Sleepless in Simcoe

[Anonymous]

Have not been diagnosed as having ADHD, my Dr. says its all in my head. I have had all the symptoms all my life, but have survived by following a strict lifestyle of nutrician and exercise. Not nowhere near a perfect life but have learned to cope except for getting proper sleep at night. I have tried every over-the-counter sleep aid I can find, but nothing works well. Does someone out there relate to my problem, and is there “HELP”?

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[Patte Rosebank]

If you believe that you have the symptoms of ADHD, and your doctor says it’s all in your head, GET ANOTHER DOCTOR, AND GET PROPERLY TESTED!

Many doctors today have failed to keep up with the latest information. As a result, they believe (wrongly) that ADHD is a childhood condition, which people outgrow; therefore, adults can’t have it—a belief which has now been completely discredited. Pigheadedness like your doctor is displaying, is responsible for so much suffering. And it violates a few parts of the Hippocratic Oath, pertaining to not doing any harm, and not failing to take action when one sees a person who is ill.

As one specialist said, in the “ADD and Loving It” documentary, “Most of what I was taught about ADHD in medical school, we’d consider malpractice today.”

The day-to-day struggles to function with ADHD cause so much depression and anxiety, not to mention the psychological and economic effects on the patient and those around him/her, that it is absolutely unconscionable for a doctor to refuse to even consider that a patient might have it. You shouldn’t have to spend your life struggling to function properly, to do things that most people find very easy.

As for the difficulty with sleeping, the lack of proper sleep, caused by the racing thoughts, makes ADHD symptoms even worse. And lack of sleep contributes to major health problems like depression, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. If no over-the-counter sleep aid or natural supplement has helped you, then you need to treat the root cause (i.e., your ADHD), with meditation and possibly a prescription medication that treats mood disorders.

To do that, you’ll need a proper diagnosis, and that means getting a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist, for proper testing. A psychiatrist can diagnose ADHD or any other mental condition, and can prescribe medications to improve your brain’s functioning. A psychologist can diagnose ADHD, and can give you cognitive behavioural therapy, to help you put the structures in place to enable you to function better, but can’t prescribe medications.

If your doctor won’t give you a referral, then get another doctor who will. You’ll sleep much better once you’ve been diagnosed (even if you’re diagnosed with something other than ADHD), and are being properly treated.

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[Anonymous]

Seeing my Dr. this PM. Will do whatever i have to to get my life back.

Thank You LARYNXA.

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[Anonymous]

Is sleep your primary problem, Rainbow or is it some component of ADHD?

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[Anonymous]

Sleep is my primary problem Dr. J.

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[Ivriniel]

Rainbow, perhaps you should ask the Doctor for a referral to a sleep clinc, as well?

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[Anonymous]

Agreed, Ivriniel. You need a sleep assessment done and that will determine what are the causal problems leading to your dysfunction. Try to get your partner to listen to your sleep and document if you have any sleep disturbances like restless legs or sleep apnea.

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[Anonymous]

Saw my GP on Friday. When he saw how serious I was about getting control of my life, he stated he “was” familier adult ADHD but felt I han neither ADHD or was Bi-Polar. He wants to treat me for Depression/Anxiety first. He prescribed 20 mg of Paxil one time daily, and gave me an RX for .5mgs of alprazolam to be used ocassionly at nightime untill the Paxil has a chance to work. This could take up to 1 month to see results. Took the alprazolam Friday and Saturday nights with great results. I don’t want to go behind his back for treatment at this time. Will report on my progress. Thank you to everyone for all the input.

PS – I still think I have ADHD but time will tell.

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[Anonymous]

Tuesday Dec 07/10. Have stopped taking Paxil. Side effects are allready worse then insomnia . I am seeing my GP this afternoon to see if there is a sleep clinic in this area. Does anyone have any suggestions re an RX for insomnia that can be taken on a regular basis?

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[Anonymous]

Hello all. Rainbow is alive and kicking, but totally fed up with the Meds my GP is prescribing to cover up my problem. Is there a clinic in the Simcoe, Brantford or London area to get an assessment for adult ADHD? If I require a referral from my GP, I may have a problem getting it. I feel that as I would have pay for this assessment, “probably not covered at all by OHIP, and don’t any personal medical coverage” I should be able to set this up myself. Any replies would be welcomed.

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[Anonymous]

Yes I can relate to your problem. I have wrestled with terrible insomnia for many years.

Get the sleep assessment done, but don’t get your hopes up to high. Unless they find some physical reason for your insomnia, like sleep apnea they won’t be able to help you. They will tell you it is just in your head or you are depressed, and send you home with well meaning but useless advice. I know, I have been through it, and so have many, many others. It is very frustrating.

Seroquel is what worked for me. I take it in combination with zoplicone. 5 nights on seroquel and 2 nights on zoplicone, and then back to seroquel. I just keep alternating. If you take the same sleep medication every night it will eventually stop working, and besides you may become addicted to it. What you need to know, and what most doctors don’t tell you, is to alternate between 2 or more sleeping medications from different drug families. I know seroquel is not addictive (at least that is what I am told), but personally I find it starts to lose its effectiveness after the 5th night. After 2 nights on zoplicone, and then the next night on seroquel I get a super good sleep. For others anti-depressants like remeron or trazadone work, and it is not because they are depressed. They just simply make you sleepy. Even if you aren’t depressed they will still make you sleepy. But they don’t work for everyone. You have to find what works for you.

The medical profession is extremely ignorant about insomnia. I think it should be mandatory that every doctor should read “Insomniac” by Gayle Greene. http://sleepstarved.org/ She is a university professor of literature. Has written a number of good books. She knows what she is talking about, and has thoroughly researched the subject. She also suffers from insomnia.

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[DogDad]

Hi everybody, and thanks for all your posts. It drives me crazy I don’t have time to share my experience strength and hope by writing a proper post on this topic, because it is a very significant one for me. Hope to find time over New Year’s holiday.

For now, here’s my essential experience points:

–Youngest patient ever at the Stanford University Med Center Sleep Disorders Clinic back in the early 90’s. Saved my life. Wear nasal CPAP every night in lieu of surgery or other treatments.

–These days apnea diagnosis involves an iPad-style computer with a few electrodes one wears overnight at home for screening purposes, with a tentative Dx, a night in a sleep lab will be essential to measure pressure required.

–Another excellent sleep clinic is at Henry Ford Hospital near Detoit, across the border from Windsor, Ontario.

–Melatonin 3-6 gms very effective for me and wife, who also takes generic trazodone.

–Wife’s adverse effects on Paxil were horrible and included vomiting.

–Sereoquel tried but phased out because of horrible next day sedation at or above 37.5 mg/night.

–Ativan not optimal for sleep b/c of daytime grogginess, although different benzodiazapines may hit different receptors; educational comments from Dr. Jain might help here.

–alprazolam (Xanax) was dangerous for me because of absurdly short half-life, moved to Valium, which had a better withdrawal experience for getting off it.

–Diagnosis video on this site said I probably didn’t have ADD, but a radical difference in that I got high scores on the paper screening inventory posted on this site. Another inventory posted on the web, with scoring by the computer, suggested I have serious ADHD and recommended I see an ADD specialist without delay for an evaluation. I relate closely to most of the experiences discussed here, as does my wife, and I and check the latest discussions several times daily.

–That’s all I have time for; PM me for more info. Hope this helps.

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[Ivriniel]

In regards to your question Rainbow, I did a websearch and found this name:

Dr. Laurence Jerome

Psychiatrist

Assessment & treatment of children, adolescents and adults with ADHD

90 Wharncliffe Rd. South

London

Phone 519-432-3818

Fax 519-432-1748

Will assess adult patients

http://www.adrn.org/html/adult_adhd.html

Don’t know anything about him, but I did read elsewhere that he spoke at the CADDRA annual conference in Nov.

Like all Psychiatrists, you will need your GP to give you a referral to him.

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[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the input. I’ve called Dr Jerome’s office, do need a GP’s referral, which I’m going to get one way or another. I was told they are now booking appointments in June. Seeing my GP this thursday and will try to get a referral faxed. I’m also going to reasearch Seroquel and Zoplicone. Tried Trazadone, which helped me fall asleep, but the side effects were horrible.

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[turbo]

Rainbow, may I ask what kind of side effects you had on the trazadone?

I remember Dr Jain saying in one of his lectures that studies have shown that when they take a person and chroniclly deprive them of sleep you end up with someone who functions like they have ADD. So, taking care of your sleep issue may be a huge step in the right direction.

Best wishes in your quest to get these issues sorted out.

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[Author]

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