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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ryan2828 on November 25, 2005, at 5:06:16
To read the news I have to have strong coffee
To check this forum I have to have strong coffee
To wash my car I have to have strong coffee
To get to work I have to have strong coffee
To work efficiently I have to have strong coffee
To learn something I have to have strong coffee
To watch T.V. I have to have strong coffee
To clean my house I have to have strong coffee
To make my bed I have to have strong coffee
To make a decision I have to have strong coffee
To go to my bank I have to have strong coffeeor is coffee an escape and excuse for me to be lazy and not do it naturally?
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on November 25, 2005, at 6:45:28
In reply to Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by Ryan2828 on November 25, 2005, at 5:06:16
Hey!
You like strong coffee -- me too!
Not really sure if it indicates adult ADD. Have you tried some online ADD tests? Not ones from pharm companies, (they are just pushing their drugs after all!) but from independant ADD support type sites? I did one and was well into ADD territory. It was the small things like speaking without thinking (and for which I get into a lot of trouble for!) that made sense. I haven't checked it out with a doc or anything through.
I have no motivation whatsoever. Its 1pm and I'm still in my PJs and in bed (albeit messing about on the internet!)
Look at some adult ADD websites (trying typing that into google) and there are loads of sites which usually list symptoms, and see if you think you agree with them. There might be some offical ADD test, called 'Utah-webber' test or something, I can't remember.
I'm sure the more experienced/knowledgable people here will be able to help.....
Let us know how you do!
Posted by med_empowered on November 25, 2005, at 17:24:39
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by Meri-Tuuli on November 25, 2005, at 6:45:28
it could be a lot of things. Depressed people drink lots of coffee. So do people with bipolar and schizophrenia. ADD people do drink coffee, but there also appears to be a good bit of "self-medication" with "harder" stuff--cocaine, meth, etc.
Whether you're ADD or not..a mild stimulant could probably help you out on a day-to-day basis. If you have mild ADD symptoms, I imagine something like Provigil could be very helpful.
Posted by Phillipa on November 25, 2005, at 19:35:29
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by med_empowered on November 25, 2005, at 17:24:39
I don't drink coffee anymore . Maybe I should start again. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by pseudoname on November 26, 2005, at 13:51:27
In reply to Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by Ryan2828 on November 25, 2005, at 5:06:16
So...
You read the news, wash your car, go to work, work efficiently, learn things, clean your house, make your bed, make decisions, and go to the bank. Coffee or no, I'd say you demonstrate quite a bit of focus, follow-through, self-control, and industriousness.
I say this as someone who cancelled the newspaper, stopped washing his car, shirks his (self-employed) job assignments, hasn't cleaned house in years (not joking), hasn't made or changed his bed in months (not joking), finds trivial & major decisions impossible, and month after month makes it to the bank only at the last possible minute. I don't have ADD; I'm depressed (scoring 57 on the Babbleometer).
If coffee works for you, does your decaffeinated diagnosis really matter? Psych diagnoses are fuzzy, guessy, showy, and quasi-scientific anyway (IMO). It seems to me that caffeine use like yours is like eyeglasses: morally irrelevant. The fact that you are WILLING to drink caffeine (or take meds, if need be) to accomplish all these things shows that you are "naturally" non-lazy.
Posted by ed_uk on November 26, 2005, at 14:16:01
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by med_empowered on November 25, 2005, at 17:24:39
Hi Med,
.......and on the psych ward, EVERYONE drinks coffee. Even people who don't like coffee drink coffee - that's how boring it is. Oh the joys of the smoking room, such fun.
Ed
Posted by Phillipa on November 26, 2005, at 22:10:46
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D. » med_empowered, posted by ed_uk on November 26, 2005, at 14:16:01
Hi Ed, caffeine is not allowed in most psych hospitals in the US and they also do not allow smoking inside. Most hospitals arrange a lo minute or so every few hours but not during the night. Love PJ O
Posted by pseudoname on November 27, 2005, at 7:25:38
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D. » ed_uk, posted by Phillipa on November 26, 2005, at 22:10:46
> caffeine is not allowed in most psych hospitals in the US
Phillipa,
Are you sure about this? In my experience inside 3 different in-patient facilities, the coffee and fountain pop were unregulated at meals. There were 2 pots in the common room, decaf & regular. Also machines available where you could buy colas (if you had cash, which was regulated). The one hospital was 12 years ago, but the most recent was two years ago....
I'm sure if somebody were chugging it, the nurses would address that situation.
It seems like forcing new patients to suddenly go cold turkey when they moved into a psych ward could really result in some emotional problems, LOL!
Posted by ed_uk on November 27, 2005, at 12:12:20
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D. » ed_uk, posted by Phillipa on November 26, 2005, at 22:10:46
Hi PJ!
I've only ever been in one psych hosp but there was no limit on the amount of coffee you could drink! Almost ALL the patients smoked except me. Everyone sat in the smoking room all day (and sometimes all night) and so did I. I must have inhaled a lot of smoke!
Love
Ed xx
Posted by med_empowered on November 27, 2005, at 14:51:59
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D. » Phillipa, posted by ed_uk on November 27, 2005, at 12:12:20
At my hospital, you could smoke outside only...I was on the "craziest" ward, so we had about 10 cigarette breaks daily, from 7am to 10.30 pm. We had a coffee machine, too, in the common room, and there were soda machines outside and coffee, tea (this is the south), and sodas available during meal times in the cafeteria. Cigarette breaks were the worst...sometimes, we'd get this young girl who would try to make us go back in early....can you imagine the ANGER she riled up in 10 nicotine-addicted, chainsmoking bipolars and severe depressives? It wasn't pretty.
Posted by Phillipa on November 27, 2005, at 21:17:07
In reply to Re: Could this mean I am adult A.D.D., posted by med_empowered on November 27, 2005, at 14:51:59
Hey guys. Smoking is probably best described by Med_empowered so I won't repeat it. Now the caffeine thing is a little trickier. If someone brings in coffee instant to a pt or cola depending on the hospital they may get away with it. And yes I could never understand the machines on the units that did have cola caffeinated. Now non caffeinated was the only coffee or tea delivered to the units for meals. Cafeteria priveleges were sometimes allowed for chemical dependency pts. And they always seemed to get more often smokes breaks too. But only outside. As a matter of fact when I worked in VA Beach I was responsible for a new policy that stopped staff and pts from smoking inside. Now I belive it's a federal regulation on all floors of a hospitatl. You see wheelchairs taken outside so someone can smoke. And restaurants, shopping malls too have bans on smoking inside. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by Ilene on November 27, 2005, at 23:40:49
In reply to caffeine in psych wards? » Phillipa, posted by pseudoname on November 27, 2005, at 7:25:38
I was in the psych ward just last month and no one could smoke or drink caffeinated coffee. I don't recall any caffeinated soft drinks being available, either. The smokers got nicotine patches to tide them over.
I.
Posted by KayeBaby on November 29, 2005, at 11:40:21
In reply to Re: caffeine in psych wards?, posted by Ilene on November 27, 2005, at 23:40:49
> I was in the psych ward just last month and no one could smoke or drink caffeinated coffee. I don't recall any caffeinated soft drinks being available, either. The smokers got nicotine patches to tide them over.
>
> I.Well, That tears it!!
I refuse to go completely bonkers.If I were confined without cigarettes or coffee I WOULD become a madwoman slinging offal sincerely instead of just acting like one now and again.
No way.
Peace Folks,
Kaye
Posted by ryan2828 on November 30, 2005, at 5:55:20
In reply to Re: caffeine in psych wards?, posted by KayeBaby on November 29, 2005, at 11:40:21
Its ok in my book but this thread has changed topics, however I feel so attentive, ready to finish tasks etc when I drink coffee, that I wonder if I need A.D.D. medicine to help.
This is the end of the thread.
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