Is there such thing as ADHD and ADD?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I understand what you’re talking about, Guin. You just start feeling things a little more, and expressing those feelings more than you normally would.

I’m ADHD, and I desparately need to go back on the medication. I can’t focus on anything at work, and it’s causing me problems (nothing that anyone else notices, though).

Just for the record, I was diagnosed by a child psychiatrist way back when after several days of tests, so I’m pretty sure that there’s some merit to that particular diagnosis.

And medicine shouldn’t be the only treatment a child receives. Behavioral therapy goes along with it in an ideal program.

22

The reason so many children are being diagnosed with ADHD now as compared to the past is that more parents are aware of and seek out the diagnosis, more teachers recommend evaluation, and more doctors are comfortable with it. Overall, we’ve lowered the threshold of function that someone has to be under before we are willing to treat them, because we’ve seen that kids at those levels can benefit from medication.

Sure, some kids get evaluated that don’t strictly meet the diagnostic criteria, and some get medicated anyway, and some aren’t helped by it. On the whole, though, it’s a very good thing.

I wouldn’t say I’m more emotional on or off the meds, but I’m emotional in different ways. The main difference is a sense of frustration and mental restlessness than underlies my every emotion that isn’t as pronounced with the meds. It’s hard to explain.

Dr. J

23

Just for the record, ADD/ADHD is not a “new” disease (look it is as much a disease or mental health concern that bi-polar or depression is) as it has been called “minimal brain dysfunction” back into the early 1960s if my memory is correct.

While on ritalin or it’s equiv, methalphenydate ( think that’s correct) is effective, every person is different on what is effective. Some do better on Adderal and some with simple behavior modification.

It’s “new” to some because many didn’t become aware of it until the mid 1990s when teachers and general physicians were introduced to it by the media.

Again, this is a disorder or disease that has been recognized in psychiatric circles for decades. With our instant information society with cable and now the internet, it’s more likely that people will “think” they have an ADD/ADHD child or adult but through thorough examination (psychological testing and a good physical) it can be the difference between a person that succeeds or a person that self medicates and wastes his/her life seeking a fix for what they don’t know what is wrong.

It’s often a case of: If he’d apply himself, he’d get great grades but he gets ds and fs. She’s so bright but she stares off into space a lot of the time. He never finishes anything, except these particular projects. She really acts out when she is asked to do what her classmates are asked and willing to do.

It’s not just one or two of those examples that should help a parent think about the possibility but a combo of many of these kinds of things. There could also be other issues going on like a very unhappy home life but if your household is relatively normal then there’s something going on. It may or may not be ADD/ADHD but those kinds of things are important to look at.

Heck, had my parents caught mine when I was in first or second grade, I highly suspect that you all would know a completely different techchick. My job, my home life, my social life, etc…I started self medicating at 12 years old. Luckily, parents today have more information but need to be more concerned with a quick diagnosis and a quick fix when there may be other things going on.

As for the meds. I tend to have a less voilatile (sp) temper when on them. I don’t notice it but my family and friends do. I can communicate far better when on my meds. It helps regulate my sleep patterns. I can work more evenly without having things distract me to the point of not doing what I should be. I don’t drink nearly as much when I drink. I don’t smoke as much when I am on them. Overall, I am a normal being.

I haven’t been on ritalin since 1998. I ran into a roadblock with a doctor and since then haven’t been the same. He wanted me to see a psych AGAIN, despite the fact he had my psych records from a well known psych in Denver and my doc down here…jerk. So I am soured on docs and live my life as best I can with some bad outcomes at times without my meds.

If you all had known me when I was on my ritalin, you would have seen a completely different woman. I look back through some of the stuff I have written in the years and I am not the me I want to be.

Now I am just whining. Sorry.

24

I’ve heard of a theory (sorry no cites, it was a long time ago in a book) that ADD and ADHD aren’t really disfunctions. That they are just adaptations that have evolved and now are seen as undesirable. It went on to say that hyperactivity may have been an advantage for hunters since it allowed them to keep up hunts more energetically. I can’t remember much else but I thought it was a fairly interesting theory.

25

I think there is such a thing as ADHD. My son went on meds this year after it was suggested by a child psychiatrist, developmental paediatrician and a paediatric neuropsych. I still didn’t think it was necessary.

It was a revelation. He’s a changed child.

Kricket, I’d get the meds reviewed. 5 years is a long time for meds to remain stable and if puberty is beginning to kick in, it’s time.

Wearia, check out Thomas West’s book and borntoexplore.com. There’s a lot of theories out there like that and they may well be right but we still need to find ways for kids to flourish and learn within our society.

And lastly I’ve not seen any decrease in creativity with my son – if anything he’s more creative because he can focus and finish stuff.

And even more lastly Dr Laura is FOS.

26

TechChick–don’t hold it against your doctor (an internist or family doc, I assume) for not prescribing the meds for you. Very few primary docs are comfortable right now treating ADHD in adults without psych input. Heck, about two years ago, a child psychiatrist and supposed “expert” in the subject told my med school class that the diagnosis was almost unheard of in adults. (I wanted to raise my hand, but I never really talked about it much with anyone in the class.)

This will all change, especially as all the kids diagnosed in the last ten years grow up and a lot of them fail to “grow out of it”.

Dr. J

27

That would probably be Hunters In A Farmers’ World by Thom (note the H) Hartman. I have a copy. There are some interesting ideas.

Kricket-
I did have crying bouts. I’m manic depressive. That started causing problems at about twelve. It could be nothing. It could be that the meds aren’t working and your son needs a higher dosage or a switch to a new drug. Or, it could be the emergence of a new problem. Besides the standard advice(ask a lot of questions, listen, get your son a therapist), if the problem persists subject your son to every test known to man-thematic aperception, Wexler, MRI, CAT, etc.

28

I was going to post here, but Doctorj said it better than I could. I just want to add that I don’t know of any doctor who’s getting rich off of Ritalin.

29

Below is an excerpt from this article in the Alternative Medicine Review, which basically links lot of ADHD cases to our modern processed diet. The reason I know about this is that my wife’s brother was an ADHD kid in the 1970’s, before Ritalin came into common usage. My mother-in-law got ahold of some popular books that linked diet with what was then called “hyperactivity,” and completely cured her son through diet alone.
(Excerpt from Alternative Medicine Review)

"Food Additives and Food Intolerances in ADHD

In the mid- 1970s, Feingold broke new ground with his claim that up to 50 percent of all hyperactive children were sensitive to food additives (artificial food colors, flavorings, and preservatives) as well as to salicylates that occur naturally in some foods.[45,46] Feingold’s basic finding of the connection between food additives and ADHD symptomatology was not new. As early as 1922, Shannon had published on the successful treatment of children with hyperactivity and learning disorders using an elimination diet.[47] On this regimen 30-50 percent of children improved. Most recently, Schardt reviewed 23 double-blind studies that examined whether food dyes or ordinary foods worsened behavior in children with ADHD or other behavioral problems.[48] In eight of the nine studies conducted with ADHD children, the behavior of some children worsened after consumption of food dyes or improved on an additive-free diet. The symptomatology of these adverse responses mimicked ADHD."

30

I’ve heard ADHD blamed on television.

In addition to ADHD, I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

31

The thing is…that I have been diagnosed since I was 15, he had all the ability to check my background, from 15 though 32 years of age…his excuse was that too my adults were being treated and with the amount of ritalin being on the street…

That’s purely fucked up.

My parents talked to him about my ADD, he fucking KNOWS that I would take my ritalin as prescribed, as needed. Yet he prescribed Wellbutrin that fucked me over in so many ways. He didn’t care about me, he cared about his medical license because perscribing ritalin in this town is like prescribing crack. Pretty messed up.

He put me on that Wellbutrin and I became psycho-bitch from hell, read some of my entries in late 1999 and early 2000 and you will know what I mean. Telling me that it would cure my need for cigs, my depression and my ADD. The more I understood what that drug was doing to me the more I became the psycho bitch from hell, yet I was still required by him to get a pysch eval even though I had the proof for this boozo that went back to when I was 15. I had proof of from a well known psych in Denver of all places.

It’s frustrating as hell. You can’t fucking win.

I am an adult with ADD. Ritalin requires a monthly refill, not a continuous refill as it is regulated by the FDA.

The only doc that will give me unlimited refills even though I live 30-45 minutes away, is just not doable. Dr. Johnson hardly even saw me, he read my records, listend to my parents (he lives next door to them) and it’s just a huge undertaking for me to see him.

The FDA has me pissed off. It’s a controlled drug yet the only doc I know in town, that has ACUTALLY read my records is so far away.

I am at a loss and it is expensive when you don’t have medical insurance.

I am about to cry over this as I want to be normal again.

32

I seriously doubt ADHD was cooked up so “people could get rich on Ritalin”. For one thing, no single company controls methylphenidate (sic), the chemical name for the drug branded Ritalin. For another, to my knowledge Ritalin (and company) are not expensive drugs.

For a third, I have ADHD, and yes, there’s definitely something there. I don’t see why this is so controversial; far more people are questionably put on the SSRI antidepressants for vague symptoms than are put on Ritalin or other psychostimulants.

Why all the conspiracy theory? Who’s to benefit from such a theory? This all smacks of excessive mistrust of the medical establishment, and overprotection of other people’s children.
Oh, and FWIW, Ritalin doesn’t “dope you up”. Hah. Ask a serious drug user what they think of Ritalin, and they’ll laugh in your face. Caffeine produces about as much euphoria, I’d say.

33

I know you’ve heard it a million times, and thought about it a million times – but why not find another doctor?

I’ve had more shitty doctors than good ones, so it definitely pays to shop around. The medical community has a surprisingly large number of flakes among its ranks, considering all the schooling, time, and effort required to get your MD.

It needn’t even be a shrink; if you’ve been diagnosed in the past and have a detailed history, any MD should give you a Ritalin scrip. Despite what the doomsayers say, its not a very dangerous drug.

34

The ADHD/diet link is very dubious (well, so’s everything labelled “alternative medicine”, but I don’t want to pick a fight). Unless a very weird food allergy is present, or some extreme vitamin deficiency (which is far less common than most people believe) any apparent benefit from a change of diet is going to be the placebo effect.