Question:

Thanks .  I know I don’t have sinusitus or reflux.  the way the Dr. explained it to me is that certain fumes or irritants in the air act on my lungs like putting your hand in bleach water for a while would act on the skin on your hand.  I’ll contact my Dr. about stronger inhaled steroids and check into the place in Denver.  Great idea about an action plan.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell how much oxygen I’m getting because when I’m around the triggers it just keeps building. If I would wheeze right away I could tell better.  Usually I just get coated over in my lungs and my heart starts racing, trying to get enough air.  I usually can get air into my lungs but it doesn’t’ do a lot of good because everything is coated over.  Anyway, I usually have to stay away from the triggers, and then lay slanted, with my head down to get unplugged. Again thanks for the good information.  I’ve been feeling pretty stranded

Response:

    I have asthma that mimics bronchitis and goes into pneumonia, pluresy, and whatever else  they want to label it.  I take accolate, combivent, in the hand held and with a nebulizer depending on my choice, vanceril, guaifenicin, flonaise, and allegra-D on a regular basis.  Then I take oral steroids and appropriate anti-biotics when indicated.  Even with all this my asthma is not controlled,  I try as much as possible to live in a controlled environment.  I clean with baking soda and vinegar as all other cleaning supplies triggers an attack.  The Dr. says that my asthma appears to be triggered by a laundry list of substances that are caustic to me.  Is there anything else that is available to help me not be homebound?

Perhaps you need to increase your dose of inhaled steroids, Vanceril in your case. Per the NHLBI EPR2 Low Dose = 4-12 pf/day Moderate Dose = 12-20 pf/day High Dose 20 pf/day (typically to 40) Vanceril is a rather weak steroid inhaler. You could cut the number of puffs in half by going to Vanceril Double Strength; or switch to a higher strength one–Pulmicort or Flovent 220. These require even fewer puffs. The new guidelines recommend using a peak flow meter to monitor lung condition at home, and an Action Plan to increase meds when peak flows drop or symptoms increase. Many difficult cases of asthma are related either to sinusitis or GE reflux. Those with difficult asthma may benefit from a trip to National Jewish Center in Denver for a full evaluation. www.njc.org   800-222-LUNG Ellis

Response:

    I have asthma that mimics bronchitis and goes into pneumonia, pluresy, and whatever else  they want to label it.  I take accolate, combivent, in the hand held and with a nebulizer depending on my choice, vanceril, guaifenicin, flonaise, and allegra-D on a regular basis.  Then I take oral steroids and appropriate anti-biotics when indicated.  Even with all this my asthma is not controlled,  I try as much as possible to live in a controlled environment.  I clean with baking soda and vinegar as all other cleaning supplies triggers an attack.  The Dr. says that my asthma appears to be triggered by a laundry list of substances that are caustic to me.  Is there anything else that is available to help me not be homebound?

Response:

Question:

This is great.  Would you please add Singulair 10 mg and Flovent 220 or 110? Thanks so much.

Response:

Greetings again For some time now, I have spent various amounts of my online time searching the web for legitimate, reputable, online pharmacies, and checking their prices for various meds that I am on [almost all of which are asthma/allergy meds]. The differences in prices has been… fascinating…  Especially when comparing what I pay at retail stores and what the prices are online… Knowing that this information is useful for me, I am assuming that it would be useful for others  And, even if you do have insurance, you may want to take a look at what the prices are like [if nothing else, it will make you appreciate the value and cost of your insurance *When doing well* I spend $450 a month on meds, with no insurance, and I would gladly pay a few hundred a month to HAVE insurance...]. So… Within the next couple of days I will be posting a webpage of comparative drug prices. As of right now, I have prices on: Ventolin nebulizer solution Intal MDI Intal nebulizer solution Pulmicort turbuhaler Zyrtec [10 mg tablets] Serevent MDI Serevent Diskus And have used the following online pharmacies: PlanetRx DrugEmporium Drugstore.com <which is a Rite-Aid pharmacy] Eckerd.com If you have meds you would like included in the list, or online pharmacies to recommend…  Please let me know [preferrably by email so that I don't miss it, but posting to the newsgroup is fine too; or do both ].  I will try to include as many as I can, though I do reserve the right to pick and choose which ones will be included. For now, I am limiting the page to asthma and allergy meds [which therefore does include antihistamines], and will also for now limit it to those meds that require an Rx in the USA… I may add other comparative info… and maybe a guestbook or something where people can post comments and such…  But that shall come Later Hopefully someone will find the info useful! SW.

Response:

You can’t imagine how useful! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Greetings again For some time now, I have spent various amounts of my online time searching the web for legitimate, reputable, online pharmacies, and checking their prices for various meds that I am on [almost all of which are asthma/allergy meds]. The differences in prices has been… fascinating…  Especially when comparing what I pay at retail stores and what the prices are online… Knowing that this information is useful for me, I am assuming that it would be useful for others  And, even if you do have insurance, you may want to take a look at what the prices are like [if nothing else, it will make you appreciate the value and cost of your insurance *When doing well* I spend $450 a month on meds, with no insurance, and I would gladly pay a few hundred a month to HAVE insurance...]. So… Within the next couple of days I will be posting a webpage of comparative drug prices. As of right now, I have prices on: Ventolin nebulizer solution Intal MDI Intal nebulizer solution Pulmicort turbuhaler Zyrtec [10 mg tablets] Serevent MDI Serevent Diskus And have used the following online pharmacies: PlanetRx DrugEmporium Drugstore.com <which is a Rite-Aid pharmacy] Eckerd.com If you have meds you would like included in the list, or online pharmacies to recommend…  Please let me know [preferrably by email so that I don't miss it, but posting to the newsgroup is fine too; or do both ].  I will try to include as many as I can, though I do reserve the right to pick and choose which ones will be included. For now, I am limiting the page to asthma and allergy meds [which therefore does include antihistamines], and will also for now limit it to those meds that require an Rx in the USA… I may add other comparative info… and maybe a guestbook or something where people can post comments and such…  But that shall come Later Hopefully someone will find the info useful! SW.

Response:

Question:

Aldi’s.   SaltyJ

Response:

Our local Safeway carries nearly all of its own brand ("Safeway Select") sodas as both regular and diet. The only one they don’t seem to copy is Fresca – which of course is my favourite. Generally speaking the generic brands are as good as brand names. In fact one Canadian company (Cott) has built a large market share by producing generic sodas that taste better than the "real thing". In some places these are sold under the "President’s Choice" lable. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I have found myself clinging to diet sodas on my diet.  its the way I treat myself and I can drink tons of the stuff.  what I have found though is its expensive like 1.49 per 2 liter at the local store for diet sodas so I want to buy some in bulk but don’t know where to look. I don’t care about brand names and noticed many companies have generic alternatives to the popular sodas like cola, root beer, creme soda, dr. pepper, mt. dew, etc.  BUT what I haven’t seen is much diet alternatives to these except cola and lemon lime. So I was just wondering for those that care about cost and drink diet soda where do you shop to get the best deals for 2 liter bottles of the stuff?  I know safeway, sunny select, walmart and a few other big stores carry generic brands but am I wrong in thinking that besides the name brand diet sodas, generic vendors don’t cater to our market so Im really stuck buying the name brand stuff?

Stephen Rees Richmond BC Canada to reply by email take off yer boots 204.8/164/164 http://communities.msn.ca/TheReesWeightLosssite or, http://members.home.net/srees8094/weightloss/ReesWeightLoss.html http://members.home.net/srees8094/zeropointsoup/index.html

Response:

I have found myself clinging to diet sodas on my diet.  its the way I treat myself and I can drink tons of the stuff.  what I have found though is its expensive like 1.49 per 2 liter at the local store for diet sodas so I want to buy some in bulk but don’t know where to look. I don’t care about brand names and noticed many companies have generic alternatives to the popular sodas like cola, root beer, creme soda, dr. pepper, mt. dew, etc.  BUT what I haven’t seen is much diet alternatives to these except cola and lemon lime. So I was just wondering for those that care about cost and drink diet soda where do you shop to get the best deals for 2 liter bottles of the stuff?  I know safeway, sunny select, walmart and a few other big stores carry generic brands but am I wrong in thinking that besides the name brand diet sodas, generic vendors don’t cater to our market so Im really stuck buying the name brand stuff?

Response:

I’ve seen almost every variety of cheap generic pop in most of the stores where I shop… in diet, even in caffeine free diet at times.  Ask at the store if you don’t see it on the shelf. I personally spend the extra $$ and buy only Diet Coke… all generic that I have found are basically Pepsi products and I don’t really like the taste of Diet Pepsi (only in a pinch).  But that’s me… Good luck! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have found myself clinging to diet sodas on my diet.  its the way I treat myself and I can drink tons of the stuff.  what I have found though is its expensive like 1.49 per 2 liter at the local store for diet sodas so I want to buy some in bulk but don’t know where to look. I don’t care about brand names and noticed many companies have generic alternatives to the popular sodas like cola, root beer, creme soda, dr. pepper, mt. dew, etc.  BUT what I haven’t seen is much diet alternatives to these except cola and lemon lime. So I was just wondering for those that care about cost and drink diet soda where do you shop to get the best deals for 2 liter bottles of the stuff?  I know safeway, sunny select, walmart and a few other big stores carry generic brands but am I wrong in thinking that besides the name brand diet sodas, generic vendors don’t cater to our market so Im really stuck buying the name brand stuff?

– *:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’ Nancy Elrick http://members.home.net/nelrick/ 189.6/136.6/129.6 *:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’

Response:

Question:

I too have mild, allergy and exercise induced asthma. I started Singulair over a year ago, and have hardly ever had to use any other medicine during that period. I am very happy this way. Erica Steve Freides heeft geschreven in bericht – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I changed a few medications at once a few months back, resulting in a huge improvement in my condition.  I was taking Serevent and Allegra and added Singulair and Flovent. (I didn’t add Flovent but switched from Serevent to Advair.) I know a significant number of people take Advair/Flovent but do not take Singulair.  I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

The lowest strength of Flovent is 50ug/pf fluticasone, usually prescribed 2 pf twice/day. This could be tapered in half to 1 pf x2; or cut in 1/4 to 1 pf/day.

I have used this method for quite sometime and have had good success.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It makes more sense to just change one drug at a time, so you can see what it’s effect is, independent of the other drugs. It would make sense to go back to Serevent and add Flovent to equal your present dose of Advair. Then taper down the Flovent to the level to control your symptoms and keep peak flows in the Green Zone on your peak flow meter. My Advair is the lowest doseage of Flovent already, so there’s nothing there to taper. The lowest dose strength of Advair is 100ug/pf fluticasone,  usually prescribed twice/day. This could be tapered in half  to 1 pf/day. The lowest strength of Flovent is 50ug/pf fluticasone, usually prescribed 2 pf twice/day. This could be tapered in half to 1 pf x2; or cut in 1/4 to 1 pf/day.

Good points.  I could try my 100/50 Advair only in the mornings, but I like the idea of separating them and trying to lower the Serevent best. -S- – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ellis  I’m quite convinced that Singulair has helped me and that I may be able to get by without either Serevent or Flovent. Colin’s suggestion of separating Advair into its components then reducing the Serevent is certainly worth trying as well. I will do a bit of experimenting with what’s in-house here already and report back in a few weeks. -S- The general rule on steroid inhalers is to use the minimum dose to control the problem, especially at Moderate and High dose levels. As a more simplistic approach, you could just try reducing the puffs of Advair. [however this simultaneously reduces the salmeterol and fluticasone]. Note that Advair comes in 3 strengths; if you are not using the lowest strength version you could try switching to that. Note that Singulair only helps about 2/3 who try it; if it doesn’t help it should be dropped. In my case it helps my rhinitis more than the asthma. Ellis Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

It makes more sense to just change one drug at a time, so you can see what it’s effect is, independent of the other drugs. It would make sense to go back to Serevent and add Flovent to equal your present dose of Advair. Then taper down the Flovent to the level to control your symptoms and keep peak flows in the Green Zone on your peak flow meter. My Advair is the lowest doseage of Flovent already, so there’s nothing there to taper.

The lowest dose strength of Advair is 100ug/pf fluticasone,  usually prescribed twice/day. This could be tapered in half  to 1 pf/day. The lowest strength of Flovent is 50ug/pf fluticasone, usually prescribed 2 pf twice/day. This could be tapered in half to 1 pf x2; or cut in 1/4 to 1 pf/day. Ellis  I’m quite convinced that Singulair has helped me and – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – that I may be able to get by without either Serevent or Flovent. Colin’s suggestion of separating Advair into its components then reducing the Serevent is certainly worth trying as well. I will do a bit of experimenting with what’s in-house here already and report back in a few weeks. -S- The general rule on steroid inhalers is to use the minimum dose to control the problem, especially at Moderate and High dose levels. As a more simplistic approach, you could just try reducing the puffs of Advair. [however this simultaneously reduces the salmeterol and fluticasone]. Note that Advair comes in 3 strengths; if you are not using the lowest strength version you could try switching to that. Note that Singulair only helps about 2/3 who try it; if it doesn’t help it should be dropped. In my case it helps my rhinitis more than the asthma. Ellis Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I changed a few medications at once a few months back, resulting in a huge improvement in my condition.  I was taking Serevent and Allegra and added Singulair and Flovent. (I didn’t add Flovent but switched from Serevent to Advair.) I know a significant number of people take Advair/Flovent but do not take Singulair.  I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. It makes more sense to just change one drug at a time, so you can see what it’s effect is, independent of the other drugs. It would make sense to go back to Serevent and add Flovent to equal your present dose of Advair. Then taper down the Flovent to the level to control your symptoms and keep peak flows in the Green Zone on your peak flow meter.

Thank you and thanks to everyone else who has responded thus far. My Advair is the lowest doseage of Flovent already, so there’s nothing there to taper.  I’m quite convinced that Singulair has helped me and that I may be able to get by without either Serevent or Flovent. Colin’s suggestion of separating Advair into its components then reducing the Serevent is certainly worth trying as well. I will do a bit of experimenting with what’s in-house here already and report back in a few weeks. -S- – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The general rule on steroid inhalers is to use the minimum dose to control the problem, especially at Moderate and High dose levels. As a more simplistic approach, you could just try reducing the puffs of Advair. [however this simultaneously reduces the salmeterol and fluticasone]. Note that Advair comes in 3 strengths; if you are not using the lowest strength version you could try switching to that. Note that Singulair only helps about 2/3 who try it; if it doesn’t help it should be dropped. In my case it helps my rhinitis more than the asthma. Ellis Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

It would make sense to go back to Serevent and add Flovent to equal your present dose of Advair. Then taper down the Flovent to the level to control your symptoms and keep peak flows in the Green Zone on your peak flow meter.

IMO, it would make more sense to taper the Serevent since Flovent prevents asthma symptoms and Serevent merely treats those symptoms. — "What Sept. 11 did was remind us that there are times when we must fight for our country, that, indeed, there are things – our liberty, our democracy, our belief in human rights and human dignity – worth fighting for." Newsday.com editorial – 27 May 2002

Response:

I take Advair and singulair with humibid.  This combination works really well for me.  I use proventil hcf for emergencies.  My dr told me that singulair is not a replacement of the inhalers only helps most.  I would recommend you go back to what your dr has told you to take and give it time to see if it works.  If the inhaler isn’t than call your pulmonary and let them know.  I mostly have myself under control with my copd and asthma.  But it take time.  UM MOM Susan

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I changed a few medications at once a few months back, resulting in a huge improvement in my condition.  I was taking Serevent and Allegra and added Singulair and Flovent. (I didn’t add Flovent but switched from Serevent to Advair.) I know a significant number of people take Advair/Flovent but do not take Singulair.  I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

I changed a few medications at once a few months back, resulting in a huge improvement in my condition.  I was taking Serevent and Allegra and added Singulair and Flovent. (I didn’t add Flovent but switched from Serevent to Advair.) I know a significant number of people take Advair/Flovent but do not take Singulair.  I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try.

It makes more sense to just change one drug at a time, so you can see what it’s effect is, independent of the other drugs. It would make sense to go back to Serevent and add Flovent to equal your present dose of Advair. Then taper down the Flovent to the level to control your symptoms and keep peak flows in the Green Zone on your peak flow meter. The general rule on steroid inhalers is to use the minimum dose to control the problem, especially at Moderate and High dose levels. As a more simplistic approach, you could just try reducing the puffs of Advair. [however this simultaneously reduces the salmeterol and fluticasone]. Note that Advair comes in 3 strengths; if you are not using the lowest strength version you could try switching to that. Note that Singulair only helps about 2/3 who try it; if it doesn’t help it should be dropped. In my case it helps my rhinitis more than the asthma. Ellis – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

I changed a few medications at once a few months back, resulting in a huge improvement in my condition.  I was taking Serevent and Allegra and added Singulair and Flovent. (I didn’t add Flovent but switched from Serevent to Advair.) I know a significant number of people take Advair/Flovent but do not take Singulair.  I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try. Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  I carry a Proventil inhaler for emergencies but have never needed it since I added Singulair and Advair to my routine.  I have discussed the matter with my physician who said, while he doesn’t think I should stop Advair, neither does he think it will hurt me. -S-

Response:

I was wondering if many people take Singulair but not Advair/Flovent.  I’m considering trying a brief experiment of stopping Advair and seeing how I do.  My expectation is that I will miss Advair but I thought it would be interesting to give it a try.

Here is my situation: I have had allergic and exercise induced asthma for over 10 years. Even with Albuterol, Severant, or Flovent I could not run more than a mile before having to stop, weeze, and gasp for air.  It was frustrating since I was trying to get back to running as I had done 10 years before, but couldn’t.  My saving medicine was Singulair.  It began to work the first day and has been helping me ever since I started it 2 1/2 years ago.  I got back to running a few weeks after starting Singulair and haven’t stopped since.  I’m 54 and run 4 miles about 4 times per week. Hardly olympic pace, but pretty good for someone my age.  I use my inhaler (Albuterol) about twice a week just to have ‘clear runs’ — I think this is more psychological than physiological, frankly.  I rarely (once every other month?) use my inhaler for any other reason.  I take no other asthma medication. Singulair is worth trying.  Your mileage may vary.  The following statistics come up a lot, but I’m not sure of their accuracy.  Take them as rough values.  About 1/3 of the people trying it are helped a lot (the lucky 1/3 I appear to be in),  1/3 are helped some, 1/3 are not helped at all.  I have zero side effects.  Some people have complained about vivid dreaming in Singulair (I thought I might be experiencing this from time to time, but, if so, I like it — I’m really not sure though).  A few people in this group have complained of headaches or difficulty sleeping.  Maybe others can add to this. Generally, it is free of side effects and for the most part (I’ve only seen one exception in this NG group) it does not lose its effectiveness.   Background:  my asthma is mild and largely related to allergans and exercise, i.e., if I stay in my HEPA-filtered house and don’t exercise, I have no symptoms.  I have never been hospitalized for asthma or breathing difficulties of any kind.  

Same for me, in general. — Lou Pecora   – My views are my own.

Response:

Question:

Singulair is known to curb/assist in eczema and uticaria.

Would you provide me a source for this comment.  I have eczema on my hands and used Singulair until recently.  I’ll have to go back and check the dates but the flare of eczema may coincide with my discontinuing the Singulair.

Response:

Singulair is effective in patients who have an atopic component to their asthma. This atopy is more in align with the upper airways (rhinitis etc.) than a skin allergy, however, Singulair is known to curb/assist in eczema and uticaria. When comparing the two different anti-leukotreiens, as noted on the package inserts of Accolate, it is twice a day dosage, has limited safety profile of between 12 and 65yrs, there exists food and drug interactions, may not be taken one hour before food or before two hours after  food as food affects the bioavailabilty of the drug, interacts with warfarin, aspirin, theophylline, terfinadine and erethomicine. Singulair on the other hand is a once a day dosage, no food or drug interactions and a safety profile from 2yrs of age. The drug is currently being trialed in 6month old babies to two year old kids. Singulair has addressed my post-nasal drip, used to take Flixonase. You might find that your allergy is caused by something that your currentmeds do not address, but if I was you, I would try the Singulair, drop the Accolate. My opinion remains my own from personal experience. Good luck. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have some Singulair at the house and have been thinking of taking that instead of Accolate but I doubt that would work. You don’t know until you try it, but has this been prescribed by your doctor?  You would be wise to do things in concert with him/her.  I’m also assuming your doctor is an allergist.  If not, get an allergist fast. You are also taking a lot of asthma medicine and you have a lot of "rhinitis" type symptoms (post-nasal drip, etc.).  Sounds like you want to address those, too (the asthma meds won’t do that, although Singulair might, but that’s another topic). You might want to consider allergy shots, if your allergist determines that indeed you have allergy problems.  They take a long time to build up, but if they work, they are great because you become "immune" to some degree to your allergens.  Very nice.  I speak from experience (took shots for over 10 years then stopped when symptoms were abated for several years). — — Lou Pecora   – My views are my own.

Response:

I suspect the Flovent, especially if you get worse as the dose goes up. Some of Flovent’s side effects are serioius and permanent. Read the warning paper that comes with it. Wheezing is a side effect of Flovent, ( big help). And I never had hives  before Flovent, (another side effect), I only used it for 3 weeks and I still get hives 20 months later.

Response:

I have some Singulair at the house and have been thinking of taking that instead of Accolate but I doubt that would work.

You don’t know until you try it, but has this been prescribed by your doctor?  You would be wise to do things in concert with him/her.  I’m also assuming your doctor is an allergist.  If not, get an allergist fast.   You are also taking a lot of asthma medicine and you have a lot of "rhinitis" type symptoms (post-nasal drip, etc.).  Sounds like you want to address those, too (the asthma meds won’t do that, although Singulair might, but that’s another topic).   You might want to consider allergy shots, if your allergist determines that indeed you have allergy problems.  They take a long time to build up, but if they work, they are great because you become "immune" to some degree to your allergens.  Very nice.  I speak from experience (took shots for over 10 years then stopped when symptoms were abated for several years). — — Lou Pecora   – My views are my own.

Response:

Hi Dana, Some things that might help.  Are your windows in the house closed. Do you keep your windows closed when traveling in the car?  This will keep the pollen out of the house and car.

For the house it might be a better idea to use a window fan with a pollen filter. I mean, what if she’s allergic to indoor things as well like mold spores and dust mite junk? — web: http://www.insecurities.org/jenwolf I keep my air conditioner on with the windows closed.  Of course it’s over 90 here.  If there is a dust mite problem or mold problem then those issues need to be addressed.  I live in a low humidity area so mold and dust mites aren’t that big of a deal here, but I do have my mattresses encased, etc. Also our house is 2 years old, and we are getting rid of the carpets and going to install laminate flooring to elimate other thousands of things that carpets hold. Anything I think will help with my ashtma and allergys I try to do.  Also I live on a farm and no kittys are allowed inside, along with the rest of the animals.  So no pet dander either. Kathy

Response:

Thanks everyone for the input. For the record, I always have the windows closed and the a/c on. Use a top of the line filter as well just for allergies. I have a air purifer in my bedroom. There are no pets in the house. I am extremely allergic to mold and grass pollen both of which have been at high levels in my area for the past 2 wks. I have not had any probs with my allergies or asthma since I developed sinusitus this past winter. I have developed a sinus infection as of this morning and have started on antibiotics. This mess in my nose is starting to flare up my asthma more and more and hope I don’t have to get back on prednisone. Just can’t handle how moody I get on it. I have to take a test this coming Sat. in order to apply to grad school so I am a bit freaked out to say the least. I really hope I start feeling better in the next few weeks. Dana

Response:

For the last couple of weeks my alllergies have really flared up.

Claritin has helped me.  There’s no interaction with my other meds but check with your dr *and* pharmicist. Ted

Response:

Talk to your doctor about adding pseudophedrine decongestant to help with sinuses (there’s a variation of Zyrtec called Zyrtec-D with a 12 hour dose of pseudophedrine included).  There may be reasons against your taking it. Good luck Liam

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – For the last couple of weeks my alllergies have really flared up. I take Nasonex and Zyrtec but lately they don’t seem to be doing a thing for me. My sinuses run down my throat especially at night to the point where my throat is raw. MY voice has deepened as well. Now my asthma is flaring up and I don’t know what to do. I take Accolate, Albuterol, Serevent and Flovent for my asthma. I upped my flovent due to increased inflammation. My doctor put me on prednisone for a wk last wk but as soon as I got off the allergies and asthma flared up again. I have some Singulair at the house and have been thinking of taking that instead of Accolate but I doubt that would work. Any suggestions? Dana

Response:

Any suggestions?

Check back with your Doctor and let him know of your problems without self medicating yourself.

Response:

Hi Dana, Some things that might help.  Are your windows in the house closed. Do you keep your windows closed when traveling in the car?  This will keep the pollen out of the house and car.

For the house it might be a better idea to use a window fan with a pollen filter. I mean, what if she’s allergic to indoor things as well like mold spores and dust mite junk? — web: http://www.insecurities.org/jenwolf

Response:

Hi Dana, Some things that might help.  Are your windows in the house closed.  Do you keep your windows closed when traveling in the car?  This will keep the pollen out of the house and car.  Are you rinsing out your nose with salt? Use pickling salt, as it is more pure and warm water with a syringe or water pic.  Do several times a day before you use the flonase.  I also gargle with the salt water mixture.  This helps the sore throat. Also when I am having a bad flare like this, I use the nebulizer instead of the albuterol inhaler.  I take hot showers for the steam to open up also. You could ask the doc for a steroid shot, as they last about 3 weeks. Hope this helps Kathy

Response:

For the last couple of weeks my alllergies have really flared up. I take Nasonex and Zyrtec but lately they don’t seem to be doing a thing for me. My sinuses run down my throat especially at night to the point where my throat is raw. MY voice has deepened as well. Now my asthma is flaring up and I don’t know what to do. I take Accolate, Albuterol, Serevent and Flovent for my asthma. I upped my flovent due to increased inflammation. My doctor put me on prednisone for a wk last wk but as soon as I got off the allergies and asthma flared up again. I have some Singulair at the house and have been thinking of taking that instead of Accolate but I doubt that would work. Any suggestions? Dana

Response:

Question:

napi said: "The reason I wrote was for any other ways of getting his motivation up so when he gets his grades back and gets back to gymnastics, he will still have the motivation to continue to do his work." I would urge you, as strongly as I can, to NOT look at this as a motivation issue.

Response:

I would urge you, as strongly as I can, to NOT look at this as a motivation issue. Napi is asking:

What kind of issue is it?  I am pulling at strings here.  I am wondering, why it wouldn’t be a motivational problem when he can discuss things and do reports that are interesting to him? I don’t know what you mean.

Response:

"What kind of issue is it?  I am pulling at strings here.  I am wondering, why it wouldn’t be a motivational problem when he can discuss things and do reports that are interesting to him? I don’t know what you mean." Because this "interest" thing is a "red herring" when it comes to ADHD. We don’t choose what we’re interested in. The topic or activity chooses us. By that I mean –we have a narrower path we can walk on these things. The topic has to go to strong interests of ours, feed into a talent or ability of ours — some special quality has to be there. We can’t get interested in the causes of WWII just because the history teacher assigned it. It’s very hard to explain if you don’t have ADHD, but it isn’t motivation, and it isn’t "choice."

Response:

Hi.  I am new here.  can you help me with the hundreds of questions I have about diagnosing ADD?  My son is 8 and we have started testing him. After filling out surveys, meeting with teachers,  and going to the doctor,I am still very unsure about the whole thing. ( so is the doc.) The school seems convinced he has ADD but I’m not.  I want to do everything I possibly can for my son. But how do you really know its ADD? I hear other parents know without a doubt and are thankful for meds.  any advice or opinions would be priceless.  Sorry this note is going to be so long but I wanted to comment on the sports thing.  Both my kids have been in tae kwon do for about a month.  I think it is an excellent program that ADDers can benifit from.  They have a unique way of motivating a kid(or adult) if you go to the right school. I wont ramble on with all the details but its worth checking into.

Response:

He knows about his condition.  There is a wonderful site called brain wiring on the web.  We looked at it and there was an interesting article about how ADDers are more like the hunters of old,  focus had to shift easily and lots of other cool things that made hime feel better.  We took him out temporarily from sports.  When he brings his classwork to present and for 2 weeks of getting all work done, he can go back to his sport.  It is not a team like sport so the gym knows what is going on and has a place still for him.  He has a plan on the fridge door and knows his chores.  He does them.  The only problem we are having is school work.  It isn’t wierd, I know, but it makes him feel different.  Knowing that he has no ambition for this school thing.  He wants to be a scientist when he grows up and we keep informing him that he needs school to get where he wants to be.  He understands, just doesn’t want to go through the steps to get there.

Just a comment here…. I did original scientific research even tho it wasn’t the field in which I obtained a degree.  With luck and brains (and more LUCK!) he/she may get to do what he wants. I did a tremendous amount of reading in the field I found most interesting, on my own time, but it paid off.

Response:

I would like to thank you all for all of your input.  The discontinuing sports is only going to be temporary.  Maybe 3 weeks.  He is in gymnastics. His place in class is being held.  I do realize that sports are very important to him and to me.  I love to see him excel in something he loves. Not many ADDer children get a chance to smile at school because they have been "pegged" as a bad kid or for not listening.  It is wonderful to see him go wild and have fun and not get in trouble for being active.  And that it should not be taken away.  So we told him that the sport is on hold for his classwork.  He knows and understands what his fast little brain is going through.  He is smart enough and has been taught cause and effect.  He understands that the act of not getting his work done will effect his ability to go and do something he loves.  As it stands right now, he was taken out on Jan 12th.  His back class work is almost current and he is doing his best in class to get things turned in on time.  Sports was used as a last resort.  We tried to give him as much possibilities for bringing up his classwork.  Since he has been out of sports, that is the only thing that did motivate him to buckle down, and get it done. The reason I wrote was for any other ways of getting his motivation up so when he gets his grades back and gets back to gymnastics, he will still have the motivation to continue to do his work. I do again thank you  and if anyone has any suggestions still, I would love to hear them.

Response:

I have read that as a general rule, rewards and punishments do not work well for ADD children. They sure didn’t for us. ADDers sometimes simply *can’t* do the work–motivated or not.

I think this is a very valid statement:  At least in my own ADD experience, I have found that all too often, the very academic subject areas in which I am MOST interested and/or initially excited about turn out to be the areas in which I have the most trouble staying focused, completing the work, keeping up.  I don’t know why this is; it certainly doesn’t make sense.  Actually, I do in fact have a theory or two as to why I do this, but it’s kind of hard to explain… Furthermore, I wanted to comment on the following: "Not to be flip, but I do not have ADD, and when I’m not interested in something, I don’t have much motivation either. So, to me, this actually sounds normal." I think you’re very right in pointing this out, Nancy.  In the past, you have stated yourself that often, ADDers posting in here can get a bit carried away in their analysis of personality types, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc…. And as a result, there seems to be a tendency to over-classify such traits as being completely ADD-related, when in fact they aren’t uncommon traits among the general population.   I’m not trying to criticize or anything – I know that I personally tend to observe a quirk of mine, and then assume that it is a part of my ADD, even though it may not be… and then sometimes, it’s just really hard to tell… So anyway, Nancy, I just wanted to let you know, that I really appriciate having the non-ADDer point of view on certain topics — It helps keep things in perspective megan

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Have you tried discussing with him what his condition is? Also, if he is shown how learning can help him in the future, with an example of how he would benefit it might get him to see the big picture. Additionally, helping you son to schedule his days can help to keep him on a path of remembering, and prioritizing certain daily activites that need to be accomplished.  Placing the schedule in a place that is plain view (i.e. the frig, or on his door) will also help with accountability.  However, taking him out of sports may have an affect on his motivation.  If he has no serious physical outlet where he can see some form of progress, or strive towards a goal that he can reach physically, then he will have no motivation for those things that are more cerebral than physical, thusly he will not completely grasp complex concepts, unless he has a desire to do so. Just some thoughts from an old ADD’er He knows about his condition.  There is a wonderful site called brain

wiring on the web.  We looked at it and there was an interesting article about how ADDers are more like the hunters of old,  focus had to shift easily and lots of other cool things that made hime feel better.  We took him out temporarily from sports.  When he brings his classwork to present and for 2 weeks of getting all work done, he can go back to his sport.  It is not a team like sport so the gym knows what is going on and has a place still for him.  He has a plan on the fridge door and knows his chores.  He does them.  The only problem we are having is school work.  It isn’t wierd, I know, but it makes him feel different.  Knowing that he has no ambition for this school thing.  He wants to be a scientist when he grows up and we keep informing him that he needs school to get where he wants to be.  He understands, just doesn’t want to go through the steps to get there.

Response:

Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.

Not to be flip, but I do not have ADD, and when I’m not interested in something, I don’t have much motivation either. So, to me, this actually sounds normal.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.

My 16 yo ADD son has always been active in sports (since he was a preschooler.) When I have talked to different school counselors and to doctors over the years about the wisdom of taking him out of sports (hoping that would either: 1. motivate him to work harder in school, or 2. spend more time on his school work), *every* advisor said, "Don’t do it. He needs sports." Yes, school should come first, but school isn’t everything. Physical activities, like sports, aren’t *rewards.* They should be part of every child’s life. All kids should have a physical outlet. Kids like my son especially need the physical outlet. Sports provide that AND structure, and supervision. Sports taught him lessons in cooperation and teamwork, good sportsmanship, responsibility, grace under pressure, working hard for a goal. Sports gave my son a chance to be successful. A boost to his self-esteem and self-confidence. Something he needs after the mental and psychological exhaustion of trying to deal with academics. Also, at least in our case, taking away something he liked to motivate him to do something he didn’t, never worked. We did take away some other things he liked, like TV. But, eventually, we had taken away just about everything that gave him some joy, and all he had, except for sports, was a life of dreary (to him) school work and chores. No wonder he felt so bad. Sports just got my son his first two jobs. He referees youth soccer games and he has just been hired as a soccer instructor. He loves both jobs! It’s wonderful to see him so enthusiastic about working.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.

I have read that as a general rule, rewards and punishments do not work well for ADD children. They sure didn’t for us. ADDers sometimes simply *can’t* do the work–motivated or not. They also have difficulty linking actions to consequences.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

I wish I could offer you a solution. So many of us have struggled with academic issues. Maybe it’s time for you and the school to revisit his IEP if he has one, or his 504 plan. Sounds like he may need more classroom support and accommodations. Nancy Unique, like everyone else

Response:

napi said: "This is me again.  Nothing out of the ordinary is going on at home.  He does his chores.  He loves animals.  He plays when his homework is done.  He is a normal 10 year old boy.  We thought he was depressed.  So we took him to psychiatrists.  They said he is not.  Which is good.  We do not want him on more medication than absolutely necessary.  We thought putting him in a sport he was interested in would help.  It didn’t work, now he is not in sports because of his grades." Please — this is a DEVASTATINGLY bad outcome. I urge you to rethink the notion that you "don’t want him on more medication than absolutely necessary." If meds will help here — they really sound ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to me… this is a terrible experience for your son he’s going through.

Response:

The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation. A common feature of ADD is that ADDers very nearly *can’t* pay attention when they aren’t interested.  Providing rewards won’t change it, because it isn’t about not caring or not wanting to do well.

       Nod, but meds do help this with me, at least.   At that point, I *CAN*, even if I don’t really want to.  It can be hard to tell the "damn, but I really don’t want to do this" from the "damn, I’m trying to do this and can’t".

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you This is me again.  Nothing out of the ordinary is going on at home.  He does his chores.  He loves animals.  He plays when his homework is done.  He is a normal 10 year old boy.  We thought he was depressed.  So we took him to psychiatrists.  They said he is not.  Which is good.  We do not want him on more medication than absolutely necessary.  We thought putting him in a sport he was interested in would help.  It didn’t work, now he is not in sports because of his grades. He does get punished when he does wrong.  But he doesn’t get spankings. Only for the fact that he is getting older and talking about what needs to be done for punishment seems to make him think more about what he has done. As I have said before, he gets his medication [Dexedrine 10mg bid] and he seems to be ok for quieting down.  He just doesn’t have any motivation when not interested.  Behavior modifications include leneancy regarding writing [print not cursive], doing less written work more verbal, frequent "rest periods" at home from work.  Don’t get me wrong, we don’t baby him, we just know that simple modifications help focus.  But not lately.  It is like he has grown out of modifications.  Do you get what I mean?

Have you tried discussing with him what his condition is? Also, if he is shown how learning can help him in the future, with an example of how he would benefit it might get him to see the big picture. Additionally, helping you son to schedule his days can help to keep him on a path of remembering, and prioritizing certain daily activites that need to be accomplished.  Placing the schedule in a place that is plain view (i.e. the frig, or on his door) will also help with accountability.  However, taking him out of sports may have an affect on his motivation.  If he has no serious physical outlet where he can see some form of progress, or strive towards a goal that he can reach physically, then he will have no motivation for those things that are more cerebral than physical, thusly he will not completely grasp complex concepts, unless he has a desire to do so. Just some thoughts from an old ADD’er

Response:

" A common feature of ADD is that ADDers very nearly *can’t* pay attention when they aren’t interested.  Providing rewards won’t change it, because it isn’t about not caring or not wanting to do well.        Nod, but meds do help this with me, at least.   At that point, I *CAN*, even if I don’t really want to.  It can be hard to tell the "damn, but I really don’t want to do this" from the "damn, I’m trying to do this and can’t".

And also, one shades into the other.  There’s the area where "I could do this if I threw every ounce of effort at it, but it isn’t important enough for that."" I find this a very interesting conversation because I have students on my caseload with ADHD and have observed this in a couple of them. Instead of calling them lazy (I am pretty sure that wouldn’t improve things — smile) I have told them — "Look, you have ADHD, and this is one of the things ADHD can do to you — it can keep you from getting interested in an assignment you have to do." This is particularly a problem in longer assignments, and my students will read and write about one topic for weeks at a time… So we are actively working together to find personal devices they can use to increase their interest in a necessary but uninteresting task.

Response:

I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.

I just wanted to say this may not be the best idea.   Physical activity is very important for ADDers.  It helps them focus and burn off the stress of life.

Response:

I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.

"I just wanted to say this may not be the best idea.   Physical activity is very important for ADDers.  It helps them focus and burn off the  stress of life." I absolutely agree.  I don’t know how I would have gotten through high school if I hadn’t been involved in sports.  I know that competitive athletics benefited me on several levels:  Besides being an excellent stress outlet and just plain healthy, it provided me with more confidence than anything probably has in my life yet.  Also, it allowed for some great social/friendship delvelopments.   Something else not to overlook is the discipline and the **structure** that comes with athletic training and being on a team.  THAT is definitely something that I lacked (but craved) in the rest of my life, but quickly embraced when it came to sports. megan

Response:

Hi EmmaAnne, My own personal experience would dictate that you keep your child in sports if at all possible. Of course this is only one person’s observation, but clearly my 17 yo son did much better in school while participating in football last fall.  At the conclusion of the season and for 2 full weeks, he didn’t turn in any homework what-so-ever.  Needless to say he dropped from an A-B student to a D-E(F) in a real short order. I always figured that sports were a real great thing for him (social, esteem and fitness), but I never witnessed such a clear direct relationship between sports and grades.  It just caught me off guard when the football season ended and he suddenly didn’t have that to kinda anchor his life. Hopefully you will have a better experience than I.  My general advice to ADD parents is to keep the kids busy!!! FWIW. Regards,

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have taken him out of sports because of his grades. I just wanted to say this may not be the best idea.   Physical activity is very important for ADDers.  It helps them focus and burn off the stress of life.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation. A common feature of ADD is that ADDers very nearly *can’t* pay attention when they aren’t interested.  Providing rewards won’t change it, because it isn’t about not caring or not wanting to do well.        Nod, but meds do help this with me, at least.   At that point, I *CAN*, even if I don’t really want to.  It can be hard to tell the "damn, but I really don’t want to do this" from the "damn, I’m trying to do this and can’t".

And also, one shades into the other.  There’s the area where "I could do this if I threw every ounce of effort at it, but it isn’t important enough for that."

Response:

decided it would be nice to share this stuff with the rest of us: —-I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his —-teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when —-school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, —-participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he —-is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & —-pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades. I told him —-when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of —-things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out —-with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there. I have —-asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the —-lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he —-likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, —-my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what —-we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a —-day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though. Please if —-anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. —- —-If anyone’s got help for this, I’d like to know, as I’m extremely —-unmotivated as well.  I just can’t be bothered to put much effort int —-things I don’t like.  Threats or incentives are absolutely useless. —-Everything is, it seems.   My parents tried both threats and incentives, the reality is, I’m as stubborn as most Germans can be and the ADD helps me dig in even more This Kid is just being difficult, what else is going on at home? I kinda feel that you are telling me your kid is getting wet, and you forgot to tell me that he is standing in the rain, so I can’t be of much assistance. "Education is the Progressive Discovery of our own Ignorance" -Will Durant "People who read the Tabloids deserve to be lied to" —     Jerry Seinfeld "You don’t Know what you got ’till it’s Gone" —            Joni Mitchell "I’m Just a soul whose intentions are Good … " — Eric Burden

Response:

The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.

A common feature of ADD is that ADDers very nearly *can’t* pay attention when they aren’t interested.  Providing rewards won’t change it, because it isn’t about not caring or not wanting to do well. — "Why do they call you the Warrior Princess?" "Ceasar was already taken" Xena: Warrior Princess

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. If anyone’s got help for this, I’d like to know, as I’m extremely unmotivated as well.  I just can’t be bothered to put much effort int things I don’t like.  Threats or incentives are absolutely useless. Everything is, it seems.

Exactly!!!  My son gets behavior modification (leaway) and still nothing.

Response:

Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you

This is me again.  Nothing out of the ordinary is going on at home.  He does his chores.  He loves animals.  He plays when his homework is done.  He is a normal 10 year old boy.  We thought he was depressed.  So we took him to psychiatrists.  They said he is not.  Which is good.  We do not want him on more medication than absolutely necessary.  We thought putting him in a sport he was interested in would help.  It didn’t work, now he is not in sports because of his grades. He does get punished when he does wrong.  But he doesn’t get spankings.

Only for the fact that he is getting older and talking about what needs to be done for punishment seems to make him think more about what he has done. As I have said before, he gets his medication [Dexedrine 10mg bid] and he seems to be ok for quieting down.  He just doesn’t have any motivation when not interested.  Behavior modifications include leneancy regarding writing [print not cursive], doing less written work more verbal, frequent "rest periods" at home from work.  Don’t get me wrong, we don’t baby him, we just know that simple modifications help focus.  But not lately.  It is like he has grown out of modifications.  Do you get what I mean?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – First question–what treatment is he receiving? — — — John Reply to jclarke at eye bee em dot net Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

If anyone’s got help for this, I’d like to know, as I’m extremely unmotivated as well.  I just can’t be bothered to put much effort int things I don’t like.  Threats or incentives are absolutely useless. Everything is, it seems.  

Response:

First question–what treatment is he receiving? — — — John Reply to jclarke at eye bee em dot net

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi!! I’m new here and have a 10 year old with ADHD.  He is smart a whip, both his teachers and the principal at school say so.  He has interests, and when school is talking about something he is interested in, he listens, participates, and is exteremely vocal is discussion.  The problem is when he is not interested, he has no motivation.  Can someone help with ideas & pointers?  I have taken him out of sports because of his grades.  I told him when he gets his grades up, he can go back.  I have tried a rainbow of things for encouragement, king for a day, movie day, out with mom day, out with dad day, computer time, etc.  The motivation is not there.  I have asked the school to try and tie things in that he is interested in with the lessons.  Its just that not all,or most, kids like the subjects that he likes.  So they really cannot do that.  None of us (school, my son, myself, my husband) would like to see him be retained this year.  But that is what we are looking at if he doesn’t work hard.  I work with him at least 1hr a day with back work and extra credit.  It may not help though.  Please if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you

Response:

Gee, for as second I thought I’d written all of this. Randor

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <<A cheapo kitchen count down timer does wonder for me, 1. The impending doom of not getting my 1 or 2 minute task done before the darn thing starts beeping gives me a sense of immediate stress that I crave 2. The stress causes me to work in hyperactive overdrive, which I love. 3. It’s very useful in keeping me from going into Internet hyperfocus. Set it for 20 minutes and struggle to get your e-mail read.  Set it for 5 minutes and I’m less likely to open up 15 Washington Post or NY Times articles. 4. If I want to get off the computer no later than a certain time at night, I can set it for a longer term ‘fun’ time and still get to bed before dawn. Now where the hell did I last see it? Mujibar –Yep–a kitchen timer is one of the few things that works for me.  Even today when I did have lots of time to do stuff it was tough after about 2 hours to do much–I had finished all the fun stuff… oops! –It’s the working on boring stuff that is tough–the problem is that working on papers actually takes organized thought–and that tends to get strenuous–the researching it and performing the experiments are fun and lots of variety–organizing it into a paper is BORING… –Hmmm–any way that a kitchen timer makes things less boring?! –RV

Response:

<< –Hmmm–any way that a kitchen timer makes things less boring?! –RV

_______ Blog, or dog? Who knows. But if you see my lost pup, please ping me! http://journals.aol.com/virginiaz/DreamingofLeonardo                   \  - –  //

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – << –Hmmm–any way that a kitchen timer makes things less boring?! –RV _______ Blog, or dog? Who knows. But if you see my lost pup, please ping me! http://journals.aol.com/virginiaz/DreamingofLeonardo                   \  - –  //

Depends how you use it I suppose

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – : The other is lock yourself in a room with some food and access to a : bathroom and *nothing else to do* and work like a maniac for eight hours : or so.  I have only done this once or twice in my life, for obvious : reasons, but it works amazingly well for true emergencies. : I’m trying to get two years worth of incompleates in philosophy classes done : over this summer so I can graduate.  I leave the house maybe twice a week. : I’ve been putting in 12-14 hours a day.  I have tons of stuff to reread, : and I’ve always been a slow reader.  I’m making headway though.  I try and : keep the modem unplugged or start some huge download so I can’t use the net : while I’m working. To your list of bathroom access and food, I add a tin of : the strongest pipe tobacco I can stand (Dunhill Nightcap works nicely), dr God i miss smoking sometimes. Ever tried Gitanes (from France)? The nicotine rush is enough to blow one’s head off. Three puffs and i’m ready to pass out.

I lived in France for a number of years in the 60s.  I smoked Gauloises, Gitanes and Gitanes Papier Ma

Question:

I’ve just come back from the doctor, (who was a locum, not my usual doc)  and explained my nasty side effects and withdrawal symptoms to him (see my posting yesterday). I told him about this newsgroup and several websites that back-up mine and other stories, and that I was by no means a single case of these effects. He said he was very worried as I seemed not to be able to stop taking the Effexor, and would be urgently contacting the manufacturers and notifying the Committee for Safety of Medicines (government organisation in UK). I hope he has some success. He asked me to revisit him next week, when I hope to be a little more in the know. I’m cutting down to 37.5mg twice a day, but deep down I know this won’t help. What this situation needs is a real investigation. Sure, it helps a lot of people, but for many it is a nightmare. Anyway, I’m waffling on; bye for now. Peter Finan Bradford U.K

Response:

I just quit Effexor XR with my pmd’d permission today.  Didn’t have very nice side effects and after the extreme headache I got last night, I said, please, no more.  I am not prone to headaches.  I was only up to 75 mg once a day, so it doesn’t appear to be a problem. I will keep you all posted! Marilyn – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve just come back from the doctor, (who was a locum, not my usual doc)  and explained my nasty side effects and withdrawal symptoms to him (see my posting yesterday). I told him about this newsgroup and several websites that back-up mine and other stories, and that I was by no means a single case of these effects. He said he was very worried as I seemed not to be able to stop taking the Effexor, and would be urgently contacting the manufacturers and notifying the Committee for Safety of Medicines (government organisation in UK). I hope he has some success. He asked me to revisit him next week, when I hope to be a little more in the know. I’m cutting down to 37.5mg twice a day, but deep down I know this won’t help. What this situation needs is a real investigation. Sure, it helps a lot of people, but for many it is a nightmare. Anyway, I’m waffling on; bye for now. Peter Finan Bradford U.K

Response:

I had a horrible time coming off Effexor, in bed for most of six days. The thing that helped me out of it was Prozac (fluoxetine). I took 20mg-40mg per day until I was able to get my new AD up to a high enough dose. Prozac was the best for me because I had taken it before with no side effects and because it has a long half life and wouldn’t cause its own bad withdrawal effects. (I had withdrawal side effects with Paxil (paroxotine) too.) Roger

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve just come back from the doctor, (who was a locum, not my usual doc) and explained my nasty side effects and withdrawal symptoms to him (see my posting yesterday). I told him about this newsgroup and several websites that back-up mine and other stories, and that I was by no means a single case of these effects. He said he was very worried as I seemed not to be able to stop taking the Effexor, and would be urgently contacting the manufacturers and notifying the Committee for Safety of Medicines (government organisation in UK). I hope he has some success. He asked me to revisit him next week, when I hope to be a little more in the know. I’m cutting down to 37.5mg twice a day, but deep down I know this won’t help. What this situation needs is a real investigation. Sure, it helps a lot of people, but for many it is a nightmare. Anyway, I’m waffling on; bye for now. Peter Finan Bradford U.K

Response:

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The philosopher Voltaire was known to have consumed over 50 cups of coffee a day which came as a surprise to readers of Voltaire such as Nikola Tesla, the electrical engineer and inventor.  The French mathematician, Poincare, said one his mathematical advances came as the direct result of drinking a single cup of black coffee.  Caffeine is a known weak central nervous system stimulant – alerting agent – and it has been extensively studied at different medical schools and universities around the world.  Caffeine is known to increase alertness, energy, and the ability to concentrate in some people (not all). Source:  http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/chemtech/99/jul/negli.html In the midst of my recent efforts to have my daughter and myself assessed for ADD, my new partner and I attended a CHADD meeting. There was a presentation given on diagnosing adults by the woman who had recently assessed me. My partner suddenly began to wonder if he might have it and said he should get assessed.  As the meeting was breaking up and right in front of the presenter I asked him, "So you really think you may have ADD?" "Well, not as bad as you do." he said. "Perhaps if you didn’t drink so much coffee, you might think differently." The presenter pointed out, as I already knew, that some people self-medicate with caffeine. Then a couple of days later I asked my partner just how much coffee he consumes in a average day, because I knew he drank a lot, but I had no idea how much. He told me that he drinks an average of 20-22 mugs of coffee each day! I was shocked!  I have scoured the net for info on long-term health effects of consuming that much caffeine and there is none.  I don’t think anyone else drinks that much coffee…certainly no one that has been part of any study,  Excessive intake is said to be about 10 cups and he drinks twice that!  There are only long-term studies on people consuming up to 650 mg of caffeine per day (about 6 cups) and there are potential serious effects on that.  The so-called toxic dose is 10,000 mg (about 100 cups of coffee).  Even so, my partner is consuming what would be considered an "overdose"…and then some! His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.  I worry about ulcers and heart irregularities.  He has only been drinking this much for about the last year, since he quit drinking alcohol. I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

I used to drink a lot of coffee. I worked good with my ADD my irritated my aniexty something fierce. I was edgy and parinoid and my my hair trigger temper would go off without warning. I was such a joy to be around . But I love coffee so I switched to decaf. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Dami

Response:

For years I’ve happily consumed large quantities of coffee — 32oz on the way to work, several 20oz during the day, then more at night, never kept me up. Never occured to me it might be "self-medicating", I just thought it was a relatively harmless addiction that seemed to help me get down to business. Is this true of depression, anxiety disorders, or BPD, or is it mainly ADD? – Jeff Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently? I used to drink a lot of coffee. I worked good with my ADD my irritated my aniexty something fierce. I was edgy and parinoid and my my hair trigger temper would go off without warning. I was such a joy to be around . But I love coffee so I switched to decaf. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

– ‘98 Rans V-Rex    ==–%   Waltham, MA    ()    O http://www.BlueSNAFU.com – v2.35

Response:

For years I’ve happily consumed large quantities of coffee — 32oz on the way to work, several 20oz during the day, then more at night, never kept me up. Never occured to me it might be "self-medicating", I just thought it was a relatively harmless addiction that seemed to help me get down to business. Is this true of depression, anxiety disorders, or BPD, or is it mainly ADD?

Although, I don’t know for sure, it think it’s mainly ADD. Since caffine is a stimulant and gives you that extra kick in the butt that helps. I remember during some of my caffinated days, I would drink a large iced coffee and clean the whole house. Housecleaning is very difficult for me. My mom was, and is, the same way. She was never diagnosed with ADD but she has all the symptoms, but shes worse than me but that’s another story. I’m not sure if caffine helps depression I have that too but it never seemd to make a difference with me. Anxiety I’m sure it dosen’t help since caffine is a form of amphetmine and as I’ve found personally after long usage it was very bad for my anxiety so I had to stop. Dami – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently? I used to drink a lot of coffee. I worked good with my ADD my irritated my aniexty something fierce. I was edgy and parinoid and my my hair trigger temper would go off without warning. I was such a joy to be around . But I love coffee so I switched to decaf. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Response:

The philosopher Voltaire was known to have consumed over 50 cups of coffee a day which came as a surprise to readers of Voltaire such as Nikola Tesla, the electrical engineer and inventor.  The French mathematician, Poincare, said one his mathematical advances came as the direct result of drinking a single cup of black coffee.  Caffeine is a known weak central nervous system stimulant – alerting agent – and it has been extensively studied at different medical schools and universities around the world.  Caffeine is known to increase alertness, energy, and the ability to concentrate in some people (not all). Source:  http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/chemtech/99/jul/negli.html – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In the midst of my recent efforts to have my daughter and myself assessed for ADD, my new partner and I attended a CHADD meeting. There was a presentation given on diagnosing adults by the woman who had recently assessed me. My partner suddenly began to wonder if he might have it and said he should get assessed.  As the meeting was breaking up and right in front of the presenter I asked him, "So you really think you may have ADD?" "Well, not as bad as you do." he said. "Perhaps if you didn’t drink so much coffee, you might think differently." The presenter pointed out, as I already knew, that some people self-medicate with caffeine. Then a couple of days later I asked my partner just how much coffee he consumes in a average day, because I knew he drank a lot, but I had no idea how much. He told me that he drinks an average of 20-22 mugs of coffee each day! I was shocked!  I have scoured the net for info on long-term health effects of consuming that much caffeine and there is none.  I don’t think anyone else drinks that much coffee…certainly no one that has been part of any study,  Excessive intake is said to be about 10 cups and he drinks twice that!  There are only long-term studies on people consuming up to 650 mg of caffeine per day (about 6 cups) and there are potential serious effects on that.  The so-called toxic dose is 10,000 mg (about 100 cups of coffee).  Even so, my partner is consuming what would be considered an "overdose"…and then some! His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.  I worry about ulcers and heart irregularities.  He has only been drinking this much for about the last year, since he quit drinking alcohol. I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

Before you buy.

Response:

I’ve got you all beat.. at work we make a POT of coffee using THREE scoops of CAFE BUSTELLO (expresso coffee) at home I make      A CUP of coffee using TWO SCOOPS (yes two scoops per cup) of the same coffee. (a scoop is 1/8 of a cup)

Ugh…I am literally shuddering at the thought of this.  For the record, as much as my partner loves his coffee, I hate the taste of it and your recipe sounds disgustingly bitter to me.   My reaction to the caffeine contained in colas and coffee:  I get horribly nauseous & shaky.  I haven’t let cola pass my lips in over 10 years because of this.   I prefer weak tea…with a packet of equal & lots of coffeemate. Briana

Response:

Expresso has less caffine than a lighter roast.  Also I don’t find it bitter at all if it is fresh which is why I make one cup at a time. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve got you all beat.. at work we make a POT of coffee using THREE scoops of CAFE BUSTELLO (expresso coffee) at home I make         A CUP of coffee using TWO SCOOPS (yes two scoops per cup) of the same coffee. (a scoop is 1/8 of a cup) Ugh…I am literally shuddering at the thought of this.  For the record, as much as my partner loves his coffee, I hate the taste of it and your recipe sounds disgustingly bitter to me.   My reaction to the caffeine contained in colas and coffee:  I get horribly nauseous & shaky.  I haven’t let cola pass my lips in over 10 years because of this.   I prefer weak tea…with a packet of equal & lots of coffeemate. Briana

– Nessa — If trains stop at trains stations, what happens at work stations?

Response:

Expresso has less caffine than a lighter roast.  Also I don’t find it bitter at all if it is fresh which is why I make one cup at a time.

i saw my gp today and tried to tell him some of my ‘difficulties’. so i mentioned that i drank loads and loads of coffee and he asked why and i said because it helps me function so he said ‘ah, you’re caffeine addicted.’. i mean , god, how the hell am i going to explaing to a shrink what my life is like when they have such answers parat ? they can only dx within their learned boundaries. i have appt. with shrink in two weeks. is it a good idea to phone with them first or write, or what ? sammi. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve got you all beat.. at work we make a POT of coffee using THREE scoops of CAFE BUSTELLO (expresso coffee) at home I make A CUP of coffee using TWO SCOOPS (yes two scoops per cup) of the same coffee. (a scoop is 1/8 of a cup) Ugh…I am literally shuddering at the thought of this.  For the record, as much as my partner loves his coffee, I hate the taste of it and your recipe sounds disgustingly bitter to me. My reaction to the caffeine contained in colas and coffee:  I get horribly nauseous & shaky.  I haven’t let cola pass my lips in over 10 years because of this. I prefer weak tea…with a packet of equal & lots of coffeemate. Briana — Nessa — If trains stop at trains stations, what happens at work stations?

Response:

If you feel that the central nervous system stimulant – alerting agent –  caffeine may be helpful to you, the best place to start is with your family doctor.  That’s what I did.  C. Thomas Wild The most notable behavioral effects of caffeine – increased alertness, energy, and ability to concentrate – occur after consumption of low to moderate doses (50-300 mg). Source:  http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/chemtech/99/jul/negli.html Attention Deficit Disorder: http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section19/chapter262/262d.htm http://www.angelfire.com/biz/addsyndrome/index.html http://homepages.msn.com/RightWay/c_thomas_wild Domeena C. Renshaw, M.D., in The Hyperactive Child, reports a study by Schnackenberg, who substituted caffeine for methylphenidate (Ritalin) in eleven children who were on the latter medication for their hyperkinetic symptoms.  She reports that his results with two cups of coffee (equivalent to 200-300 mg. caffeine) per day were as satisfactory as the amphetamines, at one tenth of the cost. There are a number of FDA approved medicines such as NoDoz which list caffeine as the active ingredient.  Often there are cautions such as too much caffeine may cause nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness and, occasionally, rapid heart beat.  The products are generally marketed for occasional use only and they are not intended for use as a substitute for sleep.  If a person wants to find out more about the products, the person should consult their family doctor.  That’s what I did. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In the midst of my recent efforts to have my daughter and myself assessed for ADD, my new partner and I attended a CHADD meeting. There was a presentation given on diagnosing adults by the woman who had recently assessed me. My partner suddenly began to wonder if he might have it and said he should get assessed.  As the meeting was breaking up and right in front of the presenter I asked him, "So you really think you may have ADD?" "Well, not as bad as you do." he said. "Perhaps if you didn’t drink so much coffee, you might think differently." The presenter pointed out, as I already knew, that some people self-medicate with caffeine. Then a couple of days later I asked my partner just how much coffee he consumes in a average day, because I knew he drank a lot, but I had no idea how much. He told me that he drinks an average of 20-22 mugs of coffee each day! I was shocked!  I have scoured the net for info on long-term health effects of consuming that much caffeine and there is none.  I don’t think anyone else drinks that much coffee…certainly no one that has been part of any study,  Excessive intake is said to be about 10 cups and he drinks twice that!  There are only long-term studies on people consuming up to 650 mg of caffeine per day (about 6 cups) and there are potential serious effects on that.  The so-called toxic dose is 10,000 mg (about 100 cups of coffee).  Even so, my partner is consuming what would be considered an "overdose"…and then some! His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.  I worry about ulcers and heart irregularities.  He has only been drinking this much for about the last year, since he quit drinking alcohol. I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

Before you buy.

Response:

Years ago, I came back from shore leave and discovered that the the hospital corpsman had hooked up an IV tube at my bunk–substituting a Coke bottle for the plasma. His explanation:  You drink so much of the stuff, you might as well main-line it. Paul

Response:

Years ago, I came back from shore leave and discovered that the the hospital corpsman had hooked up an IV tube at my bunk–substituting a Coke bottle for the plasma. His explanation:  You drink so much of the stuff, you might as well main-line it. Paul

My wife is a nurse, and I keep asking her to give me IV coffee.

Response:

Years ago, I came back from shore leave and discovered that the the hospital corpsman had hooked up an IV tube at my bunk–substituting a Coke bottle for the plasma. His explanation:  You drink so much of the stuff, you might as well main-line it. Paul My wife is a nurse, and I keep asking her to give me IV coffee.

You mean you have  blood in your coffee stream? — Nessa — does fuzzy logic tickle

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Years ago, I came back from shore leave and discovered that the the hospital corpsman had hooked up an IV tube at my bunk–substituting a Coke bottle for the plasma. His explanation:  You drink so much of the stuff, you might as well main-line it. Paul My wife is a nurse, and I keep asking her to give me IV coffee. You mean you have  blood in your coffee stream?

ROLF, or ROFL, or ROFLMAO or MFOSPALROFL err, shanks shor she shjoke, shbut shi shave shoo shlean she shreen shoff. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – — Nessa — does fuzzy logic tickle

Response:

I’ve got you all beat.. at work we make a POT of coffee using THREE scoops of CAFE BUSTELLO (expresso coffee)

What?  You work at *my* office? That super-strong stuff smells good, but… ICK!!!  But then, I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker, unless it’s mocha.  Chewy, whose coffee you can float a horse shoe in, harasses me for liking a little coffee with my milk and sugar. — Light, Love, & Laughter, Kitten, Goddess of Mischief "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." – Anonymous "Just for today, do not worry;  Just for today, do not anger; Earn your living honestly; Honor your parents, teachers and elders; Show gratitude for every living thing."- Dr. Mikao Usui Before you buy.

Response:

I’ve got you all beat.. at work we make a POT of coffee using THREE scoops of CAFE BUSTELLO (expresso coffee) at home I make  A CUP of coffee using TWO SCOOPS (yes two scoops per cup) of the same coffee. (a scoop is 1/8 of a cup) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I was finally diagnosed at age 40 I was drinking between ten and fifteen pints of coffee per day … often instant coffee with a TABLESPOON of granules per cup. I find the International Coffees** make a wonderful creamer, especially with espresso…. AmMen **International Coffees are a line of instant coffee mixed with flavorings, sugar, and HeavenKnowsWhat. Before you buy.

– Nessa — does fuzzy logic tickle

Response:

  Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine   to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

I drank coffee from the age of about eight or nine … as a kid I would take a 30 oz flask of black coffee to school. In those days we had free school milk, so I would have half the coffee at morning break with the milk, and keep the rest for lunch. When I was finally diagnosed at age 40 I was drinking between ten and fifteen pints of coffee per day … often instant coffee with a TABLESPOON of granules per cup. What was interesting was that I didn’t get any sort of buzz, and could stop for a few days without any withdrawal symptoms apart from feeling more " unfocussed " Ian Ford

Response:

When I was finally diagnosed at age 40 I was drinking between ten and fifteen pints of coffee per day … often instant coffee with a TABLESPOON of granules per cup.

I find the International Coffees** make a wonderful creamer, especially with espresso…. AmMen **International Coffees are a line of instant coffee mixed with flavorings, sugar, and HeavenKnowsWhat. Before you buy.

Response:

Curious…. I remember hearing about a kind of bottled water with caffeine added to it(don’t remember brand name, tho). Anyone try to make coffee with *that*? Buny

Response:

His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.

It is possible that the tremors in the hands could be the result od something besides the caffeine (*could*).  My famyl has a history of hand tremors, which is a benign condition called "familial tremor" or "essential tremor".  It has to do with overcompensating for fine motor skills. http://www.parkinsonsinstitute.org/tremor.html Even though this says "parkinson’s", ET is *not* parkinson’s syndrome. Some things can make my hands tremor more-caffeine is one of them. Fatigue, stress(physical or emotional) can do it.   So are certain medications, such as my asthma meds.  But even when not on these meds, or when I got "off" of caffeine, my hands still tremor to some degree. Then again, his tremors can be something else entirely.  Like ADHD, it is a matter of finding out what it is *not* before one discovers what it *is*. Buny

Response:

[...] I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

ADDers do not measure coffee consumption in cups; the pot is the standard measure. Cutting back to 5 is good for your health. I might be exaggerating slightly, but perhaps the answer to your question is ‘yes’?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – [...] I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently? ADDers do not measure coffee consumption in cups; the pot is the standard measure. Cutting back to 5 is good for your health.

Yup…5 pots George I might be exaggerating slightly, but perhaps the answer to your question is ‘yes’?

Before you buy.

Response:

In the midst of my recent efforts to have my daughter and myself assessed for ADD, my new partner and I attended a CHADD meeting. There was a presentation given on diagnosing adults by the woman who had recently assessed me. My partner suddenly began to wonder if he might have it and said he should get assessed.  As the meeting was breaking up and right in front of the presenter I asked him, "So you really think you may have ADD?" "Well, not as bad as you do." he said. "Perhaps if you didn’t drink so much coffee, you might think differently." The presenter pointed out, as I already knew, that some people self-medicate with caffeine. Then a couple of days later I asked my partner just how much coffee he consumes in a average day, because I knew he drank a lot, but I had no idea how much. He told me that he drinks an average of 20-22 mugs of coffee each day! I was shocked!  I have scoured the net for info on long-term health effects of consuming that much caffeine and there is none.  I don’t think anyone else drinks that much coffee…certainly no one that has been part of any study,  Excessive intake is said to be about 10 cups and he drinks twice that!  There are only long-term studies on people consuming up to 650 mg of caffeine per day (about 6 cups) and there are potential serious effects on that.  The so-called toxic dose is 10,000 mg (about 100 cups of coffee).  Even so, my partner is consuming what would be considered an "overdose"…and then some! His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.  I worry about ulcers and heart irregularities.  He has only been drinking this much for about the last year, since he quit drinking alcohol. I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

Response:

snip His hands tremor, but otherwise, he is suffering no apparent ill effects.  I worry about ulcers and heart irregularities.

I did that once in grad school.  Ulcers are generally caused by bacteria or non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs.  High coffee intake can cause cardiac arrhythmias.  It’s pretty spooky but it goes away. He has only been drinking this much for about the last year, since he quit drinking alcohol. I now have no doubts that he’s self-medicating undiagnosed ADD and I want him to get assessed.  I managed to convince him to cut back to 10 cups a day and gradually to 5 for the sake of his health. So far, so good. Has anyone else here tried to unknowingly self-medicate with caffeine to that extreme?  Does anyone here even know someone who drinks that much coffee consistently?

It’s pretty hard to figure caffeine levels because it’s quite easy to make a cup of coffee four times as strong as the average weak North American coffee.  I could fix 5 cups that would have as much caffeine as 20 restaurant cups. – George Before you buy.

Response:

Question:

I just learned about this medication and am wondering if any of you here are taking it now.   — Laura Goodwin "Pain is fleeting, glory is forever. Remember: scars are sexy."

Response:

I just learned about this medication and am wondering if any of you here are taking it now.  

     I’m not taking it, but IIRC, it’s an SSRI like med (it’s not precisely like Prozac, Zoloft, or Paxil, but it does inhibit reuptake of seratonin at (presumably different) selected sites) and it’s supposed to be more ‘energizing’ than the other SSRIs.  (That is, the side effects tend not to be sleepiness or fatigue; they tend to be anxiety, etc.) — Everything I needed to know in life I learned in kindergarten.  Like: There is great power in both creation and destruction, but creation focuses power, and destruction disperses it.  This is the superiority of creation.

Response:

Hi, LaLaura:  I take adderal and effexor.  The effexor helps with my motivation and mood swings.  The adderal helps my thought process and energy level.  But I think that the effexor has an impact on my energy level too.  A friend of mine has been taking effexor at 37.5mg three times a day (I take same dose twice a day) and his blood pressure went up.  His ADD dr. is monitoring the blood pressure now before determining whether it’s the effexor raising the pressure, and if it’s not the effexor, then he’ll prescribe a higher dose of effexor. This friend of mine can’t seem to get anything done, and his motivation level even on effexor three times a day is really not good.  However, this is probably because he has underlying emotional issues that he’s not dealing with……As for me, I’m doing really well on the dosage I’m taking. …..There’s so much stuff to do, to think about, to assemble. Oh no, Mr. Bill, I’ve turned into my stuff!!!

Response:

Have been taking Effexor for 3+ years.  It has been the best of all of the antidepressants for me.  None of the SSRIs worked, the Tricyclics had horrendous side effects, and Serzone also had some strange side effects. I started taking it in conjuction with Ritalin, but now take Effexor and Adderall. I do remember that the first few days Effexor was a little rough on my stomach, but those symptoms subsided within a week. Good luck, Lloyd – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just learned about this medication and am wondering if any of you here are taking it now. — Laura Goodwin "Pain is fleeting, glory is forever. Remember: scars are sexy."

Response:

I take effexor now and like it much better than the combination of prozac and dexedrine that I was taking before.  No side effects either. Wayne – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, LaLaura:  I take adderal and effexor.  The effexor helps with my motivation and mood swings.  The adderal helps my thought process and energy level. But I think that the effexor has an impact on my energy level too.  A friend of mine has been taking effexor at 37.5mg three times a day (I take same dose twice a day) and his blood pressure went up.  His ADD dr. is monitoring the blood pressure now before determining whether it’s the effexor raising the pressure, and if it’s not the effexor, then he’ll prescribe a higher dose of effexor. This friend of mine can’t seem to get anything done, and his motivation level even on effexor three times a day is really not good.  However, this is probably because he has underlying emotional issues that he’s not dealing with……As for me, I’m doing really well on the dosage I’m taking. …..There’s so much stuff to do, to think about, to assemble. Oh no, Mr. Bill, I’ve turned into my stuff!!!

Response:

Effexor reduces ‘reuptake’ of norepinephirine and dopamine as well as seratonin so it can treat both ADD and depression/anxiety. It even treated my allergies!  Unfortunately, like a strong antihistamine, it caused me so much urinary tract irritation that I had to stop taking it.

Response:

Effexor reduces ‘reuptake’ of norepinephirine and dopamine as well as seratonin so it can treat both ADD and depression/anxiety. It even treated my allergies!  Unfortunately, like a strong antihistamine, it caused me so much urinary tract irritation that I had to stop taking it.

Interesting.   I’m grateful to you and to the other fine people who posted so far.  I’m considering trying effexor, since both rit and dex leave much to be desired in my case. I’m not at all depressed, but I do apparently have temporal lobe as well as frontal lobe dysfunction, which has rendered me virtually handicapped, although I’m a sharp gal in many ways.  For example, petty anxieties paralyze me, but I can be quite bold and effective in a real emergency. I have no sure sense of time or timing, unless I’m dancing.  If music is involved I’m brilliant, but I’m never sure what day of the week it is. An hour can seem like a day, and whole days can zip by in seconds. Whole years vanish from my conciousness, but I’ll never forget some minor incident from my girlhood.  Minor irritations that other people shrug off loom large to me, but things that terrify ordinary people are to me laughably tiny.  In short, I’m out of step with the entire rest of the race of humanity.  I don’t have a different drummer, I’ve got a whole dad-blamed different orchestra. It would not be a problem if people didn’t complain, but alas, much fault has been found with me, and I can’t keep a job to support myself. I would like to be able to provide for myself, at least. — Laura Goodwin "Pain is fleeting, glory is forever. Remember: scars are sexy."

Response:

effexor works for awhile then you feel crappy again. Libido is gone forever on effexor

Response:

effexor works for awhile then you feel crappy again. Libido is gone forever on effexor

     That’s not true.  It *CAN* happen; it can happen with most antidepressants, even those not known for it (some folks have reported sexual side effects from Wellbutrin, which has also shown a significant INCREASE to libido in one experiment), but the only way to know is to try.      Wellbutrin and Serzone are the two noted for having the least sexual-side effects. — Everything I needed to know in life I learned in kindergarten.  Like: There is great power in both creation and destruction, but creation focuses power, and destruction disperses it.  This is the superiority of creation.

Response:

Question:

Be very careful using this herb as I have experieced severe manic episodes from it. It is not regulated in this country so the proper doses can catastrophic for some BP’S.

Response:

If you are bipolar, you should know that you need a mood stabilizer with any antidepressant drug. Synthetics do the same thing only much, much worse. I take SJW along with my Lithium. I’ve never felt better in my life!!! So swish, swish to Prozac, effexor, doxepin, zoloft etc. etc. etc. Just one flush!!! Lindsey

Response: