My doc hasn't tried to push anything on me (except maybe more Adderall) but I've tried Vyvanse and I did like it. I may give it a shot once my current 3 month's written scripts are up.
ADD/ADHD
- Thread starter TheDean
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IMO, being ADHD isn't total bullshit, but it's close.
I got diagnosed as "Extremely" ADHD, but not until I turned 20 (e.g. *AFTER* that whole "school" thing, with "teachers", trained to "notice" shit like that). I'd never taken amphs in my life, and I still don't like taking speed, but I've had the scripp for almost a year, and it's awesome- More than just helping me focus, it's taught me how to focus better even when I'm off the drug.
But I digest. I still think the "disease" itself is crap. I think ADHD is society's rebranding of a short attention span, which is not inherently an unhealthy or undesirable thing to have.
I have an extremely short hey, wanna go ride bikes? and, now that I've recognized it and learned how to compensate, I would even say it *helps* me in my work.
I got diagnosed as "Extremely" ADHD, but not until I turned 20 (e.g. *AFTER* that whole "school" thing, with "teachers", trained to "notice" shit like that). I'd never taken amphs in my life, and I still don't like taking speed, but I've had the scripp for almost a year, and it's awesome- More than just helping me focus, it's taught me how to focus better even when I'm off the drug.
But I digest. I still think the "disease" itself is crap. I think ADHD is society's rebranding of a short attention span, which is not inherently an unhealthy or undesirable thing to have.
I have an extremely short hey, wanna go ride bikes? and, now that I've recognized it and learned how to compensate, I would even say it *helps* me in my work.
Stuff like that happens to me all the time. I've gotten in my car and driven to the wrong place before I was so distracted thinking about stuff. I've gone out to my car, realized I forgot something come back in the house, get a glass of milk and go back out to my car without ever getting what I forgot in the first place so I have to go back in the house. If there is a chemical problem in my brain causing this I'd rather just let it be then risk tampering with it because it's nothing I can't handle.
I wouldn't sell it short and just call it "short attention span"
I consider it just a different way to think. Kind of a free association where things that don't normally seem related or connected, do seem connected(hence getting distracted but feeling on task).
Great for brainstorming, great for problem solving(when it's reigned in), but not so great for everyday life.
At least that's been my experience with it so far.
well that's good to hear. stratterra isn't an amphetamine so it works like an ssri and doesnt have those speed qualities, so this is totally new to me. anyone else with experience please post.
OK. It's time to join the out ADD crowd.
People ADD is characterized by a _relative_ inability to regulate attention. A person with ADD will exhibit _both_ extreme distractabilty _and_ intermittant periods of hyperfocus.
Everybody will, at some time or other, become distractable or hyperfocus. But people with ADD will exhibit _relatively_ more episodes than the general population _and_ will have consequent problems in two or more environments, such as school, home, work, etc.
It's associated with sometimes serious social skills deficits, due to lack of recognition of non-verbal social cues.
Having lived with the constant refrain of- if only you tried..... And not understanding why I so consistently fell short of my demonstrated abilities - why I could only seem to acomplish anything if I manufactured a crisis, why I never seemed to be socially accepted -- well, let's just say that I don't agree with people who don't believe that the condition exists.
Focalin & welbutrin FTW, by the way.
People ADD is characterized by a _relative_ inability to regulate attention. A person with ADD will exhibit _both_ extreme distractabilty _and_ intermittant periods of hyperfocus.
Everybody will, at some time or other, become distractable or hyperfocus. But people with ADD will exhibit _relatively_ more episodes than the general population _and_ will have consequent problems in two or more environments, such as school, home, work, etc.
It's associated with sometimes serious social skills deficits, due to lack of recognition of non-verbal social cues.
Having lived with the constant refrain of- if only you tried..... And not understanding why I so consistently fell short of my demonstrated abilities - why I could only seem to acomplish anything if I manufactured a crisis, why I never seemed to be socially accepted -- well, let's just say that I don't agree with people who don't believe that the condition exists.
Focalin & welbutrin FTW, by the way.
Congrats on your success, I hope you are not under the impression I was trying to invalidate that in any way.
I'd rather not respond to the mental discipline challenge as it seems like emotions drove that one...but I digest.
Bottom line is I'm a firm believer in people have the ability to cope without the stimulants (Amphetamines or somethings the chemists over at Phizer have just cooked up that we can't classify yet). Although there are some rare cases that certainly require medication.
+Rep.
I do agree that it's WAAAAAAYYYY over-diagnosed. Particularly in children. And I can't imagine ever dosing my kids with amphetamines with their breakfast cereal, there are definitely people out there (myself included) that have downright missed out on life opportunities because of the affliction.
That being said, I do attribute my creativity - and therefore a great deal of my abilities as a writer - to my ADHD so it's most definitely a mixed blessing.
Focalin & Welbutrin, huh? I may have to run that cocktail by the ol' doc one day to see what he thinks.
Strattera did nothing but put me to sleep. I was like a rhino shot with a tranquilizer dart in the ass an hour or so after I took it.
Concerta was counter-productive for me, to say the least. I was jittery; downright paranoid at times. If I kept taking that I knew I'd become the guy on a street corner in piss-soaked pants screaming about the government.
lol wow you know your drugs. exactly what happened to you with stratterra, started happening to me a couple months ago. it just became one big sleepy side effect, but it did work amazing for years. at first i thought it was me, i was getting huge fatigue around 3pm and after working out. so i stopped taking it and sure enough in a week or two i was bursting with energy, but i was also flying off the handle about anything and everything and in a thousand diff directions woah.
I hate taking meds. In fact, other than isolated instances where I had to be prescribed pain meds (wisdom teeth pulled, wrecking a bike at 70 mph, being stabbed by a lunatic while working the door at a bar) I've never been one to take prescription meds. I'd rather just try to live a relatively healthy lifestyle when possible instead of looking for answers in a pill.
But for ADHD I need medication to work. So I've gone through the trial and error process to find a suitable solution. Otherwise, I'd never get anything done and I'd be poor. I don't have to tell you guys that this is NOT an option for me as I know it's not for you.
That being said, I always take the weekends off. I feel that I need that "brain break" to be "me" again. I even take Fridays off half the time since I rarely work as much on Fridays as I do the rest of the week (12+ hours/day) and I don't like the lethargy of coming down off of Adderall after it wears off to screw with my Friday night plans.
But for ADHD I need medication to work. So I've gone through the trial and error process to find a suitable solution. Otherwise, I'd never get anything done and I'd be poor. I don't have to tell you guys that this is NOT an option for me as I know it's not for you.
That being said, I always take the weekends off. I feel that I need that "brain break" to be "me" again. I even take Fridays off half the time since I rarely work as much on Fridays as I do the rest of the week (12+ hours/day) and I don't like the lethargy of coming down off of Adderall after it wears off to screw with my Friday night plans.
I have had ADD all my life I am not 28. When I was in school though I could have done well I think not knowing issues like having ADD led me to dropping out. Til this day when I tell my mom that was why I had issues in school she tries to deny it.
I take a combination of some Lexipro shit and Adderal. One thing I try to do is take mine in an as needed basis like if I am working. Going on a long drive. Something that requires attention.
I call ADD the "OH SHINY" condition.
I take a combination of some Lexipro shit and Adderal. One thing I try to do is take mine in an as needed basis like if I am working. Going on a long drive. Something that requires attention.
I call ADD the "OH SHINY" condition.
The thing with my ADHD is I'm always moving and can't keep still, I can't pay attention to any one thing very well and actually become MORE productive when I have 15 things going on around me (TV, music, 11 Firefox tabs, Meatball and Mozerella Hot Pocket consumption, etc, etc.) than if I'd tried to sit in a nice, quiet room with a candle and a glass of water and try to focus on completing just one thing. I'd go fucking insane and probably just start to play around with the candle instead.
I take the Vyvanse stuff too as the come-down's from Adderall had me laying down, looking up at the ceiling, and questioning the very purpose of life. Shit sucked..
But with Vyvanse I don't got that at all, though a big side effect is that although it helps with concentration, it almost helps with it a little TOO much. This is great for writing stuff and making websites and shit, but it's kind of fucked up when I take like a solid hour/hour-and-a-half to make like... a shopping list. I mean, it's the fucking greatest shopping list you'd ever lay your eyes on but -- I dunnno -- it's like overkill sometimes, I guess. Mixed with a little bit of Captain Crunch.
As for the fact of whether or not it exists or not, it definitely does. No doubt in my mind it does. Is it overly-diagnosed and overly-medicated in regards to a large portion of the people who are diagnosed with it? Abso-fucking-lutely. In your own conscience though, you know if you legitimately have it and take the meds for that or if you just talk about how you're always hyper so you can have your stash.
Don't get me wrong, I can function just fine off the shit (just gimmie some whiskey instead, though) it's just a pain in the fucking balls trying to work all day with random ass thoughts racing through your head, making it take way longer than it actually should. Stuff like why they really took Rice Krispy Treats cereal off store shelves when it was hands down the best cereal ever created. That's definitely a topic for another day though unless we don't mind this ADD/ADHD thread getting sidetracked with some good, quality, cereal discussion!
I take the Vyvanse stuff too as the come-down's from Adderall had me laying down, looking up at the ceiling, and questioning the very purpose of life. Shit sucked..
But with Vyvanse I don't got that at all, though a big side effect is that although it helps with concentration, it almost helps with it a little TOO much. This is great for writing stuff and making websites and shit, but it's kind of fucked up when I take like a solid hour/hour-and-a-half to make like... a shopping list. I mean, it's the fucking greatest shopping list you'd ever lay your eyes on but -- I dunnno -- it's like overkill sometimes, I guess. Mixed with a little bit of Captain Crunch.
As for the fact of whether or not it exists or not, it definitely does. No doubt in my mind it does. Is it overly-diagnosed and overly-medicated in regards to a large portion of the people who are diagnosed with it? Abso-fucking-lutely. In your own conscience though, you know if you legitimately have it and take the meds for that or if you just talk about how you're always hyper so you can have your stash.
Don't get me wrong, I can function just fine off the shit (just gimmie some whiskey instead, though) it's just a pain in the fucking balls trying to work all day with random ass thoughts racing through your head, making it take way longer than it actually should. Stuff like why they really took Rice Krispy Treats cereal off store shelves when it was hands down the best cereal ever created. That's definitely a topic for another day though unless we don't mind this ADD/ADHD thread getting sidetracked with some good, quality, cereal discussion!
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