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amphetamines/stimulants and AS/ADHD

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pgd
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19 Nov 2010, 3:01 pm

daysleeper wrote:
i'm not sure if this going to ring a bell with anyone, but has anyone here ever been prescribed or taken amphetamines as a means of coping with issues symtomatic of their AS and/or ADHD?
care to share your experience?
what are your thoughts on stimulant drugs and the non-neurotypical mind?

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The right stimulant - alerting agent - does work for a few persons a little (not everyone). You might consider taking a look at accounts like Remarkable Medicine by Jack Dreyfus (about the epilepsy medicine Dilantin), the How To (understand) Hyperactivity book (1981) about ADHD Inattentive by C. Thomas Wild (about Tirend, NoDoz - two FDA approved alerting agents containing caffeine), as well as reports by some persons with narcolepsy and how the new medicine Provigil/Nuvigil helps them a little (not a cure).



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19 Nov 2010, 11:03 pm

You know not all people who take stimulants get on hard drugs. I take a 10mg dose two times a day and don't touch alcohol until it wears off.

People with inattentive/SCT ADHD have trouble finding the right medication to work for them. The Hyperactive and combined type, however, can easily find the right medication to help them focus.

I've had success with my medication. I'm a lot more focused and energised. Off meds on my inattentive days I can be really slow and lazy. Some days I can be more hyperactive. The medication just gives me more balance and focus. I actually feel like talking to people too.

I don't just take the pills and expect some magic to happen. I also have to come up with many other coping strategies. I think the overly organised part of my autism actually helps me out there.


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20 Nov 2010, 1:41 am

daysleeper wrote:
i'm not sure if this going to ring a bell with anyone, but has anyone here ever been prescribed or taken amphetamines as a means of coping with issues symtomatic of their AS and/or ADHD?
care to share your experience?
what are your thoughts on stimulant drugs and the non-neurotypical mind?


Only the illegal stuff. Crack is so moreish I had to stop before I became bankrupt. I haven't done anything now for 10 years and feel better for it.



Kon
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20 Nov 2010, 1:55 am

Maybe it's kinda dumb but when my psychiatrist said I kinda have symptoms opposite of ADHD. The first thing that popped in my head was Asperger's because of the great ability to super-concentrate in a small narrow field at the exclusion of everything else. ADHD is in some ways is the opposite of this, or so I thought. I guess I was wrong.



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20 Nov 2010, 2:22 am

Kon wrote:
Maybe it's kinda dumb but when my psychiatrist said I kinda have symptoms opposite of ADHD. The first thing that popped in my head was Asperger's because of the great ability to super-concentrate in a small narrow field at the exclusion of everything else. ADHD is in some ways is the opposite of this, or so I thought. I guess I was wrong.

People with ADHD have a sort of preferred focus, much like we do on our special interests. It's called hyperfocus. And there is both hyperactive, hypoactive and combined.


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forestg
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20 Nov 2010, 9:26 am

I'm dx ADHD anxiety etc, been on 1 stimulant, it didn't do anything, even when i increased the doses myself, now waiting for the next step with my shrink. having asperger traits i think don't help. And yeah self medicating is there, tho not the prefered stuff. sorry cant add more at the moment.