mfranks
01-31-06, 11:22 PM
Hello Everyone:
Like many here, I've been newly diagnosed with ADD. Here's the actual Summary of the Diagnosis from the Pychologist:
"In summary, Mark has performed on this screening in a a way that is entirely consistent with a fairly well-compensated adult with a diagnosis of ADD. I believe that Mark does have an Attenion Deficit Disorder which takes the form of intolerance for boredom, difficulty in maintaining attention on undesired tasks, and he has an accompanying mild to moderate amount of hyperactivity."
My doctor decided to start me off with 10mg of Methylin every 3 hours. However, after the second dose, I had one of the worst headaches of my life. It was so bad in fact, I had to leave work since I could not concentrate and I wanted to sleep to get rid of it.
After consulting my pyschologist and medical doctor, we decided to try Concerta (18mg dose, once per day) since they both believe that the issue is with delivery. Sure enough, I'm in my second day on the drug and I have no headaches.
I'm a very passionate, high-energy person, very active, happy-go-lucky -- unless you **** me off... :eek: This drug, although a stimulant, makes me feel as if I've been "neutered". I have a dull feeling in my head, I don't feel the passion and the love that I usually have. I can't seem to concentrate quite as well - especially reading. I don't feel sharp - I feel dull!
However, with that said, I don't feel so combative or excitable as I can be at times. It's like I don't care about things as much to defend or speak up or out about. It's a wierd feeling.
Another thing that I noticed is that I can "hear" better. Or more accurately, I can distinguish words being spoken or sung better. One of the things that I have trouble with normally is "hearing" the lyrics of songs. For me, the human singing voice has always been like a musical instrument, not a voice speaking to me per se. I always have had to see the words to a given song to be able to sing along.
Languages have always been difficult for me to learn. The primary problem is that I have a hard time distinguishing individual words... like in music, they seem to run together and are not recognizable when spoken. If the person enunciates clearly and spaces the words adequately for me, I can understand - otherwise, I am lost unless I have a script.
I recently took up trying to learn Latin for reasons I won't go into here. I noticed last night, while driving my car listening to a Latin CD, with relatively new material, that I could clearly distinguish the words! It was as if the cotton was taken out of my ears or that the people on the CD all of sudden started speaking clearly and more slowly. It's quite profound!
I do much better with written materials than auditory. I have to re-read quite a bit as I often daydream in the middle of my readings. I might get side-tracked or a thought pops in my head that derails me. I continue to read with my eyes until my "thought" returns. I then realize that I didn't really read during that time and have to scan backwards through my reading to figure out where I left off.
Don't get me wrong - reading and comprehending material is a lot of work for me. Over the years, I have compensated well - according to my pychologist. I'm not as efficient as I would like to be. I'm hoping medication will help me be more efficient in my learing endevors.
I'm wondering if anyone else with ADD has has noticed that their auditory world changed noticably for the better with medication?
Also, I am wondering what other people with ADD who take/took Methylin or Concerta feel about their medicated state and how it makes them feel? Do you start to get used to the feeling of the medication? As you adjust the dosage and find the "effective dose" of the medicine, will the dullness increase or decrease? I realize we are all individuals and we react differently to medicines... I'm just hoping to find someone who is/has experienced similar effects with the medicine I am taking right now. I don't like this feeling at all! I hope the effect on me goes from dullness to sharpness. I find it very interesting that a stimulant would seemingly have a "downing" effect.
My psychologist told me to expect things to slow down for me and everything may come into alignment - if the drug works for me. I feel like the tortoise instead of the rabbit! That doesn't seem like alignment - unless everyone else are tortoises and the alignment is with all these tortoises! :)
Regards,
Mark
Like many here, I've been newly diagnosed with ADD. Here's the actual Summary of the Diagnosis from the Pychologist:
"In summary, Mark has performed on this screening in a a way that is entirely consistent with a fairly well-compensated adult with a diagnosis of ADD. I believe that Mark does have an Attenion Deficit Disorder which takes the form of intolerance for boredom, difficulty in maintaining attention on undesired tasks, and he has an accompanying mild to moderate amount of hyperactivity."
My doctor decided to start me off with 10mg of Methylin every 3 hours. However, after the second dose, I had one of the worst headaches of my life. It was so bad in fact, I had to leave work since I could not concentrate and I wanted to sleep to get rid of it.
After consulting my pyschologist and medical doctor, we decided to try Concerta (18mg dose, once per day) since they both believe that the issue is with delivery. Sure enough, I'm in my second day on the drug and I have no headaches.
I'm a very passionate, high-energy person, very active, happy-go-lucky -- unless you **** me off... :eek: This drug, although a stimulant, makes me feel as if I've been "neutered". I have a dull feeling in my head, I don't feel the passion and the love that I usually have. I can't seem to concentrate quite as well - especially reading. I don't feel sharp - I feel dull!
However, with that said, I don't feel so combative or excitable as I can be at times. It's like I don't care about things as much to defend or speak up or out about. It's a wierd feeling.
Another thing that I noticed is that I can "hear" better. Or more accurately, I can distinguish words being spoken or sung better. One of the things that I have trouble with normally is "hearing" the lyrics of songs. For me, the human singing voice has always been like a musical instrument, not a voice speaking to me per se. I always have had to see the words to a given song to be able to sing along.
Languages have always been difficult for me to learn. The primary problem is that I have a hard time distinguishing individual words... like in music, they seem to run together and are not recognizable when spoken. If the person enunciates clearly and spaces the words adequately for me, I can understand - otherwise, I am lost unless I have a script.
I recently took up trying to learn Latin for reasons I won't go into here. I noticed last night, while driving my car listening to a Latin CD, with relatively new material, that I could clearly distinguish the words! It was as if the cotton was taken out of my ears or that the people on the CD all of sudden started speaking clearly and more slowly. It's quite profound!
I do much better with written materials than auditory. I have to re-read quite a bit as I often daydream in the middle of my readings. I might get side-tracked or a thought pops in my head that derails me. I continue to read with my eyes until my "thought" returns. I then realize that I didn't really read during that time and have to scan backwards through my reading to figure out where I left off.
Don't get me wrong - reading and comprehending material is a lot of work for me. Over the years, I have compensated well - according to my pychologist. I'm not as efficient as I would like to be. I'm hoping medication will help me be more efficient in my learing endevors.
I'm wondering if anyone else with ADD has has noticed that their auditory world changed noticably for the better with medication?
Also, I am wondering what other people with ADD who take/took Methylin or Concerta feel about their medicated state and how it makes them feel? Do you start to get used to the feeling of the medication? As you adjust the dosage and find the "effective dose" of the medicine, will the dullness increase or decrease? I realize we are all individuals and we react differently to medicines... I'm just hoping to find someone who is/has experienced similar effects with the medicine I am taking right now. I don't like this feeling at all! I hope the effect on me goes from dullness to sharpness. I find it very interesting that a stimulant would seemingly have a "downing" effect.
My psychologist told me to expect things to slow down for me and everything may come into alignment - if the drug works for me. I feel like the tortoise instead of the rabbit! That doesn't seem like alignment - unless everyone else are tortoises and the alignment is with all these tortoises! :)
Regards,
Mark