Inattentive Type ADD & medication | ADHD Information
i was just diagnosed, about a month ago with inattentive ADD. my doc put me on Adderall (spelling?) and it seems to be helping. I had never even heard of the inattentive type ( both my kids have ADHD and bounce off the walls), not even when the doc told me it was what i had, but when i posted here, one of the replies said they thought i had the inattentive type, and i light came on and i remembered my doc did say "inattentive" becasue i am far from hyper. good luck
chris r
wish I could help.. I am primarily inattentive type ADD but was diagnosed combined type..
I was actually able to focus my hyperactivity without meds, but could never behaviourly address the inattentive part.
with that said, when starting concerta, I was fascinated with the all of a sudden abiltiy to hear individual conversations in a full room of people.. I thought I had all of a sudden developed better hearing, LOL But in reality I was focusing better, I was able to filter out extraneous stimuli so that I could actually be able to focus on one thing. I don't know if that part was the hyper part of me that caused me to be destracted or the inattentive part of the ADD. I think it does help quite well with the ability to focus... the edgy part may go away in a few days.. if not, I would call the dr. this is all trial and error to see what works best for you!
Hope maybe this might help some.
sherry
ADHD runs in my family. All my cousins were diagnosed with combined type ADHD when we were young and were put on medication. I shared all the symptoms they had except I was never hyperactive, so instead of being treated I was considered just lazy or a daydreamer. I'm 28 now and was just finally diagnosed with ADD.The doctor put me on CONCERTA (36mg/day). My question is, isn't that for ADHD with hyperactivity? I've only been on it a couple days. I think it's helping me focus (I'm not sure yet) but it seems to be making me very edgy. Can anybody with Inattentive Type ADD tell me what medications are usually used to treat it. She was going to put me on STRATERA but my copay would have been over 0 a month and I can't afford that so she put me on this instead.
Please help.
When actually, they were just a way of dealing with being a stupid, lazy, daydreamer who ain't ever gonna amount to nothin, unless I get my sh*t together and get off my ass and do something with my life!
hey did my parents raise you?
jmas77,
"Scatterbrained" is the term used to describe Inattentive ADD, before they discovered that it was seperate from hyperactivity. It can also be the most painful and frustrating type, because it is less obvious that there is something wrong. I was diagnosed this past March, after spending most of my life believing that all of my problems were caused by drugs and alcohol. When actually, they were just a way of dealing with being a stupid, lazy, daydreamer who ain't ever gonna amount to nothin, unless I get my sh*t together and get off my ass and do something with my life!
Ooops sorry, where was I? I'm 39 now, and I have only begun to live. I was treated for depression for 9 years, by a doctor who didn't beleive in ADHD. Now I have a therapist who has ADD and a doctor who has treated 2000 patients with ADD and both of them say the same thing... TRUST YOURSELF!
Your doctor cannot live in your shoes. You are the only one who will know if it helps or not. And if it's working, you'll know. Kibbles talked about her reading ability and that was the first, most obvious thing, I noticed about myself. It was amazing! But, it took a while to find what works for me. Wellbutrin, Adderall, Dexadrine, Concerta, Strattera, Ritalin. I won't tell you which ones worked, or what the side effects were. I will only tell you not to give up, and to start Google-ing every keyword you can think of.
Oh yeah, find a copy of Dr. Halowells- "Driven to ditractions" or "Answers to distractions" and keep them on the back of your toilet. You'll see why.
Keep in touch
I'm taking Adderall 2 10 mg a day and I know I have ADD becuse I've always felt the stupidity all my life and been teased as being dumb, ignorant, lazy, etc. I'm 41 almost 42 and it's helping a lot. The book Healing ADD by Dr. Amen, says that it actually stimulates the ADD person giving them pep and energy. Well, why not it's a narcotic and is really speed! 
I tried Strattera and was a big mistake! To many side effects and made me sicker than a dog! Give your current drug some time to get used to, you will experince some different things, if you don't like it try Adderall.
jamas,
Have you tried reading something from a book when on the concerta? If you are still reading the same line over and over or don't remember what you just read, that would be a clue that its not working for you.
I was told to test it that way by my Dr. he told me to read some kind of mentally challenging material. If I could read it and remember it, then the meds are working, if not, then I would need an increase or a change.
I know that even on the boards here that if the post is long, I end up skipping over paragraphs to try to get to the point. On meds, I'm able to be patient enough to read the whole thing.
Just a thought,
Oh, and it took for me about 2 weeks for the side effects to go away totally, if they don't for you then you might need to talk to the dr. again. I was started on 18 then moved up, so I didnt get the stomach upset, etc.. but I did get headaches coming down off of it.
sherry
jmas77,
I have ADD inattentive. I was dx by a psychiatrist about 2 1/5 years ago. I took Adderal and it helped me very much. All the piles in my classroom (I'm a teacher) went down. After about a year, the piles started to grow again. That is how I gage if the meds are working. So my doctor upped my medication. That helped for a while and then he gave me a pill in the afternoon to take when I felt the effect wearing off.
I took a vacation from meds after that and tried herbal supplements. They helped for about 6 months, then I took a vacation again from everything. I went back to a different dr. because the other had to retire. This was an MD this time. I tried Concerta, but felt down after a week, so I quit that.
I tried the exercises from the book Stopping ADHD by O'Dell, and they have really been affective. I have found that they have helped more than meds or herbs. This is just my experience. It sounds a little quirky when you first hear about it, but if you read the book, it makes a lot of sense.
Good luck to you.
Thanks Sherry,I'll give that a try. I've got a bunch of books from my classes at the seminary I was supposed to read but never did. I couldn't ever get past the first couple of pages, maybe now I'll be able to. Thank you both. I'll probably stay on Concerta until/unless my doctor tells me it's not working, then I'll try something else. I think my problem is that it's much easier to notice/measure the negative effects of the drug than it is to measure the positive effects. It's a lot easier to notice the headaches, edginess, hyper-sensitivity, and stomach aches than it is to notice the other stuff. I guess I just expected to feel more focused once I started the meds, but the more I think about it the more I realise that focus is not really something you feel. The measure of that is more like whether or not I can finish something I start or start something that I've been putting off because I know I'll have troubles with it. Anyway, thanks.