DISCLAIMER: Medication is only one form of treatment, and is never the sole answer to management of ADHD symptoms… as you can see from my messy room 
Why does the majority of ADD-related news and content found on the web loudly declare that ADHD is a non-existent condition and that medication prescribed for it is merely an excuse to turn individuals into compliant robots?
Because it sells. Hear the point of view of someone who actually lives with ADD and has taken the same dose of medication for 4+ years. I had to have the radio on in the background, otherwise housemates would have heard, so I’m not as well-spoken as usual
Duration : 0:8:46
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ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The disorder shows certain symptoms such as hyperactivity, absentmindedness, impulsiveness and destructibility in the patient.
One important aspect about treatment for ADHD is you need to be constantly in touch with your doctor for taking the appropriate medicine at the right time. Remember the doctor is dealing with the most important part of human system, i.e. your brain. Any negligence on your part in reporting the actual development or delay on the part of the doctor to guide you with correct medicine may worsen the situation.
ADHD is not a very easy disease to deal with. It affects you in hundred ways, small or big. Your day to day life is adversely affected due to problems created by ADHD.
Once the disease is diagnosed by a mental health specialist you will be put on medication treatment. Such medications may give you instant relief. It will be easy for you to conduct the activities. The problem with the ADHD patients is that they have very low dopamine in the frontal part of the brain. Stimulant medications are given to rectify this defect. Via these medicines, the patient’s dopamine level is increased and the symptoms of the disorder are checked regularly.
When it comes to the choice of stimulant, mental health professionals prefer Adderall. It is a salt known as amphetamine and it is given in suitable doses once or twice a day. Next to it is the stimulant called as Ritalin which is always prescribed by the doctors. It needs to be taken more often and many times and has certain side effects. The final choice of stimulant that is recommended by the medical practitioners is Cyclert. This is however not much favored because of its capability to produce dangerous side effects like liver toxicity.
Any new drug that arrives in the market, that too for treatment of any serious type of disease, is hailed as a wonder drug. Same thing can be said about Stratters when it was introduced in the market. It was believed that certain cure for ADHD is found. People who did not wish to take stimulants liked this drug. It is mainly an antidepressant drug and within a few days of its taking, it had the capacity to reduce the level of norepinephrine in your brain. That is to say it treats both, the ADHD problem as well as depression and anxiety.
Thus it is very important to be careful while taking ADHD medications. For long term relief, alternative methods like yoga along with other stress busters and prescribed medications are the best bet.
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This is an interesting question I found on Yahoo Answers about managing adult ADHD without medication.
I’ve read several books about adult ADHD, and they all seem to emphasize the use of medication. I have nothing against the use of medication, but I can’t afford it right now. Is there any way for those of us who have ADHD and can’t afford medication to effectively manage our symptoms?
It’s possible in some ways, but it is very difficult. I would suggest speaking to your doctor about what your problem is. See if he or she can refer you to somewhere where you can get the medication you need.
My best friend has adult ADHD in the worst way. Most of the time, those of us who know her well recognize after about three or four minutes that she’s not taken her medication in a while. But, she doesn’t take it every day. Sometimes she’ll go weeks or months without taking it.
Most of the time, it means that she has to really cut back her case load at work. Naturally, the longer she has to concentrate, the harder it is for her to do it without her meds. She is also married to a man who is her polar opposite, and who kind of keeps her in line. He does help her a lot in a mind-over-matter sense — he knows it’s difficult for her, but he does call her out on it when she is being extremely ADHD, and he’s really a soothing influence on her.
What she has done in the past was get her prescription, and use it when she needs it. Most doctors do recommend with childhood ADHD that it be used in school hours or extreme circumstances only. It wears off around the time school lets out, so unless there is major studying to do, or some other activity that requires sustained focus, they recommend you come off of it and start again the next day.
Weekends, holidays and summers are often times they suggest you not be on meds. Apply the same tactic in your situation. If you know there is a situation that will probably be difficult for you, take it that morning. If there are days when it’s a little less necessary to focus for a significant length of time, skip it. It can help make one refill go a long way.
I would also suggest talking to your doctor about generics (LOTS cheaper than name brands), samples (many doctors have them, and are more than happy to hand them out for just such an occasion) or changing the Rx altogether.
The normal non-drug-related suggestions are not as effective, but if you suffer from mild to moderate ADHD, they could help some. Make sure that you get enough good sleep, eat well, try to adhere to a schedule, cut out processed foods, allow yourself breaks to collect yourself (then either be disciplined enough to go back to your work or have someone to help keep you accountable), etc.
Something that helps some ADHD people is a bit of caffeine. For some reason, a lot of the time, the bodies of people with ADHD react differently to stimulants and depressants, so caffeine can be somewhat soothing, and Benadryl can cause excitability or hyperactivity. Go figure. After all, most of the drugs on the market today for ADHD are stimulants similar to speed.
But it’s always best to speak with your doctor before deciding to stop taking a drug you’ve been prescribed. If you have no other options, you could just try to help it on your own. But it’s possible there is something between shelling out the money to pay for your current Rx and taking nothing at all.
There are several alternative treatment options available to the parents of children correctly diagnosed with ADHD or ADD. Attention Deficit Disorder or that with Hyperactive tendencies are a set of mental illnesses that are routinely mis diagnosed.
This is due to the fact that many of the symptoms of ADHD and ADD are considered by many normal characteristics in growing kids. The challenge to develop any treatment options therefore is to accurately determine the degree of hyperactivity that pushes someone over the edge of normalcy and into the realm of a mental disorder.
One thing that you should be aware of is that the medical community is not in full agreement about ADHD in general or the use of some treatment options. There are those that believe that mediation used to treat this disorder have unacceptable risks. Another important factoid is that the treatment of all but the most pronounced mental disorders and diseases is a relatively new frontier.
Not in the sense of age as we’ve been working to find treatment options for all mental disorders for decades. But it’s more a frontier in the sense of understanding the causation and our ability to measure the severity of the problem. This is why jumping to an aggressive treatment option may not be in the best interest of the child that’s been diagnosed with ADHD or the family involved
If you have a child who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD for short, there are another of options open for treatment. The most common ADHD treatments usually involve as their biggest part the use of drugs like Ritalin or Dexedrine. On the street, these are known as Speed or methanphetamines.
Other treatment options for ADHD involve therapy and counseling for not only the one identified as having the ADD problem but also the whole family and especially the parents. Counseling can be used to help better identify emotional disturbances, and can assist with teaching the kid some study skills and organizational skills.
Note that teaching study skills etc. is normal stuff that should be done by parents. For many children however, because of the lack of parenting skills, the kid is diagnosed as having the problem.
The problem is that many ADHD treatments address the physiological part of the condition and ignore every other part. This is a problem, because ADHD children have trouble forming strategies to organize their lives and so they need, in addition to the drugs, some coaching in study skills that other students may be able to learn on their own. It is not enough just to medicate as an ADHD treatment option alone.
There are a number of other options that should also be considered. The most popular one at the moment is to have your child tested for allergies. Food allergies have been known to cause many problems for growing children and could be a root cause of ADHD as well.
Another option is to explore the use of natural remedies. vitamins and minerals may help keep your child off the pharmaceutical industries profitable drugs. Understand if needed, fine, but so many times, there are alternative options that work without the use of expensive drug solutions.
Other people recommend meditation techniques as ADHD treatment options. They say that the best way to treat ADHD is to take advantage of the mind’s natural flexibility and to rework the way it runs through self programming. Through daily meditation, focus, relaxation, and an end to the anxiety that is so common with ADHD sufferers.
