Sludge's "everything You Wanted To Know About Your Meds" Thread

[Grizzly]

Friday, you mentioned stimulants have a calming effect to ADHD.

This is interesting to me. I can drink a Cafe Cubano and fall dead a sleep. Caffeine has never had the desired effect on me. Same with a bump of coke.

 

[Sludge]

Friday, you mentioned stimulants have a calming effect to ADHD.

This is interesting to me. I can drink a Cafe Cubano and fall dead a sleep. Caffeine has never had the desired effect on me. Same with a bump of coke.

Those are contraindications and they are relatively common, particularly with Attention Disorders (often mis- and over diagnosed) and PTSD/PNES. I too get these. Valium, for instance, is for me what I hear meth is like for others. On the other hand I used to live off of Mountain Dew, and pre-beast, never had trouble sleeping. Night time cold medicines trigger psychotic episodes for me, daytime cold remedies knock me out like a gold brick wrapped in a twist of lemon...Shit, plain old Bayer aspirin keeps me awake!

Attention disorders are difficult in that many diagnoses are just plain wrong wrong wrong. AD/HD was and still is a popular excuse these days, even though it ceased to be a valid disorder a while back, right along with Asperger's and juvenile schizophrenia. Often the symptoms are so similar to various anxiety spectrum disorders and autistic spectrum disorders, the Docs take the easy way out and fill you up with whatever magic pill the Big Pharma companies are offering kickbacks for selling that day.

Remember, nine out of ten times, your Doc is reading off a check list and comparing notes with other MDs or PAs- using the "interwebs" of medicine so to speak. There is a reason Docs "practice" medicine and why they are differentiated from "real" scientists. To be frank, I personally would question any Doc that medicates a patient for attention disorders who is also shown to have PTSD. Technically speaking, the former predisposes to the latter, and they share similar symptoms overall.

 

[dutchiedelta]

Meds with paradoxal effects.
After a hysterectomy I have a epidural against the pain.
Was moaning and they upped the dose. Screamed and they (in the kindness of their hearts) upped the dose.
Well intended all of it.

Turned out I was anything but paralyzed waist down. Could move legs and felt every stitch, drain, staple and the rest.
Anaesthesiologist went white and said I react paradoxal. Big red marker in file never to use anything morphine based ever again.

Drs are just not very good at listening.
Two year ago gallbladder removal.
Said it at intake, said it at the ward.
Even argued with surgeon and anaesthesiologist on the table.
Woke up and felt, this is gonna hurt.
Yep, they gave me a drip with Dipidolor, synthetic morphine.

They meant well, i do believe that.
Some meds are just not working they work in general.

 

[Friday]

Friday, you mentioned stimulants have a calming effect to ADHD.

This is interesting to me. I can drink a Cafe Cubano and fall dead a sleep. Caffeine has never had the desired effect on me. Same with a bump of coke.

Yep. It's the down and dirty cheater way to test for ADHD... Give 'em a stimulant and watch what happens. Because opposite stimulant reaction is hallmark. It's hard wih kids, because toddlers and some prepubertal kids will go haywire when overtired (bouncing off the everlovin walls)... But anecdotally the coke-test (or coffee-test) is still commonly used even if young kids. Parents will often try like a 1/4 or 1/2 can of coke right before naptime when they suspect ADHD. Conked out? Then time to visit the developmental pediatrician, or pediatric neurologist. Wired? Well we've all missed naps and survived before! At least this one was planned!

ADHD-(in all it's various forms) runs, skips, hops, and slides through my family. Mostly doctors and soldiers. So it's never been considered a hardship / it's 10,000 coping mechanisms and putting the strengths to work, instead of banging foreheads on drywall trying to eradicate weaknesses. That said... We've also gone through enough coffee to keep a Navy afloat, my uncle had a 25k Pepsi pyramid at his wake, and we tend to smoke like chimneys. All on top of picking careers that require hyperactivity (mentally, physically, or both). There are actually far more upsides to ADHD than downsides. It's just that the downsides get all the press.

 

[Friday]

AD/HD was and still is a popular excuse these days, even though it ceased to be a valid disorder a while back, right along with Asperger's and juvenile schizophrenia.

Check the DSMV... It's still a valid disorder... But some changes have been made.
- It's in neurological disorders instead of behavior/conduct disorders
- It's lifelong (instead of magically disappearin on your 18th bday!)
- It now recognizes that hyperactivity is present in all 3 forms of it.
ADHD-c = Combined
ADHD-I = Hyperactive mentally (inattentive is the i)
ADHD-h = Hyperactive physically

As well as a few other things, like trying to make sure it's never diagnosed comorbidly with bipolar disorder, and that people actually test for freaking differentials, first. I can't count how many times I've heard people say "I started this new dietary supplement and it "cured" my ADHD". Or whatever. And I just want to shake them. No. You never had ADHD. You had malnutrition. Your malnutrition was cured with a better diet. Or sleep deprivation with sleep, or whatever.

One thing (on a short list of wishes) that I hope the DSM-VI has in it are the upsides list. Anecdotally, we all have them, and good professionals use that list to test for ADHD as well as the downsides. But even though hyperfocus is always always always present, it's still hypofocus and all the other side of the coin. Argh. Vexing. It's not even always, or even mostly, a "happy" symptom (as failure to transition does make most lists, and that's the root of it). But hallmark symptoms, when people like them, don't tend to make the "bring out your complaints!" lists ;) Can't imagine why!

Here's the DSMs little update list on it
http://www.dsm5.org/documents/adhd fact sheet.pdf

 

[5line]

you know you're having one of those days when you're swallowing seroquel at 9 AM. night night.