ADD Treatment 3

Medication:

Taking pills is an abhorrent habit to some. To others, pills are a “crutch” we too easily lunge for when a peep of an ailment appears. But for those with a chemical insufficiency or imbalance, the replacement or stabilizing effects of external chemicals is a Godsend. Consider it this way, the way it was explained to me: when I was pre-ADD (before they identified the exact problem), I was severely depressed. (ADD and depression are bedmates, best friends.) I finally went [back] to therapy, seeing a doctor of psychiatry who volunteered at the clinic I visited every Friday. I rarely was awake and dry-eyed. I heard my own brain rationalize at least twenty times a day that after the walking, hiking, praying, writing, helping others, etc., the only solution was to kill myself. Not in any dramatic way, but as a utilitarian solution, as an out. After initial intake discussions, Dr. N. announced he would put me on Prozac.

Now, I was an NA veteran by this time, having been in recovery for over ten years. I was terrified of drugs (ironically, after being the queen that ruled over them for so long). Hey explained, “So you’re walking down the nastiest part of town at 3 a.m.. You get stabbed. You don’t stand in the middle of the street with a huge gaping, bleeding, and painful hole in your chest, pontificating on the pros and cons of getting medical treatment. You have a hole in your heart. We are going to give you medical treatment for that.”

Dr. N was right. And he made me laugh at my resistance and my philosophizing—as some are wont to do—about how horrible you are if you take a pill. So I take pills. I take Dextroamphetamine capsules, but you may go for something different…for different reasons:

Amphetamines: the formula/dosage I take is perfect for me, for focus, for emotional and (ugh, yes, behavioral) control or balance or leveling or calming or whatever you wish. Interestingly, speed is perfect for this ADDer who is normally speedy (in action, thought, and blunder). It somehow counteracts, or does a reversing of the very properties it and the speedy one have. It has a half-life (lasting effect) of about 6 hours, and in the time-released form for me lasts over 12 hours. At the same time, I can eat, sleep, and do other things that a dope fiend on a bag of speed cannot…like have great sex, laugh, etc..

Ritalin: Ritalin is one of the grandparents, the elders, of ADD treatment drugs. It is also still debated over constantly, especially with regards to children. (Do we dope every little imp that acts like a class clown or swings like a chimp on the jungle gym?) Ritalin is still mysterious as an agent for quelling ADD symptoms, but many swear by it for or despite its minimal side effects (weight loss, mood swings, and others) compared to its positive effects, which lend themselves to clarity, stability, patience (physical and mental focus), and other nuances I cannot speak to here. The half life is approximately four hours, but Ritalin also now comes in time-released pills, so the effects can be sustained for longer periods of time.

Other more commonly used meds: Also in contention with the two most “popular” or most often used or most studied meds are the increasingly introduced Adderall; Cyclert; and some of the SSRIs and MAOs. As with all medications, with these and the ones I describes from a personal (and not professional) point of view, research thoroughly before asking a doctor about one in particular, before, that is, committing to one. Each works in mysterious ways, still, and each works differently for and on each individual.

For me, the luck of history (of speed “abuse”) pointed to the med, and the blessing of having been with a therapist for four years—both together—have become my [literally] life-saving grace. May you, too, be so blessed.

Article (Part 1): ADD Treatment 1

Article (Part 2): ADD Treatment 2

Article (Part 3): ADD Treatment 3