Adderall Anybody? What's "normal"? Please Help!

[dbacs]

OK thank you. That doesn't sound too bad. I was thinking that it was fast tolerance like i get with caffeine, which is basically only a few days before i need to increase. I could handle every few years or so.

Maybe this will program my chemical balance back into sync, and i'll be able to get off it later on in life. My brother had ADHD when he was a kid, and took a stimulant. He was able to get off it after college and everything pretty much balanced itself out for him.

Feel even better this morning. Slept normal last night. Had some hives for a couple days, but they are gone now.

Its strange... I studied psychology in college and never really understood how brain chemistry worked until recently. It kind of hit me a few days ago, and made me realize that if someone has long term stress that it must be inevitable that they will have long term effects on brain chemistry.

Like what you mentioned about the drugs not being a true cure. Its not a cure for sure but it makes sense that we need it. Especially from sudden or chronic stress, the brain probably gets taxed and can't do what it used to do before the stress. So being on the med is kind of like a cure.

For a long time i assumed stress only came from a stressful job, or a sudden horrible event. Or that my life is not stressful as long as i have a nice place to live, enough food to eat, and see my family and friends enough. This was actually reinforced by a lot of people in my life. They would say "why are you depressed? You have a great apartment, good car, and you don't have to work!! ". Now i realize that just because someone else's life is more difficult than mine it doesn't mean my life is fine.

I'm kind of mad about the fact that it took so long for my doctors to find an effective medicine. Is that normal?

 

[mamachick]

dbacs-the flip side of doctors= Over 20 yrs ago, I was diagnosed with chrinic fatigue syndrome and it was extremely debilitating. I went to a monthly group, where members were very angry when drs suggested counseling or a psychiatrist, or even that stress was the culprit. Many times they even changed drs.

I was not offended, so I sought that route and ended up in co dependency groups and some individual counseling. Didnt cure it, but didnt hurt it either. Over several years and with a variety of treatment, including stress reduction, I regained my health. It was a long road.

Many kids are diagnosed with ADHD incorrectly. The sets of questions are given to teacher and parents/caregivers about the kids behavior. Very thorough examiners spend time alone with the kid and get a feel for abuse that may be going on. However, if a kid is abused early in life, or has witnesed or experienced some trauma, nobody may report this incident/s and some therapist do not dig deep enough in asking the parents questions. (plus, ptsd in relatively new in the general population).

Since ptsd can include symptoms of ADHD, are those symptoms part of ptsd or adhd? Im not sure, but if they respond to treatment designed for adhd and enhance the persons life, I am all for it.

I understand you being kind of mad. I dont know how old you are or how long things were missed. My third daughter was the biggest birth weight when born, but did not grow in height or weight, was in the bottom 5 percentile on charts most of her life. She was very ADHD without hyperactivity or behavior problems. She was very pokey. Breakfast ran into lunch and she could barely make it to afternoon pre-school. She had no sense of time, was completely distracted, accident prone, etc. Once in school, could not complete work on time yet tested average and 99 percentile in math.

Before first grade she went through a battery of tests, which said possible ADHD. Same thing about 4th grade. I knew things were not right but didnt want to point out that something was wrong in front of her. I developed extreme patience. My husband and mother in law covered up for her inabilities, by doing homework or chores. Both insisted nothing was wrong for years. Once the pediatrician tested her for Turner Syndrome (growth hormone) as she ate like she had a hollow leg. She acted like she had Asbergers in many ways (lack of social skills, one friend at a time, etc).

She went through a battery of tests several times, such as MMPI. Finally I got her into a child psychiatrist. After seeing her once a month for about 6 months with a diagnosis of ADHD, she suspected something else and sent her to another clinic for specialized testing. After 2 hours of testing, she was diagnosed correctly.
She had an auditory processing disability. Unfortunately, she was 16 years old by now. My diligence in getting her help was too little and too late. ADHD was a diagnosis of lazy therapists that did not know what else to do and did not seek out on her behalf. Her disability needed addressed early in life.

She was not social because she could not keep up in conversation with a group of friends. Her hearing was fine, but opposing noises kept her from understanding anything. How frustrating that must have been for her. If she were in class and the teacher said open your book to page 240, and the intercom announcement came through at the same time, she understood nothing. She regularly missed instructions and was confused much of her life. The early treatment would have included an ear piece in her ear, while the teacher would have a personal microphone on her collar that only the child with the earpiece would hear.

THis interfered with her having any sort of normal social life. It caused anxiety for her. By the time she was diagnosed, she refused an ear piece and its impossible to enforce with a kid of this age. By this time, she had her first boyfriend-who she married as soon as she graduated high school.

I was very angry that she fell through the cracks. It has changed the course of her life. She has told me that she never felt fully a part of the group, any group, even with me and her siblings. Its like she feels like we all have more in common when we are just chatting and cutting up, because she could never fully follow. Now she is fully dependent on this one man and denies us the pleasure of her company.

Her case is one that she can never get back what was missed. Thankfully, many of us misdiagnosed can make a better recovery. Her personality is so set in from early on, that there is little hope for any change-at least as far as I have been able to see. It has left her socially inept, gullable, and vulnerable.

Sorry for such a long post. I guess I still feel angry that regardless of all the available services, our insurance did not allow for a child psychiatrist because she did not have behavior problems. I feel like this is the root of the cause of loosing a child. This first boyfriend and his family are of a faith that is like a cult, and she was being indoctrinated early in their relationship. She believes this stuff and can only be part of this church if she cuts ties with family. Its been 4 years since we have seen or heard from her. I am heartbroke at the loss of my youngest child and pray that some day she will confront these beliefs.

Please be glad for the things we can change, what we can recover from, and what we can treat, even if there is no cure.

 

[dbacs]

I totally understand what you are saying. Her life is similar to my life. I'm deaf, but I use a cochlear implant in one ear.

I don't socialize as much as I use to since losing my hearing. People give me a hard time about that now, but its who I am. It makes sense that I would not seek out conversation or social interactions as much as before because i can't hear well, but it doesn't make me less of a person, right? I will try to look at the bright side more often, and be thankful that there is some relief.

I am sorry you do not see your daughter any more because of the church. So strange how people assume a book to be so literal, and absolute. I hope that some day you two will be able to write to each other, or see each other and work it out.

 

[mamachick]

Im sorry people give you a hard time, I can understand why you dont socialize as much. It seems that it might be frustrating, and certainly makes you no less of a person. We are all different.