Hah!

Maybe July, but don’t count on it.

We started cleaning out the garage, and came to the boxes of memorabilia.  Family fotos and documents, going way back.  Enough information to try to piece together a family tree, laboriously.  A copy of a will of one of my ancestors who owned 125 slaves (I am not proud of this).  They were  divided into six lots to be distributed to his family, along with the livestock.  No indication if the lots kept families together or split them up.

Disgusting but interesting.

Found family history going back to 1645, and fotos of great great grandparents, and an interesting letter from my great grandfather, 1906.

Then there was a gap in the family tree but I was able to find it on the net.  And of course, then I got interested in the other side of the family, and found a little more on the net.

Do you see where this is going?  Are you aware that I have ADD?

I realized – this is very interesting; this is a distraction and a side track; this could be a very time consuming project. I do not have time for this, not right now anyway.

Need to get back to the new book.  Maybe get it published in July?

But before I get back to the book, I need to collect all the memorabilia papers that are spread out all over the dining room table.

doug

bonus link:  jennifer on follo thru  clik

PS Your Life Can Be Better has just gone over 8000 copies sold.  Thank you all!

keep it simple.

With ADD or ADHD, we are victims of distractions, and things don’t get finished.

Here’s a simple rule – if you’re doing a small task, don’t let anything interrupt it until you finish. 

Make this a rule.  If a distraction comes up, trying to lure you off, just write it down and finish the task.

Get it done; cross it off.  Or better, maybe you never even wrote it down in the first place.

doug

sometimes there’s too much going on.

Here’s my take:

I think it’s a reasonable article, but I hope people don’t misread it.  He is saying SOME people might be misdiagnosed, not ALL or even MOST.

I have frequently mentioned the need for adequate sleep, but he’s talking about a specific disorder, a lack of delta wave sleep, one of the phases of sleep that we go through each night (hopefully).  So you could have the problem even if you are getting enough sleep in hours, just not enough delta.  But your ADD/HD symptoms will almost certainly get worse if you’re simply not getting enough sleep.  One clue would be getting sleepy during the day.

Getting a sleep study to check your delta sleep is going to be expensive and a hassle.  Right now I’m thinking I won’t.  However, if you have ADD or ADHD, and have used the strategies and the medications and aren’t really doing any better, you might want to consider it.

I suspect there will be more information about this forthcoming.

doug

just drift away.

Bonnie Mincu’s post on Dr. Thakkar’s article   clik

the whole article clik

I assume that grapefruit juice would have the same effect?  It interferes with the metabolism of a number of medicines, especially the antidepressants.  And what about eating citrus fruit?  One patient has told me it matters.

While we’re on the subject, several patients have noticed that some of the generic forms of Ritalin from different companies have significantly different effectiveness.  The pharmacies often shift the meds around depending on availability and pricing, so you want to pay attention to exactly what you’re getting.

Which is a good idea anyway, since doctors and pharmacists do make errors.

doug

Stay healthy!

from bonnie  clik

Dr. Hallowell on ritalin  clik

“Holly, you recognize the problem, that it is a problem and that you aren’t happy about it.  so you are already ahead of the game.  May I respectfully suggest that you may NOT know all the things you should be doing.  Plus “should” thinking doesn’t help; it is better to figure out what you “need” to be doing, or even better, “want” to be doing.

So if you can get a coach to help you cope better with your ADD, and a therapist to help you cope with the underlying shame or depression or whatever is feeding the anger, those should be a big help.  If you can’t for some reason, the next best thing, which you need to do anyway, is to educate yourself thoroughly about ADD.  And there are strategies for coping with anger and temper, and sometimes the right medication helps. there are many good books out there (he said modestly).   The Dance of Anger by Lerner would help.  and The ADHD Effect on Marriage by Orlov.”

If you can get some help, you want to make sure that they are knowledgeable about ADD; a lot of professionals are not.

you are off to a good start

doug

Brian, if you are there, thank you for the lovely review.  You made my day!      

clik for review

some days it’s all thorns.

The symptoms may happen occasionally at other times and not only in the legs.  There are treatments for them.  My guess is that like ADD, it’s related to the basal ganglia.

Next, 20-40% of people with bipolar disorder also have ADD or ADHD, higher than the 4% of us in the average population.  That doesn’t translate backwards; not so many of us with ADD or ADHD also have bipolar, which is about 1% in the general population.  I couldn’t find out the percent of bipolar in the ADD/HD population, but obviously it’s significant.

This is somewhat controversial, but the increased incidence of ADD or ADHD in the bipolar population seems pretty clear.  All of this is treatable too, but with some difficulty.

It is important to carefully make the correct diagnoses.

doug

story of misdiagnosis    clik     

Look for the silver lining.

I packed my suitcase and my bedding, printed out the google map, found the church on my GPS,  and drove to it.

I was able to find it, tho I was held up by a huge traffic jam in Bernalillo.  Who would have expected that?

So I did get there a little late.  But nobody was there.

Called my friend, who laughed and told me, it’s NEXT weekend!

ADD strikes again!

Drove home, checked my e mail.

It did say it was this weekend; it had been changed but I hadn’t been informed.

Disappointed, but —

It wasn’t me!!!

doug

Most of the time I have a list of three in my head.  Right now, I’m writing this post; then I need to record the new checks that came in (yea!), then do my exercise.  Somehow I can have this in the back of my mind without it distracting me from focusing on writing this, which is the one thing right now.

A friend with ADD does something similar; whenever he starts something, he asks himself, “and what’s the next thing?”

This is a form of structure. When I complete something I need to pause and congratulate myself, take time to feel good.  I may even need a break.  But I don’t need to be thinking, “OK, what in the world do I do now?”  No, I need to be ready to move on to the next thing on my list of five, which in my head, is the list of three.

doug

Thank you everyone! – the book has sold over 7,500 copies now, and I like to think that it has helped at least that many people.  And the blog has gotten over 20,250 hits, and I like to think it’s been helpful, too.  The new ADD book is on the fifth draft; hopefully it will be out in a few months -hopefully.

This has been way beyond my wildest hopes or expectations.

it’s a bright sunshiny day.

This time, also my drivers license and spare key, all in the same little wallet.  Must have walked off and left it on the table in the restaurant.  Called, they couldn’t find it.  Went back there, searched for it myself, nope.  Called and cancelled the card.

Last time this happened it was only the credit card, in France, 20 years ago.  We don’t speak French.  Spent a half a vacation day making frantic calls, begging people who spoke French to help us, trying to find the card, then to cancel it.

Then I found it, in my shirt pocket.

I never put my card in my shirt pocket, so I hadn’t looked there.

This time, can you guess what?

Found it in my shirt pocket.  I never put it in my shirt pocket.  But there it was. In  my shirt pocket.

Bank says they cant uncancel, will send new cards with new numbers.

Wife just gave me a list of 7 accounts I will need to call to update our payment information with our new cards.

Tip?  Don’t put your credit cards in your shirt pocket?  But I never do that.

Sounds like ADD to me.

doug

quote of the day – It’s always something.

Roseanna Roseannadana

have you ever tried to hug a cactus?

“-emotional control, frustration, outbursts….ya ADD fits in. Not sure if you mean you are having trouble with nervous energy, or sleep, or at the moment of frustration…..

Here are some random suggestions we use at our house.

If you notice stress building….write it down, melatonin, focus on senses….smell, touch, taste to activate your brain for something else, when you are concentrating on something, it uses a different area of your brain, giving you more control.

Eat something. Everything is worse when you’re blood sugar is low.

We light candles, put on soothing music or sounds (water running, rain)

Talk to someone and identify whats at the root of your stress. Write it down in your “Stress Journal”.

I have done this for 40 years. I get wired up, can’t stop thinking, worrying, so I write it so I can save it for later.

I put it down anyway I want. (It’s amazing what I write sometimes.) This is what I use for sleep. I give myself permission to leave it there in the journal. I reassure myself/son that it will be okay, then I visualize something. I try and remember every detail of a favorite whatever.

Maybe something will fit for you.”

thanks, Jen.

doug

bonnies survey check it out  clik