I want to thank you all immensely to all your comments to my first post in the community -- I've been immensely busy and I haven't had a chance to read them all, but I will and I will try my best to respond individually to each of them.

That being said, my friend and I have a new development. ( She's started to have trouble at work. )

Can any ADDers relate to this soliloquy in H.G.Wells' Mr Britling Sees it Through as well as I can?

( Assuming you can make it to the end. :-P )

Mr Britling here is a fellow living in the countryside of England in the (fictional?) village of Matching's Easy shortly before the outbreak of WW1. He is a boisterous individual who is looking after Mr Direck who is visiting from the US. He has the boisterous enthusiasm of Mr Toad, and like Mr Toad has had some rather reckless adventures with a motor car. Also he's been having an affair with a woman in another village, whom he has enthusiastically become enamored with and over the course of the book gets into some difficulty attempting to court.

It's been some time since I read the book beginning to end so I can't remember every detail, but I find this passage particularly memorable. I have done the same thing, resolving to some philosophy of prudence or stoicism and hanging notes (carefully crafted on my computer and run off on my laser printer) about to remind me of the philosophy, only to be discarded weeks later when I find the once inspiring message to be a bit stale. Of course I can relate to the emotional states and patterns of thinking as well.

But I'm sure more then a few of us have felt ourselves able to relate to Mr Toad as well, no?

Do you Wellbutrin/bupropion takers out there drink coffee? If so, do you notice any adverse effects?

x-posted

Two weeks ago I discovered how my ADD affects me in a small yet significant way.

I am an artist, specializing in woodburning, carving, and scrolling.  When I am "in the groove", I experience this special connection between my eyes, my brain, and my hands.  They all work together to allow this artistic "flow", a biofeedback of sorts that feeds and builds upon itself.  When I am in that groove, all is right with the world; I feel focused, satisfied, and the work comes out nice.

The problem is, this connection only occurs about 15% of the time.  The rest of the time, I cannot establish that connection, effectively forcing myself to do work that ultimately makes me miserable. Even the very act of touching pen to paper, or woodburner nib to wood, ot sawblade to wood, is unpleasant.  The tactical sensations I derive from doing these things can border on painful.  Yet I force myself to do what I can anyway, because I have made a commitment to my customers.  Those pieces that I have forced out, was definately not my best work.  I end up doubly embarassed for the lacking quality and the amount of time it took to complete them.

My biggest mistake was trying to make a living off of my art, spreading the word about what I can do and attempting to make some kind of profession from it.  My artistic muse being somewhat unreliable, only recently have I come to the conclusion that I cannot rely on it for an income.  Projects sit undone until that connection comes back, all the while clients are hounding me for their finished pieces.  Work that should take just a few hours ends up taking me months to complete.  In this latest case, I had to return the blank parts to a client, undone, which cost me money in refunded postage.

I have tried several techniques to keep myself working even when I don't feel it, to no avail.  I tried setting deadlines and even refund policies if I don't get them done in time.  I have tried setting work schedules and time frames, as if I were in a real job.  I have set up consequences for myself if I cannot complete work or make some kind of progress.  But artistic muse cannot be controlled or commanded.  I knew it was time to quit when I would rather face the consequences than do the work that I'd promised to do.  I would rather lose $40 to refund postage than earn $60 from the project.

In conclusion, this is just one of many ways my ADD has managed to mess up my life and my opportunities.  If anyone reading this understands what I just shared and has practical advice on how to overcome it, so I can maintain a productive yet inspired work schedule, I would be eternally grateful.

Hey everyone. I'm 18 and a student in college. I've always had trouble in school, but its getting more difficult now that I'm in college. I think I had add. I read the symptoms and I have almost all of them. My doctor diagnosed me a few days ago, also. I was wondering if there was a big difference between people with ADD on pills, and people with ADD without pills? How easier does it make your life when youre on adderall?

One of my main problems in coping with my ADD is remembering to slow down and pay attention in my daily life. Not doing so has cost me jobs, money, and relationships. So, I ask you now, what are your favorite strategies/suggestions for remembering to slow down and pay attention?

Xposted around

How do you sleep when taking Adderall? The instant release keeps me up for at least 24 hours, even if it wears off. Then I'd sleep for up to two day's worth of sleep and feel lethargic for the rest of the day while not taking my Rx.

Seriously, everything about the Rx works, but this no sleeping thing is making me not take it everyday like I'm suppose to.

1.) What tips do you have on sleeping when you're on Adderall? 
2.) What do you think of taking sleeping pills to counter this?
3.) Will taking it regularly make this side effect go away?

For Adderall, how do you keep tolerance from building?

1.) Did they do some brain wave things? How were you diagnosed?

2.) I'm scared that I may not be totally ADD and have not been taking my Adderall because in a sense, I feel like I'm cheating and am being weak. I haven't taken Adderall for 2-3 weeks. It works really well for me, and it totally scares me that I can't seem to work at all without it. But for some reason, I was able to get straight A's without it before through super hard work. Like before I was on it.

THen I wonder if I really am all that ADD....and get scared that maybe my diagnose is off since it just involved telling my symptoms.

Anyway, I just feel weak, in a way, for taking it. But I haven't gotten anything done in 8 hours. I haven't even started my paper.

What do you think? Should I still take it?

How come Adderall IR (amphetamine salts) isn't working as well as before?

3 years ago, I was on Adderall. It was the blue, 10mg ones, & it was 60mg altogether spread out. At times before I'd take like 20mg & it worked. My heart would beat a lot on this, and with the orange pills, I don't have rapid heart beats.

I just started back on it yesterday: 30mg twice a day. But it's orange. Here's my experience:

1st time: Tried 15mg (split it), but there was no effect. So I tried 15mg more within 30 minutes, & I felt it working somewhat. 

2nd time: 30mg. It wasn't as effective as before, but worked a little.

3rd time (this morning): 30mg after a tuna sandwich, fruit, & milk. No effect.

Questions (Sorry, I can't talk to my doctor until next month):
1. Could the orange, 30mg ones be different from the blue, 10mg ones?
2. Could I have built some tolerance after one day?
3. Should I up the dose to 90mg in all and take 45mg 2x/day?
4. What other meds should I try instead? Concerta & Strattera had no effect on me. Adderall IR was smoother on me than XR. I'm thinking stimulant ones work better on me.

Thank you for your time.

I've called pharmacies and 60 mg (per day) of generic Adderall would cost me $60-$130 per month without insurance.

I don't know if I can afford it, but it this Rx has really helped me a lot in the past. Where do you go for the cheapest price?

Thanks.

I was on 60 mg of generic Adderall Instant Release 3 years ago. I was diagnosed 3 years ago, but my parents don't want me on any psych drugs (I was on some before, though, and my parents just made me drop), so I will be going to a doc on my own. It's a totally new doc. How many mg do you think he'll start me off?

I tried Adderall XR before, too, but the IR was smoother on me, so I prefer the IR.

How much is generic Adderall without insurance? I was on 60 mg of generic Adderall before. The XR didn't work very well for me. I liked the blue pills....generic ones. I was able to concentrate better.

I'll be going to a sliding scale clinic, but I'm scared that I might not be able to afford it. Long story, but my parents are against me being medicated (due to suicide warnings and other warnings about psych meds), so I'm going to try to go to a sliding scale clinic for ADHD treatment.

Thanks!

I'm sixteen years old, and I've been classified as moderately to highly gifted (IQ from 145-155). The world has never been able to keep up with me. My brain is always moving way above the speed limit. I've always done well in school, but I'm unorganized, erratic, spontaneous and impulsive. I lose things, I don't finish projects, I do my homework at 4 in the morning or in the class before its due, if at all. I have difficulty following instructions because i simply never hear them. School is painfully boring, and I know that I don't achieve at my full potential. I spend class time solving complex math problems and finding number patterns on my own, rather than listening. I have a hard time following through with diets or organized plans. I'm restless and antsy. I'm usually out of control of my emotions and actions. I have a low-self esteem and I am overemotional. I get depressed easily because I feel totally helpless, unchallenged and underachieving. It's recently been suggested that I have ADD/ADHD and I've been researching it. I've discovered that I do, in fact, have a lot of characteristics of ADD/ADHD. However, many of these are also symptoms of an unchallenged gifted student, a square peg in a round hole. I don't want to misdiagnose myself, or seek help for ADD/ADHD if I don't truly have it. However, whatever it is that's up with me is definitely affecting my social and emotional health. I often suffer from depression, and my friends always seem to be on the verge of killing me. Is anyone else highly gifted and ADHD? Misdiagnosed? Willing to give me a little advice?

I was wondering how come I wasn't able to focus on a given task and complete it until I was finally diagnosed with ADD.

Everthing I want to achieve takes an extra mile of effort. For people who do not suffer from ADD it may seems weird not to be able to do things in a straightforward fashion and achieve goals in a timely manner, but for me, it's one of the most challenging things to do.

It takes time, longer perhaps, but I finally completed a long-time dreamed prject.

Are there any crafty AD/HDers out there? I was cutting fabric for a sewing project last night, and seriously wasted a bunch of fabric by messing up what should have been relatively easy straight lines. This has happened a lot lately with more than one of my projects, both using a cutting wheel/mat and with regular scissors. I used to work at a fabric counter at a Michael's Arts and Crafts, and did just fine. BUT that's because the fabric counters have those special little trenches to guide the scissors. They put those there for everyone who cuts fabric for a living, not just as a "reasonable accommodation" for people with AD/HD.

So do normal people cut fabric at home without screwing up every single time? What do I need to know, in order to do this myself?

My name is Maggie Koerth-Baker. I'm a journalist and recently was diagnosed with ADHD. I'm working on an article for MSN.com about adult women and ADD/ADHD and I'd like to have some input from women other than myself on how they've dealt with this disorder and what their lives are like.

You can be any age and any stage in diagnosis/treatment. I'll need to use your full name in the article, so please be aware of that.
If you have questions or if you'd like to participate, please contact me as soon as you can. My deadline is Friday and so I'll need to do interviews by Thursday, preferably.

You can reach me by replying here or by email at maggie (dot) koerth (at) gmail (dot) com.

Cross posted in adults_add.  Sorry if you got it twice!!!


My main question: Do stimulants HELP any of you sleep?

The longer story:
Hello, all!  I am new to this community, and have only recently found out (at age 37) that I have ADHD.   I have not taken any drugs, but am willing to if needed.  I will see my doctor again next week, but want to ask a few questions about sleep here.

I have ALWAYS had trouble with insomnia, even as a child, because my brain doesn't turn off at night.  It either seems to just keep running on and on back and forth between a million things, or it hyperfocuses on one thing and won't let me stop thinking about it.  Sometimes this is accompanied by anxiety, but not always.  And mostly the anxiety happens in reaction to not being able to sleep--i.e. after lying in bed and thinking for two hours I start to realize, "Crap!  I'm not falling asleep!  I'm not going to get enough sleep tonight!!!"  And then I get anxious.

I have tried every prescription and non-prescription sleeping pill on the market.  ALL of them WAKE me up even more!

I have also always avoided large doses of caffeine because I've had such trouble with insomnia, and classic wisdom is that if you can't sleep, don't drink coffee.  So I didn't.  I do drink one 6 oz mug of coffee in the morning, and I have always had the sense that, for some reason, my body likes coffee.

My question is this:  is it POSSIBLE that a stimulant might actually HELP me sleep?  If so, do I need to be on a stimulant all day, with a constant level in my blood, or is one dose at night better? 

I know ADHD is treated (if with drugs) with either stimulants, low doses of antidepressants or both.  I do know that stimulants sometimes have the side effect of insomnia in people with ADHD, but I wonder if they sometimes have the opposite effect on others.  At the moment, I am just trying to decide if I want to start with getting treated with stimulants or antidepressants--I don't want to try both at the same time because I want to gauge the effect of one before I try the other.  Having ADHD is hard on many levels, but the worst part for me has always been the inability to sleep. 

Just as another point of info, I find that very hard exercise helps me focus.  I have to do quite a lot of exercise during the day.  I DO find that my nighttime ballet class helps me sleep--it's not a lot of aerobic work because it is a very basic class, but it is a lot of mental and somatic focusing work.

And I won't be taking anything said here as medical advice.  I just want to know experiences of real people.  All decisions will be discussed thoroughly with my doctor.  :-)

Thank you!!!!