Post by gyleshawkins on Nov 4, 2021 23:06:05 GMT
So, first off I am a Brit living in the Netherlands, but thought I'd get my head around this new experience where my ability to communicate is not hampered by my level of Dutch.
For years I thought I was a bit autistic. Friend who is became an educational psychologist in the last ten years and has known me for thirty years agreed with this. All the stereotypes to one degree or other but not severe and if I actually am I'd not take a pill for it.
But over the last two years a few things happened. I was depressed for a time last year and as the first line SSRIs were side-effects, Doc put me on Welbrutin. My depression cleared up and I noted how clear my mind was.
I worked with someone who has ADHD - not autistic but recognised a lot in her about how I am. Started reading and listening to people talk about their experiences. And someone talked about how Welbrutin was used as a second line medicine for ADHD and described the same feeling I had. And I remembered the feeling I had the few times I took speed recreationally - no massive body feel but mind as sharp as a razor.
So, spoke to the Doc, and he referred me to a clinic. Had to pay a bit out of my pocket for the diagnostic day (€300 or something) which in the morning consisted of two rounds of interviews including one with a psychologist and a computer test. I came up on the 68th percentile on a few measures and on the 99th percentile on a few others. Then I saw the psychiatrist who confirmed a diagnosis of combined ADHD, and I was given 20mg of Ritalin and an hour and a half later took the test, and my results were all within 10-15% of the norm if they were not on the norm.
So. I am now at the end of my second full day on Ritalin, 3x15mg, scaling up to 3x20mg after a week.
I feel calm and happy and in two days have done so much stuff I'd been putting off for months I can't say. So easy to concentrate and keep things in mind and stay on task, and no real side-effects. Main non-mental effect is a feeling of warmth and activeness; not unpleasant.
Not that I think having ADHD is something wrong, I hasten to add. But if talking a pill makes such a difference, sign me up.
For years I thought I was a bit autistic. Friend who is became an educational psychologist in the last ten years and has known me for thirty years agreed with this. All the stereotypes to one degree or other but not severe and if I actually am I'd not take a pill for it.
But over the last two years a few things happened. I was depressed for a time last year and as the first line SSRIs were side-effects, Doc put me on Welbrutin. My depression cleared up and I noted how clear my mind was.
I worked with someone who has ADHD - not autistic but recognised a lot in her about how I am. Started reading and listening to people talk about their experiences. And someone talked about how Welbrutin was used as a second line medicine for ADHD and described the same feeling I had. And I remembered the feeling I had the few times I took speed recreationally - no massive body feel but mind as sharp as a razor.
So, spoke to the Doc, and he referred me to a clinic. Had to pay a bit out of my pocket for the diagnostic day (€300 or something) which in the morning consisted of two rounds of interviews including one with a psychologist and a computer test. I came up on the 68th percentile on a few measures and on the 99th percentile on a few others. Then I saw the psychiatrist who confirmed a diagnosis of combined ADHD, and I was given 20mg of Ritalin and an hour and a half later took the test, and my results were all within 10-15% of the norm if they were not on the norm.
So. I am now at the end of my second full day on Ritalin, 3x15mg, scaling up to 3x20mg after a week.
I feel calm and happy and in two days have done so much stuff I'd been putting off for months I can't say. So easy to concentrate and keep things in mind and stay on task, and no real side-effects. Main non-mental effect is a feeling of warmth and activeness; not unpleasant.
Not that I think having ADHD is something wrong, I hasten to add. But if talking a pill makes such a difference, sign me up.