Spring has sprung, even in the hinterlands. We hope this issue of ADDvance comes to you as the rays of first warming sunshine wend their way through tree limbs fat with buds. Robins are back in the north, and probably radishes are up in southern gardens.

For the woman with AD/HD, the changing of the seasons — no matter how consistent and predictable, no matter how organic and non-arbitrary – can come as a shock. “I’m not ready!” is a familiar refrain. Holiday decorations still scattered about in unclosed boxes ought to have been a signal to the crocuses that it’s not time, yet. But Nature does what it does, and we hang onto her shirttails, setting out fall-planting bulbs in March. A certain feel to the air, a certain way the light looks different now, has some of us simply dreading the oncoming good weather. Our minds turn …

HELP FOR 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL: Dr. Quinn Answers a Mother’s Questions

Dear Dr. Quinn:
This combination of coexisting conditions can sometimes be difficult to treat as stimulants often make the anxiety worse.

You may need to treat the anxiety first with a drug like Celexa or Effexor (both are SSRI antidepressants). Then you need to add a low dose of stimulant to treat the focusing, attention, and ODD problems.

We did find success with Effexor 150mg once a day. She is still having focusing problems and she has some authority problems. (She was also diagnosed with a smidge of ODD).

You have yet to treat your daughter’s ADHD and ODD. Ask your physician about a low dose of stimulant. Starting low and gradually increasing the dose usually allows for improvement of symptoms without side effects or making other symptoms worse.

She is being home-schooled this year since her school district would …

 

It’s cold most places where you are reading, and it’s been cold for the writers. Holidays have come and gone, and now we settle in for the dark days and nights to wait for the first crocus. This issue of ncgiadd Online Magazine may tide you over in the flower department: we feature the personal account of a woman who was able to truly make art her work after her diagnosis and treatment with psychostimulant medication, and she paints, among other things, flowers!

We also bring you an opportunity to participate in research on women and medication treatment; one of our articles describes the study and links you to the site so you can be included.

There’s more: our mentoring relationship, wobbling through the holidays, is being taken up, and you can read along to see how Emily will learn from Sara as they exchange E-mails over the next …

This is in response to the article citing comparisons between boys and girls diagnosed (Oct., 2002) with AD/HD:

“These statistics don’t represent how many girls have ADHD, but rather how many girls with AD/HD were diagnosed with AD/HD at the time of the survey, during which time DSM-IV criteria were presumably used to make these diagnoses. These findings suggest that more attention is now being paid to girls’ learning problems.”

Funny that AD/HD should be called “learning problems,” as if that’s all ADD is.

But to my major point: I agree the diagnostic criteria have got to be changed to coincide with the symptoms girls have which persist for years to the extent that we are being diagnosed in adulthood, without doubt from our doctors (many of them) and a part of the diagnostic interview pertains specifically to childhood patterns!!

This is ironic, and tragic.

The current criteria are adequate, …

 

by Judie Gade, ADDult – My earliest memories, about being a bit different to other kids, were at about 3 years of age. I can remember standing on the white, picket fence at my family home asking strangers walking by, “Can you come play with me?” I wore my mother out with incessant chattering and messiness, annoyed the hell out of my older brother, who I adored, and infuriated my Dad with constant interruptions. I was a lonely, kindhearted little girl, with a very busy brain, and I could not figure out why I was having trouble making friends. I just did not know then that I wore people out, adults and kids alike, and I still do… at least now I know why!

I am an ADDult, that is, an adult who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Unlike many people, I believe AD/HD is normal, often a gift …

 

By Maurine Harrison: For days my mind had been in a hazy cloud, my energy and lightness of spirit only a memory. Is it the shortened, gray days of winter, I wondered? Since childhood I remember groping through days of gray head fog with sleep an all-too-sweet respite. Then, suddenly, one day, as if out of nowhere, comes clarity. It’s as if a bright light just switched on and sluggish neural networks of thoughts and ideas suddenly snap to attention. Suddenly, I know where to begin, how to order impulses and thoughts. It’s as if I have my whole brain working for me rather than against me.

This morning, I know I must write. Other things stay in the background. In fact, I hardly even notice them. What suddenly snapped into place, I wonder? My sleep has been inexplicably light for the last week. An over-the-counter sleep aid has …

I just read an article that was on the APA site, “ADHD-A Woman’s Issue” by Nicole Crawford, and I cried. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 26, one month after I finished my Masters in Ed (It was a miracle that I did). I have been on at least 8 different medication trials, none have been all too helpful, but I stuck with Wellbutrin. I suffer from Depression and Anxiety…I am EVERYTHING that was described in the article. I never knew that it was different in women.

So many people have been skeptical of my ADHD, saying that I am far from hyperactive. I just lost my second job in 1 1/2 years, because of tardiness and disorganization. I am an elementary school teacher. I am now 33 years old. I haven’t been in a relationship in 7 years because I am “too intense” and too depressed. I …

Review by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. – What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than with a book review for you hard-working mothers with ADHD. Raising kids with ADHD is a challenge enough, and when we mothers have ADHD too – well, it seems to me we should lobby for a Moms with ADD Mother’s Day on at least a monthly basis!

Barring that, however, what we need is help to make our job less challenging, which is exactly what Chris Adamec, a mother with ADHD herself, set out to do.

Have any special Mother’s Day wishes? Chris included a list of mother’s wishes in her first chapter, asking women, “If you could make a magic wish related to your ADD (and can’t wish it were gone), what would you wish?”

• For people to understand I don’t have to be a walking calendar to be a wonder person.
• That I could

…

Patty Pearson, Wood Carver. I apprenticed with a master wood carver on the Southern Oregon Coast in the early 1970’s. I loved the luster of worked wood and enjoyed the physical labors of carving and sanding.

My designs have evolved from early influences of Swedish, Norwegian and early American treenware, and are now my original interpretations of the kind of tools that I like to use in my own kitchen. I have exhibited my work nationally in galleries, as well as the ACC Craft Fairs, Best of the Northwest shows, and two shows at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.

Making a living as an artist is difficult at best. As a woman with AD/HD, I was able to be prolifically creative but had difficulty with the everyday necessities of marketing, sales and production. My ability to hyper-focus and work very hard enabled me to meet sales deadlines, but …

Dear Dr Quinn:

My 19-year-old daughter was diagnosed with AD/HD last June. She left for college with Adderall and came home four months later, with a GPA of 4.0 in Biochemistry and a major case of depression, and lots of anxiety. She was extremely irritable all semester. To make a long story short, after four (4) different antidepressants, and three months with her psychiatrist, she has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She went into a hypomania state after the fourth antidepressant was started. Needless to say, I am devastated and sad, but glad to know that the “something” that has been wrong for so long has a name. She has been taking Lamictal for five days. I am hoping that this Mood Stabilizer will be an answer for her.

Do you have any info or web page that deals with ADHD/Bipolar? I have been reading Driven to Distraction (which my …