Posted by belljar on August 4, 2007, at 11:00:11
In reply to Re: Can ADD mimic depression and be missed?BJ, posted by stargazer2 on August 3, 2007, at 18:16:38
> Can I ask what your symptoms were before you took Ritalin?
WHen not on ritalin, I have a very low tolerance to outside distractions. I can read a book ok if I am alone and it is a "good book". I can't sit an watch a movie, though - I have to get up and do something else every once and a while. I can't sit and carry on a conversation, I have to be up moving around "multitasking". It drives my friend nuts. At work (I'm a teacher) if there is any movement or conversation happening in the room when I'm trying to follow a thread of thought, or talk to someone, I can't deal with it, I shut right down. I get REALLY irritated and always insist on SILENCE, hence I have quite a nasty reputation, but I just CANT function when something is happening beside me. It's like I get confused and can't think, can't remember what I was saying. WHen I need to sit still and complete a project / paper work / prep work, I eat steady. SMoking used to work (back in the 80s when it wasn't "bad" !!) then gum (now I have TMJ).. so now I eat, or tap my foot, or play with a stress ball... WHen I take ritalin, I can focus on a task without any aids. it's amazing.WIthout ritalin I'll start to clean house, be on one task, see something else that needs to be done, leave on job half done, etc - at the end of the day my husband comes home to a disaster zone with a million things started and none finished.
Without ritalin if I'm trying to talk to one person and kids come up to me and demand stuff and then the phone rings and .... I FREAK OUT, shut right down, want to yell and panic and run away. On ritatlin I get through each day dealing with all the stuff and somehow manage to do it all, calmly - and after work I am calm and in control of it all.
without ritalin Changes in routine or disorder make me really upset, everything has to be "the way it's supposed to be". I react with emotions rather than my brain.
Does any of that make sense ??? I do have mild OCD, (worrying constantly, checking electrical plug in over and over, etc) which was the diagnoses that first put me on paxil back in 1992. ALl of the other stuff was just "me" I didn't question it. In those days "ADHD" was for the hyper kids who dropped out of school, it wasn't as understood as it is now. ALso back then I was a chain smoker, severely overweight, drank too much, had all of those bad coping tecniques. Once on paxil I couldn't get off of it, even though it makes me really agressive and angry. QUit smoking and lost 50 pounds, and lost my "coping techniques". So I was pretty hig maintenance. I just lived like that until 2006 when a new doctor through out "wow, you sure sound like an adult ADD..." and here we are.
So who knows ??? At this stage of my life I just want to be as healthy as I can be on as little drugs as possible, taking only what is really needed. SO I do hope that this will work, ie just the ritalin. Time will tell.
I have a good support system, watching my behaviour. Please be careful if you try to come of an SSRI - make sure you have someone wathing you , it can be really freaky.
Belljar
poster:belljar
thread:772762
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070730/msgs/773906.html