that's impossible. I hope you don't keep going to that therapist. There's a certain amount of "ok snap out of it" with any kind of therapy, but it's not like you guys talk for awhile, he snaps his fingers some point and you're all good. You're totally right about some medical professionals. Remember, 50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.
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Jul 27, 2010 04:24
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TheGopher posted:Maybe the way my parents treated me as a child partly has to do with my mental illness? No way, that's impossible. Not if said condition is usualy caused by your genesor in rarer cases by brain injury or toxic exposure. Of course your parents could have had a hand in the later, but even then its not something you can fix witch seettalk like this. My GP told me, that "its sad, that in our modern society people feel the need to take medication to ceep up with society's demands". Yeah thanks Doc... I don't tell anybody unless I have to (with so far mostly surprisingly good results). Here in Germany we imported the "Cocain for Kis" controversy without actually drugging kids first. Therefore People have no clue what ADD actually is, but have very strong opinions about medical therapy. Plankalkuel fucked around with this message at 10:18 on Jul 27, 2010 |
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Jul 27, 2010 10:11
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I guess the ability to perform longer reading session disqualifies me of any ADD. Still, it's curious how much symptoms line up with generic laziness. I can see why some feel it's being overdiagnosed.
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Jul 27, 2010 12:17
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Combat Pretzel posted:I guess the ability to perform longer reading session disqualifies me of any ADD. Still, it's curious how much symptoms line up with generic laziness. I can see why some feel it's being overdiagnosed. ADD is not the inability to concentrate! It is the ability to concentrate "on demand". Someone with ADD can concentrate as well as a healty person if the brain is ok with it. In fact Hyperfocus, meaning intensive concentration to the exclusion of everything else is quite common for ADD sufferers. The label Atention Deficit Disorder is really missleading, since its rather a deficit in the ability to consciously focus attention. When I was younger, I would read several books in one week. I could also spend days or weeks thinking the same topic through and through in any waking moment I wasn't activly occupied by something. That was not something I did willingly, but rather rather something my brain had set its mind on and I had to go with it. The ability to do something you are naturally interested in doesn't disqualify you. Yes, ADD has symptoms overlap with general laziness, but don't let that discourage you from seeking a professional diagnosis. The two are not the same. My advice is to go and get checked out, because diagnosing yourself with abnormal brainfuction is impossible because you don't know how it is to think with a normal brain  .
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Jul 27, 2010 13:38
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Combat Pretzel posted:Holy poo poo, reading all this, I feel like I need to get checked for it.
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Jul 27, 2010 14:38
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TheGopher posted:I hope you don't keep going to that therapist. There's a certain amount of "ok snap out of it" with any kind of therapy, but it's not like you guys talk for awhile, he snaps his fingers some point and you're all good. You're totally right about some medical professionals. Remember, 50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class. I can't afford health insurance so I don't have access to anything approaching REAL, genuine treatment.
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Jul 27, 2010 15:18
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Plankalkuel posted:When I was younger, I would read several books in one week. I could also spend days or weeks thinking the same topic through and through in any waking moment I wasn't activly occupied by something. That was not something I did willingly, but rather rather something my brain had set its mind on and I had to go with it. The ability to do something you are naturally interested in doesn't disqualify you. This a thousand times this. Most of the time I would have to reread my books for school 10 times before I would finally comprehend what I was reading because I would be thinking about 300 hundred other things, or it just wouldn't register in my brain. But then randomly I sat down and read a whole entire 10 book series in a week. It made no sense to me and I still don't get it.
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Jul 27, 2010 17:53
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Went in for my first followup on taking Stratera today. We talked things over and he gave me a prescription to continue on it. Not sure if I'll be able to continue. I took it to the pharmacy and it's $50/mo with my insurance. I don't think I can pay $50/mo. Godddd.
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Jul 28, 2010 00:44
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Do any of the rest of you have problems carrying on a conversation when there's a lot of ambient noise, particularly other conversations? I'm fine if I'm talking to somebody in a quiet environment, but if there are a lot of other people talking, I have a lot of trouble thinking of what to say next. The medication seems to help some, but I'm still on a pretty low dose, so I'm hoping that it'll get better when I start taking more.
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Jul 28, 2010 05:04
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ultrafilter posted:Do any of the rest of you have problems carrying on a conversation when there's a lot of ambient noise, particularly other conversations? I'm fine if I'm talking to somebody in a quiet environment, but if there are a lot of other people talking, I have a lot of trouble thinking of what to say next. The medication seems to help some, but I'm still on a pretty low dose, so I'm hoping that it'll get better when I start taking more. This very much so happens to me.
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Jul 28, 2010 06:48
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ultrafilter posted:Do any of the rest of you have problems carrying on a conversation when there's a lot of ambient noise, particularly other conversations? I'm fine if I'm talking to somebody in a quiet environment, but if there are a lot of other people talking, I have a lot of trouble thinking of what to say next. The medication seems to help some, but I'm still on a pretty low dose, so I'm hoping that it'll get better when I start taking more. Yes. Oh God, yes - complete with the medication helping me 'listen better' a little bit when it kicks in. My Psych. thinks I have Auditory Processing Disorder related to the ADHD. To me, this is one of the most frustrating aspects of the disorder - both having it, and then trying to explain it to other people. This reminds me - I need to schedule a hearing appointment with my pdoc, now that I have my insurance back. Psych guy wants me to get this done to rule out other hearing issues.
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Jul 28, 2010 06:53
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I definitely have that. For me, the issue is less about thinking what to say next (if I'm not talking to friends, I have that problem most of the time anyway), it's more that I can't hear a word anyone is saying. For instance, when I'm in a bar with noone around us for several tables but there's some music playing that isn't really low volume, I have to really strain my ears to process what anyone is telling me. Feels like I'm in a night club or something. Needless to say, this doesn't really help with my social issues. "I'd like to go with you, but I'm afraid I won't be able to hear a thing you're saying" isn't really an accepted excuse for not wanting to go out or finding another place.
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Jul 28, 2010 09:41
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octothorpopus posted:Ironically enough, I was trying to read through the thread but I couldn't concentrate. I've learned to work with myself for the most part and I do alright these days, but the worst part of ADD to me is that from early childhood, people (including your own family) will make you feel like you're just lazy and a bad person. Particularly because you can easily do things that interest you and not the tedious things that don't. It's hard to explain to someone without ADD that you just have trouble doing things you don't like; that can make some people very angry when they haven't experienced that feeling. I've never been able to explain to a normal person the true meaning of "can't". They just don't buy it.
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Jul 28, 2010 12:09
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Are there days when, even medicated, you just can't focus? I'm PI and have been taking adderall for about a month and a half to two months and I'm wondering if that's normal or I need to consider upping the dose. I play around with timing and frequency. For example, today I took a 5mg IR at 10a instead of at 7:30am and on weekends I might not take it at all.
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Jul 28, 2010 17:22
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ultrafilter posted:Do any of the rest of you have problems carrying on a conversation when there's a lot of ambient noise, particularly other conversations? I'm fine if I'm talking to somebody in a quiet environment, but if there are a lot of other people talking, I have a lot of trouble thinking of what to say next. The medication seems to help some, but I'm still on a pretty low dose, so I'm hoping that it'll get better when I start taking more. Definitely, and it's compounded with a congenital 30db hearing loss in my right ear. I find without my meds I can't really zone into a conversation unless I put a lot of mental energy into it or am really interested in the conversation at hand. flavaaDAAAAAVE posted:Are there days when, even medicated, you just can't focus? I'm PI and have been taking adderall for about a month and a half to two months and I'm wondering if that's normal or I need to consider upping the dose. I play around with timing and frequency. For example, today I took a 5mg IR at 10a instead of at 7:30am and on weekends I might not take it at all. 5mg Addy IR is a really small dose and to top it off it has a very short lifespan (around 4 to 6 hours, YMMV). What you might want to do is either split that 5mg IR up and take 2.5mg in the morning and then another 2.5mg after 3 hours or so. If you feel this doesn't help at all then you'll want to increase your dose and/or frequency. You may want to look into Adderall XR or possibly Vyvanse if you have insurance. I take 40mg Vyvanse daily and supplement with Dexedrine in the morning and afternoon. The morning Dex helps me avoid the Vyvanse Gap where I have to wait about 1.5 to 2 hours and instead feel relief in about 30 to 45 minutes. The afternoon Dex allows me to remain functional after work and into the evening. Harpsychord fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Jul 28, 2010 |
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Jul 28, 2010 17:37
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permanoob posted:Went in for my first followup on taking Stratera today. We talked things over and he gave me a prescription to continue on it. Not sure if I'll be able to continue. I took it to the pharmacy and it's $50/mo with my insurance. I don't think I can pay $50/mo. Godddd. Seriously? 50$ a month? That's nothing. That's what, 12$ or more a week? I'm not going to burn you at the stake or something, but honestly the effects of not being on the medication hurts way more than the 50$ pricetag. It's just budgeting it in and taking up a few more shifts at work. When I went on medication for my stomach, it was about 5$ a pill, twice a day. that was 70$ a week and I had to rebudget everything to make it work, but it did. Luckily I had roommates so for the entire month I cooked them supper/bought all the groceries that my boyfriend drove me to the store in and I ate the leftovers so I didn't have to spend any money on food except for eggs and milk etc. Honestly, if you *need* the medication you can always find a way to get 50$ saved up by the end of the month.
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Jul 28, 2010 22:02
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if you can convince your doctor that you need more than you actually do, your prescriptions can easily pay for themselves (especially if you live near a college)
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Jul 28, 2010 22:43
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dethl posted:5mg Addy IR is a really small dose and to top it off it has a very short lifespan (around 4 to 6 hours, YMMV). What you might want to do is either split that 5mg IR up and take 2.5mg in the morning and then another 2.5mg after 3 hours or so. If you feel this doesn't help at all then you'll want to increase your dose and/or frequency. My post was ambiguous, but I just meant to say that the dose I take is 5mg. I take it twice or thrice. Usually 7:30, 11:30 and then 2:30. With that dosing schedule I feel a diminishing return on the second and definitely the third dose. I'm just considering trying to up the dose to 7.5 or 10. Do the larger doses generally last longer or are we still looking at the 4 hour time frame? It's kind of hard to get a good idea of other people's dosing schemes because its commonly described as something like 'Xmg am with Xmg pm.' I tried XR and didn't like it, but I'm open to trying vyvanse.. How is it in relation to adderall re: side effects and duration (obviously longer, but I seem to have a fast metabolism so I'm wondering if it really does last the advertised 12 hours). Socket Ryanist posted:if you can convince your doctor that you need more than you actually do, your prescriptions can easily pay for themselves (especially if you live near a college) I wonder why adderall is schedule II
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Jul 29, 2010 01:46
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Socket Ryanist posted:if you can convince your doctor that you need more than you actually do, your prescriptions can easily pay for themselves (especially if you live near a college) Yeah. Don't do this. It's already hard enough to get our drugs legally without people making it worse by doing poo poo like this.
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Jul 29, 2010 04:02
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And - I took the first step in getting my hearing checked out. I left a message, and the Pdoc will call me back on this. I figure that I'm expending more energy worrying and dealing with this all, and avoiding it, rather than just facing it head on and getting it all over with. Now I'm reading that Adderall can give one Tinnitus  .
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Jul 30, 2010 00:01
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flavaaDAAAAAVE posted:I wonder why adderall is schedule II
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Jul 30, 2010 18:38
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Socket Ryanist posted:Because the government thinks everyone is a child who can't make their own decisions about what they put in their body 100% agreed, but lets let the lawyers and interest groups fight about it instead of making it harder for me to get my medicine. In any case, I'm sure if you're caught selling you'll make it much harder and costly for yourself in the future.
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Jul 30, 2010 18:46
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Apparently the hospital they're transcribing all my consultations at decided that it's a 4 week wait until I can get it faxed. Seeing if I can get my doctor just to call and get a verbal okay. It's what the woman at the psych office suggested, but I am not sure! To think it took me all of 5 minutes of whining to get on a high dose of anti psychotics, but it takes weeks to even be told I might be allowed to eventually, someday, have adhd medication. Har har.
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Jul 31, 2010 08:33
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Hey, just wanna say whoever recommended Delivered from Distraction (all of you, because I know there are quite a few) are probably life savers. My mom bought it for me years ago, but I didn't make it past the intro, so I missed out on a lot. I've known about my ADHD since I was in middle school. Not once during the entire time I've known my diagnosis has a doctor actually helped me beyond either telling me what the diagnosis is, or writing a prescription. Not a single doctor tried to help me develop life skills for long-term success, and not a single one looked at any of my problems beyond "oh he has trouble doing schoolwork and staying focused, welp we got pills." This diesease has been the single defining aspect of my life, and despite all the professional help my parents have tried to provide me with, almost every single one of them failed. I see a psychologist right now, but mostly it seems like somebody who I can talk to once a week, brain-dump, and make sure there aren't any unhealthy thought processes, which is really important for me right now, but I digress. My recent revelation, and small steps of success as of late have been 100% my own prerogative which is the greatest feeling in the world, but also the most frustrating at the exact same time because my entire life I've wanted to know why I struggled with day to day life. Most of the doctors I saw had no problem telling me how special I was after I told them how I "felt." The only thing this ever did was give me an ego, and created even more problems. I never really told any of them how I "felt" either. I felt like poo poo for 10 years, and very rarely could I tell anybody. I had my trust betrayed on almost every level dozens of times while I was a kid, so I learned not to trust anybody very quickly. All I think of when I look back on my childhood is pain and frustration. I don't think I was ever really happy, and the only times where I didn't feel like poo poo was when I had something new and/or exciting to distract me. Soon as the distraction wore off, the feeling of apathy, and general shittiness sunk back in. I feel like things may be getting better, because I just landed a very good paying job for my credential (read: none) and despite the job not being perfect, it is exactly perfect in the ways I need it to be. You guys may have noticed my being suspended, and that happened on Monday when I just started posting whatever poo poo I wanted to, starting fights with people because I was launching into the "spiral" out of control. All this started because I just got a job, and felt constricted because it meant having to show up to the same place every day, and I wasn't thrilled with it day 1 but I'm quickly learning how to make it work for me. I caught myself briefly, and by pure chance stumbled across the section in DfD where Hellowell describes to the loving T what I do every single time I self-sabotage. So to whichever one of you suggested reading DfD and broke the camel's back when I saw the suggestion, you probably just saved my life and gave me a chance to break this pattern of inevitable failure. Granted, I don't think it's the book alone that's helping me, so much as it's a personal attitude shift towards addressing and learning to work with my ADHD combined with conducive elements like medication and weekly therapy to work through those really, really hard days, but without this book I would have been back to square one in the near future. I will do everything in my power to prevent myself from burning out and allowing myself to self-sabotage, and now that I consciously know the signs, I'm not going to let it happen again unless it's too much, but that's why I need to work on building myself a support network of friends, as I haven't made much effort since moving to LA almost a year ago. My job pays well enough that I'll be able to get a new car within the next year (new old car that is), and be able to go out, enrich my life outside the internet and afford it without impacting my ability to provide for my basic needs. The only thing I need to do is hang in there, wait to get paid every couple of weeks and reach some long-term goals consistently. Lots of  , but I am leaving out probably an additional 1500 words I really wanted to put in here, but I had to remind myself which topic I was posting in.
TheGopher fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Jul 31, 2010 |
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Jul 31, 2010 09:56
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AlwaysWetID34 fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Jan 18, 2019 |
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Aug 6, 2010 02:21
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McFunkerson posted:I was also told it was required that I see a counselor as well to help me break bad habits I've picked up. I was told the meds will help the symptoms but not necessarily the behavior. Is that fairly common? Sorry I swear I looked at every page, I'd say read but... ya know there was a lot of skimming in there too. I'd love to hear your experiences with this, because this may be my next step. I see the Psychiatrist in two weeks, and I'm going to discuss with him different drug options. But, counseling and 'bad habit breaking' training might also be a good idea - and also more long lasting than drugs. Because 5MG of Adderall isn't cutting it, not when I'm trying to study a programming language (which is going...poorly). And on the hearing front...I finally got enough nerve to call my GP for a hearing test last week, just to have the nurse say that they want to talk to the Psychiatrist first  . And, I haven't heard back yet. If I don't hear anything by tomorrow, I may call around and see what's up. Because, this 'staring uncomprehendingly at my friends as I watch them mumble something in a crowded restaurant over lunch, and then them repeating what I missed loudly and clearly ("I SAID, I'M GETTING MY CAT'S ANAL FISSURES TREATED ON WEDNESDAY"  )' is getting really old. (For the record, this hasn't happened before - usually, I go to the GP for Mystery Ailment X, they look at me, and if they have no idea, I get shunted to the Specialist. If this is an insurance or referral thing, they'll be out of luck, because I pay for my Psych in cash - he's not covered by my plan.) I just want my ears and my brain looked at. Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Aug 6, 2010 |
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Aug 6, 2010 05:46
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McFunkerson posted:Well my fellow ADD addled goons, today I join your ranks. I just got back from my first appointment with my psych and have been officially diagnosed with "moderate" add and have been given my first prescription for Concerta at the age of 29! I first suspected I had ADD when I was 21ish but never really bothered to do anything about it. Kinda wish I didn't wait so long because, as I've read from some of you, there have been so many unfinished projects and lost potential at this point in my life. Tomorrow I start taking 18mg (or was it 16mg?) pills for the first week before doubling up and then going back to see the psych in 3 weeks. Read Delivered from Distraction. In terms of bad habits, Hallowell pretty much nails every little detail about ADHD you haven't thought of as part of the condition. All the times you're like "gently caress, why the gently caress do I always do this poo poo," or even "why can't I get my poo poo together," are just parts of ADHD. You'll pick up on why you do things or think a certain way, and the entire time you'll be chuckling because he's so spot on, or pissed off because you didn't figure this out sooner. In terms of therapy, you have to be proactive. After years of watiing for a doctor to give me what I need in therapy, I'm going in prepared, in part due to this book, and in part due to wanting very badly to break all my ADHD-induced habits and patterns. I talk about the behaviors as ADHD related, and don't assume my psychologist actually understands exactly what I'm talking about, because a lot of people are generally uninformed about the condition, even professionals. This isn't to say I throw the book at him, but I explain what's going on in my head in my own words and explain how I feel it's related to ADHD. You might argue I should go to a professional who is very knowledgeable about ADHD, but I don't need somebody who understands me, can pat me on the back and say everything's ok and I'm normal, I need somebody who can help me figure out how to change so I can respond to everyday events in a "normal" manner. Figure out how you want to get better and be proactive in therapy trying to reach that "goal". Also, I've never heard of anybody who's been diagnosed with ADHD having a severity attached to it. Did he say whether or not you're impulsive or hyperactive? I should also point out, that though you may respond positively to medication, positive response to stimulants is not a confirmation of your diagnosis. On the flipside, if the medication doesn't work, it doesn't mean you don't have ADHD either, as not every medication works for every person with ADHD. Some people don't respond to any medication at all. As a last note, I must say that since I got on Adderall, it has been incredibly easier trying to overcome my symptoms and be more successful in mundane day-to-day activities. I can't even describe how insanely helpful it's been at work for me, and the difference is noticeable. It took me a month to notice how it made things differently after I got on the right dose, but I finally feel normal in a ton of ways. Good luck to you sir.
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Aug 6, 2010 05:49
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TheGopher posted:Maybe the way my parents treated me as a child partly has to do with my mental illness? No way, that's impossible. Would your parents ever beat you for paying attention to one thing for too long? That could cause it. Does anyone know if theres a stigma attached to adult adhd? For as long as I can remember it has always been marketed as a childhood disorder that you eventually "grow out of." I'm starting vyvanse tomorrow, I hope this one works for me.
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Aug 6, 2010 13:50
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casual poster posted:Does anyone know if theres a stigma attached to adult adhd? For as long as I can remember it has always been marketed as a childhood disorder that you eventually "grow out of." I am not sure, I'm in Canada and having ADHD or a diagnoses of it in your childhood can get you a lot of extra funding and scholarships in school settings. It is taken seriously up here along with depression, even though the college I was at didn't really give a gently caress my best friend was dying of cancer and most teachers gave an extra week for extensions max. I just started Concerta and I'm really happy. It's only 18mg, but I definitely can feel my brain slow down and stop firing ideas like a machine gun in a small room. My husband also has mentioned that I haven't flown off the handle, and I have started to be able to finish simple tasks, such as prepping, cooking, and cleaning up after a meal. I no longer just wander away in the middle of cooking to take a shower or something. One thing I'm noticing though is I crash really hard around 1pm, sometimes earlier. I usually go to bed at 9-10pm, and wake up at 4-6am. I take my pill with a little bit of food and lots of water, and feel some what okay/slightly better than normal until lunch, then it slowly declines and bam. I'm a zombie staring at the wall for the rest of the night with a little bit of sadness mixed in. I've only been on this since tuesday. I have a program meeting/information session for a trade pre apprenticeship I want to join this september, but I'm not sure if the doctor (a walk in clinic one, who's pretty awesome by the way) would appreciate me coming in just a week after getting my medicine and saying that I'd like to try taking more. Would it be alright for me to go in and ask about it? The zombie state isn't so bad that I want to kill myself or something, but it is worrying. If I voice my concerns as above (crashing, feeling blue, not working past a few hours) and suggest doubling up on the pills for another week and coming back for a check up, would it seem reasonable? casual poster posted:Would your parents ever beat you for paying attention to one thing for too long? That could cause it. Haha do we get jackets to be a part of this club? I mostly got a smack upside the head and a "you are such an ungrateful bitch" when I was younger because I was failing middleschool/highschool. I think my parents just assumed I was going on drugs or something.
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Aug 6, 2010 15:40
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Aculard posted:crash Yeah your describing the crash perfectly. I used to get this all the time as well, but I've noticed that if I eat even a small amount of food it helps to ease the crash. I've heard that bananas help more than other foods because for some reason you use alot of potassium when your concerta/adderal/amphetamine is working.
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Aug 6, 2010 16:07
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casual poster posted:Does anyone know if theres a stigma attached to adult adhd? For as long as I can remember it has always been marketed as a childhood disorder that you eventually "grow out of." I've found it. I've had friends and acquaintances tell me that 'I'm not trying hard enough', 'it doesn't exist', 'I'm rude because I'm not listening to them' (well, DUH.) etc. I even got that line from my old GP - and this is one of the reasons he's my old GP. My current one is a lot more clueful about it all. And, well, speak of the Devil - I now have a GP appointment week after next for my hearing. 
Qu Appelle fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Aug 6, 2010 |
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Aug 6, 2010 17:18
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flavaaDAAAAAVE posted:Are there days when, even medicated, you just can't focus? I'm PI and have been taking adderall for about a month and a half to two months and I'm wondering if that's normal or I need to consider upping the dose. I play around with timing and frequency. For example, today I took a 5mg IR at 10a instead of at 7:30am and on weekends I might not take it at all. Sounds like you've built up a strong tolerance for the drug. Taking it everyday will do that for you. I tend to regulate my intake to only during study sessions so that when I do take the pill I feel its full effects. But if you do take it quite regularly try to have a substitute type of ADD-drug so if you start to build up a tolerance for one you can switch to the other.
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Aug 6, 2010 18:14
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casual poster posted:Does anyone know if theres a stigma attached to adult adhd? For as long as I can remember it has always been marketed as a childhood disorder that you eventually "grow out of." "Adults who say they have ADHD are lazy slackers making excuses." Yes, there's a stigma. However, with the dawning of Strattera it's had the poo poo marketed out of it. The term "Adult ADD" literally did not exist until Eli Lilly made it up for advertising. And even when they did, they called it ADD instead of ADHD, a pet peeve of mine. It's becoming accepted, but the problem is a lot lot lot of things look like ADHD. So adults may think they have ADHD, when really they don't. The other problem is that once someone decides they have ADHD, they'll often retroactively and selectively remember times as a child when they had a hard time paying attention and use this as "confirmation." Adult ADHD does exist only because we've learned that people don't "grow out" of ADHD. This is a relatively new discovery - ADHD is a very new diagnosis. It was originally "minimal brain dysfunction" in DSM-II, and turned into ADD with DSM-III in 1980. As such, the first generation to have ADHD diagnoses (minimal brain dysfunction) is only 60 or so now, and the first people diagnosed with ADD are only in their 30s. Even still, ADHD didn't become a popular diagnosis at all until the early 1990s, when Novartis started marketing the poo poo out of Ritalin. Because of this, we're learning people don't "grow out" of ADHD, whereas before we did not know this - how could we? It was a disorder "usually diagnosed in childhood or adolescence" and as such it was very rarely diagnosed in adults. Another problem with Adult ADHD is that while it causes significant impairment, there are no established workplace accommodations for it. So a lot of people will get this diagnosis, technically a disability, and tell their employers, and not get anything out of it except a stigma that they may be irresponsible or making excuses. I've found that it's normally best to keep this particular diagnosis to myself, and from what I've seen on ADDForums, telling an employer about ADHD usually only ends in tears.
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Aug 6, 2010 18:30
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casual poster posted:Yeah your describing the crash perfectly. I used to get this all the time as well, but I've noticed that if I eat even a small amount of food it helps to ease the crash. I've heard that bananas help more than other foods because for some reason you use alot of potassium when your concerta/adderal/amphetamine is working. I actually really hate bananas, funny enough. I do eat quite a bit through out the day, something I'm cutting down on a bit. I'll try eating something high potassium more often, and see if that helps. I'll probably talk to my doctor about it if it really is wearing off too early. I only have a few weeks before my course hopefully starts so-!
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Aug 6, 2010 19:32
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If I know I dont have time to eat properly beforehand I usually wont even bother with taking the drugs.
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Aug 6, 2010 20:48
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Slaapaav posted:If I know I dont have time to eat properly beforehand I usually wont even bother with taking the drugs. Oh I eat very well now. I've cut out all starches and high caffeine things. My breakfast every morning as I take the pill is a 2 egg spinach, mushroom, and cheese frittata. Handful of cherries for a snack, stirfried vegetables with protein for lunch and baked veggies + chicken leg or something for supper. It's not that I eat poorly or too little, I was mostly wondering what else I could do (or add in my diet) to make it easier on me. What happens when you don't eat properly with your meds?
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Aug 6, 2010 21:45
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Aculard posted:What happens when you don't eat properly with your meds? For me it exacerbates the side effects. If I don't eat very much and take my meds I'll get more noticeable jaw clenching and I'm definitely a little more irritable.
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Aug 6, 2010 23:21
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I've had a horrible cold and have NOT been taking Adderal for the last 2 weeks. I started taking them today and WOW what a difference! I've been doing everything. I had not realized a difference because I had been on pseudoephedrine and caffeine, just figured that would equal it all out. I was wrong. I'm normally asleep by now but I'm wide awake and ready to clean the house. I'm sure this will pass in a few days.
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Aug 7, 2010 04:09
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Nannypea posted:I've had a horrible cold and have NOT been taking Adderal for the last 2 weeks. I started taking them today and WOW what a difference! I've been doing everything. I had not realized a difference because I had been on pseudoephedrine and caffeine, just figured that would equal it all out. I was wrong. I'm normally asleep by now but I'm wide awake and ready to clean the house. I'm sure this will pass in a few days. I've also been taking a break from the drug. And yeah - the days I do take it now? It makes a difference.
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Aug 7, 2010 04:20
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