Because I’m sick of studying (already)
I’m back to being riddled with ADD – and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Hebrew quiz and Doctrine of God test tomorrow. Gotta start packing for the trip to Evansville (we’re leaving Thursday night after Christy’s class). Also have to get everything lined up for this weekend’s service at Summit because we won’t be there and want to make sure everything still runs smoothly at Waumba Land.
Not the best time to be losing focus constantly.
Fortunately I saw a counselor who was actually willing to listen to me that I have already been diagnosed with ADD and don’t need to run through the entire battery of tests again. Within the first five minutes she knew I knew what I was talking about (I’ve gotten pretty good at describing it…mind is a soup…disorganized desk…can’t finish a project…blah blah blah). She gave me a couple of articles that should help me be able to understand and explain the whole thing better, along with some tips of how to maximize my strengths when it comes to the whole ADD thing.
And she wrote a prescription for Adderall.
There was one little snag. My blood pressure was a bit too high. I’ve never had high blood pressure that I know of. Maybe the stress of trying to juggle everything without getting the ADD has begun to take its toll on my body. It was elevated just enough that she didn’t feel comfortable giving me the prescription just yet. I’m going back tomorrow afternoon to get it checked again. If it’s better, she’ll send me on my merry way.
If not, she suggested that I might want to consider doing a sleep study. Apparently, sleeping disorders are pretty common in people with ADD. I had no idea! Maybe that would explain all of those sleepless nights I’ve had. Of course, our insurance won’t cover something like that. They will basically only cover something if one of us has cancer and we’ve already spent thousands of dollars.
Any suggestions on how to keep blood pressure under control, short of losing weight, diet change, and medication? Those won’t really help in the short term (although at least the first two wouldn’t be a bad idea in the long run).
By the way – Hebrew is hurting me worse than Greek ever did. More on that some other day…
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natural alternatives
Talk to your wife…I phoned her this morning and gave a ton of suggestions that I have found PROVEN to help with your symptoms. Good luck, man. Thanks for sharing all of this, too – because then we long distance people know HOW to pray for you!
I’ve heard that about sleep and ADD before. Josiah’s doctor told him to take benedryl at night to help him sleep, and it he says it has helped a lot with both his focus and his impulse control.
Holding a pet makes people’s blood pressure go down. You could take your hamster with you to the counselor- keep it in your pocket. She would never know.
Is there a Benedryl that’s not a decongestant? I can’t take any pseudoephedrin while I’m on Addreall.
So, you’re saying if I put Diego in my pocked my blood pressure would go down even more? What about my fish?
I don’t know if brand name benedryl is available without decongestant, but you can usually get a store brand that is only the antihystamine. I try to avoid pseudophedrine myself because it interacts with other things I take and I have a reaction. Walmart has some that come in gel-caps- easier to swallow than the big pills in the foil cap. What you’re looking for is an allergy medicine that lists only diphenhydramine hydrochloride as the active ingredient. It is actually the same stuff in OTC sleeping pills, like TylenolPM. I guess you would want to check with your doctor before taking it with adderall, or better yet, a pharmacist. Christina always lectured me on how MD’s know nothing about drug interactions.
As for putting your fish in your pocket… I know one thing, HIS blood pressure would go down after awhile.
Sleeping
Glad you went. This stuff can be so DISRUPTIVE…
About the sleep thing.. I’ve found this to be true a lot with the ADD kids that I have worked with–their parents say that they don’t sleep at all… like can’t fall asleep, can’t stay asleep–up in the middle of the night doing stuff, eating etc. Do you sleep through the night? I haven’t heard of this being associated with apnea or anything. For me it interferes with falling asleep–my mind races and I can’t slow it down with my body. That’s why I have a tv in our room.. helps tons..
Re: Sleeping
I sometimes have trouble going to sleep because my mind is racing, as noted in some of the “sleepless nights” posts.
I don’t think I’ve slept completely through the night without waking up in a very long time. I usually wake up because I’m uncomfortable and I’m tossing & turning. I’ve just chalked it up to our bed, but maybe that’s not the issue.
Try this
Hey try working out! This will help. Lay off the salt and check all your foods for sodium. Of course as you know dropping the weight and staying off fats will stop the probem. I have some B/P pills but you need to ask your Doctor.
DAve
Try this
Hey try working out! This will help. Lay off the salt and check all your foods for sodium. Of course as you know dropping the weight and staying off fats will stop the problem. I have some B/P pills but you need to ask your Doctor.
DAve