Hey guys, is this a good topic for discussion? How do you know if you have it? Are there supps for this (if so) or do you have to go the Concerta/Adderall route?
I’m 54 and a math teacher so any mental boost is welcome. I already do Piracetam.
Thoughts? Experiences?
H, I didn’t know you were growed up enough for this forum 8-).
my shrink that it was possible that I had ADD, so he perscribed Ritalin. He said if I was ADD, it would chill me out. If I wasn’t ADD on the other hand, it would spaz me out. It hyped me up, so the shrink decided it wasn’t add. I sold the ritalin to my friends at work. good fun.
Also, I think there is a book called “living with ADD (or ADHD)” that has a checklist of like 12 items. The more you answer yes on, the more likely you have some ADHD. Check it out…
Old Lardass
What is this thread about again?
I like to work on cars when it’s warm outside.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Come on HH, I thought you had been reading the brain boosters thread…
DMAE is a recognised treatment for ADD and I would also look to add some aniracetam for its anxiolytic effects.
BBB[/quote]
Yeah, I read it, bought Oxi (it put me to sleep too quickly) and some Hydergine (like swallowing acid).
But while taking my daughter to see if she has ADD (she does) it occurred to me that I have symptoms like that — easily distracted, trouble finishing tasks, and the like.
I’ll try the DMAE.
[quote]mjnewland wrote:
H, I didn’t know you were growed up enough for this forum 8-).
my shrink that it was possible that I had ADD, so he perscribed Ritalin. He said if I was ADD, it would chill me out. If I wasn’t ADD on the other hand, it would spaz me out. It hyped me up, so the shrink decided it wasn’t add. I sold the ritalin to my friends at work. good fun.
Also, I think there is a book called “living with ADD (or ADHD)” that has a checklist of like 12 items. The more you answer yes on, the more likely you have some ADHD. Check it out…
Old Lardass[/quote]
54 years old and teaching the youngsters. I’m waiting for the day when I get a student who’s the child of one of my former students. Hasn’t happened yet. When it does, I will then change my user name to ‘Mr. Chips’’ 
I think the whole idea of adult ADD is absolutely ridiculo hey - birds!
I have it and dont take anything… right now
but I am all ears on this thread…
BBB tell me more.
In college the tutor my coach sent me too
figured out I had a good bit of dyslexia
and dyscalculia I could not write numbers
or "show"the work on the written parts of tests
properly- not so good for taking tests.
go figure that my dad is a math professor.
ha - not so much.
Funnier is that I use math all day a work
Im an electrician in television/flm lighting
every thing to do with liht/photography/electricity is math. all day.
eventually I see a DR. in california who my brother in law sees.
He wrote a book called windows into ADD.
he was a pretty popular dude at the time.
He saw me, was amazed I was not a huge drug user. and basically gave me some serious meds. dexidrine,and later another anphetimene.which worked but where no fun.
and basically DID turn me into a huge drug user.
for the first time I could sit through a class. or write down what I had to do that day or just pay attention for more than 3 minutes.
Later I was on prozac, and ritalin in horse doasages… I stopped taking it when I started to have panic attacks and this is me at like 25- on one of many college comebacks.
It turns out with out the athletics- either
the discipline or the workload- I could not get through school.
Basically I have to really watch my blood sugar, caffiene and sleep- caffiene and many stimulants calm me down , slow down my freneticness I still forget to eat.
and display many many add symptoms in everyday life
where are my keys?
BBB I am all ears.
kmc
So…Im on 20mg Adderall just got diagnosed last week…seemed to work well for about 3 days then…nothing…got a call in to my Doc to see what he says, for those of you that take Adderall can you tell when you take it? I did for the first few days but now I dont feel motivated and focused like i did when I 1st took it.
Damn, no help?
Any feed back would be appreciated on how you feel after a few weeks on adderall…do you still “feel it” when you take it? When I started I had a euphoric feeling and a bit more energy and my eye for detail was alot better…I was absolutly not interested in doing anything unproductive…after 5 days that all changed, is this normall?
Thanks for any feed back!
Well I called my doc, and he upped my dosage to 30mgs. So what Im going through must not have been normal.
I am correctly diagnosed ADD. I have done the rounds and experienced the various medications so I feel I know what I am talking about.
First thing first though… GP’s are in no way able to diagnose ADD. And the hit and miss prescription of controlled substances is unethical in my view. Ritalin and the other branded derivatives are very dangerous psycho altering substances.
The first thing you do, is see a Psychiatrist, preferably a Clinical Psychiatrist who should refer you to a Psychometrist for test based evaluation should the Psychiatrist determine that you are presenting as ADD.
There are many conditions that on first glance could be misdiagnosed as ADD including mild Narcolepsy disorders, Seratonin uptake issues as well as a host of Hormonal abnorms.
The psychometrist should perform a number of tests including broad based IQ, EQ, MMPI personality tests etc This will give the Psychiatrist an accurate picture of the client. Anxiety can also cause attention issues result in an ADD misdiagnosis.
And stimulants like Caffeine are a complete NO NO for true ADD individuals. They will act to undermine the effects of Ritalin.
Should you decide that a hit and miss is the only way to go in terms of drugs, then a generic form of Ritalin - Methylphenidate HCL in say a 10 mg dosage to start with is appropriate. Concerta, Ritalin LA etc are potent and last too long in the system to allow a new patient to self determine the drugs psychological immediate effects.
Also, be aware that many bodybuilding supplements containing high dosages of caffeines or other stimulants, particularly Fat Cutting formula’s can make a mild ADD condition significantly worse. Pay particular attention to your dietary intake - foods do affect ADD sufferers.
On the upside, it is often the case that ADD clients have superior IQ’s. In basic terms, a true ADD individual has difficulty maintaining attention because they are so easily bored. These clients require high levels of mental engagement and stimulation. Psychometric testing these days is significantly improved and will most often identify ADD in most clients.
I too have been diagnosed with adult add and have been on and off adderall for about 6 years now. I think adderall is a great drug for someone with add if used correctly. like a lot of drugs though it is easy to abuse, and because it is a stimulant containing amphetamines it can be very addicting.
I only take 10mg-20mg a day but try to stop taking it every couple months for a few weeks or more to reset my tolerance, and get it out of my system, and those first few days off it can be pretty rough.
ultimately though studies show adderall will help anyone who takes it regardless of whether they have add or not, in people with add though the effect of the drug is felt in a different way.
i’ve had a couple rounds of concerta and am still up in the air about it. at first i didnt like it, but now a few years later, i asked the doc to give it to me again. This time I feel like it actually works and it doesnt have the jittery feeling i sometimes have with adderall.
ADD is my favorite subject though, so I could go on and on about it…so i’ll stop
Hey Pacman20 … I have had similar experiences with LA10, LA20 and Concerta. I find I have to take it for about a month regularly to generate some sort of stability in my system before I can evaluate it. And every day is different, so I’ve learnt to ‘feel’ what kind of day I’m going to have and dose or not dose at all accordingly. I also do what you do in that I stay off of the drugs for a few weeks at a time…
I’ve been off everything for 3 weeks now and have been surprisingly good actually - haven’t felt I’ve actually needed anything as yet. I’ve read quite a bit recently where the researchers are finding that although the Ritalin based stimulants have ‘permanent’ negative effects, they also have some positive ‘permanent’ effects. Well, in this cycle I’m having now… things are good. But when I first started on LA20… WHOW ! It was pretty hectic stuff for the first few months !
I have been taking Adderall XR for about a year and a half. I like the cognitive boost that I get from it, and had similar experiences that others have mentioned in regards to needed to go off of it for a week or two to kind of reset my system. I actually changed it to a pattern that I take it every other day or only 3 times a week. Any more than that and I get restless and pissed off, and extremely curt. I’m interested in trying concerta as I’ll be restarting school in another couple months, so that should give my system some time to get used to the new drug.
Also, I’ve been reading the brain thread, and I have seem some interesting results from some posters there. I’m particularly interested in choline and neurotransmitter based supplementation.