My son's behavior changed dramatically with Ritilan. He was much more fun without it. It was like a 78 rpm record dropping to 33 1/3.

He never experienced the sluggishness when he stopped which he could do with ease and preferred to

This is interesting and I can't discount it fully.

I don't have the HD part of it. Mind you, I got plenty of "U's" in conduct as a kid and was taken to a counselor or two. That's not big news to anybody who has suffered through some of my unsportsmanlike posts. Those posts were with stimulants.

Cripes.

Same here, and most of us don't. Because of the stereotypes of ADD/ADHD, if we're not bouncing off the walls, then it goes unrecognized. We end up not understanding why we "hit a wall" and are not quite able to do certain tasks or accomplish things as effectively as our peers. I breezed through high school, but hit a wall at university. Just couldn't do it, never understood it, it was really hard for me to suddenly feel like I had barriers that I didn't understand. Same thing in the workplace, had limitations that seemed invisible... was really hard on my head.

One day I was discussing these things with a friend, and he said, "do you think that's because of your ADD?" I laughed. Then I started reading...

I graduated college with high honors. High school, B's and C's. 9th grade algebra teacher lived across the street. In her 60's, flaming red hair and a 67 Rivera. Walks over and tells my Dad "Your kid smoked the final. Highest in class". How does that happen? it was not aptitude. I must have found it intriguing and focused?

College I self medicated with caffeine. Pots not cups.

Heh heh.

Was giving crap to a pal who is a partner at a consulting firm. I said, "I should be a Partner". He said "You forget too much s*it" then started singing the blame it on my ADD song.

Hooked up the battery charger tonight to the 911. Pal who hangs here in the evening says "Best plug it into the wall".

At end of 2015 had a sow feast on $1 McChicken sandwiches. Went into afib. Doc said I should go to hospital. Salt, MSG, spices, not sure but I assured him it happens when I eat certain crap food loaded with whatever. He gave me two scripts, said lay down for three hours and return. I did. Better. Returned in morning. Sinus rhythm had returned.

I will say that after four days of no stimulants I cannot "sense" my heart beat physically if that makes sense. I never take addy before getting my blood pressure checked so it's kind of a BS test. I usually read pretty ok on baseline. Genetics? I ain't a health nut angel. Just lucky.

So there has to be a ramp up of BP with Adderal if I can sense my heart beat without a neck or wrist check.

Side note. Beer fest Friday night. Enough for a legitimate hangover. Not a whiskey hammering hangover, just a regular hangover. No amphetimines. In bed 6:00pm Sat night. No "speed" to push me through.

Bob,

I actually have gotten that feel your heart thing when my blood pressure was too LOW, I have high blood pressure and when I first decided to go to the Doc., it was after a blood pressure check at the State Fair; I "blew" a 190/130! Yikes, well even though I blame the real high number on just riding my bike there, having a slice of pizza, drinking a large Dr. Pepper, putting up with all the people in my way and the test being administered by a gorgeous girl with big..."eyes," I still figured I needed to get it looked at.

Doc. at first dosed me 20mg of Lisinopril and I could feel my heart when riding my bike and would get dizzy if I just bent over a little and then straightened out, so back to the Doc. and we cut it in half to 10mg and that seems to be fine for me.

Rutager

FWIW, my BP didn't move at all when I began taking stimulants for ADHD. I started with Concerta about ten years ago and recently switched to Adderall, because my body had gotten accustomed to the former and was no longer effective.

rutager strenuous exercise doesn't raise my BP at all....in fact it tends to be lower. be careful assuming your bp was high because of physical exertion.

Four months into no adderal.

Noted changes:

Picked up ten pounds.

Sleep more. Drink less coffee. A touch lazier. I'm 60 but exercise is an option. I'm a poster child for self improvement.

Beers one day and the next I have a hang over that is now not masked with ADD meds. Did not happen before. Historically, hammered in the morning and one hour later, mean but effective.

With beer I still smoke cigs. All other times NO now. Sister is in AA. Went to see my Dad down in Charlotte with her. Did not drink for four days to be fair and had no cigs. Not even an inkling of interest. Also batched at her because her cigs were foul smelling.

Mental function is pretty good. I do miss the later afternoon surge of false energy. I also don't have the horsepower to craft witty responses in threads here. I try but it ain't the same as before. Focus and deep memory access is lessened, at least for now.

I don't hear my heart beat in my ears.

Stay the course and continue to pay attention to yourself.

Post an after pic....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1469720771.jpg

BTW, congrats....

So this is a major disadvantage to leaving the stuff and a major reason for going on it, correct?

As far as alertness and feeling less lazy, I drink one soda pop a day for lunch....a Pepsi Max with it's high caffeine, and ginseng content, it starts my engine again. There are plenty of natural remedies that you might look into suchas pure, essential oils, vitamins, and supplements. The essential oils really made a difference in my wife's quality of life after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I would only reccomend the pure/unmixed oils NOT from some pyramid sales scheme though.

Yes. The focus part. Deep memory access can probably be stated better as clarity of thought.

It's easier to perform a linear set of not so exciting tasks without the distraction of "Oh, look, a squirrel" pulling you off task. The squirrel is always there though. With the stimulant, you are better able to assess the consequence of your actions. The downside of getting side tracked.

With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the impact is different on the "H" part. It (meds) changes the person to introvert from life of the party. Better for keeping your job but almost like a micro lobotomy.

Speak of the devil. I have an older lady friend that is into the pyramid supplement scheme. She has all the answers.

I take nothing but Turmeric Curcumin for injury related knee arthritis. I am a clean slate for ideas.

Thanks

I managed to never notice this thread until yesterday. It speaks to me, as I've had non-hyperactive ADD my whole life, but I wasn't diagnosed til I was about 21 (I'm 41 now) but it was plain as day when I was finally diagnosed. In things like my teachers' comments you could see the same comments all the way from third grade through the end of high school.

First course of treatment was Ritalin (noooo thanks!), then Adderal (not as bad as Ritalin, but no thanks anyway) and finally Welbutrin (150SR). Supplemented with therapy. This worked pretty well for me for some years. Tapered off of meds because eventually seemed like they weren't doing much. Picked the Welbutrin back up again somewhere in my early 30s for a couple of years, stopped for the same reason. Tried again a couple of years ago, couldn't honestly notice much benefit.

Cold meds sure do clear my mind. (My doctor told me years ago it was the antihistamines).

Trying to stay focused on anything kills me. Most of the time. Especially lots of boring stuff, like work. I feel wildly unproductive at work, though for some reason my boss considers me productive. Imagine what he'd think if *I* thought I was!

This condition hurts me even with the stuff I do for fun - e.g. my car projects take years, one of my bikes has been lazing in the work stand for six months, etc.

+1

I am the first one to say in the tech forum "This will take a lot longer than the other DIY time estimates" I should qualify with disregard if you can stay on task. :)