Sleep disorders and ADD

[Anonymous]

I certainly get my days mixed up! Night shift doesn’t help either, as I start work on one day, and finish on another. And when I go to sleep after a night shift, I wake up and it is still the same day as when I went to sleep. How’s that for messing with your head?!!

I almost feel a bit annoyed, as my doc asked me what day and date it was when he tested me, but he had said the date aloud minutes before, when writing a note, so I knew the answer. If he hadn’t done that, then I would have had no idea! And the only reason I knew it was a Tuesday, was because I had my appointment weighing on my mind. So the testing wasn’t entirely accurate. And to make it worse, I had to remember a name and address, but the doc used his own first and last name within it (part of the person’s surname, and part of the street name), and the first name I had to remember was that of a very memorable patient I used to look after regularly, so it was easy to remember those parts!! If it had all been totally make believe, then I would have struggled much more.

@Robbo – I hardly ever have funny dreams either. They are always weird, and can be upsetting. I have spent ages lying awake after a particularly horrible dream. I really hate the repetitious ones, where I wake up briefly, and then go back to the same dream again and again. Like looking for a toilet that isn’t blocked, dirty, child sized, missing toilet paper, out in the open, or whatever! Or running after something, or being chased by something, and feeling as if I am running up a really steep hill and have to pull myself along with my hands to help me move forwards. Ugh!!

Incidently, I worked on a spinal injury unit for 7 years. I hated the comparison between the patients who had been injured by someone else’s mistake and who often dealt with their injury with courage, and those (usually young men) who had injured themselves through stupid behaviour, but who blamed everyone but themselves and were a nightmare for all the staff to look after. It was so unfair. The ones who had the right to be angry usually weren’t, and the ones who had only themselves to blame were angry at the whole world! Of course, there were always the exceptions, but it was a difficult place to work, mentally. I had to move on, because I got burned out. I met some wonderful people (patients) there though, and I often think about them and wonder how they’re getting on. I work with mostly elderly rehab patients now (post surgery/illness), and they have a completely different set of beautiful and difficult behaviours 😉

Thanks for your post, Robbo. It really helps ram it home about how careful we all must be on the roads.

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[Anonymous]

Went to Seattle to The Learning Center on U of W campus. It was OK. More of the questions where you have to answer 1, 2, 3, or 4. I complained that I had trouble telling the difference between 3-often and 4-very often. She sent me home with MORE of those pages of questions, that I filled out and mailed back. I will be going back for diagnosis in a week or two. I’m curious to know if I have ADD or possibly something else.

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[Anonymous]

Got a diagnosis, so one thing is done. Combined Type ADHD. Now I have to find a specialist to prescribe the meds. A person sure has to do a lot of work for themself on this!! First my family doc referred me to a local center (psychologists) but when I called, they don’t diagnose ADHD. So I found a good place through CHADD, but had to travel 2 and a half hours to get there. Once I was diagnosed, I called the hospital the psychologist recommended, but they only did counseling, no meds, but they gave me a number for a center that DOES do meds. It seems as if a lot of the professionals are not up-to-date on who does what. I am wondering if it’s possible medical insurance will pay for the prescribing part of this, now that I have a diagnosis?

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[Robbo]

Holy molee! I’m on the slowest computer in the WORLD! no kidding, I was talking to a neighbor and compared this to my first windows 96 machine, it was faster! even with a 14.40 kbs modem! AAACCKK! Torture LOL.

It’s not that bad, it’s just fun to exageraty. I started the lowest possible dose of ritalin a few days ago. My awsomeTastic laptop. (Got that word from my offspring, I very proud to be my kids Dad) I wish she didn’t have my shyness but she is rather freakin brilliant. I could brag like crazy but that would just add to the many different topics I’ll probably talk about. Hmmm. It’a freakin me out how I have only made about three mistakes writing. Accept to the four more when I started writing “It’s freakin me out”. I can’ t remember when I was able to type this well. Like whole freakin sentences without a typo. Opps, half a sentence this time. But still…

My neighber and her caregiver said they noticed I was easier to talk to the very first day. That was just 5 mg, one time in the morning. I’m very skittish about medication. Sheesh, I need to rest my fingers, they’re getting tired from typing so fast. hehehe. I’m actually just going to slow down instead. And take deep breaths. Relax. (pause, then relax that is) The fact that I can slow myself down on purpose in out of this freakin world cool. hehe. That first day it was a little bit scary because I felt a little bit High. It’s scarry to admit that on the Internet. But I’m less worried about it today. The second day I actually bit the 5mg tab in half, n took the other half about 5 hours later. No high. Much better. About 2 hours ago I forgot to take half. Talk about anal retentive fear, huh? LOL. It’s okay laf it up. Probably cuz you can relate. Maybe cuz I’m making a bit more sense.

We

Shal

See. I’ll let you guys know about what happened to my laptop later. Gotta go get it. The good news is the 2 or 3 hundred hours of time I’ve spend building and rebuilding my Itunes playlists is still intact. I’m probably not going to get on the Internet with that super cool. portable CD/DVD player, photography software and Entertainment center… umm. Any more. This one in our comunity room is just fine. Accept my nosy neighbors may be coming here and reading about us now. They’re very sweet little old lady’s that in the last 6+ years have helped me learn how to be a better listener and to SHUT THE HECK UP N LET SOMEONE ELSE GET A WORD IN hehehe. Go ahead, laf it up again. You guys talk too much too probably!

later potaters. All Be Bock.

PS, I just clicked on edit, but that first typo was too funny. Now I just have to wait for some sparty pants jokester to tell me how they missed out on that edition of windows, and how did I like it…. ****snickering like a little prankster**** I bet you guys can firgure out the rest if there are any. I’ll bechta five bucks there are less that 10 mistakes that I would need to fix if I was a perfectionist.

Any takers?

K, guess that’s it. I think.

This I how I say goodbye after visiting a friend or vice versa,

It takes a while,

One time we (a friend and I) sayd Buh bye in about 7 languages and a handfull of different ways in english like “Get the heck outa here ya freakin maniac!” That’s usually last thing I imagine them saying… But they don’t. I’ll bet they think it though!

Okayyy, sheesh, I’m goin I’m goin….. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Uhh,… buu’h buy. ****sheepish goofy grin followed by a confuzed,bewilderededered, and “lost in space” sort of expression on my face***** That last typo was really freaky huh? sortof bewildering yet fun, huh?

Ah crap, now I’m late!!!

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[Anonymous]

Have anyone tried using marijuana? It works for me. The only problem is that it makes me very very lazy when I off work. Unacceptable type of laziness…

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[Anonymous]

yes, I used it in the mid-70s when I was in my early 20s. I didn’t smoke very much, just part of a joint, I was quite stingy with it. All it really did was make me sleepy, some heightened awareness, but mostly sleepy. I was definitely not the life of the party. But I wouldn’t be able to tell you if I got a good night’s sleep. I don’t think it’s on the list of recommended treatments

Honestly, if you have sleep issues, it’s much better to go get it checked out rather than trying to self-medicate. It could be something that, untreated, is risky for your health down the road. For example, untreated sleep apnea can result in an enlarged heart, which can lead to heart failure, blood clots within the heart, sudden cardiac arrest and death. Untreated excessive daytime sleepiness is the cause of a large number of vehicle accidents (I was taken off the road for 5 weeks recently before put on meds), in fact, my ADD specialist warned me that untreated ADDers are at great risk while driving. I could go on and on but there are lots of websites with good information on symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

I have never wanted to take medication, I hated the thought of doctors and hospitals, and resisted for a long time. But I can tell you that the quality of my life is immensely improved as a result of careful expert diagnosis and medications. My doc said that no amount of yogic breathing or pranayama (which I teach) can alter the fact that I have asthma and require medication.

cant resist, sorry “put that in your pipe and smoke it ”

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[Robbo]

Welp, I’m back again. I brought my old mac mini back to life. I sorta want to kick myself for not doing it sooner, but it’s only 40 GB’s It’s great for my purposes now. I don’t get on the net much. Just check a little mail, come here, and I’ve got a bunch of other ADHD site’s to check out. And tons of other ideas I may never get around to…It’s for sure that the ritalin is working for me. Just for a very small clip of time in the morning. I have to wait a long dang time until I can get a regular dosage prescription and find out if it helps all the time, I hope to find more info about what that dosage might be. Is there a time release ritalin? I’m disabled, live in Ca. and our health care system does a mean job of teaching us patience. (Imagine what I really wanted to write…) I’m drinking coffee like medicine instead of like most of the world drinks it. I buy the really good stuff and make it by the cup, but that’s a poor substitute now that I know how well Ritalin works. It only made me feel a little “high” the first day I took it. The struggle with coffee is to not drink more than half a cup at a time, sometimes less. I really like coffee, I only like the good stuff though. I’ve heard that whatever they do to coffee to decaffeinate it is a pretty bad for us, but I’m just gonna say ta heck with it and buy some, I’m not a health food nut, I just want to eat as healthy as I can. Processed food is a big part of why so many people have health problems in my opinion.

I think smoking pot is kinda like gasoline on the fire that is ADHD, heck I wonder if it’s one of the causes? How many folks are willing to admit on the Internet that they smoked tons of pot in the past, or in high school, and countless bong hits slowly gave them TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and that’s a major part of why they have ADHD symptoms?. Crazy theory? I bet it’s worth checking out. Add all the rest of the toxins in our manufactured processed GMO stuff we call food and maybe just eating real food can be a big part of the solution. The solution is many different things. I’m sure you guys know that.

I know that when I was in my early 20’s just the right amount of good weed made it easier to cook in a really awesome restaurant, fancy complicated works of art for ridiculous prices. On extremely busy nights when we had tons of plates coming out and timing was everything. Extreme multi-tasking. It ready did help me to focus and get really anal retentive about making really awesome fine cuisine, It was fun making really good food. It’s possible that smoking it every day back then is the reason I needed to smoke just a little to get “normal” so I could concentrate. Running out of weed usually meant about 7 to 10 days of depression and a case of the grumpy stupids; getting special orders right and just setting up the line for a busy night got more difficult. Becoming a dad made me quit that. And then turning myself into a Carpenter made not smoking weed just plain common sense. It makes ya dumb and careless, that’s bad when you’re left handed and use sharp power tools all day. More recently I have tried Marinol (the synthetic THC that’s truly legal) but the side affects were too awful, just as bad if not worse that real pot. I have pretty bad chronic pain and weed worked the best for that, but when I got honest with myself the truth for me at least is that the feel good of the weed high distracted me from the burning Neuropathic pain that comes with some spinal cord injuries. It’s not possible for me to take a low enough dose to help any problem, pain or just extreme hyperactivity, and not give me side affects that screw up my ability to function. I remember a time not very long ago when Dr. Drew was talking about weed on the celebrity rehab TV show. He said pot erases any affect SSRI’s have. I don’t think it was just his opinion. So if you’re taking prozac, n the other SSRI meds for depression and smoke pot, you’re like a dog chasing it’s tail. Hmm. I’m not sure if that’s the right metaphor. Maybe just kicking yourself it the teeth?. The side affects of canabinoids (SP?) are ADHD symptoms!. Just my not very educated opinion. Putting smoke in your lungs is dumb, I know that’s true. I’ve heard more than one person say it helps with ADHD, but not people I particularly trust to be honest with themselves or me. Getting stoned is fun, but it’s not the solution for the countless things people get cannabis club cards for, no matter how low a dosage a person takes. I’ll bet pretty soon cops will have a way to test people for driving weird just like they use a breathalyzer for alcohol. It’s a risky opinion to have. Lot’s of people think weed is less dangerous than booze. Maybe for some people it is. Most people get a case of the stupids if they smoke weed. And it’s been proven that it affects our short term memory.

Education is the biggest part of the solution for ADHD, that’s the main thing I’ve learned reading here. And just plain old slowing down. How to do that is the riddle of my existence. For years! I’ve had little note to self’s around my apartment that say slow down in many different and creative ways. I end up turning my slow down notes into art projects. Hmm. Is that another symptom?

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[Robbo]

hmmm been reading a while on the medications section, Duh! so I found the answer to my questions about dosages. Now I just have to wait until I can get another appointment. It’s a bummer having to wait my turn, it’s good for me to learn more patience though. That’s an important part of the work, or emotional/mental sweat that it will take for us to get more functional in this world. I hope my general practice doctor will make it easier for me. Getting another apt. with the brain doctor will take so dang long.

I’m sure glad you guys are all here. The best help we can get is to talk with people who are struggling with the same problems. It’s a wonderful thing to not feel like I’m some kind of neurotic mess with no hope of getting any better.

My biggest struggle is to forgive a few doctors and many friends who pushed me towards getting anti-depressant medication when that was never really the whole problem. It did keep me from suffering much more that i might have. I’m gonna keep looking for some kind of chat room where we can have something like a real time peer support thing going on. So please you guys, if you know of anything like that please let me know. I’ve got two big pages of ADHD web sites that the psychiatrist gave me. So I’ll bet I’ll find one and come back here to share about it.

Thanks a bunch n be happy you guys. I’ve got a funny animation I made out of a picture of me, I hope we can post GIF animation pics

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[Anonymous]

I once taught a chair yoga class for paraplegics – it was at a monthly peer support group meeting at the local paraplegic association’s office. You might inquire about such a group in your area – it’s hard for these people to get out in the wintertime, also the wheelchair transit schedules are pretty inconvenient, so having an online peer support group would be easier for most people.

Back to sleep disorders – I was prescribed a low-dose antidepressant 20 years ago when the sleep doc didn’t fully explore my sleep issues. He said it would help me “unwind” at night and get to sleep, but he also told me to wean off it as soon as I could. I stopped taking it eventually, as it wasn’t really helping me.

I think it’s so important to get a proper diagnosis rather than self-medicating (coffee, internet stimulation, marijuana, cigarettes, etc). As you’ve pointed out, there are plenty of side effects from these things. At least the specialists know what will work best (or on average, work best) for your particular symptoms and work with you from there. It’s very frustrating to wait, I know. But seeing the specialist when you’re not engaging in this type of self-medication will let them see you as you really are. Just something to think about. I’m coming up on a two week med holiday and not looking forward to it at all, but it’s going to tell the sleep doc a lot, and then we can move forward with treatment.

Having said that, the 3 month trial that I did with ritalin (not slow release) was a very smart thing to do, according to the two specialists I’ve seen, since it was additional confirmation for them of my ADHD/sleep issues. I’m not recommending that – I did seek appropriate diagnosis and treatment and then stopped the self-medication, but I can completely understand how access to any form of medication (over-the-counter, etc) is appealing, especially as you become more aware of what the problem is.

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[Anonymous]

Delayed sleep phase syndrome can be treated with Bright Light Therapy but as you said there is a confusion regarding ADD and sleep disorder. I would like to comment here that Sleep Disorders is a major problem that causes multiple effects on our body. May be you should try Sleep Disorder therapy on first place. Getting sleep at time will eradicate a number of ADD symptoms. So I would insist that you go for an advice of a Sleep Expert or you can visit a Sleep Expert on Sleep Disorders.

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[Author]

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