Anyone here have Add/Adhd aswell?

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Obgeektor
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22 Apr 2010, 6:31 am

pensieve wrote:

sarek wrote:

The tiredness that comes with ADD is in my opinion mostly attributable to the effort needed to function in daily life. Its a continuous struggle to achieve a minimum of productivity and you need a wide repertoire of coping strategies.

I agree. I always force myself to do things I have little energy for. Then I hear about others with ADHD who have problems with doing things on time or staying organised. I just know if I were to stop being so ordered and organised I'd fall into that habit again.

All I know about organisation is that it's an uphill struggle. My mobile phone having a diary, separate short task reminder, timer and multiple alarms (as well as the mp3 player to help me choose focusing-type music) is a godsend. It's not even a new, advanced one, (SE W810i) but I like it a lot.
My parents say I'm far more organised than I used to be, but it's still poor compared to most adults, I guess. What strategies do you have? How do you motivate yourself?
The problem I have is nothing motivates me much... It's hard to even force yourself to do things... Short of some personal trainer type with a bullhorn in my ear every morning, how do you suggest I improve this, if anyone has any ideas?

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nostromo
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22 Apr 2010, 7:08 am

Posted this in another thread here on executive function, its about a trial using 'micro-nutrients' in treating ADD, interesting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/ ... stonishing

pensieve
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22 Apr 2010, 9:33 am

Obgeektor wrote:

pensieve wrote:

sarek wrote:

I don't know if I have any good advice. It's kind of just the person I am. One day I noticed that I made by bed before brushing my teeth every morning and when I didn't make my bed I wouldn't brush my teeth. Then I noticed I did certain things in a pattern and at a certain time which does make my life more structured.
But any slight diversion from the regular routine and my life is turned into chaos. I don't work yet or have any big responsibilities so it's easier to organise myself I think.
It can go the opposite way though. I used to not be able to get out of bed until 10am, somehow I managed to switch to 8am. I still think it's way to early but that's just the way my brain works.
With tasks like washing dishes or doing laundry I just think it's now or never. If I don't do them at that moment I may put it off or forget about doing it.
When I work and live on my own it may be a different story.

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Bob550
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24 Apr 2010, 2:02 pm

I've been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, Adhd and I'm pretty sure I have Aspergers.

Michaela115
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02 May 2010, 5:50 am

Yep, I have ADHD as well! Didn't get diagnosed until last year, when I was 19

I went to my local PCT but I've also been referred to the Maudsley Clinic to get a more official diagnosis. I was on Concerta, which worked like magic for the first 2 days and then nothing happened, even after raising the dosage twice. 54mg gave me nasty side effects

Because they're specialists at Maudsley, my PCT are leaving trying out new meds until they diagnose me. Which is a shame, because my Pdoc changed and I now have someone who DOES seem to understand ADHD! But I'm relieved the funding etc was agreed, I was worried I wouldn't be able to get referred to Maudsley at all! I reckon I could be waiting a while but it'll be worth it. When my PCT diagnosed me, I expected a report like when I got my AS diagnosis, but nope. Just got a letter explaining in brief that I'd been diagnosed and that I was put on meds. Apparently the Maudsley Clinic do give you a report after being DX'd, which is also good for my mum and others, because I really don't think they understand ADHD that much at all! :roll:

pensieve
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02 May 2010, 5:58 am

Michaela115 wrote:

Yep, I have ADHD as well! Didn't get diagnosed until last year, when I was 19

I went to my local PCT but I've also been referred to the Maudsley Clinic to get a more official diagnosis. I was on Concerta, which worked like magic for the first 2 days and then nothing happened, even after raising the dosage twice. 54mg gave me nasty side effects

Because they're specialists at Maudsley, my PCT are leaving trying out new meds until they diagnose me. Which is a shame, because my Pdoc changed and I now have someone who DOES seem to understand ADHD! But I'm relieved the funding etc was agreed, I was worried I wouldn't be able to get referred to Maudsley at all! I reckon I could be waiting a while but it'll be worth it. When my PCT diagnosed me, I expected a report like when I got my AS diagnosis, but nope. Just got a letter explaining in brief that I'd been diagnosed and that I was put on meds. Apparently the Maudsley Clinic do give you a report after being DX'd, which is also good for my mum and others, because I really don't think they understand ADHD that much at all! :roll:

I didn't get a report with with AS diagnosis. My ADHD assessment is going to be much more thorough than my AS one. Like the only way I knew I was diagnosed is that I was put on disability for it. I have an MRI in a couple of days to rule out other causes for my symptoms, then more tests (written ones I think) and maybe a CAT scan. I'll be on a med trial by then.

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MindBlind
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02 May 2010, 6:09 am

pensieve wrote:

How long have you been taking ritalin? Sometimes you get side effects before your body gets used to the med. They may go away after a few weeks.
I'm getting evaluated for ADHD in a few weeks. My problems are concentration, memory and just looking at the state of my room makes me break down. I've got no idea where to start with cleaning it.

I'm the same, though I don't have ADHD.

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02 May 2010, 6:11 am

MindBlind wrote:

pensieve wrote:

I'm the same, though I don't have ADHD.

That includes a problem with long term memory.

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Jellybean
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02 May 2010, 8:38 am

I was diagnosed with AS, Tourette syndrome and OCD at the Maudsley... small world! I think I have got AD/HD as well. I no longer have OCD... seriously don't know or care when or how that dissapeared.. I saw a poster once in my doctors about AD/HD. My brother pointed at it and said, 'hey that's kind of like you!' I looked through it and he was right... except for one thing... all the symptoms applied to him as well!! ! Actually he agreed, but decided that he is too content with being overactive with a CRAZY imagination to pursue it further. My father, cousin and late Grandmother have all shown symptoms of AD/HD too. Maybe I am more ADD? Less H!

I know some of my distraction and 'movements' are AD/HD and not AS or TS because it feels completely different. With AS it makes me feel good, TS I HAVE to do it, the third thing... I just can't sit still!

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02 May 2010, 1:20 pm

I am currently being treated for ADD...I am on Adderall XR 2 20 mg tabs a day...I really try to take less, but find that I do better when I take the full dosage. :roll: The problem is that when it wears off in the evening, I can go into super sensory-overload....if I am in the wrong environment.

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Kiley
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02 May 2010, 3:46 pm

Anastasia wrote:

I've only been taking it for a week and a half? and not everyday now because of the side effects. I'm a reall health nut and taking this makes me sooo nervous but at the same time OMG what a joy to be able to think clearly, get organised, not live in a foggy state, do things that need doing, have energy and not feel tired, feel happy, have self esteem, even my common sense kicks in aswell, truly and honestly i never expected it to do all these things.

About 3 weeks ago before this I decided to clean up my pig sty of a room I started at 12 noon and I was still going till 12 midnight and still hadn't cleaned up everything, I mean how bad is that?

If the side effects don't subside in a week or two call your doctor and see about getting it switched, which should take another week or two. Whenever we are prescribed a new medicine our doctor will make an appointment one month out. If we aren't taking anything new it's three months. The reason he needs to see us if new pills are started is to check to see how the side effects are going. One of my son's got really sick on just about everything but did OK on Focalin (a derivative of Ritalin). Another of my sons does extremely well on Adderall. Once we tried to switch him to Concerta because two family members are taking that and it would just make it easier to have people on the same stuff. It was a disaster. He even tried Vyanase once when he accidentally destroyed his Adderal and it wasn't great for him. My third son and myself find that Concerta does the best for our symptoms. Concerta is a good one for not bothering the stomache as much.

Just because one medicine is the right one for someone doesn't mean it's the right one for you.

Mosaicofminds
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02 May 2010, 4:24 pm

"why in the name of all that's holy would you want to take a stimulant drug to compensate for that? I think I'd be a twitching mass of paranoid psychosis in no time at all."

Willard, it IS really counterintuitive, but here's how it's supposed to work. In people with ADHD, the frontal lobe and other parts of the brain that are essential to working memory, attention, executive function, intentional action, etc. are actually less active than they are in NTs. This seems to be caused by problems with the balance of dopamine in the brain, particularly in those less active regions. There is less dopamine than there should be, which may lead to obsessive video game playing, web surfing, and impulsive behavior because these are all activities that charge up dopamine levels--basically, if it's fun and exciting, your brain produces more dopamine. (How dopamine levels actually affect frontal lobe activation is still being researched).

So stimulants make your brain produce more dopamine, which fires up your frontal lobe. It also triggers your sympathetic immune system, leading to all sorts of wonderful side effects like insomnia, loss of appetite, and increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Hope this helps. I'm taking a class that just covered this, actually, so if you want some papers, I could totally send you some.

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02 May 2010, 5:27 pm

sunshower wrote:

. . . .

I think that over time, you start to recognize the state of mind you're in when you're on ritalin and you start learning to generate that state of mind independently. That's what I feel like I've begun to achieve after 5 years of smaller and smaller doses. I'm a psychology student and in some recent advances they've done on plasticity they've discovered ways the brain can be rerouted, and how thinking can be adapted and changed to rid people of learning disabilities, increase IQ, and fix anxiety disorders. I think in some way the same thing can be applied to ADHD and even AS, where you can train yourself into new types of thinking, and create new pathways in your brain after much repetition, practice and focus. Once you have that "feeling" you get from ritalin (the one you described, where suddenly you can focus and it feels so wonderful - I still remember when I first went on it!) you know for the first time what it feels like and you can start practicing trying to recreate that feeling, and once you succeed you reinforce it by repetition.

I found a little trick that works is if you have a simple repetitive type of game, such as snake (it has to be really basic and repetative), you can use it to refocus your attention. If I'm typing an assignment, and I find I can't focus/lose my focus and my attention is all over the place, or 'bouncing off the screen' so to speak, then I quickly pick up my mobile phone and do the repetitive actions of directing the snake to pass through the maze and apples, or doodle jump (where I'm just jumping the screen figure from platform to platform without falling), and after a minute or two my brain sort of calms and starts to stabilize and focus (it's sort of like ADHD meditation), and I turn back to the screen and am able to focus on the assignment.

^^ The above technique has worked for me since year 7, it's really effective so long as you have the right type of game (it has to be really simple and basic and non-addictive, such that it involves repetative motor actions with simple thought processes and you lose interest after a brief period of time). A game that's too complicated just ends up distracting you more and tiring you out, and a game that's simple but frustrating and not 'smooth' or satisfying just exhausts you as well and doesn't fix your flicking attention.

^^^^

This is how I wish it would be in my case, but so far, I haven't figured out how to make that happen.

I wasn't diagnosed (ADHD non-attentive type) until after my son was diagnosed at the age of nine. The psychologist was testing him for learning disabilities; I filled out a parents' questionnaire as part of his evaluation & noticed a *lot* of similarities between him and myself as a child. I'd always known I was that way ~ but didn't realize it fell under the ADHD umbrella until my son came along.

Then I didn't start medication for another couple of years after that. So I was in my 40s by that time, and I think that's why the meds haven't provided the results I would prefer ~ the pathways are more ingrained, and it's really difficult to create new patterns.

I have found that taking the medication on a daily basis keeps me from feeling side effects. Initially I took it only a few times a week (with the doctor's permission) because I didn't like the side effects. Then the doctor suggested that the S/Es would fade quickly if I took the pills every day, which I try to do (when I remember.... which is usually when I start feeling scattered & confused).....

It's true for me at least. The more regularly I take them, the less I notice the side effects. After some trial & error in the beginning, I ended up with adderall. My son takes it also. He was doing the same thing I used to do ~ only taking it on busy school days, never on the weekend etc. but has recently agreed to take it every day. I think it's helping him get rid of the S/E's too.

I've been on medication about 5 or 6 years now and I'm definitely better off with it than without it. But it doesn't work all that great outside of a structured environment. For example at work, I had everything all set up a certain way ~ followed the system of the person who ran the department ~ everything added up & turned out right, everything had a place & could be put in it, etc. etc.

That's why I'm trying to create a structured environment for myself, you know. But in real life (outside of office environment) I don't come anywhere near it.

katienate_89
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02 May 2010, 6:18 pm

I am

That was my first diagnosis

Aspergers was the second and it came years later

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katienate_89
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02 May 2010, 6:21 pm

To answer the question I use medications

They all come with sideeffects, some worse then others

I've been on concerta and clonidine

adderal and an anti depressant I've forgotten the name of but they made me pyschotic

cymbalta

concerta and cymbalta

just concerta

briefly vyvanse

now I'm on Byphantin because I out grew concerta

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pgd
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22 Jul 2010, 10:52 am

Anastasia posted: If so how do you manage it? have tried everything and I mean EVERYTHING! to help with my scatty disorganised mind. I take fish oil tablets and evening primrose tablets and vitamin B and I try to make a juice everyday and i also have an excellent diet no junk etc and have done and tried everything and over the years just about everything under the sun and they haven't helped me one bit. Oh and also did the elimination diet, waste of time and money also. I've tried the Flylady system it helped a bit but wasnt the answer. Read books on becomingorganised, keep a diary, use visual clues everywhere, you name it I've done it. So 2 weeks ago the psyche prescribed me Ritalin and My God it works like a charm BUT now I;m also getting side effects, cramp like pains, stomach pains etc. being on Ritalin has really opened up my eyes and made me realize just how tired I was, how bad my self esteem is, how anxious I am, etc all these traits are gone when I'm on the tablet. There just has to be another way other than being on a med? please tell me how you cope with it? ---
Anastasia - I have tried a lot of what you write about above. The only thing which works for me a little for my ADHD Inattentive is coffee - caffeine compounds (not a cure). For me, for some reason, caffeine works better than stronger stimulants - alerting agents such as Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Adderall XR. I believe a lot of people do what you have done - try a lot of things only to discover that the right stimulant helps a little (not a cure). Some persons are fortunate where a medicine works without too many side-effects but I have known cases were persons would respond to the strong prescription stimulants - alerting agents - but couldn't handle the side-effects and discontinued the prescription medicines. You're not alone in your observations. Best wishes. - pgd

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