

Ask HN: Anyone suffering from ADD? - webghost

I think I have ADD. I'm wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed and being treated. How is it working for you?
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ezf
Yes. I suspect that the incidence of ADD on this forum is much higher than
average. The diagnostic criteria are not that high.

As far as treatment -- stimulants help absolutely everyone focus better,
regardless of whether or not they have ADD. I am not exception. My personal
belief is that ADD is mostly just a catch-all term for people at the lower end
of the spectrum of focusing.

My advice as far as medication is to get Ritalin or Focalin or Concerta, not
one of the amphetamine based drugs. Don't bother with the non stimulant drugs.
Amphetamine (Adderall, Vyvanse, Dexedrine) is a very serious, hard drug to be
taking every day and it can do odd things to your ability to experience
pleasure.

I am prescribed twice daily short acting Ritalin 20mg, though depending on how
much I want to focus I take it less often and/or in a lower dosage. If your
schedule is flexible and you know you don't want to be stimulated for 12 hours
at a time, then ask your psychiatrist for a short acting medication rather
than one of the extended release ones.

Finally, you should always get mental health advice from a mental health
professional. Please see a psychiatrist, not your primary care physician.

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j_baker
"As far as treatment -- stimulants help absolutely everyone focus better,
regardless of whether or not they have ADD."

This simply isn't true. I've never met anyone without ADHD who has taken
stimulants that enjoyed it. Anyone who is taking stimulants and enjoying it
probably has undiagnosed ADHD.

"My advice as far as medication is to get Ritalin or Focalin or Concerta, not
one of the amphetamine based drugs."

Bear in mind that everyone's brain chemistry is different. One man's miracle
ADHD drug is another man's serious, hard drug.

In fact, statistically speaking, you're more likely to get the best results
from an amphetamine-based drug. It actually gets better results than a lot of
non-psychiatric drugs. That's why doctors tend to prescribe it first.

But as I've noted, everyone's different. It's not uncommon to have a bad
reaction to amphetamines. That's the main reason why there's so many ADHD
drugs on the market. Different people respond differently to different
treatments.

Truth be told though, I take Vyvanse and it's done wonders for me.

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Falaina
Very true about everyone being different. When I saw first diagnosed with
ADHD-I, my pschyiatrist began with Ritalin. While it definitely helped me
focus more, the come downs were absolutely awful and I'd feel incredibly
depressed when it wore off.

Adderall worked much better for me in this regard and the come down was much
less harsh. I take 20 mg IR a day - I try to keep it down to 3-4 days a week
to stave of tolerance as I'm very worried about it.

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wajiw
I have a severe case of ADD, which directly impacts my programming. I was
diagnosed in college and realized I've been living with it since I was around
12. I don't take Ritalin or Aderol, though my psychiatrist strongly pushed me
to do so.

To deal I take Ginko Biloba. About 400-500miligrams/day. It take about 2 weeks
to start impacting you and works amazingly. I don't feel like I'm drugged up
all day, as opposed to when I tried other drugs to control my ADD. I suggest
it to anyone who wants to take a natural approach to dealing with their memory
problems. I have absolutely no side-effects from it(though some are possible).

For those people who think ADD is "just a catch-all term for people at the
lower end of the spectrum of focusing", you need to take yourself down a notch
and realize that ADD is a real memory problem that people like me have to
struggle with every day. Please stop taking the term ADD for granted.

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anonmonkey
I am.

I had about 5-6 1 hour sessions with a psychiatrist and had about 2 sessions
with a psychologist before that , and they diagnosed me with inattentive ADD.

I am on twice-a-day dose of Ritalin 10mg as of the last 2 weeks. It really
seems to work , I find that I am getting a lot of work done. I am suffering
from slight insomnia and occasional nagging headaches though(classic side-
effects).

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rufius
I have ADD though not severely enough that I have to be medicated. Well I have
to be medicated if I don't work out about an hour a day. Daily exercise seems
to settle my mind.

Bear in mind I'm nothing like some people who have to be on a regular Ritalin
regiment. I was only on Ritalin for a short time before I discovered my
trigger for fixing it naturally was exercise.

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webghost
I went to the psy and their telling me I have ADD symptoms and are depressed
to.

Her approach is to treat the depression first then the ADD. I'm frustrated
since Is now going to take longer to treat my focus and everything related to
the ADD.

Any thoughts on this treating depression first than the ADD?

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mayanks
what is ADD? any links to explain this syndrome?

[edit] ok maybe this is what you are referring to
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention-
deficit_hyperactivity...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention-
deficit_hyperactivity_disorder)

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Falaina
That's what he's referring to; specifically ADHD-I. ADD and ADHD have been
merged into ADHD-I/H(Inattentive or Hyperactive)

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growt
I don't know if I have ADD, but I get easily dis

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pbhjpbhj
tl;dr

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gcb
why i have so many tabs open?

