Anybody else feel like a zombie???

[Anonymous]

Hi Nellie,

I’ve always had trouble with that aspect of good sleep hygiene. The regular hour tends to be 11 or 11:30 –

I have always been a night owl. But the evening Ritalin dose tends to wear off after its peak at two hours, so it’s getting easier to wind down. But some days there is just too much going on to slow down in the evening. I try to wake up at 7 am (sometimes I wake up earlier, sometimes I need to hit the snooze button for a half an hour).

I’ve been moving my business to a commercial unit, so the last two weeks have been hectic, but on the meds, it has actually gone really well, not frantic as it might have been. The goal is to restrict work to the daytime so that I can get home to unwind in the evening.

What’s helpful is that before we go to bed, we sit with one of our whiteboards and revise our schedule for the coming week, moving forward what didn’t get done, and planning around other commitments coming up. It’s been really helpful. But my schedule is still a bit haphazard as some operations are done in one place and others in the new unit.

I’m glad to hear that the trial on Rit SR was good! I am contemplating taking another 5 mg during the daytime but worried about that wired-but-hung-over feeling that you described. The last time I took a 15 mg dose, I felt strange and couldn’t wait until the dose wore off, I was a bit concerned. But now that I’ve been on the meds for a few weeks now, I think it’s time to try a slightly higher dose (but not in the evening!!!!)

The ADD psych recommended two books (and gave us a long reading list) – one of them is Eat, Drink and Weight Less and I’ve just borrowed it from the library to read. It sounds very do-able and easy to follow. I’ve lost some pounds in the last two weeks while on the ritalin (bonus side effect! – it’s the midlife bulge) so would like to get a diet going that we can easily do. We just can’t get the menu thing together, that’s the hardest part.

As for exercise, he recommended 1.5 hours a day for both of us, that’s a lot of time to carve out (we already do up to an hour of meditation) so that will take a bit longer to get together. But things are changing in a positive way, so hopefully we’ll start to include some of these things in our daily schedule.

Also yesterday at a silent auction for charity, we bid $50 on a $200 gift certificate for a professional organizer, hoping to hear if we won the bid or not! Time to call in the pros

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[Geoduck]

took 5mg of adderall yesterday. OMG I feel so much better. Think I found the right one, for now. Oh, and the exercise helps. I hadn’t been exercising, of course, the whole time I was laid up. I keep forgetting the little things about this whole program, now that I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. Hmm…I wonder why? LOL!

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[Geoduck]

@no_dopamine…Talk with your doc about this, but salads. Lots and lots of salads with as little dressing as you can get away with (I usually only do a tbsp. or so). Plus this low-fat thing my surgeon has me on works well.

Off the medication, and on this diet, I lost a good six pounds in just a couple of weeks. That’s with 0 exercise, unless pain counts. I could have burned tons there.

I also use a website called “www.myfitnesspal.com.” It has a great calorie tracker and you can friend others like in facebook, so you can cheer one another on. Helps with the cheating, too. My hubby, who is on the same diet, because of his cholesterol, and I both have dropped about 15lbs. in about four months. Not bad.

The downside is that it doesn’t teach you about good nutrition, but there is lots of info on the internet for that. Lots of leafy greens, yogurt, and minimize simple sugars. This is including juices…you get nothing from the juice. All the vitamins are in the pulp and skin, so go for the whole fruit, instead. However, I’ve been able to have the occasional beer, and it hasn’t been a problem. If you keep with the less heavy ones, it’s alright occasionally.

Oh, and I don’t care what you heard on TV. Don’t take a day off from the diet. I was doing that and it was killing me. That and frozen custard. Frozen yogurt is a good substitute, though, and I don’t miss the custard.

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[Geoduck]

Oh, and don’t forget protein!!! That’s great for the ADD, too

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[Anonymous]

Hi Geoduck, We don’t have TV (just for watching DVDs) so no problems there. We are also vegetarians so used to eating plenty of veggies and salads. I have never been a fan of dressings or sauces. We make our own salad dressings and I just drizzle some on top. As for protein, we do eat eggs, cheese, tofu, tempeh, soy, quinoa (a great source of protein) and there’s protein in veggies too.

Thanks for the fitness calc link, I will check it out. You should have a look at this book, it’s not just diet, it gives tips on things you can do very simply that will make a difference over the long term.

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[Geoduck]

I’d love to look at the book. I’d really love to be more on top of things regarding nutrition and what I actually need. The little nutrition knowledge that I have is from when I was pregnant and nursing babies. It’s definitely not the same type of eating, I’m sure. I have a lot of tips for losing weight, as well, but none for maintaining weight. I’ve only got about 5lbs. to lose, and I really would like to maintain my goal weight once I get there.

My midlife bulge comes from multiple pregnancies. I’m sorry to say that, as I’m now so dang close, the mommy pouch is not fat, just stretched out mommy tummy. It’s still there Even with lots of ab exercises.

Well, I have cute babies, so if that’s the price I pay, it’s well worth it.

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[Anonymous]

I just don’t have time for a lot of study about nutrition and diet, I was always a poor eater and thankfully my husband likes to cook. But I want us to get to a place where we are planning meals and actually following through on the plans. We keep a container of Mexican Tomato Lime soup in the fridge and it’s a great light soup for the summer, really easy to make – here’s a link, it’s a Moosewood Restaurant recipe and can be found in their book “Moosewood Cooks at Home” http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/02/rec0271.html

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[nellie]

no_dopamine and Geoduck ( I swear you guys came up with such cool creative names!) was just reading your nutrition posts.

That and sleep are two things I can’t seem to get organized enough with. Before taking meds I had this illusion that I would try to get that plus exercise ( o yeah forgot – that too!) under control before taking meds. Well that obviously never happened so now keep telling myself I need to get started but just somehow can’t. Only bonus is the meds seem to keep me from eating so much junk food and I don’t go crazy at night with snacks. But in terms of an organized menu plan – nothing.

I need to lose about 25 ponds which in effect shouldn’t be that bloody complicated – I’ve done worse before. Not sure of my point here – just wishing the Ritalin would give me focus in everything not just what’s on my darn list for the day!

Speaking of feeling like a zombie – not that my brain feels terribly muddled but somehow not completely “aware.” Today decided to tackle some serious uber house cleaning and went with the 10 minutes per room thing ( managed to squeeze my “real” job tasks in there before starting so feeling efficient to a certain degree. But there I was going from room to room and occasionally catching myself with the old ADD butterfly mode – going from one task and getting distracted by another. Most of the time I brought myself back but still this really bugs me. Currently taking a ( healthy) snack break and gave myself an extra 10 minutes to go on this site. According to my timer I have 5 minutes left before going back to the job at hand. Guess I shouldn’t be so down on myself since I am actually accomplishing stuff but somehow don’t feel completely efficient.

How rambling does this post sound?I’m really starting to wonder about these meds? The only thing I can truly say I notice improvement with is that I don’t get that “I’m so bored” awful feeling in the pit of my stomach and will actually go on to finish tasks. Other meds have made me more present in the moment.

Ah – there goes the timer..I’m off

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[Geoduck]

How bad is it that I completely understand your rambling? LOL!!!

Thanks about the name. Geoduck (for those who don’t know, pronounced gooeyduck, and is a gigantic clam) is the mascot of The Evergreen State College, my alma mater. Wish I could say I was more inventive and creative, but hey, it works

I had about 25 to lose when I started…two years ago. I would exercise like 5 days a week, 1.5 hours a day, but not watch what I ate (well, I got really hungry). Or I would really watch what I ate and not exercise. Once I got on the medication, it seems I am doing a better job at both. However, I think my hubby being put on a low fat diet helps, and me being put on one, after my recent surgery, helped too.

Hubby likes to cook, and he would always have some sort of delicious snack coming out of the oven. Since he can’t eat that way anymore, he’s not doing it so much. It’s really hard to eat right if the people close to you aren’t really on board. Kind of like smoking. If a person wants to quit smoking, he’s got a better chance if his spouse quits smoking, too. Otherwise, the temptation is always there.

25 pounds doesn’t seem like a lot, but really, I think those last 25 are the hardest to lose. Good luck!

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[Curlymoe115]

Try http://www.caloriecount.about.com it has a counter for exercise, and a diet component. It also helps you plan meals, and will tailor a food plan to what you eat. It also lets you set a goal and track how you are doing as well as a on-line community to help with the support.

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[nellie]

Thanks Geoduck, so true about everyone being on board. My husband likes to cook too but he’s kind of clueless about healthy eating – loves sauces and butter and other stuff – mind you it tastes better than my cooking:-) I cook as much as I can so that I can control the calories but he always adds stuff which I find annoying.

And Curly, just checked out that site and signed up – pretty interesting. Nice that it’s free compared to the Weight Watchers site but they sure have lots of those blinking adverts! We’re so lucky to have this site ad free.

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[Anonymous]

Hi all. I was diagnosed in 1977 and was forced to take Ritalin as well as being studied at our local Hospital. I never really got “coaching” in the way that the movie talks to, just a lot of fill in the circle questions and some lady timing me. After the tests she would let me play with the toys and just watch and time. My Mother kinda used the pills as a regulator when I would act out. I would take my daily (or twice daily??can’t remember) pill and if I acted out she would make me take another. It could have been because my dosage wasn’t working correctly or maybe I was just being a kid. Who knows. Anyway, I wanted to say that I didn’t like the feeling when I took the pills. I didn’t feel like me so I stopped taking them. I felt that I was underwater and that the sounds that would normally distract me were now coming to me through 10 feet of water.. In my early teens I got involved with some Martial Arts that focused on some Zen like mental training that I think allowed me focus in my studies enough to graduate. I find now that I need to be pretty physically active to regulate my anger issues and I recognize when I start to flit from one task to another and stop it in it’s tracks. I don’t know if Ritalin allowed me to develop the skills that I’ve developed to cope or if it didn’t.

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[munchkin]

Hi John – I got diagnosed as “hyperkinetic” or something like that around ’77-ish. I wish I would have had meds because although I did graduate by the skin of my teeth it was definitely the “school of hard knocks.”

When I started taking Ritalin recently, I got a zombie like feeling that would just kill my productivity at a certain point in the day. Once I lowered my dose a little, I really got a great benefit from it – finally starting to do OK at work.

Have you thought about trying it again as an adult?

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[Scattybird]

Hi John

It sounds like you have developed some good ‘control’ skills.

Munchkin has a good point though. I am still messing around with my Ritalin dose but I have discovered if I take a 20 mg pill I feel like a complete zombie. I can’t function at all. So at the moment I take 10 mg three or four times a day depending on what the day has in store for me. I use the fast acting stuff.

That dose works for me (at the moment) and it just makes me feel less fidgety and less like a kid that wants to go and play (I am in my late 40s!).

Also I think it is completely brilliant for my snappy temper – it really helps me regulate it.

Of course everyone is different but what Munchkin says about lowering the dose is right – at least in my experience. You just need to play to get the optimum. Although the fast release drugs are a pain because you have to remember to take them, you do have flexibility with timings and altering the dose to suit the occasion.

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[Robbo]

>><Is there a difference in the dosage between Adderall and Ritalin. I’ve read that there is a difference between Concerta and Ritalin http://www.addadhdblog.com/concerta-getting-the-right-dose/comment-page-7/#comment-446173 . >><

Looks like a good link to check out, I took a glance. I wish I could just sit and read on this site more… and that one, n the other. My reading skills are getting better because I don’t want to suffer as much from ADHD. Sipping and not drinking too much of plain ol coffee helps me a lot.

nex time.

I hope no-dopamine is doing well. Hoping she is doing well helps her if ya believe in that sorta thing.

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[Author]

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