Ask HN: Anyone suffering from ADD?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=947787

by webghost • 17 years ago

12 14 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I think I have ADD. I'm wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed and being treated. How is it working for you?

anonmonkey• 17 years ago

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).

mayanks• 17 years ago

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...

Falaina2• 17 years ago

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

ezf• 17 years ago

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.

paraschopra• 17 years ago

Downvoted you by mistake, sorry. Wanted to upvote!

j_baker• 17 years ago

"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.

bwd2• 17 years ago

I started Adderall recently, and it does an excellent job of helping me to focus.

Falaina2• 17 years ago

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.

pbhjpbhj• 17 years ago

tl;dr

gcb• 17 years ago

why i have so many tabs open?

growt• 17 years ago

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

rufius• 17 years ago

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.

wajiw• 17 years ago

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.

webghost• 17 years ago

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?

Ask HN: Anyone suffering from ADD?

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