I am considering regularly taking Aderol in order to offset my ADD but there is a cheap alternative without prescription called “Focus Factor”. Has anyone tried both Aderol and Focus Factor? Any recommendations? And yes, I definitely suffer from a bad case of ADD.
I hear annoying radio ads all the time from Bill Bagley of VitalBasics shilling his “best selling brain support supplement”, Focus Factor. Is that the same stuff? He’ll send you a “free” bottle for, um, $4.99, and he makes the usual vague claims about what it’ll do for you, but I don’t think he says anything about treating ADD.
There are some things that are avaiable that may help, I don’t know for FF is one or not. Some natural ADD treatments include anmong others, 5HTP, Inosotol, and I think melotonen, which are usually taken as sleep aids.
There is also a drink called yerbamate, which has a stimulant that is chemically close to caffene, but not the same. It provides more of a calm alertness then the ‘jitters’ assiciated w/ caffene, it acts more like a mild ritalin.
I suggest you pick up a book on alternative meds (not nesesarally ADD), and one that doesn’t push their own product if you want to try that route.
Addreanal is a 4 salt amphemide and many have reported good to great responce to it.
Sorry to learn of the untimely death of your spell-checker, kanicbird. 
Here are the more important corrections:
Inositol
melatonin
adderall
amphetamine
Focus factor is a witches brew of 40 different non-amphetamine ingredients. Maybe it works. I’d be surprised.
Adderall XR just got suspended in Canada.
Do you have insurance? If you don’t have insurance to pay for the drug, talk to the doctor about some of the off-patent drugs available. I take Ritalin, but as it’s an old drug, I take a generic. I’m not sure what it costs since I only have to pay a co-pay, but I’m sure it can’t be too much, as there are quite a few manufacturers making the generic.
If you decide you want to try an alternative treatment, don’t just buy something off the tube; the snake-oil salesmen selling this stuff are of the same ilk as the ones selling ephedra for weight-loss until recently. There probably are alternative treatments, but don’t try one without making a decision, especially since you may end up taking a powerful natural stimulant without knowing much about it (since most ADD drugs are stimulants.) I wouldn’t trust my life in the hands of the quacks marketing that crap on TV.
Read some books about ADD, and if you’re unable to pay for a drug, try some of the lifestyle suggestions they contain, which will probably make a major difference without the use of drugs at all. And try to find someone reputable who knows about alternative medicine, or read some books about it, if you’re interested in going that route (though, of course, since there’s no licensing process it’s tougher to separate the knowledgeable types from the idiots and the snake-oil sellers.)
I really don’t think it’s a good idea to make a decision about treating a mental health condition based on a TV commercial. Effective ADD treatment requires more than drugs anyway (though, in my case, the drugs are a great help) - so see a doctor and discuss the various options if you can afford to. Otherwise, check the library and read some books on it - “Driven to Distraction” (I forget the authors at the moment) is a pretty well-known book, and I found it quite useful.
Please avoid adderall, I’ve taught kids with ADD/ADHD and have seen nothing but trouble with this drug. Can’t say I know anything about Focus Factor…
Adderall is addictive and there is a huge black market for the stuff. I have seen many walking zombies that stay on the drug because they are easier for others to deal with on it. It may work for a few people but the failure rate I’ve witnessed is just to high.
Focus Factor is crap. I know very little about Adderall. However, why do you say that you are considering Adderall, rather than ‘considering taking medication’? Why Adderall and not Ritalin, dexedrine, methylphenidate, or Concerta?
This person is clearly not an expert in the area of ADD/ADHD. Adderall is similar to Ritalin and Concerta. They are all stimulant medications that have proved to be very effective and safe for this condition for many years. Kids who take these medications for ADD/ADHD are shown to be less likely to start abusing recreational drugs. As far as “alternative” treatment goes, be wary of any drug or herb that has not been tested in a case/control trial, for obvious reasons.
Ritalin and Concerta are the same, just one is time released and made by a different company. Adderall is chemically different, but still a stim med. I am wondering if there are actual issues with Adderall as opposed to other stim meds.
To the OP, I personally would try to start with Ritalin if you qualify, it has about as long a track record with ADD as you can get.
I don’t see how someone can choose whatever prescription drug they want. You have to get a prescription from a physician. Why don’t you ask your physician for a recommentation (if, in deed, he recommends anything).
Please don’t make over generalize like that. I’m not saying you haven’t seen problems, but I went from one drug to another while in college (under the care of a psychiatirst) until we finally settled on Adderal. It changed my life quite a bit. I went from not being able to study at all, to being able to study for hours and acutally absorb what I was reading. Instead of sitting in class staring at the teacher like a zombie but not actually hearing anything* I actually starting having the ability to pay attention. I could go on and on and on about all the ways it affected my life, but I’m sure if you look you can find a million success stories.
*I’m a fidgeter, if I’m taking to someone or reading or doing anything, I have to have something to play with, even if it’s a jacket zipper, a mechanical pencil whatever. One of my teachers actually asked me one day why I was doing math homework in psych class. I explained my condition and told him that if I was ever sitting up in my desk, making eye contact with him, and appeared to be listening, he could rest assured that my mind was a million miles away. OTOH, if he looks over and I’m doing my calculus homework on my lap, flipping the pages to HIS book on my desk and appear like I’m not paying attenion, I’m most likely hanging off everyword he’s saying. My mind has to be doing 8 different things at once to really be able to concentrate or I start day dreaming (and this is WITH the meds, without them it’s another story all together). ADD/ADHD is a strage disorder, I can sypathize with teachers though, but you have to understand some kids just CAN’T pay attention, some kids really honsetly try to read through the book or study for the english test, but find themselves reading the same page 19 times because each time they get to the end they realize the have no idea what they just read becuase they were day dreaming. I’ll stop now, but I could go on and on and on, and before you say “he doesn’t have ADD, he plays video games all day, or when he finds a book he likes he can read the entire thing without getting up once, it’s just an excuse to get out of things he doesn’t like” go do a seach on ADD and hyperfocus.
Canada just banned Adderall, claiming it has caused 20 deaths, mostly in children, in the past 10 years. The manufacturer claims that the number is statistically insignificant (there are something like 37,000 prescriptions for the stuff), but Canada doesn’t agree.