Posted by 10derHeart on November 26, 2006, at 13:52:28
In reply to FYI...Thought this was sad and funny, posted by BUCKEYE FANATIC on November 25, 2006, at 11:46:44
I have ADD and used to take Ritalin (only switched meds due to HTN issues which predated the stimulant), which absolutely did help, enabled me to focus maybe for the first time *ever*, allowed me to come closer to being able to disentagle all the racing thoughts in my ADD brain and make choices, prioritize, organize like others do. It was quite amazing.
This may not be accepted scientific fact, or substantiated (as yet) by the necessary studies, but the brain being *properly* stimulated, particularly in inattentive-type ADD (seems more common in girls) WILL improve focus and attention. Has to do with the area controlling executive function (prefrontal cortex, I think) which appears sluggish on certain scans in ADD pts....
So...when the brain is *stimulated* and can work as those of people without ADD, the person may be able to do the things I listed above. Of course if your daughter appears to you to be mostly "hyper" instead of disorganized, inattentive, forgetful, overwhelmed by the day-to-day stuff...then I see why the stimulant seems to make less sense. But - and these are just best-I-can-recall laymen's terms - I think it works the same way. An area of the brain is activated (stimulated) by the MPH, and therefore the person has a vastly improved ability to control talking, interrupting, jumping around, staying on task, etc., whereas without the med it's nearly impossible.
I think that's the general, rough theory.
And please, please, don't take your daughter's Concerta. It's a controlled substance, and it's not prescribed to you. You may well be breaking the law doing so. Also, I think you're maybe saying that anxiety is the issue with the Big Test, if I got that right? For someone without ADD, Concerta could very well make you feel worse, more anxious even, from what I've heard and read.
I'd just hate to see you get in a bad situation - medically or legally - later on. Maybe there are other ways to try to calm down for the test? I'm not sure wht you're tried before, but I'll bet all the brilliant folks here will have some ideas...
Good luck, BF.
poster:10derHeart
thread:707054
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061123/msgs/707442.html