new doc time

Post Reply New Topic

Tomorrow, for the first time in about 5 years, I am going to a new shrink. Ths isn't just a new doctor for me, this is the first visit in over 5 years. The purpose of the visit is treatment for my ADD so I can study again, and I am curious what she will say about my AS. The last shrink I had wasn't familiar with it, and his conselling sessions didn't help at all, but he wanted to put me in group therapy. My AS diagnosis isn't well documented, as in I don't think it's on a permanent record anywhere. So I'm interested to see if she is knowledgable about it, and her preferred methods of treatments. I notice some are stuck on pharmological treament, while others prefer counselling, and very few seem to do both.

I just wanted to respond to your signature.. YAY for Ace Rimmer! Red Dwarf Fans, Unite!

I hope your new experience with your new dr goes well. It's always SO hard to change. Ask that your AS be documented properly if it means a lot to you. Every time I see a new dr, I bring three reports by different drs, documenting my AS.

You see, if you don't look or act like a geek or a nerd, the uneducated doc will think you're kidding when you say you have AS.

Anyway, which technique do you favor, drugs, counseling or both? I like both.

That's why I go to both a therapist and counselor and have them communicate with eachother.

Meh...I got off on my ADD meds because they made it worse for me. Perhaps they can prescibe something that's less affective when it comes to side effects. I too have trust issues with shrinks mainly because I was just fed a bunch of meds that did more damage than good. Be sure to really communicate with your shrink. It took me a while to find one that actually specialized in adult ASD.

OK, I had my visit this morning, and my doc is one who thinks only drugs can help, or at least that is her only job. She did ask if I wanted couselling as well, and recommended a psychologist in her office for that.

I told her at the beginning of the session I had 3 conditions, and said what they were, but she totally dismissed the AS. (My third is DPSD - delayed phase sleep disorder, where my internal clock is about 4-6 hours later than the majority of the world.)She asked me how my symptoms affected me, and when I told her in too general terms, she started asking about specific ones, mainly ADD, and never mentioned a single AS trait, even though I told her a couple times, I'm not sure if that was because of AS or ADD or how one countered the other. Maybe that is because there are no good drug treatments for AS (that I have heard of). She ended up prescribing me a Kerplexin (sp?) for sleeping and Concerta for ADD. I took the concerta this morning, and I think it will help from the way my mind is clarifying, but it has some of the same side effects as some of the others: increased blood pressure, dry mouth, and clenching my jaw, just to name the ones I noticed after one dose.

Hopefully the consellor she recommended understands AS.

ok, been on the new meds (Concerta) for a few days now, and have a feel for the effect and side effects. This is the medicine for ADD. It does help me focus much more; I feel like someone just buffed me with Clarity (if you are an EQ player, you will understand). But it also seems to make me more confident and less second guessing of my own abilities. Ideas I have for my stories and organizing things are coming together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and overall, I feel better.

The side effects are nasty, but manageable: dry mouth, loss of appetite, raised blood pressure (I can almost feel it, it's like there is a steel bar in my back expanding upward and through my shoulders, and also a crushing weight, like the lead aprons they use for x-rays, on my chest.), increased desire to smoke, decreased sex drive, constipation, and difficulty falling asleep. Also, as aspie traits go, it is making me stim more at times, and makes me clench my jaw, which really makes it difficult to smile, even when trying.

I don't really know if I am qualified to make that assessment, since I don't have any of those tendencies, nor have I studied pschology much. However, I am a creative person, and at times have wished in vain to have hallucinations, and sometimes liked to imagine I had 'borg implants, and I am usually good at coming up with unusually descriptive metaphors.

So my answer is "maybe". I think it would depend on the level of paranoia the person feels. It doesn't actually feel like a metal bar there, but there is a force that I can picture, and I noticed (and so did my roommate) my arms and fingers stretching out to their max, without me thinking about it. Part of that was this pressure, I think, and part of it was just the good part of me awakening. This would be similar to what they show in movies like when Superman lost his powers and then suddenly had them back; an unfurling of what had been withdrawn and compressed, or like a butterfly escaping from its cocoon.

I don't perceive any negative cannotations about it; it certainly feels much better to me, like I had been operating at half power all my life and suddenly have full power. maybe it is similar to the high people who use recreational drugs get; I don't have any first-hand experience there. But not like turning into a metal robot, I don't think. At least not what i would imagine that wold feel like.

Those are typical symptoms of amphetemine use. They usually go away as you build up tolerance to the drug. Seems odd they would offer a stimulant to someone with AS though. My psych told me stimulants shouldn't be given to those on the spectrum as it increases circular thoughts, OCD and stims.