Psycho-Babble Medication | about biological treatments | Framed
This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | List of forums | Search | FAQ

Re: Strattera for ADD-I? » mtdewcmu

Posted by CaffeinePoet on April 30, 2011, at 19:55:28

In reply to Re: Strattera for ADD-I?, posted by mtdewcmu on April 30, 2011, at 14:38:38

Thanks for your well thought out answer.
>
> Do you have bona fide hypothyroidism that is confirmed by a mainstream endocrinologist or internist? Because the established standard of care for hypothyroidism is levothyroxine, not T3. I know there are some people outside the mainstream promoting the idea of softer forms of hypothyroidism that respond better to T3 or desiccated thyroid, but I would not mess with my metabolism on the basis of their ideas. I took one dose of Armour Thyroid years ago, and I felt great for a while, but I couldn't sleep for the next couple days.
>

Yes, it's been confirmed with blood value tests and positive results from tests for antibodies against the thyroid. When I said it was treated with T3, I said _added_ T3, as in addition to the levothyroxine. The T3 that I took was actually synthetic T3 (Cytomel), not Armour. T3 (lioothyronine) is available as a synthetic. When I took it in addition to the levothyroxine, the symptoms of lethargy, low motivation, low attention greatly improved, but my thyroid value zig-zagged and I developed dizziness, fatigue, migraines, and finally the thyroid eye disease -- all onset within 2 months of starting the Cytomel, improved off the Cytomel. I would not have had Thyroid Eye Disease, btw, unless I had antithyroid antibodies in my system -- it's the same bugger.

> > My biggest problem is low motivation. But I am also not getting anywhere in my career because of being late to meetings, interrupting, and procrastination. I feel that I have been overlooked as a possible ADD-I diagnosis in the past because I am fairly smart, and it took several years of failures (job loss, course failures, etc.) after reaching more complex work, for me to seek help.
> >
>
> If your attention problems were already prominent in childhood, then it could be ADD. My life followed a similar track to what you are describing, with problems already apparent in elementary school, that I was able to compensate for more or less, but becoming more intractable later in life.

They were there in childhood. My therapists have trouble piecing out whether they were there in childhood due to untreated hypothyroidism or existed as a separate entity. However, I learn very quickly and was bored in school as a child. "Absentminded professor" was a term that came up a lot.
>
> > Oh yes, and I have anxiety.

> Anxiety and mood disorders can conspire to cause attention difficulties even in the absence of ADD. But the presence of such disorders by no means rules out ADD. In fact, untreated ADD strongly predisposes one to develop secondary anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders. I had to suffer through years of having only my anxiety and mood disorder treated, before I got a doctor to take seriously my complaints of longstanding, severe attention problems.
>

I'm glad to hear that this worked out for you! I have had anxiety treated, both with low-dose benzos and SSRI's in the past. Frankly, they did help my anxiety but utterly masked any motivation I had. SSRI's make me feel zombie-like. Knowing that the anxiety has been treated and I still have these symptoms, I realize, gives me a clue about where to go.

> > Now, after a final failure, I am moving on to medication. What do you all think about Strattera? Would you try that first, or would you try to go straight for the stimulants?
>
> Strattera benefits fewer people with ADD than either Ritalin or amphetamine. That's not to say that it doesn't work well for those it helps (I assume), but overall it's considered much less effective than stimulants. I have heard that Adderall or Dexedrine (or Vyvanse) are most effective in adult ADD. My experience is that Dexedrine blows all the other ones away for my symptoms.
>
> I recommend trying Wellbutrin before Strattera. All Strattera did for me was cause me to sweat more, and cause a mild subjective effect that at the end of the day didn't amount to anything. If your doctor tries to put you on Strattera before stimulants, that usually means that he either A) doesn't trust you with a controlled substance and wants to avoid it at all costs, or B) is susceptible to Lilly's marketing, because the studies have all shown that Strattera is less effective, and therefore should be a second-line treatment for ADD.

I think the doctors will hesitate to put me on stimulants because of the anxiety diagnosis -- at least that's how it seems to work in the group I'm working with. And my therapist has been focused on my finding work that 'truly motivates' me, as opposed to the in-demand technical work that I have been doing. However, despite her competence (she has a PhD & seems to really be with it), I don't think she's fully realistic about what it takes to pay the bills -- people might have been able to follow their passions with a degree in anything in the 1970's, but we're not living in that world anymore and only certain things truly pay.


Share
Tweet  

Thread

 

Post a new follow-up

Your message only Include above post


Notify the administrators

They will then review this post with the posting guidelines in mind.

To contact them about something other than this post, please use this form instead.

 

Start a new thread

 
Google
dr-bob.org www
Search options and examples
[amazon] for
in

This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | FAQ
Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:CaffeinePoet thread:984158
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110418/msgs/984206.html