The Forums › Forums › Emotional Journey › Self Medicating/Risk Taking › My quest to destroy ADD. (clinical approach)
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August 4, 2011 at 4:17 pm #89888
AnonymousInactiveAugust 4, 2011 at 4:17 pmPost count: 14413Hello all! This is my first time posting on the ADD forums. I’ll try to go over what I’ve done to treat the symptoms of ADD, what has worked, what hasn’t, and what I plan on doing in the future. Firstly, I’ll go over my perceived symptoms and also the symptoms I didn’t notice but other people will bring up.
I was diagnosed at age 7 as having ADD. I was obviously not hyperactive, as I wished only to focus on video games throughout my childhood. I would vegetate for hours and hours fully absorbed into the 8-bit digital world. Now that I’m able to reverse engineer this sort of activity, and see it as symptomatic I realize now that I can harness that sort of energy. My test scores in IQ, and nearly everything else was astronomically high in proportion to my grades. My parents were astounded, as I’m sure my teachers were as well. My ability to assess situations both physical and logical were something that my therapists never saw before at a young age. Most teachers despised me for my witty mouth, and ability to say the wrong(right) thing at the right(wrong) time. I never did homework, I never socialized normally, I never participated in class. I wasn’t an outcast, yet I wasn’t well tolerated. I see these now as symptomatic. Something that I haven’t perceived by myself as a symptom of ADD was my over-excitability about a new idea, or new project of my own. I will get so excited about something, start it, lose interest, and completely forget it was even an idea in the first place. My friends notice this sort of action in me and only say,”well that’s (my name) for you.” I asked them if this was a reoccurring event, and they assured me most exuberantly that it was.
Now noticing the list of symptoms before me, and my overwhelming IQ that is masked by this unfortunate lack of motivation and cloud of confusion only concluded to me that… I could be unstoppable if only I could rid myself of this debilitating DISEASE. So began my quest for absolution. I will note that this only started recently, after a firing at a job I took quite well to as a very great challenge to my ability. This gave me motivation to control and harness the energy of ADD for its focus and introversion, and rid it of its negatives like confusion and social auspices quite akin to rain-man-esque fame. Definitely K-Mart. My inability to keep attention held on something of disinterest, and my inability to follow through with something to the end will NEED to go. You can see how well this is going, seeing as though I’m doing this at work. Keep in mind this is just a case study with a clinical approach. I never said that I cured myself.
First, a list of symptoms. Social anxiety, confusion, inattentive, lack of motivation, lowered memory, disabled fluid thinking, and lowered overall cognitive ability.
Symptomatically, if I were to treat ADD, what would I use if I were a doctor? Ritalin, Strattera, Adderal? These all CAUSE social anxiety. Why in the world would you treat something that gives an increased side effect of a symptom you already HAVE?? Why don’t I just shove an 8 ball of coke up my nose… that should fix it. How about meth instead… great idea big pharma. So, instead, my clinical approach is that I find things that work synergistically and in harmony with each other. Through my years studying the human body (for recreational purposes because it intrigued me) I came to be quite familiar with the human endocrine system. I found a great way to treat my social anxiety is with a healthy dose of manly hormones. This comes with some ups and downs, but I found a viable way of controlling it relative safety. Testosterone. An amazing hormone. I’ve been bodybuilding for some years now and find that nothing makes me feel better socially, healthfully, and altogether just GREAT. I feel big, manly, and just plain awesome. So symptom one, down.
Now for my inward symptoms. These are a bit tricky, because we’re dealing with a mass of different functions the human brain has. Saying just one symptom like lack of memory retention could be a thousand different things. So… instead of attacking what the root cause is, chemically, what I used is a unique line of drugs that was intended for an altogether different disease. Alzheimer’s. Still the same method of action, technically… lack of memory. This line of (currently not approved by FDA) drugs are available as supplements. You won’t be able to find them on the open market however… and some of them are harder to find than others. These drugs are called “nootropics”. I’m formulating a stack of these drugs to combat the various shortcomings of my current mental abilities. I won’t call myself an expert on the subject, and I’m learning more everyday about them, what they do, and how many different kinds there are. Some of them are simply just vitamins most of us lack, and aren’t really nootropics, but create a better environment for the brain to work. A few I’ve taken already include:
-nootropics
Aniracetam: a lipid soluble formulation of piracetam that has an unknown mechanism for increasing the ability to retain information and recall it at will. The lipid soluble formula seems to have a quicker action and seems to reduce the learning curve for new things.
vitamins-
Sulbutiamine: a synthetic form of vitamin B1 (thiamine) that is able to pass the blood brain barrier.
GABA: gama-aminobutyric-acid. A common amino acid found in most meats, but supplementing floods the system with it creating a much better environment for it to do its job.
Creatine: great for my bodybuilding, and great for the brain! a common amino acid found in most meats, will increase the transport of ATP (main source of energy in the body) in the brain.
Iodine: Found in most multi-vitamins, and in common table salt, Iodine deficiency causes some pretty awful problems in the brain. If you’re not supplementing it somehow… don’t expect to get it in foods. Not having it will make you stupid.
Caffeine: It actually makes you smarter, AND more alert. Your awareness of any situation is directly affecting how you will remember it, and react to it. It does have some noted side effects, however… but if used with caution it can be mitigated and used for its potential positive action on the brain.
Nicotine: Carcinogenic, and pretty bad for you all around… but a powerful increase on situational awareness, and seems to decrease social anxiety.
Things I plan on taking:
Desmopressin: Vasopressin, a hormone found in the body will trigger the need for memory retention. It also triggers the body to retain water unfortunately… so if you’re not careful it can kill you rather quickly.
Modafil: Available in perscription, was developed to help pilots stay alert during missions is now marketed as a cure for “shift work disorder”. This will allow you to stay awake without notable fatigue or the normal side effects for an entire 48 hours straight. No fatal or adverse side effects from the drug have been noted.
Centrophenoxine: Memory enhancer, with unknown action on the brain. Developed for use on Alzheimer’s patients.
Rolipram: PDE4 inhibitor, shows alertness enhancement, long term memory improvement and neuroprotection
_closing argument_
So have I noticed a (perceived) difference? I have a resounding answer of YES. I feel increased motor functionality, or maybe even a better “link” to my movements from my brain. I’m faster to think and judge situations and react accordingly. I feel that learning new things is infinitely more simple. I can continue learning 3-4 new things at any given time, and retain the knowledge that I receive from it. I just got a new job and I find that things are at instant recall much faster than before. I feel much more socially active than before, and much more confident about what I say or do with my coworkers and friends. One thing of note is that I’m easily bored, and still easily distracted. I can hold focus, but my brain feels it needs to do many things at once. I find that I still cannot listen to one thing and read another at the same time. There’s still some more things that need fixed, but what I’m doing right now has helped immensely.
All I can say is I like it… and I want more.
REPORT ABUSEAugust 4, 2011 at 5:35 pm #106880
AnonymousInactiveAugust 4, 2011 at 5:35 pmPost count: 14413EDIT: GABA is an amino acid but NOT found in meats or in any other food. Orally administered GABA shows only that it increases HGH, as GABA does not pass the blood brain barrier. GABA is synthesized directly IN the brain, and is a inhibitory neurotransmitter.
For now… it seems studies only show that orally administered GABA is nothing more than a placebo. It may also be worth noting that there is LITTLE significant evidence that GABA does not cross over the blood brain barrier, and that therapeutic use of orally administered GABA does nothing at all. The research and trials that surround this almost seem hidden, or that there has been an effort to disguise the clinical results of GABA supplementation. I’m not saying there’s some sort of conspiracy going on… but it could be that there just isn’t enough money being poured into the research of GABA as a supplement.
REPORT ABUSEMay 7, 2012 at 7:11 pm #106881I can’t write such long posts anymore because I am not medicated, so forgive any bluntness or rudeness as unintentional. There are already known causes for the symptoms, and known definitions, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes ADHD medication increase social anxiety and for others they decrease social anxiety.
Whenever I hear ‘big pharma’ I’m starting to roll my eyes. ADHD medication is the single most effective treatment for ADHD. ADHD is a neurological disorder with no known cure.
Coming up with your own alternate theories without understanding the reigning theory seems to me like putting the cart before the horse.
I’m pretty sure most women with ADHD could do without the hirsute properties of taking testosterone and who knows what other strange things might happen.
ADHD is not trifiling, it causes harm in the lives it touches. Educating yourself about it is key.
Hope that helps!
REPORT ABUSEMay 7, 2012 at 7:48 pm #106882Ginniebean – I see that the original post was 9 months ago. I suspect from the description given by ibringztehADD, that he doesn’t need to unduly worry about his ADD because his kidneys are more than likely a bigger cause for concern by now with that cocktail having to be processed by them each day!
REPORT ABUSEMay 7, 2012 at 8:52 pm #106883oops, I guess I’ll have to read the dates. Thanks for that heads up, in any case, it still might be a good idea to answer an old post with no other answers otherwise someone might take his regimen and try and “cure” themselves.
REPORT ABUSEMay 7, 2012 at 11:11 pm #106884I think it’s good when old posts are found. So many are just lost in time and it’s good to find them again. Often a new set of people on the forum have new insights and new suggestions.
Also old posts can answer questions that new people have too.
REPORT ABUSEMay 8, 2012 at 12:52 am #106885I’ll just pick one item to address, because I think it’s an important one to rebut and I don’t feel like writing at length.
Because iodine is added to salt in North America, we are what is known as an “iodine replete” society. We get *more* than enough iodine through our salt and salted foods, as well as through our high consumption of dairy products. (Iodine deficiency is *only* a problem in other parts of the world where seafood is not a staple and the mineral is not added back in to the food supply.)
So. Please be aware, other readers, that if you take iodine supplements on top of what you already consume in our salt/food supply, you risk damaging your thyroid. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common thyroid disorder on the continent, and is almost exclusive to iodine replete regions.
REPORT ABUSEMay 8, 2012 at 12:23 pm #106886BTW, my post above is meant to be taken together with Ginniebean’s great replies.
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