I have ADD, no hyperactivity, just the distraction part. I control it moderately well with diet and exericise, post it notes, computer reminders, automatic bill payer with the bank , telling everyone to email me so I'll remember, etc But I feel like its just treading water.

After awhile, I start sinking, can't keep my head above the water, I'll take meds (5mg Aderral) for a week or so to sort of get my head back up above the water. Then I taper back off for awhile.

My dr wants me off the stimulant meds completely because I have high blood pressure. She wants me to be re-evaulated.

When I take the Adderal, I don't obsess about food. I actually will go several hours without even thinking about food until I get physicaly hungry. I can get motivated to do the boring stuff that needs to be done and I can study. I'm taking it a little more often now because I have to take a certification exam for work soon. Yuck. I know, I'm whining.

What have your experiences been with different ADD treatments? Were you diagnosed with ADD and then discover it was something else?

And please, if you are anti-ADHD or anti-drugs, I respect your believes and you don't need to respond to this in a negative way. I've lived with it my entire life and if you haven't then you won't understand.
thanks

What's your high blood pressure caused by?

I was finally diagnosed with ADD about 2 years ago after having been diagnosed with depression and everything else under the sun, previously. Long story short, I don't have any of those other things. Treatment for those other things failed me completely.

As soon as I begun taking Concerta I felt like I was lifted out of a fog. For the first time in my life I was able to focus on the task at hand and not spend all my energy trying to piece together the scattered thoughts and goals in my head. Everything clicks now!!

Anyway... My blood pressure was normal previous to taking the Concerta and it's even lower now. I'm carefully monitored and it seems the Concerta was effective in removing my anxiety (ADD is anxiety inducing, let's be honest with ourselves here) and eliminating panic attacks (and periods of high BP) so it's been physically beneficial too.

Is your doctor willing to try you on something ER, that wouldn't risk a high BP spike? I take one 56 mg Concerta in the morning and have a bottle of 5mg Ritalin in case I need to focus after it's worn off in the evening.

I think that's one of the reasons why she wants me to be re-evaluated. To see if they have different meds available. She's not familiar with the different options so she'd preferr I go to a specialist.

I think my high blood pressure is hereditary. My dad developed it when he was in his 30's. My sister developed it early and I got it. The dr wants to me lose the weight and exercise...so I'm slowly working on it.
I also lowered my salt consumption. That was one of the hardest things to do-right up there with giving up sugar. Salt was one of my food groups. Salt, Sugar, cheese, then everything else.

I have a lot of anxiety and some depression, so maybe a re-evulation is a good thing. I was first diagonsed about 10 years ago. I've only ever used ritalin and then adderal.

my older son is diagnosed ADHD and also has autistic traits...he was diagnosed at age 5 or 6 and began on Adderall....there are So Many meds for ADHD out there now...back when he was littler, not so many...the adderall didn't work well for him, i think it triggered some aggression...he then went to Straterra which worked wonders for him through elementary school....we later switched to off-label Wellbutrin in middle school but that hasn't helped him much...however he's gained so many skills and coping strategies that we're considering whether or not to go with meds during high school and, if so, what med would be best

trial and error definitely worked for us when he was little

Ah ok. Definitely see a specialist! I see a Psychiatrist that specializes in adult ADD. She's been WONDERFUL. 5mg is really low... You may find that the low dose is giving you mostly side effects and not the therapeutic effects you're really after. Hang in there! I know it's tough.

Nothing to do with ADD* but are those your quilts on the link?
Beautiful!! And for charity too? Wonderful.

Yes, those are mine. I've been quilting for years. Thanks for the compliment.

Try SPARK from Advocare. My husband was prescribed Ritalin and has since stopped taking it since he began taking SPARK.

Check out the company and the product. We printed off the nutritional value and brought it to my husband's doctor and he was very impressed by it and the fact the Michael was more focused and his energy was controlled.

I highly recommend this.