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My AH's addiction counselor keeps suggesting he go on Adderoll, my AH is entering a college nursing program and his counselor is concerned about his ability to concentrate/focus. He thinks my AH has ADHD. Everything I can find out about Adderrol all says if you have a history with drugs or alcohol to stay away from this. My AH is convinced now he wants to try it because why would his addiction counselor suggest if he were concerned. I am very concerned about the risk of addiction, especially my husband who is addicted to so many things. The counselor wants ME to hold the pills and adminster them, ugh, that thought makes me cringe and I expressed he was setting me up for conflict/problems with my AH. No one wants to listen to me. Does anyone here have experience with you A using Adderoll. Any insights are welcome.
this is MY opinion...medication should always be a last resort.
with that said, adderal is a stimulant -- chemically very similar to other amphetamines...ritalin is more like cocaine...but what is weird is that for some reason, stimulants help people with ADHD to focus (just the opposite of what you would think).
I tell parents whose kids are getting diagnosed to try all kinds of other non medical focusing strategies FIRST -- there are lots of NON medication alternatives and strategies (headphones to filter out distracting noise, good sleep hygiene, meditation etc etc) -- then if those arent working, to go to caffeine...and only then make the decision about the heavy duty meds...
my soon to be exAs docs keep putting him on pain meds...duh. can't always count on docs being conservative with meds...but in my opinion, we ALL need to be more conservative before we take a pill to "fix it"
-- Edited by rehprof on Wednesday 28th of December 2011 02:26:46 PM
one more thing...if he formally receives an ADHD diagnosis, the school he attends should have supports for him -- my college offers supports for students with learning barriers...extra time on tests, etc etc. so he may want to check into those support services too
When he was still actively drinking, my AH also was diagnosed wtih ADHD and prescribed Adderall and several other different stimulants, as well as trying several anti-depressants. Inevitably, he would drink while also taking these medications, sometimes with disastrous effects. Sadly, I determined that many therapists really do not understand addiction and recovery, otherwise they wouldn't be trying to medicate these problems while the person is still actively drinking. (Of course, in their defense, my AH routinely underestimated his drinking to his therapists.)
What we discovered is when my AH went into recovery and became involved in AA, over time the ADHD diminished. He doesn't take anything for ADHD or depression at all now.
If the person is still active in their disease, ADHD drugs and depression meds may only make things worse. Moreover, since most ADHD drugs are stimulants, the possibility of addiction to the medicine is a real concern.
I like the idea of telling the college about the diagnosis. The college will offer help and support. I have adhd and I don't take meds, I have tools to help me deal and get through the work day. I am pretty sure it is an addictive medication if they take more than they should. And you being the Pill God? Doesn't sound like fun to me. Take care of you
__________________
-youfoundme
Let go and let God...Let it be... let it begin with me...
I think meds or no meds for A's/RA's really depends on the particular person. Of course I think that, ideally, non-med tools are the best, but sometimes a little extra something is needed. Whether meds are used properly, abused, or improperly used is up to the individual!
My ex-RA has/had depression and ADHD. In his case, he did not misuse medication - WHILE HE KEPT GOING TO MEETINGS. He had some true story anecdotes about A's who cannot use meds, and those have and been helped them. Once my ex RA stopped going to meetings then things went to heck in a handbasket. He did no personal work besides just meds, and he took them sporadically. This led to him staying up 24 hours plus at a stretch, then sleeping for 24 hours, and at one point staying up for 50 hours. Needless to say this made things interesting :P
For a while I tried to help my RA organize his pill taking, but a) this was futile, and b) I wasn't comfortable with the control issue. His psych. sounded like nice man but I think, my ex being his client and not me, kept my ex's needs at the forefront of all reason? For example this psych. wanted me to essentially drop my own work and help my ex RA at his [ failing office ]....when I refused then I was blamed for not being supportive enough. [ Despite paying all the bills already. ] Needless to say I think a lot of counselors' hearts are in the right place, but being put in charge of somebody else's med schedule is a BLAME TRAP. Beware!
I googled around and found some useful forums etc...for people with ADHD and their sig. others. People who have that diagnosis themselves can have useful and practical tips for day to day living, if your guy chooses to look that up. [ Mine didn't! ]
Anyhoo that's just been my personal experience. My opinion is, the more info and outreach the better, and meds may or may not help according to the person. It's a real tightrope, being supportive of somebody and not slipping into taking care of them when that's not necessary!
Feel free to ping me if you want a website link for adhd. Cheers, rara avis
I'm jumping on this late but I wanted to add that ANYONE in early recovery is going to appear like they have ADHD. It is more likely that he has Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome and the attention and focus problems are coming from that. To be an addiction counselor you only need like 2 years of training...That is NOTHING compared to the training is really takes to make accurate diagnoses of ADHD. Only a clinical psychologist should be diagnosing it and only a psychiatrist should be treating it. Underqualified addictions counselors should stick to counseling on what they know....addiction. Furthermore, counselors get paid on people continuing to come back to them. Hence, counselors will say some things to help build rapport and make a person feel good even if it is not necessarily true. My guess is that the ADHD thing is a big copout constructed by your spouse and the addiction counselor to help him feel better about the reasons he wound up abusing alcohol and/or drugs.
Now he can go "Oh...Thank you so much Mr. Addictions Counselor. I didn't do anything bad. I just didn't know I had this awful ADHD! It was only natural that I was drinking and drugging to self medicate my ADHD." I say bullcrap in all likelihood - And this comes from a counselor with more credentials than your average certified addictions professional.
