ADHD Medication question.

[excel]

I hope this is the right place to post this thread. How does medication help with ADHD? I am disorganized, and my fiances are a mess. I am impulsive in the fact that I like to buy things. I forget where I put things, and I can get didtracted very easily. I have trouble with mutiple directions. Like when somebody gives me driving directions I don't rember all the turns etc. I tend to not remember what some is telling me at times. How would medication help with things like this

[addaries]

Originally Posted by excel

I hope this is the right place to post this thread. How does medication help with ADHD? I am disorganized, and my fiances are a mess. I am impulsive in the fact that I like to buy things. I forget where I put things, and I can get didtracted very easily. I have trouble with mutiple directions. Like when somebody gives me driving directions I don't rember all the turns etc. I tend to not remember what some is telling me at times. How would medication help with things like this

Taking medication will probably motivate you to be more organized and help you to pay attention more while your on the medication. Once the medication wears off you will be right back where you were before though. If you apply yourself you can train your brain to do all those things without meds. It's hard work but well worth it. Practice makes permanent. As far as directions go, I don't know where I would be without my GPS. LOL

[excel]

ok but other than motivate how does it work on the brain.

[addaries]

Originally Posted by excel

ok but other than motivate how does it work on the brain.

This seems like a good place to start newideas.net/adhd/medication

[FrazzleDazzle]

For one, by making dopamine more available. Lack of dopamine is what the medication targets and lack therof what causes many ADHD symptoms. I can't give you a scientific jargon ramble, but that 's the short blunt version. Is that the kind of info you were looking for?

[addaries]

Foods that increase Dopamine
Food sources of dopamine increasing tyrosine include almonds, avocados, bananas, dairy products, lima beans, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.
Dopamine is easily oxidized. Foods that are rich in antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables may help protect dopamine-using neurons from free radical damage. Many healthcare professionals recommend supplementing with vitamins C, vitamin E, and other antioxidants.
Foods such as sugar, saturated fats, cholesterol, and refined foods interfere with proper brain function and can cause low dopamine. Consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol should also be reduced because they can clog the arteries to the brain, heart, and other organs.

[addaries]

This is also a great site to check out. borntoexplore.org/neurochem.htm

[CptNemo]

Originally Posted by addaries

This seems like a good place to start newideas.net/adhd/medication

Snake oil.
The articles are written by other supposed MD's,who all have their homeopathic websites.

Except for Dan Cohen.

He's a real Dr.

He is the source for many of the articles.
The website is registered to New Ideas,so who owns them?

Douglas Cohen.

Looks like Dan's brother. Huh.?

I couldn't find a single name of anyone on the website.
Not a single person!

Ohh...Dr. Doug?

Is that Doug Cohen,by chance?

You might want to stay away from here.

[excel]

Originally Posted by FrazzleDazzle

For one, by making dopamine more available. Lack of dopamine is what the medication targets and lack therof what causes many ADHD symptoms. I can't give you a scientific jargon ramble, but that 's the short blunt version. Is that the kind of info you were looking for?

Yes, What is dopeamine? I have brain damage which may contribute to some of the symptoms. I am still learning about myself

[CptNemo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine

I don't know enough to explain it,and if I could explain it,I wouldn't understand me!

The way I look at it then,is your brain works by sending electrical charges. When you flip the switch on the wall and the light doesn't turn on,the connection needs to be fixed.

Neurotransmitters are like that switch,and dopamine is a neurotransmitter.

Probably not a good explanation,but that's how I see it.

[excel]

Originally Posted by CptNemo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine

I don't know enough to explain it,and if I could explain it,I wouldn't understand me!

The way I look at it then,is your brain works by sending electrical charges. When you flip the switch on the wall and the light doesn't turn on,the connection needs to be fixed.

Neurotransmitters are like that switch,and dopamine is a neurotransmitter.

Probably not a good explanation,but that's how I see it.

I read the article. I understood some it.

[Dizfriz]

I wrote a short article on how ADHD medications work. You can find it at:
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60130

I hope it helps a little.

Dizfriz

[excel]

thats a good article. can adderal and other adhd drogs allow you to keep more inforamation in your memory

[wsmac]

Originally Posted by addaries

If you apply yourself you can train your brain to do all those things without meds. It's hard work but well worth it. Practice makes permanent.

I disagree

You are assuming that every brain can function the same way.
You are assuming that everything our brain does is controllable by... our brain.

Repetitive actions can help to create the appropriate state of mind such that a person can repeat those actions at will and even subconsciously, but this apparently does not work for everything.

btw.... Practice does not make permanent!
Practice will increase abilities to a certain degree, but without continued practice or proper application of those skills, this 'perfection' does diminish.

There are other physical issues to consider as well.

Basically... you can probably tell I really dislike over-generalizations like the one quoted above.

[wsmac]

excel, I think you can find quite a few posts here where people relate their experiences with the various meds available for ADD/HD.

I find the folks here do pretty good at documenting this sort of thing and sharing it here.

I tried four different ADD/HD meds and didn't felt like they were doing much for me.
They were supposed to help my mind focus on more singular issues rather than scatter-focus on every input I detect around me.
Sometimes it seemed like things were going well, but other times... just the same old stuff.

I had other strong issues going on during my med years so perhaps that is why I didn't realize any benefit from them.

Just be aware that benefits from medication seem to be better realized when working on behavioral strategies as well... they seem to go hand-in-hand for most folks that I am aware of.