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NWR - ADHD

GoldenPenguinGoldenPenguin mod
Moderator Seventh Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its
in Chit Chat
So I know I don't REALLY go here, but I come over every now & then. 

Several months ago, there was a poster who had started getting treatment for ADHD - I am totally blanking on who that was. Are you still here? When I read that post, it was like looking into a mirror. I have spoken to my doctor and will be seeing a psychologist shortly for an evaluation, but I have some additional questions for someone who has been through it. If the original poster is still here, would you be willing to chat with me a bit? 

Thanks in advance :) 



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Re: NWR - ADHD

  • paperpusherpaperpusher member
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    I think it was lacquered lover?
    Anniversary

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  • luckya23luckya23 member
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    I think it was @FiancB

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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 25 Answers
    My son is ADD (same as ADHD).  I have been helping him deal for 25 years.  PM me anytime.
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  • cupcait927cupcait927 member
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    edited August 2015
    luckya23 said:
    I think it was @FiancB
    Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was @FiancB
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  • FiancBFiancB member
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    Woop, I haven't been on lately but just got the notification! 

    I don't know if you had specific questions but I can give an update. I'm not sure where I left off before. 

    First, I had to go see a counselor and we chatted for a bit, and he referred me to a clinic, then I talked to a nurse practitioner. I do have a history of depression, and she wanted to rule out any possibility of a lack of attention being from depression. She prescribed me sertraline, I assured her that didn't help with the inattention, but it did seem to kind of help in general and it probably isn't a bad thing for me to be on, so I'm still on it. 

    She then referred me to an actual psychologist, who did a lot of testing over the course of a couple months. I did a bunch of surveys and he had me do some word recall and such. I also had H fill out similar surveys about me. I was supposed to have my mom answer some questions too, but I din't feel comfortable with that. School records would've worked too, but my old school is defunct and I was actually a pretty good student as a little kid, so whatever. This did give me the disclaimer as Unspecified, though, because ADHD is always present throughout life and you must show evidence of it being apparent in childhood. 

    So after all that he wrote up a big fat assessment of me and declared me as inattentive type ADHD unspecified. Then referred me back to the nurse practitioner for meds. I tried Adderall and it hit the first time in class and it blew my mind. I became tolerant really fast though, so I also tried Concerta, but that doesn't seem to do much so I'm back on Adderall but a higher dose plus an optional second dose that I rarely take. Up until getting meds figured out, I have to see the NP every month but once they are figured out, which I think they are now, I can see her every three months. Because it's a schedule II substance, I cannot fill the prescription without a physical piece of paper, which is a pain and I am currently out because I had to reschedule an appointment. 

    I guess my main advice is to be patient and be sure that your insurance is AIR FUCKING TIGHT. I have been using the shit out of my health savings account for this, which you'd think you'd kind of have free rein with, but they want proof pretty much every time that everything's legit and it seems like about every month we go through some scare that makes it look like they're going to shake us down for money or something. 

    This would be a lot scarier if I'd gone for the full monty of tests, which involve brain scans and all that. Would be interesting information, but also includes a full day of testing and costs $3k plus so nah. I figured my insurance would not spring for that. At the end of the day, I racked up around $4k which has been mostly covered, though a chunk of that is from getting my heart checked out to clear me for stimulants. 

    So now, about 9 months later, I think I have my meds pretty well figured out so now I have to go in every three months instead of every month. It's not a miracle cure. I try not to take meds every day to give myself a break and so I don't get too tolerant on it, and I do notice a difference, though not astronomical. If I wasn't in nursing school I wouldn't have bothered. Even then, school is fine- it's zoning out and making a fatal med error that scares me, which obviously happens to plenty of non-ADHD nurses, but I feel this is something that is much more likely to happen to me. In the future, I will probably medicate on days I work and maybe another day each week to help get shit done, and otherwise rely on coffee. 

    Overall, it's been more helpful just to learn more about it. My psych recommended reading Driven to Distraction, which is a bit outdated, but still good- I related to a lot of stories in it. Stories are much more relatable than reading a short, sterile definition of ADHD, which ultimately is why it took a thread on a forum to finally get me in to get diagnosed. 

    And you can tell it's been a rough couple days ADHD-wise because it's taken me like 6 sittings over a couple days to write this and it's long and rambley. Feel free to PM me or post here or whatever. Good luck!
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  • snowywintersnowywinter member
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    Let me just say one thing -- if you're considering meds for ADHD, do your research. Remember that the most popular meds are stimulants, which do wonders for your attention. Also remember that because they're stimulants, they also can potentially do a number on your blood pressure and cause other health problems.

    Do your research. Know what you're putting into your body.
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  • FiancBFiancB member
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    snowywinter said:
    Let me just say one thing -- if you're considering meds for ADHD, do your research. Remember that the most popular meds are stimulants, which do wonders for your attention. Also remember that because they're stimulants, they also can potentially do a number on your blood pressure and cause other health problems.

    Do your research. Know what you're putting into your body.
    Strattera is a nonstimulant ADHD med. I think some BP meds have been helpful as well both for regulating BP and attention, but probably more for hyperactive folks. 

    When I first went on Adderall I definitely had a jump in BP. That was scary. But now it's back down to normal so it seems to have regulated itself. It did temporarily go from a perfectly healthy 115-120/75-80 to 140/90, which is hypertensive, but now it's back down to normal. 

    I mentioned heart issues. I had my heart checked out at one point because it was going kinda bonkers beforehand and I was diagnosed with a mitral valve regurgitation. That concerned my NP so she had me get it looked at again, and it turns out the criteria they used to diagnose me was out of date by 20 years and really I'm fine. Thank goodness, because if it turned out I couldn't even have my coffee I'd be devastated. 
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 25 Answers
    edited August 2015
    My son has ADD, as I posted earlier, and he also has mitrol valve regurgitation.  This is not an issue.  It is simply a leaky heart valve.  It would affect your stamina.  My son has passed out a few times when his blood pressure goes low.  Drinking alcohol can also lower your blood pressure.  Mitrol valve regurgitation will not affect your life span.
    Adderall has some nasty side affects, including occasional rapid heartbeats, loss of appetite, and insomnia.  You already are experiencing the benefits.  My son worked as a pharmacy tech for six years to help pay for his college education.  He was wonderful at counseling parents of ADHD children who were going to take the meds for the first time.  They were amazed when he told them that he was ADD, too.  He could give them first hand accounts of how adderall or ritalin would help their child cope better with life.
    He is now a computer software engineer.  He had to take a few classes more than once.  He also has disgraphia, which can make test taking difficult.  Put him at a computer keyboard, and he is the wizard.
    He has some trouble at work because of the adderall effects.  He has trouble waking up on time, even with six alarm clocks all going off together.  They are tolerant of him because he is so good at what he does, and he makes a lot of money.  He is careful to put in more than the required hours at work, and is very good at apologies.  (I taught him that.)
    Good luck with your treatment.  The benefits definitely outweigh the side effects. Someday chemistry will come up with a better treatment.
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