ADD / Split from OSs

Even though some tricks seem to work for me there's a reason why i wanted to get tested ;)

I'm quite good at what I do but I need to be constantly reminded of the things that need to be done. I totally suck at prioritizing the more important stuff. ToDo lists are great but not if you forget to look at them. Same goes for agendas (appointments). And don't even get me started on documenting things (i don't).

I'm not to keen on having to take some chemicals for the rest of my life to function properly but I do need a bit of guidance. Some steering, a little nudge in the right direction. The therapy I'm going for is a combination of drugs and therapy. The drugs is only needed to get into a routine, to make the therapy "stick". Once the routine is there they'll stop the drugs.

ADD drugs are Amphetamines, might not want to "just stop" or the withdrawals will remind you of why you don't want to go to hell when you die. Generally if you want to stop, the Dr will slowly ween you off. If you just stop taking those like I did, it can have effects on you you won't like.

Yeah.. I know all about the drugs.. :halo:
Coke has a rather strange effect.. Only really tried it a couple of times..
Felt much too good with it so I kept it as far away from me as possible. :D

The main drugs in treatment over here is Ritaline. "Normal" people use it as a party drug :rolleyes:
People with ADD or ADHD tend to mellow down a bit. Ritaline also helps in concentrating/focusing on things.

Hi

I was on ritaline when i was younger, very bad for you.

I will google hyperfocus tomorrow at work but does anyone have a guide on this besides wiki :P

thanks.

nice to know im not alone!

Heh, I have tourrett's and OCD added on top so my concentrating on one thing is even harder. They tried me on Ritalin and my Mom freaked because apparently it made me super violent. It's funny how they hand that crap out to kids like candy these days (Yes, gore said something bad about handing out scripts whoooo) lol...

I don't think many Doctors were telling parents back then that Ritalin and Dexedrene which I was also put on afterwards and VERY quickly taken off, were Amphetamines and highly likely to cause dependence.

I think that's one of the few things Tom cruise has ever said that wasn't crazy gibberish.

The problem with those is that they are basically legal speed and people DO react badly to it sometimes. There ARE much safer drugs that not only work better but have less side effects. But good luck getting anyone but a researcher to think that's valid. I know in some countries they DO use Opiates, which I whole heartedly agree with, as the dependency potential is no worse than Ritalin, and the side effects are a LOT smaller.

The only cool thing about "speed" I ever liked was the ATR song. The guitars and bass in it work well together lol.

I also have adult ADD. Well, I've always had ADD but it was easier to deal with in certain stages of my life. Sometimes it's a blessing. Sometimes it's a bane. It all just depends on what I'm doing. I think I get along with technology so well because of my ADD, but that is only my personal opinion.

For example, in my previous job I had my own office. It was easy for me to "zone out" and focuses on tasks like normal people. I could get so much done and work on a dozen projects all at once. I can "multitask" and I can think like a computer. I can visualize what is going on in the computer and on the network. I can visualize the packet flow and etc.

In my new job, it's nearly impossible to do that. I don't have my own office and people are constantly around me interrupting me. I'll often go find an empty office or go home and work. Only one of my bosses understand this. I think the other one has ADD too but doesn't realize it.

When I was in high school, I had the same problems. I took Ritalin. It helped me to act "normal". When I was in college, there was little to distract me and I could easily focus because I was genuinely interested in what I was learning. On occasion I need some help from drugs but I would prefer not to use them.

When I was not using prescription drugs, I would self medicate. I wouldn't use street drugs but instead use large amounts of caffeine. I was always downing coffee, espresso, high test soft drinks, etc.

After college, my work responsibilities grew very quickly. I needed help again to stay on task. I've been taking Adderall XR for almost 2 years now without a break. I'm on the highest dosage available as far as I know. (30mg extended release) I notice a huge difference if I take it or if I don't. If I take it every day like I'm supposed to, there are no speedy effects and I'm good. If I take a couple of days off, then when I start taking it again, it's very speedy.

I was just in Jamaica for my wedding over the past 9 days. I didn't take my meds when I was there. I was on my honeymoon and drinking a lot. There was little I needed to focus on. I took my meds before I left for the airport to try to get back into the swing of things. Man, I felt like zooming around the airport and I was stuck in lines all day. I couldn't stand still. It normally only takes me 2 days to get back to normal.

I've read several books about ADD and the one that really hit home for me was called Driven to Distraction.

Driven to Distraction
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (March 2, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684801280
ISBN-13: 978-0684801285

Your local public or college library should have a whole section on ADD or ADHD.

Though, let me warn you. If you do have adult ADD, good luck reading the whole thing. One thing that I always notice is I have a TON of books. I love to start a new book. I just can never seem to finish a book. Because of this, most of the books that I read are technical or text books so I don't have to read from front to back. I just read what I need to know to implement or maintain a product and keep the book for reference. Most of the books that I've purchased outside of text books will never be completed. I just can't stay interested in it long enough.

When I study, I have to go do it OFFLINE somewhere. If I try to read online or something of that nature, the next thing I know I have two dozen tabs open in Firefox and the last tab had absolutely NOTHING to do with the first tab. One subject leads me to another. Each one seems to grab my attention for a short time and then I switch again. For this reason, I've been using a lot of paper books combined with CBT type training videos.

In my opinion, it's all about learning what works for YOU. What works for me probably won't work for you. I've read quite a few various ways to deal with ADD. Only a couple of them will work for me. I'm normally a pretty laid back kind of guy. If you see me getting frustrated at work or school, it's most likely because the ADD won't let me concentrate properly or there are too many people around breaking my concentration. It can take me some time to get into the zone. Once I'm in the zone, leave me alone. If you break that concentration, it can take me 20 min. or more to get back into the zone.

It's actually been causing quite a bit of problems for me with my present supervisor. The one I think has ADD. He always likes to just stop by my desk and talk about absolutely nothing related to what I'm doing. Most of the time it isn't even work related. If it keeps up like this for too much longer, I'm going to have to look for something else. I've already explained to him my concentration problems and how his interruptions cause lower productivity. I've also expressed my desire to move to somewhere a little more quiet. I don't think he could care less.

What amazes me the most is that you have taken the extended release one for two years and can just stop for 9 days without any problems. Then again it may be from the fact that it is XR so you can have a few days off here and there. Stopping those cold turkey can be REALLY bad. I don't think 30 MGs is the "highest" because with some meds, you'll be given an XR version of it which is Extended Release, and then a breakthrough drug of the same type to start right away while the XR one is taking effect, and before the next dose is released into the blood stream you would take another one because generally you need one before it get's released again.

This is why OxyContin is dangerous to dummies. If you break the time release on a 10 MG version, no big deal, but if you break it on the bigger doses, you could die. Which is why there is no longer a 160 MG version available in the US. 160 MGs of Oxycodone is probably enough to have most"abusers" laid out as it is, but three doses at that strength all at once, and you can see why people who crush them annoy the hell out of me. Something that stupid and everyone else has to pay for it.

If I had my own country..... Ugh, I'd remove the warning labels off everything and let the problem work itself out.

I think my concentration problems may help explain why I got into Magic: The Gathering so much back in early 1994 or 1995; You have to watch what the people you're playing are doing and think what you're going to do too, and also watch what they're doing and respond to it. It's great for ADD, you're watching them, you, and anyoen else who's playing.

Yesterday I was in a tournament and won a booster, and ended up pulling out a card that was JUST released about a week ago and is already worth about 5 dollars. Considering it was just released that's pretty good.

My doc never said anything to me about stopping "cold turkey". My original intention was only to take it during the week. He told me to try it both ways and use what worked best for me. So, I take it depending on how I think my day is going to go. I always take it during the week. I rarely take it on the weekend.

Well, I'm not sure if 30mg is the highest. He said it is the highest dose they make and that insurance would cover. If I needed more (which I don't), then I could pay out of pocket for 5mg or 10mg suppliments. I've taken 2 30mg in one day before and they had the same exact effect. The only time it gets "speedy" is if I go for long periods without it. Otherwise, it just smoothes me out so I can function normally.

Ahhhh now it makes sense; He said the highest dose and insurance in the same sentence. Some insurance companies won't pay for certain things and oddly enough, they may cover one medication, but it depends on dose.

the supplements may have been what he used as break through drugs as I was talking about, but it seems more like it was the largest one the insurance would pay for.

I'm no expert on amphetamines, but I do think that one comes in a larger dose.

and the reason taking two feels the same is because they're time released, so they're releasing differently. Or at least that sounds probable. I wouldn't take two though.

And Doctors rarely tell people about stopping a medication like that. See, some meds, they don't worry about because the drug has a smaller recreational value. Now all ADD meds generally DO have a use in recreational stuff, but Doctors prescribe it anyway without much fuss because ADD is very common. When I was in high school, I worked at Mcdonald's, and the amount of Ritalin and other script meth I saw was amazing. Half the place was snorting it before work. I didn't because I couldn't stand to think of taking it again, but they loved it.

It was pretty bad at times... Literally, food wasn't the only thing on the menu. I saw people in the drive threw buying prescriptions for Adderal all the time. Someone who worked there would be working and they would come up to the drive threw when asked by a customer, they'd sell their bottle, and go back to work.

I also watched that same dork get ripped off when he fell for the "we wanna count it before paying" excuse and they drove off. It was actually pretty funny.

The burger King here got busted for selling pot in the drive threw. The paper actually had in there how if you went to the drive threw at Burger King and asked for a Shamrock Shake (The green mint McDonald's Shake they sell around Saint Patrick's Day) and when you pulled up they gave you a dime bag.

I also used to watch one of the people I worked with at Wendy's selling pot out the drive threw. This guy would grab a HUGE bag of food, take it to the window, and give it to a guy in a cab, and he handed him a bag.

The manager caught him once but he didn't get in trouble.... He shared instead.

I don't know of many places where people buy food that you can't get something extra with the right code words. Kind of weird.

Holy **** - cant believe im not alone.

Im not on any meds at this moment but I think I must go see a GP. In my office I am constantly interrupted, I cant work or study for work related products.

I use to use amphetamines which actually helped me study as I stayed up all night but that eventually took its journey on me.