Approaching withdrawal
It’s been a little over a month since I was diagnosed with ADD. Today was my first appointment with a psychiatrist to talk about treatment options.
I picked a doctor who specializes in adult ADD, and it showed — he walked me through a fairly extensive set of questions, never once referring to any notes. We covered a lot of ground, and when were done, he agreed with the existing, informal diagnosis: yes, I definitely have ADD, and no, there’s nothing else seriously wrong with me psychiatrically (though he was intrigued by my participation in NaNoWriMo).
Today I picked up the first of two drugs he’s going to try me on, both stimulant-based. (There’s a class of non-stimulant drugs, and he asked me which type I’d like to try; but he said that the non-stimulants take around six weeks to kick in, and he doesn’t usually use them on new patients.) For the next two weeks, I’ll be taking Ritalin, starting with a lower dose and gradually working my way up, trying to see what works.
The downside is, since it’s a stimulant, I need to avoid mixing it with other stimulants. Meaning, I need to stop drinking caffeine. Ouch.
November 10th, 2004 at 6:09 am
Ouch. My sympathies.
November 10th, 2004 at 7:48 am
Et tu, Alavert?
November 19th, 2004 at 7:54 pm
Adult ADD is just a "mental focusing" disorder and is quite common. There are plenty of external reasons for exhibiting ADD tendencies, stress, diet, caffeine, etc.. However it sounds like you have been "self-medicating" with caffeine over the years. When you have the stimulant effect of the caffeine, you seem to be able to concentrate better and are less distracted, right? While Ritalin is a stimulant and it shouldn’t be taken on a whim, it is an amazing drug that seems to better target the areas in the brain than simple caffiene which tends to carpet bomb the entire body. And, yes, I too have been diagnosed with Adult ADD… which reminds me I need to get my prescription refilled…
November 20th, 2004 at 8:07 am
Y’know, I really haven’t figured out whether caffeine helps or not. I think it does help a bit, but most of my caffeine comes from pop like Coke, and I think the sugar does more to defuse my concentration than the caffeine does to help it. But I can’t stand the taste of Nutra-Sweet, so I’m stuck (unless I want to go with something else, like coffee, which I just haven’t done yet).
When I’m working on something I’m really, really interested in, I have no problem focusing — in fact, I’m often so focused that I don’t even notice anything else. (Reminds me of our cat Tycho.) The problem is when it’s something I know is important, but that I’m just not passionate about. Housework, for example. And in my spare time, I’m great at starting new projects, but terrible at finishing them. (I still haven’t screwed some of these cover plates back onto the wall from when Sam helped me run wires back in July.)
I haven’t really figured out whether the Ritalin is helping, either. But I haven’t been getting anywhere near enough sleep lately, and I doubt that’s helping matters.