Anyone been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder?

by YellowLab 25 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  SixofNine

  lol @ homey.

  uh... what was that middle thing again?

  YellowLab, I've recently begun taking Adderall (can't afford the XR, but I like the way it works). I'm curious about your experience with it. I really like taking it, lol... but I have a little fear that I use it just the way a college kid would use it, as speed. So, I end up only using it on days I have alot of organizational type things to do. It helps me focus, but not so much that it is a miracle cure for my lack of focus. What it really does that is good, is make me feel very optimistic about...well...everything connected to my life. I think if I'd had it back when I was going crazy from depression exacerbated by ADD and JW cognitive dissonance and divorce, it would have helped alot. But that kind of scares me to think: what if I'd overcome my depression? Might I have missed my window of opportunity to see the borg for what it is? Yikes!

  In any case, I'd like to try strattera, as it is not an amphetamine.
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  BeautifulGarbage

  Both of my children and my probably my husband.

  I wanted to address the "these drugs are addicting". That is nonsense and there is no evidence to support such a statement. In fact, studies show quite the opposite.

  Second, ADD/ADHD rarely is a "stand alone" diagnoses. Generally, there is other disorders that may be undiagnosed. Such as Bipolar, depression, or anxiety. Or, there could be a mood conponent that has to be addressed along with the ADD.

  There are some that believe that kids and adults are being misdiagnosed with ADHD that actually have Bipolar. I think there is something to that one.

  Anyway, it's never boring at my house.
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  BeautifulGarbage

  Another thing I wanted to add is that ADD/ADHD people also can have a mood component, or bipolar, have to be careful when taking stimilants. Stims can aggrevate Bipolar, so most people with both disorders usually have to be put on a mood stablizers.
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  gespro

  [...taps mic..] Is this thing on?
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  ApagaLaLuz

  I was diagnosed with it as a child. So little was known about it back then, the only answer was to medicate. Thankfully my mother didnt medication. I wasnt very severe. I think I have pretty much grown out of it. Though I do still have slight problems as an adult. One of my biggests problems is noise. I cannot talk on the phone unless it is absolutely quiet.If a television in on I cannot listen or talk over it. I cannot talk to you in a car if the radio is on at all. A combination of sounds makes me feel anxious and angry. Other than that, I worked very hard to make myself focus.
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  HadEnuf

  Kind of late replying to this post...but hey...better late than never?

  My son was diagnosed with ADD at age 8. Was on medications until high school. Then he said he felt the meds "spaced him out" too much and went off of them. He seemed to get somewhat better as he got older. He is now 21 and does not take medication. But he is still highly distractable and many times in another time zone than the rest of us.

  I have a family history of major depression (I'm on 3 antidepressants...finally hit the right combination after a decade) and I also think my brother has ADD, though never diagnosed with it. Also my sister's son. I do believe it has some sort of genetic basis.

  If there is a good thing about ADD...I think that many of the people I know who have been diagnosed with this are also highly intelligent, artistic people. My sister's son borders on being a genius (in my opinion) and my son is a talented pianist, guitarist and song writer.

  I have heard that some of the most brilliant inventors and other artistically inclined people have suffered from ADD. So maybe there is an upside to this disease.

  Just my 2 cents and a little more.

  Cathy L.