I'm concerned...

[Chase Summers]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the Debbie Downer thread, but I was hoping for some help and/or insight into a situation that is very rapidly concerning me.

Two years ago I was diagnosed ADD by a psychiatrist who specialized in adult ADD treatment to whom I was referred. Ever since I've been on Adderall to improve my focus and thought processes, and I guess what you'd call my cognitive skills. To be perfectly honestly the Adderall is an amazing drug in terms of focus. In the Spring semester at college this year (my first to go since high school) I made straight A's, and that was the first time in my ENTIRE academic career that that had ever happened.

One thing that Adderall temporarily and limitedly helped with was forgetfulness. I mean I still forgot to lock my apartment door or where I put my keys, but not as much. However, in the past few months, over the past year to be precise, I've noticed my memory, congition, etc going down hill.

I'm forgetting names, faces (even of people I've known well - but thankfully this hasn't expanded to my loved ones), I'm forgetting dates, important facts (occasionally my age), my childhood and teenage years are a fog at best, I forget what I'm doing constantly, I've actually gotten in my car only to forget where I'm going or in some cases had no idea how I gotten somewhere, I forget to eat -sometimes extending to me cooking but forgetting that I cooked and thus not eating, I'm a stickler for bathing, but I sometimes forget to bathe only to remember last minute or so, I forget what I did the day for before, or even what happened in morning as early as the mid afternoon. What's worse is that I lose my train of thought and I'm losing words. Everyday words, and I'm losing my great spelling skills. I've always been an excellant speller. But now, I go blank. And this is in English AND Spanish. I used to be fluent in Spanish, and am even taking a course now, so there's no reason I should be forgetting words and conjugation especially in my native language of English. I've got poor coordination when walking and sometimes get thick tongued when speaking.

I'm also about 2 weeks into a hypertension diagnosis. I've been on BP meds that long after a scare with chest pains and vision problems. For the most part the meds seem to work, but every other time or so I check my BP it'll be fairly high. When it's high, the average will be 185/95. But overall since being on the meds my BP average has been 130/85. My doctor said that for someone of my age and weight and height my top number should be running about 110 or 115 - no higher.

Here's the kicker: I'm only 24. This all shouldn't be happening. My doctor said that my BP is a result of unfortunate heredity (both parents and both sets of grandparents and so on have hypertension). So, it really is a moot point that I'm reasonbly active (I was a kickboxer and walk a mile or more everyday rain or shine), and that I'm thin.

I'm getting scared. I feel in my bones something is not right, but I haven't mentioned to my psychiatrist just because foolishly I've been scared of what might be found. And my general doctor did blood work in relation to my BP and he said my blood was essentially normalwith the exception of fairly high cholesterol. I don't know if that means he was only looking at heart and blood pressure related stuff, or if overall my blood was fine with no indicators of anything else.

Everything on memory I've been coming across has been for the elderly. It all seems to say that memory loss comes with old age, but I'm not old!

So sorry for the length! Has anyone else had experience with this either professionally (i.e, doctor or nurse) or personally? I don't see my psychiatrist again until the 18 of December, and I definitely plan on bringing this up. I've gotten more scared of what's happening than of what might be found.

Thanks if you managed to read this far!

 

[Kean]

I can't speak from personal experience but my roommate was diagnosed with ADD when she was 18. Like you she was put on Adderall and academically, it is invaluable to her but she does say it messes with her abit, especially her moods which would plummit. She made the choice to come off it when she is not in college and she said that has helped her alot.

Like you've said yourself already the best thing you can do is talk to your doctors and take it from there.

I hope it works out for you hun🙂

 

[Rayne]

Make all of your doctors aware of EVERYTHING that's going on. Make a list and share your concerns. Fear and holding things back is not going to help anything but the progression of your illness. Believe me. I'm going in tomorrow morning to take care of my own issues that I have let get out of control. You have to give them everything so they can help you. Any little detail could make a difference. Good luck and I hope everything works out. Have you looked into any natural approach? To back up the medical ones? Diet? Supplements? Oils? I would get as educated as possible from every side. Get healthy from the inside out. If not for the over all problems then maybe for the individual symptoms.

 

[nerd4hire]

Have you ever read this book? The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child?

If not, you can read it at the link. It's worth a browse.

I'm curious, because of something I heard one time when I was investigating that kind of stuff, because I have a nephew they wanted to dope up. Did your doctor test you for food allergies?

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

So the poblem is that you sort of need the Adderal to concentrate, but it's not working too well in other aspects?
Are you sure your loss of cognition is connecting to it though?
I went to wikipedia for sideeffects, and apparently in adults they are:

Stomach Ache
Dry mouth
Loss of appetite
Difficulty falling asleep
Weight loss
Extreme Irritability
Extreme Mood Swings
Unpleasant taste in mouth
Severe Headaches
Muscle and Joint pain
Depression

and from over dose

Symptoms of tourettism[6]
Seizures or abnormal EEGs[6]
High blood pressure[6]
Tachycardia
Swelling of hands/feet/ankles (for example, numbing of the fingertips)
Hyperactivity
Delusions
Hallucinations
Sweating
Vomiting
Intense Dehydration
Muscle Pain
Lower abdominal pain

However, also on wikipedia, I found this:

On February 9, 2005, Health Canada suspended all sales of Adderall XR after data collected by manufacturer Shire Pharmaceuticals linked the drug to 12 sudden deaths in American children.[23] Further research found data suggesting use of Adderall resulted in an increased risk of cardiac defect. Given the more than 37,000,000 prescriptions for Adderall filled during the four years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could find no increased risk of sudden death among Adderall users beyond the normal rate of the general population.[24][25] In August 2005, Health Canada followed the committee report of three independent physicians and lifted the ban on Adderall XR.[26][27] Given that persons with ADHD are more likely to engage in risky or dangerous behavior, it has been suggested that stimulant medications for persons with ADHD may actually result in lower incidence of premature death.[28] The use of Adderall is generally not advised in those persons with pre-existing cardiac or mental illnesses. It is also not advised in persons who have a history of drug abuse.[29] Although FDA safety advisors voted 8 to 7 to issue a black box warning, the FDA's pediatric advisory committee refused to give the drug its most severe black box warning in March 2006.[30] A Black Box Warning regarding amphetamine abuse potential is in place, however. In September 2008, Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence urged physicians not to prescribe Adderall or similar drugs to children under 5, and to exhaustively consider other approaches to behavioral modification before prescribing such drugs to children 5 and up. [31]

Maybe you should consider asking your psychiatrist for a change in medication.
Also, though I do not know how this would work out in America, there's always the chance for rather self-medicating. Meaning, I've heard of several people (who didn't like their medication) who self-medicate with marijuana. But like I said, I don't know about that in the US. Here I am more or less in the Netherlands, where you can buy weed in coffeeshops, and though it's not fully legal (I think the laws concerning this whole deal are a little shaky) you can smoke weed without getting into trouble. So here something like this can work. In America, I don't know.

 

[Chase Summers]

Have you ever read this book? The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child?

If not, you can read it at the link. It's worth a browse.

I'm curious, because of something I heard one time when I was investigating that kind of stuff, because I have a nephew they wanted to dope up. Did your doctor test you for food allergies?

No, I've never read this, but I just scanned it quickly, and it looks fascinating! I will definitely be coming back to read it.

I don't have any food allergies to my knowledge, and my doctor never tested me for any either. What part do allergies play?

Also, thanks for the well wishes!

 

[November]

No, I've never read this, but I just scanned it quickly, and it looks fascinating! I will definitely be coming back to read it.

I don't have any food allergies to my knowledge, and my doctor never tested me for any either. What part do allergies play?

Also, thanks for the well wishes!

I agree with everyone else in saying, tell your doctor about EVERYTHING that is going on no matter how small it seems.

I havent read the link N4H posted but Im assuming it might be about food allergies in relation to hyperactivity. I work with ADD, ADHD and autistic children and have heard many stories of their condition improving when certain food are cut out of their diet (types of grain, dairy also artificial ingredients). Of course its not the same for all of them, some conditions never change with diet changes, but some have had huge differences in attention span and hyperactivity. Im sure there would be a world of information on google 😛

Goodluck I hope the doctors work out the problem for you 🙂

 

[Chase Summers]

I agree with everyone else in saying, tell your doctor about EVERYTHING that is going on no matter how small it seems.

I havent read the link N4H posted but Im assuming it might be about food allergies in relation to hyperactivity. I work with ADD, ADHD and autistic children and have heard many stories of their condition improving when certain food are cut out of their diet (types of grain, dairy also artificial ingredients). Of course its not the same for all of them, some conditions never change with diet changes, but some have had huge differences in attention span and hyperactivity. Im sure there would be a world of information on google 😛

Goodluck I hope the doctors work out the problem for you 🙂

Ohhh, I see. There's certain things I avoid in particular like chocolate and caffeine. My doctor told me that could aggravate my ADD. But mostly I avoid them because of the brain splitting migraines they give me. Benedryl is something else because it has an opposite reaction on me that it does most people: it increases my hyperactivity as opposed to making me sleepy.

I'm loving what I've read of N4H's recommendation. A great book so far. I completely relate with the Hunter description the author gives, and I have in the past come across descriptions of ADHD patients as warriors. To be honest, the big draw to Buffy for me has been the whole being alone and different deal.

I've never come across anyone in my offline life that is truly ADD like I am. Most people use it to describe a behavior they might exhibit momentarily. I've actually had someone go "Oh yeah, I have that too, I lose my car keys like once a week." And it baffles me!

I'm still forgetting/losing information, but I'm not as scared. Thank you guys. You've played a big part in that. I'm still a month away from my appointment, but I'm trying to keep a log of stuff and "episodes." Like when I'm reading and then all of a sudden the words lose all meaning and familiarity, sometimes for a split second, sometimes a few seconds.

A question for you Aussie: have any of the kids you've worked with exhibited problems that I'm experiencing? I'm wondering if it's an offshoot from my ADD or a new condition entirely...I've worked with non stimulents before in treatment of my ADD, but they did no good. Adderall was not the first go to pill, and I have made changes to my diet and activities.

My parents are having difficulty understanding why I'm having difficulty functioning since I functioned for 22 years "just fine." I did NOT function fine. That's for sure. Every minute that I was required to sit and learn something was an eternity and tortuous. I buzzed from one activity to another, and earned myself the reputation of a flake. Guess I'm still sorting all that out!

 

[November]

I only see each child around one or two hours a week, sometimes less for horseriding lessons so I dont know if they have the symptoms you've described because we only need to know about balance, behavioural and medical issues that might arise week to week that is going to affect the riding. We do notice some kids get very forgetful with changes of medication (I couldnt tell you which meds either, there are so many!) but most of the kids have so much going on in their lives we cant know for sure if that is the only reason. A few of the ADD/ADHA kids also have autism of varying derees, so they often 'forget' or float off in between activities. A Lot have speech problems too but that is for all sorts of reasons, some speak fine as long as they are concentrating.
Im sorry I cant be of more help! Its great that you are doing your own research though. 🙂

 

[nerd4hire]

I'm not qualified to give advice, but if it was me, and my doctor was not giving me satisfaction, I'd consider a visit to a naturopath.

You'd tell him about your other medications. In fact if he didn't specifically ask if you'd been to a doctor, and what the prescribed treatment was I'd look for a different naturopath. You need to be careful about that sort of thing. You'd also need to talk to your doctor before you began any naturopathic treatment if you went that way.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

TELL YOUR DOCTOR. That's all I have to say 🙂