ADD/ADHD Experience, Treatments & Methodologies

a resounding hello to all as i am new to the boards but definitely not new to T-Nation. i have been a devout reader since almost inception and i also import Biotest supplements to the wonderful island of Barbados. i am costantly amazed by the huge amount of “useful info” found on this site as well as the amazing quality of the supplements offered with no bullshit results. this site truly gives me inspiration to push me to be the best possible human being i can be and for this i thank you.

Alright i think i have brown nosed enough, on to my question.

I noticed reading through the forums that a fair amount of people claim to having ADD/ADHD. Now it was as a result of reading on this site that i realised and was then diagnosed with ADD myself.

One of the greatest challenges for me has been handling relationships whether business or social(people with ADD tend to be impulsive, confrontational and can’t maintain interest for long periods).These traits are very damaging to relations especially with people who do not understand your condition.

I was hoping that anyone with useful info could expand on this subject including methodologies for treating through supplements, novel compounds and psycho therapy.

Any other sufferers out there want to enlighten us on their experiences?

You should find a competent psychologist or psychiatrist who can diagnose and treat this for you. It’s something that you really shouldn’t “self-doctor”.

I currently take Wellbutrin, which is a good drug with mild side-effects. It works well for me.

need4speed,
isn’t wellbutrin an antidepressant? i believ that ADD is treated with stimulant medication like Adderal and Ritalin.

Not to be overly negative but I’ve heard some bad stuff about the drugs. Not side effects just that they don’t really work - all they do is shut you up (for kids in classrooms)

I’m not sure if i have it or not, but I bet i would be diagnosed if i went in… but i digress, however I do have some trouble paying attention at least if i leave myself on “auto” mode. What I do is really try to make myself pay attention - its something that takes pratice - and right away it isnt going to work 100% of the time, but the more I do it the better I get.

2.55 in highschool - 3.0 so far (one semester) in college. Im planning on making it a 4.0 for the remainder of my collegiate career!

Ritalin is a highly addictive methamphetamine that causes permanent changes in cardiac tissue and loss of brain mass.

Ritalin is used to treat a condition with no known cause.

Neurologists treat conditions of the central nervous system and I know at least one who says add is a lie made up to sell dangerous drugs like ritalin.

Over 300 otherwise healthy children have died from heart attacks while using ritalin.

Cat scans cannot tell any difference between the brains of a so called add child and a supposedly normal one until after ritalin has been administered. The child on ritalin will show a ten percent loss of brain mass compared to their pre ritalin scan.

Check out these websites.
http://adhdfraud.com/

All the adults I know who were fed ritalin as children ended up addicted to coke or crystal meth. Ritalin is not worth it. Being a ritalin user is one baby step away from being a crackhead.

Ritalin will turn you into a drug addict. Any drug therapist will tell you that once you become an addict you are one for life. Once you become addicted to one drug you are addicted to them all, it’s just a matter of if you have used them yet. It’s just not worth it.

I have been diagnosed w/ ADD/ADHD as a child and more recently as an adult.

I have all the classic symptoms : impulsivity, lack of attention, i hear people talking and words but i dont always listen coupled w/ not being able to remember conversations that happened less than 24 hrs ago , trying to fit too many activities into too little time to accomplish and going from activity to activity. Obviously w/ all of this my productivity and work-related usefullness is blunted so i opted for medication.

I went to a doctor and he reccomended stratera which is not a stimulant and it has actually worked pretty well for me.
I take it when i need it for class or work or whatever otherwise i like feeling normal unless i’m smoking the good stuff. As a attention enhancing drug it works very well. It fixes the ADD stuff w/ room to spare. It does have some side effects which my doctor told me that not everybody receives all the same side effects but this is what i have experienced as far as side effects:

  • slightly increased emotional sensitivity , not really man-pms but you get more " concerned " about other people. all in all just realize that you are on it and that it affects your emotions so you dont do anything irrational but its safe im sure haha
  • slight nausea , which will go away once you take it more often and are used to it
  • increased attention - reason why im taking it. It works great
  • $200 for a months supply , which is a definite downer but i have med ins so its gravy
  • i have noticed a bitter taste in my saliva after i have taken it. i told my doctor and he said that his other patients haven’t reported that but the bitter taste pretty much clues me in when it starts working so mabey it secretes disproportionately more into your saliva and its in ya bloodstream by then.

I am also a type 1 diabetic , been one for 5 yrs. I am using stratera BECAUSE it isn’t a stimulant. why put more stress on my body?

Sifu,

Ritalin is not methamphetamine…it’s methylphenidate. Desoxyn is methamphetamine. and i’m pretty sure ADD isn’t “just made up to sell Ritalin,” because i have it. however, i was forced to deal with it, and am not medicated.

thabigdon24,

i recently tried Strattera, but it gave me pressure in my head, like a borderline headache and stopped using it. it did help a little though, but i take a lot of tyrosine and gingko, which seesm to help.

I have had ADD for years, and the best things to help me were a combination of meditation and deeep breathing exercises to calm myself down, adderal (when available), and Biotest’s Spike has actually helped me out on many occasions with similar effects.

I hope this might help you, because this has definitely helped me out getting through Grad. school.

While I’m not sure I am a “pure” ADHD/ADD case, I am certainly a survivor of OCD, which is arguably a subset. I still exhibit some of the symptoms today (compulsivity, impulsive actions, unrestrained creativity, hyper-focusing on specific activities.) Interestingly, there has been some research done looking into the effects music practice, martial arts, and yes, weightlifting, have had on ADHD/ADD patients. Apparently the discipline and routinized, methodical, mental application required by these disciplines activates a part of the brain that suppresses the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

I’ve never taken any medication. My childhood was extremely difficult due to my condition, but I attribute my success of “growing out” and learning to suppress/ignore the OCD/ADD/ADHD symptoms to those activities.

In sum, I personally believe, as someone who never had the aid of medicinal solutions, the key to controlling said negative behaviors is to 1. have goals 2. be busy pursuing those goals 3. minimize stress. For someone like myself, I can quickly enter a positive feedback loop of mounting stress once I “lose sight” of my accomplishments and future challenges. When boredom sets in, I find that the negative behaviors can quickly crop up again. I think, in many ways, childhood is very difficult for ADHD/OCD/ADD cases because childhood, in general, is pretty boring. You aren’t self-sufficient enough, or cognizant enough, to establish goals and have the means by which to seriously accomplish them.

If you have any more questions about my personal journey, I’d love to share some more insights.

PS.: I have found the study of Zen and zazen (meditation) to be extremely helpful. Activites like martial arts, weightlifting, and the practice of musical instruments require much of the same “active relaxation” of the mind as pure meditation.

these are definitely the sort of responses i was looking for. keep it coming guys.
On a personal note i have definitely found that Spike helps me, as well as tyrosine in divided doses 3 times daily. Also even before i was diagnosed i had been using meditation, specifically Holosync which is a type of music with underlying binaural beats. if you want deep meditative states fast this stuff rocks, zdrock u sound like you have more stuff to share please tell us more

Check into a nootropic called pyritinol.
[no commercial interest]

Have you tried Spike? From what I have read, it might help.

Do you get enough sleep?

Just a thought?

Tyler

[quote]MIKMATT wrote:
need4speed,
isn’t wellbutrin an antidepressant? i believ that ADD is treated with stimulant medication like Adderal and Ritalin.[/quote]

Wellbutrin is a multi-faceted drug, not just an antidepressant. Stimulants aren’t always the solution, and Wellbutrin is highly favored because it has much milder side-effects than something extreme like Ritalin.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t deal with this when I was growing up because nobody knew I had it. First, they weren’t really trained for that sort of thing Back In The Day. Second, I was really good at hiding it. But that didn’t change the fact that I suffered severely in many ways.

I didn’t discover I had ADD until I was 37 years old. Yay. At least I finally found out, and a whole bunch of stuff suddenly made sense.

If you truly are ADHD, ritalin is a wonder drug. Don’t believe all of the negative bullshit you read or hear about “drugging” kids. I’ve never seen a case of juvenile ritalin use turn into a case of lifelong stimulant abuse. I have 2 brothers on ritalin, and it changed their life for the better. My wife is a special ed teacher with a lot of experience (23 years) She swears by the drug for certain cases. I think the biggest problem with ritalin is that it is overprescribed. Behavior problems that are the parent’s fault (read : lack of discipline)are often used as an excuse to get the kid on ritalin. Although a conservative kind of guy myself, I don’t buy any of the crap conservatives spew on the subject of ritalin. I’ve seen too much good come from it. Just make sure that a qualified professional makes your determination.

Hello,
I have been Diagnosed with ADHD and so has my Mom … she currently takes Adderal with good results.No problems that I know of. I will be 38 this Monday Aug 29 and when I was a child I was just considered “wild” endless energy. No one knew so much about ADD/ADHD I did take meds back then but those were to mainly get me to sleep at night.
I have had doctors give me Paxil or Prozac and I didnt like the end results. I was level alright on the couch level.
I wont take any antidepressant but I dont want to get dependant on Adderal either . I wake in the Morning and I have had very good results from two Spike caps with 16 oz water and then shower before breakfast.Clear thoughts,
feel organized.Overall feel great.

Works for me. :slight_smile:

Yeah stimulants will work like a charm! Seriously Sifu is correct: Adderal all that stuff are just brain stimulants, like coke just not as strong!

In that regards i’ve noticed that cigs and coffee work too even though i dont like these bc of their negative health attributes.

I have never tried Spike , want to but lack the fundage. I sleep fine now when on/off straterra but it used to keep me up all night when i was on it. Dont really understand the change but i went to a doctor and he said that it put most of his ( ADD) patients to sleep. Only after that it did it do the same thing to me. Go figure.

zdrak and Mikmatt : y’all should share a little more about what y’all do to meditate and how its affected you. I’ve been looking into it … seems kinda spacey but i wanna be open minded. I bet it would be great whether or not i had add. And any good websites or whatever to share hook us up. Thanxs

[quote]magyar wrote:
If you truly are ADHD, ritalin is a wonder drug. Don’t believe all of the negative bullshit you read or hear about “drugging” kids. I’ve never seen a case of juvenile ritalin use turn into a case of lifelong stimulant abuse. I have 2 brothers on ritalin, and it changed their life for the better.[/quote]

But that’s the point of labeling it ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) instead of ADD: it’s not one disease. There are different symptoms and different effects. Not everyone is hyperactive.

If you need it, you need it. But not everyone with ADHD is going to respond to Ritalin. Hence, the reason I’m on Wellbutrin.

But your point is a good one. Sometimes there is a strong imbalance and it requires a strong correcting factor.

Thabigdon24 check out the website www.centerpointe.com. i have found that meditation is not an overnight cure, however some benefits, like increased sense of wellbeing and great relaxation, are immediately apparent. Stick with it and you will notice a great difference. Actually i found that people around me noticed a difference in my behaviour/personality before i did.
On another note i have noticed a big difference using 2 Spike in the morning as i woke up. however towards the end of the day i noticed in creased symptoms again. i wish you could take Spike twice a day, but that is not recommended according to label directions. Also i do not take Spike every day, on the days i do not take it i use tyrosine. i will shortly investigate gingko biloba.
hope that helps

[quote]thabigdon24 wrote:
I have never tried Spike , want to but lack the fundage. I sleep fine now when on/off straterra but it used to keep me up all night when i was on it. Dont really understand the change but i went to a doctor and he said that it put most of his ( ADD) patients to sleep. Only after that it did it do the same thing to me. Go figure.

zdrak and Mikmatt : y’all should share a little more about what y’all do to meditate and how its affected you. I’ve been looking into it … seems kinda spacey but i wanna be open minded. I bet it would be great whether or not i had add. And any good websites or whatever to share hook us up. Thanxs[/quote]

My kids are currently on the Feingold diet. www.feingold.org

It basically removes all dyes and preservatives along with artificial colors, flavorings, etc.

We have had good success with it, although we have never had my son formally diagnosed with any disorder, we would prefer not to. When he isn’t on the diet, he exhibits ADD/ADHD type behavior.