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ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

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Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#271

Post by adamsea »

vonseel wrote: post #163
khalilravanna wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting to hear about ADHD causing mood swings/anger/irritability and the stimulants doing away with them. Is that a common trait of the illness? I only noticed that after I started taking stimulants my temper became a lot more short. It's to the point that I have to be really cognizant of it lest I inadvertently snap at someone due to some biological response (really not good as a leader in an organizatio…

So, the mood swing thing was something I didn't identify with ADHD until I saw it mentioned in a book called "Driven to Distraction". I can't remember the exact details, but I think in the first few pages the author talks about a patient who was often getting in arguments with his boss or spouse and losing his temper in frustration, and I guess what I took from it was that a lot of his emotional instability was eithe…

I'm reading "Driven to Distraction" now, and it's excellent and very close to home for me.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#272

Post by sizzle »

mdthrowaway wrote: post #56
omgwtfbyobbq wrote: post #16

For anyone diagnosed with ADHD, taking stimulants is associated with 8+x increase of being diagnosed with a basal ganglia and cerebellum disease later in life. I believe this is NOT causative, but is instead a correlation between other diseases associated with Dopamine production and ADHD. I take and have continued to take stimulants for ADHD. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-018-0207-5 In my family's case, we…

Segawa's is completely irrelevant in this case and not supported by any symptoms the author reports in the original article. I have diagnosed Segawa's. It is quite irresponsible to wave people off of successful treatments of ADHD, as you're doing here, because of your family's (unfortunate) history with a genetic disease. I apologize that we know little about Segawa's and you've had a journey to understand it, but th…

What is your take on link to Parkinsons and Alzheimers from therapeutic doses of amphetamines 60mg and below daily?

Am I trading my future brain function for quality of life improvements in the current?

The thought of irreversibly damaging my dopamine transport system later on in life feels like I am making a deal with the devil every time I take a dose of stimulants to correct my dopamine imbalance and cognitive deficits to feel neurotypical for a fleeting period of time soon after ingestion.

Any link to hemorrhagic stroke later in life as well? Thanks for you time.

Thoughts on any neuroprotective measures I can take now like memantine or bromocriptine(sp?)?

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#273

Post by adamsea »

sibeliuss wrote: post #75
penagwin wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ever spent a day off staring at a wall dreading the possibility that you might waste a day until you realize the sun has gone down? Yup, so much fun. This is literally every Saturday for me. I'm thinking about keeping my Ritalin by my bed. I don't understand why it's so difficult and it makes me really frustrated - I just can't get out of bed. I try to wake up and my mind goes "naw". I sit up to get out of bed, sit…

Being diagnosed with all of those things -- doesn't it seem like a pharmaceutical spiral brought on by a sick process? Ever since my sister was misdiagnosed with a handful of labels and put on a handful of drugs which subsequently ruined her life for a very long time I've been interested in looking at alternatives to the pharma status quo. I read Lost Connections by Johann Hari recently and it was remarkable. The cha…

IMHO what you are saying and accurate diagnoses which result in positive-to-lifechanging treatment are not mutually exclusive. There's always more than one way for a thing to go wrong ;). And I'll check that book out. There's an interesting book on addiction, based on studies on rats, arguing that addiction is usually a coping mechanism for an unhealthy environment. Again, I don't think these different things are mutually exclusive.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#274

Post by username90 »

elamje wrote: post #88

With all of these types of conversations and threads I am more curious to hear from the disciplined, focused people who seem to be the goal for what Adderiddlinvanse fixes. I have wondered if I have ADD many times in the past. Mostly, because I was in school and being forced to do a task that I didn't enjoy, nor wanted to enjoy. When I have found things that I do genuinely enjoy, I can focus for hours and hours on en…

Can you focus enough to read every word in a text for a whole minute? I can't, unless it is something extremely interesting.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#275

Post by TrackerFF »

d--b wrote: post #42

This is interesting, because I definitely have been a non-believer. This article makes it real. It does seem to me that ADHD is over-diagnosed for kids, especially since the condition as described in the article really looks like what a small child seem to experience (the inability to focus, the constant distraction, etc.). And because it is much less rare to see someone in their 20s saying they have ADHD than to see…

The thing with ADHD is that some type of kids are overdiagnosed, while other types are underdiagnosed. Basically if your kid suffers from:

- Poor academic performance

- Hyperactivity

- Poor social skills (gets in trouble, fighting, etc.)

Then they're most likely gonna get recommended to ADHD evaluation. But as you might guess, a lot of kids suffer from those things without necessarily having ADHD.

Some kids, like myself, mellowed out, and lost pretty much all the traits other than those of ADD. But I did just well enough in school - despite putting zero effort into it - that I flew under the radar.

Teachers figured I was just too busy fooling around / lazy / uninterested in some topics, while my parents argued that I was too hung up in sports / gaming / playing instruments.

And unfortunately, by the time you're a teenager, you only have one idea of what ADHD looks like: It's the troubled kids in class that got diagnosed early on, and can't cope in school; The "academic losers", as they are unfortunately branded.

In fact, that's the reason I didn't get diagnosed until my late 20's. My ex-gf hinted to me that I scored very high on ADHD / ADD checklist, but no way I thought, the only people I know with ADHD are those that never graduated from HS, and now are either criminals or minimum-wage workers.

Well, got myself evaluated, and sure enough, ADD. It was a thorough process, and took a LONG time.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#276

Post by munk-a »

klipklop wrote: post #262
munk-a wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be too depressing, but there are two factors that can contribute to this honeymoon phase that I'm aware of: 1. Weight change, either bulking on muscle or fat can change your optimal dose for medication... And it's my opinion (and totally just my opinion) that starting to treat ADHD usually leads to a weight gain, either by getting you more able to exercise or increasing your activity and caloric intake. 2. Res…

You can avoid becoming resistant to the medication by taking "holidays". I usually do this Friday-Sunday most weeks. A daily alternative can be wellbutrin or aplenzin as well. Also most people can get away with generics so even without insurance the meds are cheap. The psych visits will cost $300-400 a pop though....

Most of these are still schedule 1s though, so if an insurance change forces you to a new GP you can get the prescription yanked - there's no guarantee of access to methylphenidate in the US, there aren't any over the counter methylphenidates and any other acquisition route would probably break the law (like buying it in Mexico or from a friend).

That said, at some point it's going to be worth it to just pay out-of-pocket for five minutes of your old GP's time to write a new script if things are dire... but the fact that this barrier can exist is troubling to me since being in that ADHD hole makes it so much easier to get over these barriers.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#277

Post by steve_adams_86 »

smorephism wrote: post #90
vslira wrote: post #2

About getting treatment: it's extremely irritating that some people judge using Ritalin is somehow morally wrong. Yes, I get that "lifestyle changes" could help, but I don't want to change my lifestyle. Imagine if there was a pill to reduce risk of cardiac arrest, with some increased risk of something relatively minor. Can you imagine the uproar if cardiologists denied prescribing the pill, instead forcing people to…

For what it's worth, I took up running, changed my diet, and found that both of those in combination did effectively nothing to address my ADHD symptoms. I'm a lot healthier now than I was before I discovered I loved running, but to this day I use medication because it's the only thing I've tried that makes a meaningful difference.

Running and diet improvements did great things for my ADHD, but it's not consistent. I'd fall into slumps due to ADHD-fuelled depression, I think. The stimulants do a great job warding that off and keeping me consistent with exercise. Consistent exercise tends to keep me consistent with diet.

If anyone argued that stimulants are bad for my health, I could only point out that without them, my health suffers acutely through sheer neglect and it's a downward spiral.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#278

Post by istjohn »

marsrover wrote: post #175

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 19 after being a C student my entire life. I was prescribed Adderall and immediately became an A student overnight. It's actually weird how well it worked. Unfortunately, like others have said, it isn't a cure-all. It felt like a crutch and as my tolerance went up the less effective it was. Long story short, I ended up discovering marijuana and quit taking my Adderall. Marijuana also made…

Your citation is only a case study, so I would say that it's too soon to say anything has been demonstrated yet. My understanding is that marijuana inhibits memory formation[1], so I'd be very hesitant to recommend it to a student.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2012/mar...

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#279

Post by TrackerFF »

sooenkill wrote: post #55

I relate a lot. I'm 28 and I have an ADHD diagnosis. There has been a lot of public debate on this topic in Sweden of late. I got my diagnosis at age 23 and had already finished a bachelor degree. My first psychologist said "I'm sure you dont have ADHD if you finished a bachelor" lol although at the time my life was a rollercoaster. Today im doing great and love the challenging nature of software development. However…

Same here. For my initial consultations they figured I couldn't have ADHD, as I already had a Bachelors and Masters degree. I had to walk them through my academic years, explaining that it was a long, long string of all-nighters and last second hand-ins; It just so happens that the school material was something I picked up quite easily, while I totally and utterly failed in easy electives which did not interest me.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#280

Post by steve_adams_86 »

ninjakeyboard wrote: post #57
bnjms wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, I get that "lifestyle changes" could help No. Just don't entertain this idea. You can go 20 years since the first time someone told you you may be ADHD or depressed with subsequent diagnoses. Then tell yourself it's all in behavior no one needs drugs. But twenty years on you'll still find yourself in the same cyclical patterns of periodic depression or chronic inability to select your attention to a task. "Lif…

Yeah I'm 36 getting a diagnosis/script now and it took an incredible amount of distress to finally get me to the doctor.

You're not alone. I was 33 on a high powered rocket to the bottom. I think ADHD can erode your sense of self, your self esteem, and as a result, every part of you. The distress gets real. And yet once you finally realize you _need_ help, you have such a low appreciation for yourself that you don't believe you _deserve_ help.

If I didn't have kids I probably wouldn't have gotten help. I did it for them. I'm glad I did now – everyone deserves help.

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