In the news: "Five Surprising Causes of ADHD"

[Wgreen]

http://fyiliving.com/mental-health/adhd/adhd-5-surprising-causes/

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[agnoscet]

disclaimer: my criticism is toward the article :o)

I’m sure ‘western’ diet, as well as food colorings and environmental chemicals can exacerbate symptoms of adhd. These things can create adhd-like symtoms in non-adhd people… However, comma, there’s an abundance of evidence that it’s genetic.

There’s also evidence that certain diet, exercise, and counseling can alleviate some of the symptoms. If putting me and my kids on a diet of king salmon and gold foil wrapped peregrine falcon eggs would help, I’d try it, and it likely would be cheaper than the current medication bill. Thing is, the meds work for us.

My best to those doing the studies. The article sounds like someone needed to make a deadline though. IOW, if you or I wrote it, I have a feeling it would be quite different, and probably somewhat less sensational. For someone who’s been there, no explanation is necessary. For someone who’s not, no explanation is possible.

I’d like Dr. J’s opinion…

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[Wgreen]

“For someone who’s been there, no explanation is necessary. For someone who’s not, no explanation is possible.”

Well said.

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[Anonymous]

Question…

If the medications most commonly used to treat ADD/ADHD are stimulants, then why is that I have never slept better in my life since taking Addarall XR, 40mg daily. I cannot remember the last full night sleep I’ve had before taking Addaral. I really resent it when people refer to my meds as “speed”. They have no ides that it is a sedative for me.

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[Anonymous]

My psychiatrist said that for some of us (not all of course, since we all react to the meds), the stimulant meds help to slow the the non-stop onslaught of the never ending thoughts that plague us. When we stop that brain chatter, our bodies are able to relax and go to sleep.

I’m sure that’s why I’ve always been such a night owl. I can lie in bed for hours with my brain going a 100 miles an hour. I think and reprocess every little thing that has gone on in the day, the day before, the day before that and all the things I expect or hope to happen in the next couple of days.

I actually do go to sleep better if I take a small dose of regular Ritalin an hour before bedtime but I usually don’t bother with it. I hate to take meds and to do so to go to sleep bothers me even more. I take Concerta during the day but it has long worn off by the time I begin thinking about going to bed.

Right now…I’m supposed to be working on report cards. *sigh* Just thought I’d take a break.

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[dspicelady]

Had to add something here on the “western diet” data. So 1799 kids were studied and 115 of them had been clinically diagnosed with add/adhd. 2.2 times more of those kids consumed the “western diet” as opposed to the “healthy diet”. So, 79 kids ate “western” and 36 ate “healthy” (79 + 36 = 115, you with me so far?) What part of the 1799 kids ate “western” verses “healthy” because if of the rest of the kids who were not clinically add/adhd (1799 – 115 = 1684)? What if all of those kids (1684) ate more like a “western diet”? Without all of the facts this doesnt even show anything close to causality. Is it possible that the add/adhd makes it more likely that the child would gravitate to those types of food? I’d have to say that the study is at best misleading, at worst…..well not appropriate words for this forum. I did have a good chuckle!

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[Anonymous]

dspicelady, I am with you when asking is it possible that kids with ADHD gravitate to those types of foods. I am sure it is highly possible. My son goes for ADHD testing tomorrow, and I am hoping to follow in his footsteps, and we are both junk food freaks. We really dislike anything that involves preparation. Being older, I have more experience at selecting better foods, so my quick meals are often yoghurts, melted cheese on a roll, microwave dinners, a banana, and so on, though I still grab chips and other junk as I race out the door and realise I have forgotten to pack food. My son is daiy intolerant, so it rules out a good chunk of my selections of healthy foods. Having braces means he also has to cut up apples and carrots – two of his favourite choices if presented with a fruit/salad plate already cut up. I would love to experiment with fancy pizzas, with things like roasted pumpkin and parmesan cheese, or potato pizza. Yum. But the preparation beats me every time. Too hard!!

I also agree that genetics has a big part to play. I look at my dad, who shares many of my traits of procrastination, disorganisation, and time management, and then look at my son, who is my clone, then my brother who went from job to job when he was younger (due to boredom and desire for change) after dropping out of school early, and seemed driven to work long hours (more the hyperactive traits than the rest of us, who show predominantly the inattentive traits). None of us have a diagnosis yet, but the more I read on the forums, the more I see echoes of myself in others here. Especially as written above, about the inability to sleep because the thoughts just don’t switch off!

Anyway, I have sort of gotten off topic, so I’d better leave off here 🙄

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[Anonymous]

#3 for me is like a well duh! Exposure to second had smoke in the womb! Considering that a high percentage of undiagnosed adults have nicotine habits due to self medicating this would lead to a high probability genetically that their children would have it! So many studies out there that show that nicotine can possibly control some adhd behaviours and thats why it is harder for people with add/adhd to quit smoking!

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[ashockley55]

I have a hard time sleeping, too. I’m a terrible insomniac. I’ve used Ambien and even a low dose of the atypical antipsychotic Seroquel to help me sleep. Both were prescribed, and I was using them as prescribed. Before I started on any medication, I used to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning. It got worse during times of stress. I would do what was described in an earlier post; go over the events from my day, consider the outcome of future events, worry, let my imagination run wild and scare me half to death, and hear every little noise in the room.

When, due to a change in my health insurance, I had to abruptly go off the Seroquel, I used Melatonin to help me sleep. After a while, I found I was able to eventually get to sleep without it or any other medicinal sleep aid.

Still, I have to have an aid to sleep.

And here, friends, is where it gets weird.

I sleep with a blow dryer running. I have off and on for many, many, many years. Nearly half my life. I’m 32. Even when I was taking the Seroquel, I slept with the blow dryer for extra comfort while I waited for it to kick in and knock me all the way out. The sound, the white noise of it, helps me ignore everything going on around me – all the noises, or all the silence, which is just as unbearable. Also, the warmth is comforting. I also use it when I read.

Problems, though, include the fact that, this is dangerous. I am aware that it is dangerous, though I have been doing this for over a dozen years without incident. My skin gets red sometimes from the heat. Sometimes I wake up and the room is very hot, like I’ve just woken up in the jungle and I am sweating profusely. One major problem is the utility bill. You can imagine. Plus, the shame of it. Plus, the fact that I feel dependent on it. It is like an addiction. I cannot sleep without it. I have a terrible time falling asleep, and even if I fall asleep, I only get an hour or so without the blow dryer. That, and the tv, which I also have on all night. I need to feel like there is something going on in the room with me. The tv keeps me company while I fall asleep. I cannot stand quiet or darkness. My brain just goes 100 mph and I get activiated and anxious and simply cannot handle it. I’ve tried.

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[kc5jck]

oh . . . uh . . . sleep? I used to have problems sleeping or at least falling asleep. Now, in the evening, I’ll watch tv or more likely get on the internet and drink iced tea until 12-1 am. When I feel my brain start to shut down from the marathon it has been running all day, then into bed and I am asleep in minutes. Sometimes I’ll wake at 3 or 4 and can tell I’ll have trouble getting back to sleep. If so, I’ll put on an old Sherlock Holmes movie with Basil Rathbone and a timer to shut off the tv when it finishes. That works well too.

On the down side, I usually wake up feeling hung over and in a fog for about the first hour. That’s when I autopilot through my morning routine . . . or . . . go back to sleep.

So anyway, what works for me is caffine and mental activity. I hear that for some, it’s a shot of Adderall to do the trick.

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[Anonymous]

ashockley55,

I am not judging at all, and I am sure you have thought about the hazards!!! But I am concerned for you with the dangerous habit of leaving a hair dryer on and it starting a fire!!!!!

They have baby sound machines that have white noise, crickets, light music etc that you can play all night you may want to look at or a cd player with cds that play white noise or you could even see if you could record the hair dryer sound onto a cd or mp3 player. I find that I am always cold and if I am cold anywhere I cannot fall asleep, I do have to wear socks to bed (I have found really fuzzy woolly ones that are loose enough not to restrict but warm enough for comfort), I have added an extra few blankets (soft fuzzy ones) and often take the hot water bottle to bed and put it right beside my face, sometimes I take a heating pad instead, they also have electric blankets still if you really look for them

Good luck and stay safe!!!

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