Posted by whiterabbit on June 20, 2003, at 11:36:02
In reply to Re: Lack of drive, posted by yesac on June 20, 2003, at 10:01:37
Eddie & Casey - I think both of you would find Dr. Amen's book extremely helpful, as many of the behaviors you're both describing sound like ADD symptoms.
I wish somebody had picked up on these symptoms before. As for myself, I didn't know my odd little habits WERE symptoms...I thought they were "just me". Like my routine of reading two or three books at the same time - I rotate books when I get bored with the storyline. Or my inability to just sit and watch a 2-hour movie -
I HAVE to be fiddling with something else at the same time. And my dislike for cards and board games, which requires extended concentration. The way I can get lost driving to a place I've been several times before. The people who get irritated with me for not listening, the things I break from misuse or not reading directions, the hundreds of projects I've started and never finished. The book even mentioned my habit of being unable to sleep at night unless I had a fan or some other "white noise" in the room.I was amused when my psychiatrist prescribed dextroamphetamine - 10 mg three times a day - because I had been honest about my substance abuse problems. But being in the medical profession myself, I recognized his willingness to prescribe this drug for me as confidence rather than incompetence. From Dr. Amen's book I've learned that the reason for providing a stimulant is to fire up the under-active part of the brain - the frontal lobe I believe - causing the ADD symptoms. The really exciting part, to me anyway, is that this treatment is not theory or conjecture - with 3-D brain scanning it's possible to actually watch the brain's activity
and response to medication. It's cutting-edge medical science, just awesome.Incidentally, not only am I not abusing the dextroamphetamine, it's still sometimes difficult for me to take all three doses because I've been self-medicating with gallons of espresso for years, and it's a well-entrenched habit. So I'm trying to cut back on the caffeine so I don't get jittery.
I'm still taking 60 mg daily of Paxil but my new psychiatrist told me that he intends to get me off of it, obviously he's not comfortable with that (not sure why yet). He didn't decrease the dosage I've been taking because he didn't want to add more than one variable at a time during the trial phase of dextroamphetamine. I can tell this guy is pretty sharp and I already have a great deal of faith in him.
If you become convinced that ADD is a definate possibility, there must be some research you can do, some way to find a psychiatrist who specializes in ADD and stays informed of the latest medical breakthroughs. I keep thinking of a sentence in Dr. Amen's book: "With proper diagnosis and treatment, it is possible to change the course of a person's whole life."
Fingers crossed-
Gracie
poster:whiterabbit
thread:235232
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030617/msgs/235428.html