ADD

randidiane

randidiane

Cathlete
Does anyone have this? I go see a therapist and a psychatrist for anxiety and depression. Now that my depression has lifted she is seeing now i have every sighns of ADD. So she wrote a letter to my psychatrist to maybe put me on some meds for that. He hasn't prescribed me any yet which I don't understand. But I guess he knows what he's doing.
This is bad but my friend has it and I took adderall that's what she takes for ADD and I noticed a difference right away! I could concentrate and focus a lot better than being scatterbrained like I am:confused:
Anyways if he doesn't prescribe me anything is there some kind of herb i can take to help me focus better since i'm starting school this winter I'm sure it will help out alot:)
TIA
Randi
 
Randi, both my husband and son have it -- pretty classic cases (well, they have the H element big time -- ADHD (hyper)). I'm going to pm you some info....

-Beth
 
Hi Randi. I don't have ADHD but my son does. He struggles everyday in school and in life in general. He is only 7. For my own personal reasons, I am anti-med so he doesn't take anything. It is hard for me to compare you with a seven year old, but what works for us when it comes to school work is to do one thing at a time instead of the mentality that he has x amount of homework. He will gets overwhelmed if for instance, I present him with 3 sheets of homework and a book. We will sit down and do each thing on its own, take a break and then go back to the rest. At school, try to sit near the teacher/professor, and away from any distractors like the door or window, etc.

I have no words of wisdom for you but I do know what you go through. I get so upset when I read someone joking about having "exercise ADHD". This is a mental condition and until you have to live with it or live with someone who has it, is is far from something to joke about.

When you say you took your friend's prescription, how many times did you take it? Meds for ADHD don't just "kick-in" right away.

Good luck in finding what works for you. ((HUGS)) to you.
 
I was going to ask the same question as Dana about the Adderall. My son has ADD (inattentive type, not hyperactive) and we were told Adderall could take up to a month to take effect. Ritalin based meds (like Concerta) can take several days.

He takes Concerta now but the goal is to have him off his meds soon as he had developed some very effective strategies for managing his ADD. He's in 6th grade.

You might want to look into counseling to give you coping mechanisms rather than medication - at least at first.

Good luck
 
My 9 year old DS has ADHD. He started taking Adderall XR last year and we saw a tremendous improvement right away. His teacher even called us a couple of days after he started his meds and said she saw a marked improvement in his concentration and behavior. I don't think it takes an extended amount of time for these meds to work as all it is is an amphetamine. It works on the days I give it and when I don't give it (usually on weekends) he goes back to how he is normally without it. I've tried his medication before (I just wanted to get an idea of how it affects him) and I can see how Randi could feel the effects right away.

My husband and I were also anti-medicine. Even though we knew our son had a problem we felt we could deal with it with discipline, structure, etc. I believe it did help and his problem could of been a lot worse. However, he still struggled. Mostly, it was socially. He didn't have any friends because of his lack of self control. I couldn't put him in any sports because of lack of control and inability to follow directions. I hated to see him sufer this way so we decided to try meds just on a trial basis. If we didn't like what they did to him we would stop them. (They're not like depression meds, you can start and stop them without any side effects.) He did so well on them though we've kept him on them. I wish I would of given in and put him on medication sooner. It would of saved all of us (especially his teachers) a lot of heartache. I know trying medication is a personal decision. I just wanted to share my experience with it.

Good luck with whatever you decide to try Randi.:)

Jacque
 
Hi Randi. My little guy also has ADD and you know reading your post has really helped me to put a perspective on things. My little one is only 8 years old. Yeah, he can talk but he can't really express in words what it really is like to be unable to focus. He pretty much just apologizes for everything. Think of it as when you ask a kid "Hey what did you do in school today?" and they always say "Ughh, . . nothing." We tried the medication for a month, my husband is very anti medicine, my brother in law is a family practice Dr. who actually really reccomends it. I think what I got from it was that you really have to sorta mess around with the dosage and type of medication and find what it right for you. I think that it is easy to want to give up and get frustrated we did and took my son of the medication after only trying it for a month. After reading your post I may have to rethink. I have been on anti depressants for 2 months now for sleeplessness and anxiety. I've had to switch and change dosages and types 4 times, my house is like a pharmacy, but I've realized that hey, if this is what I need to function then why wouldn't I take it. Is the alternative better? Like my brother in law the Dr. always says if you needed glasses to see you would wear them right? Well, if you need medicaiton to focus why is that any different? He also says that there are more studies on Ritalin than there are on Asprin. I mean with any drug there are possible side affects but you have to ask yourself if the side affects out weigh your symptoms. I know that there are so many herbal alternatives out there. I really would just suggest you keep your Dr. in the loop with everything you've taken and hey, hang in there. You are deffinitely not alone in this. There are a lot of people out there that have ADD. Good luck and take care!
 
My teen daughter has ADHD(inattentive) and has refused to take medicine. What her doctor said was she has to use available help. People with this have great spouses, parents, secretaries, whatever to help them get organized and stay organized. She sometimes falls down, and I help her get back up, re-evaluate what went wrong, and set about methods to fix it. She was diagnosed in 6th grade, is now a Sophmore, and through trial and error, each year gets better.

One thing to keep in mind. You probably has some pretty tremendous gifts as well as the ADHD. Try to focus on these and don't get down on yourself.
 
My youngest son has ADHD and was on meds when he was in kindergarten. Of course it was not what I wanted to do - but my doctor put it in perspective for me:

If I took adderall/ritalin - I would be bouncing off the walls - it is speed. BUT - when my son takes it - it calms him down!!!

Think about it really - there is a chemical reason/need for the meds - and as much as I didnt want to medicate my child - it helped tremendously!!!! The calls from school about him being disruptive stopped and his grades got much better.

The doctor had even commented - well try one (when I had the lower 4 hour dose) and see the effect - and I did. I was buzzing around and my garage got a great cleaning) :cool: And I am not advocating that or anything - but it made the point even more - if I get a buzz and my son calms down - who am I and my beleifs to make my son 'suffer' when it obviously helps him.

Now he hasnt taken the meds in 3 years. He is in 8th grade and stopped in 5-6th grade. He does have some periods of hyperness - but has seemed to grow out of his need for the daily meds.

Also - Adderall is not addicting and takes effect the day you take it. It is in and out of your system in the 12 hours (with the XR version).

ETA - I am also not thinking he has totally outgrown the need for meds and might not need it in the future - but for now he is doing great without them daily.
 
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I have ADD too (just found that out) but I don't think meds will be an option for me because of other issues. Just learning I have it has brought me a bit of comfort. I am working with a counselor and reading quite a bit on my own. For me it's mainly a concentration and buckling down on my work type of issue. Needless to say, I've been spending quite a bit of $$ organizing myself at Staples. So, you're not alone.
 
Beavs, if it's any consolation to you, my husband was also diagnosed as an adult (30ish), and was on meds for a while, but no longer. He says the only thing he regrets about having it is not knowing sooner. He was very clueless socially, and once he was diagnosed, it was almost like seeing the world in color after having only known black and white. Even without meds, he said, he just could cope so much better knowing that his brain works differently than most people. He has been hugely successful in life, fortunately, and credits a good deal of that to his ADHD. I know a lot of people with it struggle to find the right place for themselves and life is very challenging for them.

Yes, adderall & ritalin take immediate effect and the effect wears off at the end of the day once it's out of your system. There's another class of meds that's used to treat ADD/ADHD that needs to build up in your body for about a month to see some effect (welbutrin is one example of that kind -- I've forgotten what the class of the drug is called).

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this, so I pm'ed Randi, but since others have opened up, I'll just share my son's experience here.... he has classic ADHD -- just cannot sit still. He is 9 now. When he was in first grade, the teacher pulled me aside and told me he was decoding words less well than the non-native english speaking kids. We had him diagnosed at that point (not that we didn't know, but we went through official testing). It took us more than a year to try meds -- we were very against it, but we finally had multiple doctors telling us any medication side effects would be less than the side effects of him not learning how to read. And, he was not learning how to read. I'd watch him try to look at a page in a book and I could just see that his eyes could not even focus on the words. Fast foward to now -- he is one of the most active readers in the class and doing really well in school (he's in 4th grade now). How differently this may have turned out if we hadn't tried.

Oh, just incidentally, his psychiatrist tells me that over the years of tracking kids, they have found that as adults, about 1/3 stay on meds, 1/3 use meds (ritalin/adderall) occasionally when they feel they need it (for tests or important work days), and 1/3 go off completely.

-Beth
 
Sorry - I've mixed up my medications. Straterra was the medication that took a while to work and had to be taken every day.

Concerta (and other forms of Ritalin) take effect more quickly and leave your system more quickly as well.
 
Resources

Randi (and all others who struggle), meds are just one way to help with ADHD. There are many resources for organizational and other coping strategies.

One very good site is www.chadd.org. (CHADD stands for "Children and Adults with ADHD). It's a national site with local chapters. You can locate good information and resources in your area.

Have you heard of www.flylady.net? It's very useful for getting structured and organized in your life. (There is a separate section for students: http://www.flylady.com/pages/bts.asp.)

Regarding medication: Some meds work for some people some of the time. Do your research, follow your doctor's advice, and see what works best for you.

Good luck!
 
Beavs said:
I have ADD too (just found that out) but I don't think meds will be an option for me because of other issues. Just learning I have it has brought me a bit of comfort. I am working with a counselor and reading quite a bit on my own. For me it's mainly a concentration and buckling down on my work type of issue. Needless to say, I've been spending quite a bit of $$ organizing myself at Staples. So, you're not alone.
Click to expand...

Beavs, learning about it with her, plus learning she is actually gifted and has LD in math and science was very comforting. All of a sudden she was not a dumb underachiever, there was a reason. She is blossoming in art, writing and theatre. She is student directing which takes a lot of organizing and doing a good job.
 
dorothyrd said:
Beavs, learning about it with her, plus learning she is actually gifted and has LD in math and science was very comforting. All of a sudden she was not a dumb underachiever, there was a reason. She is blossoming in art, writing and theatre. She is student directing which takes a lot of organizing and doing a good job.
Click to expand...

It is an incredible relief to understand where it is all coming from and how to harness it into achievement. ;)
 
Randi where are you? Hope your okay? Oh, . . and obviously from your post you know you shouldn't be taking meds prescribed for other people. It is just very dangerous. You never know if you have a pre existing condition that could cause some sort of allergic reaction or something. Just being a mom and worrying about you. Take care.

By the way your pics look great. I can wash clothes on your abs or grate cheese. :)
 
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