[scott]

I don’t know if having ADHD will protect you from Alzheimer’s, but my dad was an ADHDer (big time) and he lived until 103 years old and pretty much had his memory intact.

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[scott]

I and my friends who have ADD are not addicted to anything.  I don’t even drink and my other two friends rarely drink and one doesn’t even want to take the meds.  I think this problem is the result of his having taken cocaine which altered his brain chemistry and it would take a long time to get over that.  I think I read once that ritalin is sometimes associated with the feeling of cocaine. It is possible that he started cocaine use to self medicate for the ADD.  Unfortunately, that was a bad choice. Cocaine creates an orgasmic feeling of reward without doing anything to achieve it.  Maybe Wellbutrin  only, would be a better choice for a while and then maybe switching to time released Adderall.

I really hope he gets better.

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[scott]

Everything you said, sounds about right.  I’m actually calmer on meds, although I don’t take them everyday– only when I am working or studying.  Everything around me is a mess etc. etc.  When I get everything organized, and this takes a long time, I am compulsive about not moving anything or messing with the system.  Getting things in order in the first place is overwhelming.

 

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[scott]

No I don’t believe there is a connection between ADD and a high pitched voice.  I have a friend who is a singer, has ADD bigtime, and has a beautiful speaking voice.  The only problem is he is impatient, talks fast, and changes topics practically in mid sentence.  I have ADD and this drives me extra nuts, I don’t sing, but I was a radio DJ at one time.   There are also things you can do to improve anybody’s speaking voice.  It seems that most young women in the United States have affected some version of the ridiculous Valley Girl accent.  It’s not even a real regional or ethnic accent, it was made up by some kids in L.A. along with the extra dumb Surfer Dude accent for boys.  The Valley Girl accent makes people sound immature and they have to really  work hard to get rid of it.  Better not to have it in the first place.  Parents stop your kids from speaking like that.  Better off sounding like a Canadian eh.

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[scott]

The U.S. Government Printing Office has a publication called “Quieting” by an acoustical physicist and researcher named Raymond Berendt.  It is full of advice on how to modify your environment to make it sound proof.  It’s actually not that expensive.  An extra layer of drywall glued with a non-hardening glue, no screws or nails as they conduct sound; a ceiling of drywall hung on flexible hat channel with no other connections to the building– crown molding and flexible caulk can finish the room.  There are sleeves that can be placed in duct work to baffle the sound and dampen it– there are also HVAC registers that have aerodynamic fins that don’t have a shoooshing sound.  Put a sweep on the bottom of you door so that no sound can come under the door.  Hang a quilted blanket on the inside of your door.  Storm windows can have a dampening effect, especially if they are mounted on rubber.  You don’t have to do it to your whole house or apartment, just try it on one room.

The principle is isolate the environment from vibration coming through the structure by placing something flexible between you.  You could probably come close to making it as soundproof as a recording studio.   I’ve used some of these techniques, they work.

 

 

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[scott]

I know that this is a frightening situation.  I work as a cameraman and things got tough when I was assigned to shoot dance with one of the best videographers of  dance on the east coast.  My job, “very simple”, was to cover everything on stage.  That is: Keep the dancer in the CENTER, the RIGHT AMOUNT of headroom and room at the bottom; don’t CUT  the hands or feet; control the iris at the RIGHT F STOP; stay in FOCUS;  REPLACE the media before it runs out; move smoothly, don’t SHAKE.  It was a lot like trying to track a fly with a telescope.  A dancer can jump in any direction at any moment and the director wanted me as tight as possible (because it looks good) and not have the hands or feet touch the frame (because it looks really bad).

Quite often i heard his dismayed directions coming through my headphones.  I wanted to die.  Then I had to listen to him tell me, more than once,  on the ride home from the gig that “I think you just don’t pay attention”  That was a killer.

I had done this job often enough that I knew what he wanted and I knew what to do, but it wasn’t clicking.  It was like I was crippled.   I figured that I had ADD (some other camermen had it too).  My nephew has it and my mother thought that my father has it.  I talked my sister into giving me a couple of my nephew’s adderalls.  She was very reluctant because this is illegal and it is a potentially dangerous drug if you are not careful.

I took 20 mgs about an hour before my next show.  It was like night and day.  I hardly heard any complaints and had a cordial ride home.  I had been seeing an analyst for about two years and she recommended me to a psychiatrist (they can prescribe) and got a script for the drug.

Lately, I’ve been getting compliments from directors at some of the stations and have been getting more assignments.  Mostly because, as one director put it, “I don’t have to tell you what to do.  You see it right away.”  That was great.

I feel that you are in the same position.  You know what to do, but can’t be sure of yourself.  A good sign is that they didn’t fire you because you have to work the floor because you’re “the best they have.”  You will undoubtedly be even better when you get some medicine in you.

I am very cautious about the use of these stimulants and have tried lower doses than 20mgs.  You have to find out how this works best for you and take it in the right way.  I tend to be overly cautious, but I can’t help but feeling like Roy Scheider  as Bob Fosse in “All That Jazz,” when I take them: “It’s showtime!”

—  scott

 

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[scott]

Sounds to me like you may have a really boring job, maybe not suitable to someone with ADD.  The fog could be boredom and frustration which no amount of drugs can help.  Ask yourself what would you do if you didn’t have to work where you are now.  Try doing something you really want to do as an experiment and see if the fog doesn’t lift.

 

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